There were plenty of us that tried to improve SWTOR from beta onward while being whined at by the droves of fanbois for whom everything was perfect (game breaking bugs and all), and being ignored by the devs, who OBVIOUSLY knew far more about MMOs than the community that had been playing them for years.
Perhaps Bioware will learn their lesson, and keep to the single player games they have done so well in the past. Some added multiplayer functionality? SURE! MMO anything ever again from them? . . . .I think I'll pass.
Unless, of course, they do their homework next time and deliver us an MMO that doesn't feel as though it would have been awesome 5 years ago.
I do, however, have one thing to say to all the fanbois that made the forum feedback in beta and post-launch so miserable and are crying now that their precious perfect game is going FTP and has been failing hardcore: "mmmm, Fanboi tears! Nom Nom" :-)
I think everyone who is into FPS games and isn't completely tied to CoD/MW is at least keeping an eye on this game. Personally, I'm keeping both eyes on it with a side hope of squeezing into the beta.
Judging from some of the other comments, I'm not the only one.
Not that EA is any better. They'll just ship half the game for the standard $50-60 and release the rest as DLC over the next year to match up to the $100 price tag.
@MasterTheHero Honestly, this pretty much covers it. Excellent points made and few (if any) missed.
It isn't that any one aspect has died in the FF franchise, it's that they forgot how to make it a complete package and put them all together like they used to.
Granted, our standards for what makes a good game have risen in recent years. Linear games have also taken a backseat to sandbox games. But that does not mean they can't make a decent FF game to match up to the quality of FF6 & 7 (I'll even throw 8 in there).
Many of us remember the golden days of the FF IP. We want to love it again. They just need to meet those expectations.
Don't put words in my mouth. I'm fairly indifferent towards some developers at the moment, but if they make a good game I will still buy it and play.
However, I have always held Bethesda in esteem for their excellent PC games and their dedication to the PC market. As a result, I tend to keep a keen interest in anything that Bethesda works on and, quite often, buy/preorder it. This is what a good reputation and reciprocating fan loyalty achieves. Sales of future games that might otherwise not happen.
This decision will certainly not wipe out the fan base for Bethesda, but it will diminish the ardor for Bethesda as a studio in many. Thus, they become indifferent. They will hold games on their own merit without Bethesda being a factor. Some of the more reactionary will become hostile, of course, and not buy ANYTHING Bethesda, but this will be a relatively small portion of the community.
No matter how you slice it, Bethesda will alienate some PC gamers because of this. If they continue this trend, they will alienate more and will cause more to flat out ignore their games. I'm not raging at Bethesda for this move, I'm just disappointed in them for selling out. I would prefer a simultaneous release on all platforms.
TLDR; Not everyone looks forward to being a second-rate citizen like you do so they can be a tool for their favorite developer. Good business is treating the customers that got you where you are well, or at least fairly. Selling out is selling out, and not everyone likes to be the tools of sell-outs.
@Duckman118 "Bethesda isn't selling out, they were offered money and they took it."
....Last I checked, that's called selling out. In doing so, they are alienating the players of the platform that made the Elder Scrolls games what they are today, the PC.
@Meteor7 I agree with you about the Korean MMO grind, for sure. However, questing CAN be fun, depending on the story behind it (i.e. how engaged the player is made to feel) and what the quest entails (kill quests are rarely fun).
I would say there is certainly a limit as to how fun it can be, though. This is why other games have found alternate ways to engage the player aside from simply questing. GW2 has their dynamic events, WAR had public quests, Rift had both the rift/invasion system and zone events, and most other AAA titles have had some alternate system aside from dungeons/quests.
Tera has nothing. It has BAMs, quests, and dungeons, and BAMs are hardly a unique concept in either design or experience. What Tera has going for it is the combat system. It is an excellent step forward for MMO gameplay. However, that is all it has. Everything else about the game is generic and doesn't even attempt to live up to current standards in the genre.
It isn't that I don't agree with your points. It's that I refuse to lower my standards on other aspects of what makes a good MMO just because the combat is a step up. Any single aspect of a game has a finite lifespan of fun when placed by itself. It is the combination of many outstanding aspects that makes a game truly great, and I feel that Tera lacks this, currently.
This is why it deserves the 7.5, I think. The potential for this game is excellent, but only the combat/graphics are where they need to be.
Actually, I wholeheartedly agree with almost all of his points. Hardcore mode is outstanding and certainly the way to play.
Of course, this is only true when death can only be due to failure in skill on your part and not a connection issue because you always have to be tied in to the servers to even play single player. In short, untold hours potentially lost because of a random disconnect means that: NO, playing hardcore is not the only way to fly.
Great review and dead on. Combat is outstanding and where all the value of the game truly lies. Environment and game are also excellent. However, it is definitely hampered by the quest system and still feels grindy.
I think this game will be more successful outside of a subscription model, though that should not be taken to mean it is a terrible game. It just isn't worth a sub, IMO.
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