re: Any new MMOs?

quote:

---

This, but I even played during closed beta so my experience was even worse. If they truly have fixed the pile of shite I played, it'd be worth looking into.

---

It is one of the worse MMOs I have ever played. I've played them all in the MMO days when everyone was pumping one out to repeat what Blizzard did with WoW.

I explain earlier in the thread.

Ah I see, my bad. You even replied to my post. ADD issues on my part, I suppose.

Well, one of the main problems I had at launch was group members being in a different phase unless they were on the same step of a quest, prohibiting the ability to play together. That has obviously been fixed along with various other bugs, smoother combat, and many aspects of general gameplay.

They have now introduced the Champion system, a form of long-term endgame progression which is homologous to Skyrim's Thief, Warrior, and Mage constellations system with three separate facets in each tree where you unlock passive upgrades to permanently benefit your character. Each tree has different types of bonuses, but generally speaking the Mage is more offensive(spell/weapon critical, damage bonus), the Warrior is defensive/survivability-focused(damage mitigation, increased healing effects) and the Thief is based around utility(reduced magicka/stamina cost, increased magicka/stamina regen). These champion points are accrued account-wide, which you receive upon character creation so you receive the benefits as you level alts, an interesting departure from standard MMO models.

This was a significant change in overall gameplay which was implemented about a year ago in an effort to gradually phase out the grindy Veteran Ranks which feel more like busy work. It is similar to Dark Age of Camelot's realm ability system, though this one allows you to acquire experience through all aspects of gameplay, rather than just PvP. I would like to have more of an emphasis on PvP-exclusive abilities in the DAoC vein, which I consider to be the ultimate PvP experience and endgame progression, but they do have an Alliance War system that works similarly but on a much smaller scale.

Either way, I much prefer this model to the form of gear-based progression to WoW or any of its descendants, where your work over several months is essentially rendered obsolete with a quarterly patch. Its buy-to-play format has been a tremendous success, allowing you to pay and play how you want with minor but worthy advantages for subscribers but not necessary to your advancement in any way. The new and improved dungeon finder I mentioned earlier is nice, which is almost identical to WoW's(a very good thing, as that's one of the best things it ever did) and the new (buggy atm)64 bit client for the PC version is cool, as it loads much faster since it accesses your full system hardware.

Tl;dr: It's free since you already bought it, so it's worth a shot. It's also currently on sale for $30 with the Thieves' Guild release for those wanting to try it. I've played a lot of MMO's over the last 15 years or so, and I can't think of much wrong with it. It's just solid all-around.

Edited to add more detail about the Champion system for those interested.

Yeah another one of the problems that I had was the experience reward upon quest completion. Due to my time playing customary themepark MMO's over the years, I had been conditioned to believe that questing was the primary form of level progression, so I was annoyed with the amount of time and effort spent on said quest in relation to the reward.

I eventually learned that either grinding mobs in certain locations or simply exploring the world to a lesser extent was much faster, and questing was more of a role-playing aspect that you can choose to take part in if you want a more traditional Elder Scrolls experience.

My friend and I started characters in mid-February and had reached the level cap within a couple of weeks by simply grinding mobs and doing dolmens together for a few hours a night. The spots we chose were well-known and often already camped too, so if you found your own then it could go much faster.

I still play SWG on the EMU. Next patch release should have Jedi implementation beginning.

I think their intent with guild stores as opposed to global auction houses was to have a more localized economy less prone to exploitation by farmers and gold sellers. Honestly though, the several guild stores centralized in the main capital cities which are bid on by the larger guilds function as de facto auction houses. A search function would be nice though.

If you spend an hour or so grinding mobs you will get all the gear you need anyway, with some of them being set pieces with nice stat bonuses if you have multiple pieces. Generally gear isn't that important while leveling though. Some people grind to 50 while never repairing or even upgrading their gear. As long as you have the armor type passives unlocked you're fine, as that's what really matters.

I just did the same. My warlock is 100 now. My mage is 85 and I'm afraid to play him. Frost as well. Elune server.

quote:

---

That being said, I'm hooked on Black Desert.

---

Would you happen to have a guest pass? I would really like to try this game out!

Email please! Dande37@lsu.edu

Also, THANK YOU!