Purkake

So it wasn't Second Life? I wasn't really looking to play it anyway, just look it up.

I meant a monster kills you in an MMO. Can't think of any permadeath MMOs off the top of my head, but Im sure there are/were some. The same reason why I'm okay with hardcore mode in Diablo II (even though you could be PK'd in that one too, if you weren't careful but it was easy to avoid it). Monster fights tend to not be random, unless you're careless. Furthermore, monsters tend to usually be around the same level as you, since people don't go running off into the Burning Steppes when they are level 10 and expect to live. The high level monsters also don't come in with 39 friends and wipe out whole towns, guards and all, simply to LOL. However, if I'm a level 40 in Redridge Mountains, where I can sneeze at monsters to kill them, and suddenly a level 80 hell bent on slaughtering a whole bunch of other players because he finds it fun stumbles upon me, he one shots me and I die. Time to start over. Yeah, tell that to the lightning enchanted, cold enchanted, stoneskin monster that will kill you before you notice it I can see the difference, but having people be able to kill you all the time makes the game a little more realistic and exiting. I'm not saying that permadeath is the way to go, but having severe consequences for death would be nice.(not just some % XP/gold loss which you can get back by more grinding)

I meant a monster kills you in an MMO. Can't think of any permadeath MMOs off the top of my head, but Im sure there are/were some. That sounds like an awesome, if weird game, could someone dig up the name please? EVE has a bit more non-fight-y stuff that isn't mining or fishing. You can run your corporation which does a lot more than a regular MMO guild. For example you could make a certain type of items, laser guns, for example. You would have to have people buying/mining the raw materials, then you would need to buy/make the schematics(very expensive) for the item(s). After you make the items you would need to get them to places where people can buy them and set a price that people would actually pay for the items. The contracts system in EVE is very cool in general. It is like a bulletin board with jobs like transporting things from place to place, escorting people, killing people and anyone can take the job. If you succeed then you get money, if you transport items you will have to make a deposit so that you don't just run off with the loot. It's pretty interesting.

No it isn't. When something is mine, and I decide to get rid of it, I wanna be able be to get rid of it. That's a minefield, I'm not getting into it. Nah, I'm not trying to get a flamewar started about what's right and what not. I just want to know how often a retail copy can be activated over Steam (i presume only once?). With Mass Effect, you could activated it 3 or 5 (?) times, thus still not preventing some second hand dealing. So in that case, Steamworks should be super-proof, right? You can only activate one copy once. Also you can't deactivate it and then activate it on another account as far as I know

D: I remember Dead Space controlling like a tank(that was on a PC and with the mouse thing fixed). Not much hope for RE5, then?

If there were consequences for death, maybe people would think twice before running headfirst into a random battle. Also running a way is always an option. People are just spoiled these days. Running away isn't always an option though. If you come across some super high level dude that has super fast mounts, well then I guess it sucks to be you. Yeah, then the idea would be to try to avoid people who can kill you in seconds. If you can't then you are at their mercy. Yeah, because it's cool to lose a lot of play time and investment (not to mention friends of the same level) because some level 80 guy with gear and abilities that ensure you'll never touch him come running around. How pray tell, do I avoid him if I'm to actually play the game and do anything? Tell you what, just delete your character after you die and you can do just that. Should make the current MMO's more exhilarating for you. That's just how it used to be. If you met someone stronger than you and they decided that you should die then you just did, you either accepted that or played another game. How is it any different from you getting killed by a monster that is way stronger than you? Also, I don't really play MMOs too much these days.

If there were consequences for death, maybe people would think twice before running headfirst into a random battle. Also running a way is always an option. People are just spoiled these days. Running away isn't always an option though. If you come across some super high level dude that has super fast mounts, well then I guess it sucks to be you. Yeah, then the idea would be to try to avoid people who can kill you in seconds. If you can't then you are at their mercy.

Griefing is only fun because people react to it. There are different servers, if you want to have happy candy land then there are non-PvP servers. Whining about getting griefed on a PvP server is just stupid. Also griefing has never been an end goal in any MMO that I know of. It is just something that can happen to you to make the game bit more realistic. EDIT: as Hurlshot said, having consequences for death actually reduces the player killing. Bringing it back to EVE, when you kill other players you gain negative reputation and people can put a bounty on your head. So if you kill enough people you will get killed on sight unless you stay in the lawless areas and then you will still have to watch out for bounty hunters.

Aww, griefing is the best part. It breaks up the monotony and is generally fun. If you get frustrated over this then you might want to remind yourself that it is just a game.

Oh great, you accidentally the thread.

If there were consequences for death, maybe people would think twice before running headfirst into a random battle. Also running a way is always an option. People are just spoiled these days.

Wow, thats too hardcore for me. Imagine the time it takes to get kickass gear vs dying once and being stripped clean by a pack of piranah's. IIRC, dying in EQ involved losing experience, even to the point of dropping you a level if you lost enough. Thats an acceptable consequence IMO. Yeah, but that also makes it more exiting, you never know what comes next. Also it makes you care more about your hard earned equipment. I think that it was way cooler back in the day, now it's all just a happy utopia with no consequences, it kinda kills the thrill of getting ganked and mugged.

I completed Mirror's Edge totally by accident. Some of the platforming was fun, most of it was frustrating. The story was a joke and the end boss took 3 seconds to beat. So much for that... I have been playing some of Jagged Alliance 2 v1.13 which was really good. I'm kinda sick of normal JA2 map, can anyone suggest any good total conversion mods that work with 1.13? Also there are SO many guns that have pretty much the same stats, shouldn't have chosen "tons of guns" I guess, this time it actually meant it. Maybe I'll play Torment again, haven't had time recently...

Come on now, let's be fair. A MMO is as exiting or as boring as you make it. Just as mining gold or fishing gets boring in WoW, so does mining asteroids in EVE. If you go around trying to kill hapless miners, then it is much more fun. In an MMO you pretty much make it fun for yourself or grind endlessly. The difference with EVE seems to be that it is not capped, there is no maximum level you can reach, it is a process. You will always be able to get a better ship, that doesn't make your current ship crap. In large EVE battles(100s of ships) there are very specific roles that need a wide variety of different ships and skills. Better tactics and teamwork wins battles, not expensive ships. If you can't deal with there not being a maximum level, then EVE might not be for you, but you shouldn't dismiss it just because it has more menus and looks slower than another MMO.

... :remembers the gnashing of teeth that occured in WoW once he hit Redridge Mountains and beyond: I'm still scared, I guess scarred by WoW pvp server, where for kicks hordes at max level would go into alliance leveling zones and kick the crap out of alliance newbies. Um for those who don't know, PVP server means that world pvp is active for any territory that's designated "Contested" (which usually is everything except the first two zones for newbies). On a PVE realm you can't be killed unless you flag yourself for PVP combat. Getting your ship blown up isn't that bad. You can insure it and everything. There is also a nice tutorial in the beginning and the places that have "superpowered space pirates" are clearly marked. The idea wasn't to get you to play EVE, but to loosen up on the "second job" misconception.

You do underestand that you can "just screw around for a few hours and chat with guild" in EVE as well right? You don't HAVE to deal with the politics or financial stuff at all. You can just fly your ship around and kill space pirates/trade stuff/do contracts(like a courier). For some reason all EVE-related news is about the politics, you have to realize that this is the endgame, like raiding in WoW. When you finally get too bored to fight space pirates/etc. you dabble in the politics and do crazy stuff like that. The average player does less political stuff than your average citizen in a democratic party. Try out the 14-day trial people! There are just too many misconceptions about EVE. I don't know, I don't think I'd fit in. Either that or I'd get in WAYYYY over my head in the game. Why would you fit in any more or less than in another MMO? The only thing different in EVE is that a lot of the stuff if player-run and that it is in space. It is a bit overwhelming at first, but I usually get bored before the 14-day trial get over, so you have a built-in limit (Don't take that as a hit against the game's quality, I get bored with most MMOs after a week)

You do underestand that you can "just screw around for a few hours and chat with guild" in EVE as well right? You don't HAVE to deal with the politics or financial stuff at all. You can just fly your ship around and kill space pirates/trade stuff/do contracts(like a courier). For some reason all EVE-related news is about the politics, you have to realize that this is the endgame, like raiding in WoW. When you finally get too bored to fight space pirates/etc. you dabble in the politics and do crazy stuff like that. The average player does less political stuff than your average citizen in a democratic party. Try out the 14-day trial people! There are just too many misconceptions about EVE.

The only thing that strikes me as odd about Eve is how you train your skills. That just seems too mechanical, and basically nothing more than a testatment to how long you've had an account. I'm sure the process has defenders, but to me it just seems cold and dry. Perhaps I am not fully informed on how it works though. Basically you get a whole lot of skills at various levels at character creation. After that you choose one skill that you are training. It usually takes like 2h for level 1 and increases from there. Different skills take different time to train. The final level that you can train the skill to is 5(I think). For some skills it may take many days to get to level 5. The skill continues training while you are not playing. It basically caps your advancement with real time, not play time like in WoW. It basically removes grinding for experience(you can still grind for money and other stuff.). I don't think it is more "mechanical" than WoW, it's just different. The idea is that you play the game as you want and in time gain different skills. You will also have to plan ahead what you want to do/become. They also keep adding new skills. You also don't really need all that many skills to be effective. EDIT: you will also have to buy the skills to train them(for in-game money) and some cost quite a bit.

I think that stuff like this is what separates EVE from other MMOs like WoW. There is a lot less handholding and if you get scammed then tough luck. Also I believe that EVE get's a bad rap because it is a "second job" or whatnot. It is no different than any other MMO in that respect. You play it as much as you want and you can have a lot of fun with your friends/guild/whatever. Just because some people are really invested in the world doesn't mean you have to be to have fun. Just look at WoW you have people who run their own guild with 27 computers and you have people who just play a couple hours every week.

I have never been a huge fan of shooters, but maybe the "corridor shoot" genre has really been watered down to a level where all they really have to offer over each other is pretty graphics(with gray/brown filters and lots of film grain) and useless eyecandy physics.(having stuff fly around when you shot it got old after Max Payne 2). Back in the day you had FPS-s with cool twists like AvP2, Half-Life 2 and Farcry.(at least they were more than generic corridor shooters) Today you need a little more than "me too" bullet time and eye candy physics. EDIT: Is it REALLY that hard to mix the scary and shooty segments together? It feels so mechanical when you know that the scary segment ended because someone talks to you on the radio. Have some ghosts appear when you are shooting guys, have them get in the way and distract you from the real targets. Keep the player guessing.

It's pretty sad when the only tactical aspect of a game is leaning around corners. I would think that it was the smart AI that would flank you and take cover instead of just charging you Doom style. Some kind of cover mechanic would be nice, though. Too bad the best they have come up with is the whack-a-mole game of "hit them in the face when they peek out"

Console game. Actually it is surprisingly unconsol-y. Mouse control is not gimped and only some items on the ground glow(and not as much as in say Bioshock.) Also it is optimized pretty well(I'm looking at you GTAIV). Too bad I don't like the game, but to each his own...

That was pretty much what I expected. Good thing that they put out a demo though, otherwise I might have actually bought the game(probably not). The demo was so easy that the only time I died was when I held a grenade too long while trying to figure out how to change grenade types. The enemies' great AI(if it is indeed great) doesn't really come into play when you mow them down the second they appear. Using things for cover didn't seem to be very important either... I played on medium, maybe I should have tried hard. There was also some kinda of auto-aim or aim assist, I think.(the yellow little crosshair that appears when you shoot at an enemy) The "scary" parts and the "shooty" parts still go together with an audible *clunk*, your time-slowing gun-waving grenade-tossing super soldier turns into wimpy limping cripple who sees everything in black and white and hallucinates of fire and dead people who pretty much just chill there. There are a few closet-monster type scares that I am not a fan of. The mech part pretty much sealed the deal. It felt like a really awkward arcade shooter, you shoot enemies when they appear and look at a increasingly glowy, static-y HUD that tells you unimportant mech-stuff. Then you get out and play the game some more. Also, all the enemies spew some blue stuff when you shoot at them. Are they all cyborgs or something? The only good thing to come out of this for me is the inevitable Zero Punctuation Review. Edit: I should mention that the sound and the music were pretty good.

Downloading now from Fileshack, getting some pretty good speeds. Still no expecting much.

Yay, nice to see that you are keeping up with the times. You should get a cool avatar for your twitter profile, though. Next up: Podcast. Do it!