Quote :

"Also, as a general rule, if it says SOE on the box, avoid it."

bingo

3/2/2006 12:53:07 PM

Quote :

"it just seems like in WoW everybody can be an elite max level player,"

that's because you haven't played it all that much


everyone can be max level.... not everyone can be "elite" as you put it. I like that in wow competence > gear. If you're good you can dominate well geared players who suck. Which is very rewarding because there are ASSLOADS of well geared people who blow dick at pvp.


My friend convinced me to play on shardsofdalaya.com emu server this past week...and I must say ... I'm a retarded amount better at wow than I am at eq. it's mindboggling really

he laughs at me beacuse I'm such a gimp. That and I tend to not get groups since I'm too scrub to two box just yet.

3/2/2006 1:00:19 PM

i wish FFXI was more geared to casual players like WoW is.

I really liked it, but there was no way i could get anywhere.

3/2/2006 1:09:32 PM

WoW is the top.

There are three types of servers, if you don't like the asshole, I'd reccomend an RP server. They're more geared towards adults that want the immersion, and less toward the PVP kids that just run around sapping people.


there are more rules in an RP server, but if you're into the lore, it's no biggie.

3/2/2006 1:24:54 PM

im big into the lore of the world

but those people on RP servers are fucking freaks

3/2/2006 1:26:36 PM

yeah, but what would you rather deal with:

PVP kids being kids, spamming channels and sapping you while you do quests.


or


Some Night Elf from VT that wants to "marry" your human warrior


?

3/2/2006 1:31:31 PM

Quote :

"There are three types of servers, if you don't like the asshole, I'd reccomend an RP server. They're more geared towards adults that want the immersion, and less toward the PVP kids that just run around sapping people. there are more rules in an RP server, but if you're into the lore, it's no biggie."

getting on an rp server is great if you want to make a rogue and just fuck people up.

3/2/2006 2:04:00 PM

Quote :

"That and I tend to not get groups since I'm too scrub to two box just yet."

remember that guy that would always 12 box? apparently he had some terminal illness and died not so long ago.

3/2/2006 2:05:22 PM

Quote :

"i wish FFXI was more geared to casual players like WoW is. I really liked it, but there was no way i could get anywhere."

That's what many people say, but isn't it a good thing that it takes a long time to reach the top? It took how long for people to reach 60 in WoW? a few months? That's just silly.

3/2/2006 2:29:51 PM

60 != top

having to group to do EVERYTHING is what sucked about FFXI

[Edited on March 2, 2006 at 2:31 PM. Reason : *]

3/2/2006 2:30:47 PM

STOP TRYING TO TAKE OVER THIS THREAD WOW FAGS

3/2/2006 4:30:32 PM

whether 60 is "top" or not is irrelevant. you are maxed out leveling wise and have the ability to do high end content unless ppl hate you (which woulda happened anyways). having to actually work to get to the top tier JUST TO BE ELIGIBLE is much more impressive to me.

for many the leveling aspect is more enjoyable than raiding or trying to break boundaries. having to work just to hit the top tier is an acomplishment in and of itself. the raiding and whatnot just adds to that.

3/2/2006 5:10:43 PM

I just kinda want to see cool content throughout, rather than having to just rush to max level so I can get half the game's content, thats more what I was trying to get at

[Edited on March 2, 2006 at 6:48 PM. Reason : .]

3/2/2006 6:48:21 PM

i mean, most games have decently interesting mid level dungeons. they usually just arent as populated and are ppl looking to grind more than explore because the end game stuff is cooler and/or wins you epoints. it is just how mmo's are. wow was the closest thing to midlevel fun since you had plenty of instances to do and could actually explore and quest.

3/2/2006 7:02:46 PM

Star Trek MMO

3/2/2006 7:20:03 PM

I still play FFXI. Tried WoW but got bored. Was too easy.

In FFXI the expansion Chains of Promethia was rediculously hard. I'd guess that less than 5% of the population has finished it (I'd honeslty put it at <2-3%) but the feeling I got when I finally finished it was far better than my entire WoW experience. I'll take a difficult MMO any day of the week.

3/2/2006 8:42:43 PM

You finished it? Congratulations!

I'll spare you the rant, but suffice it so say that I think 8 skilled lvl 72+ players shouldn't have to go through so much crap getting through a storyline simply because they don't have an ideal party makeup.

I just beat 3-5, though.

3/2/2006 9:03:42 PM

I swear by Star Wars Galaxies, despite the massive restructuring right now. It still has the deepest roleplay possibilities, and the most "lived-in" world.

It's a little more social in general, and there's a free 10 day downloadable trial.

Bria server is where it's at.

...but SOE are asshats.

[Edited on March 2, 2006 at 10:59 PM. Reason : SOE]

3/2/2006 10:59:02 PM

http://www.vanguardsagaofheroes.com/

Original creators of Everquest and a collection of top programmers, artists, producers, etc. from the industry.

3/2/2006 11:01:10 PM

Quote :

"I'll spare you the rant, but suffice it so say that I think 8 skilled lvl 72+ players shouldn't have to go through so much crap getting through a storyline simply because they don't have an ideal party makeup. I just beat 3-5, though. "

Congrats. 3-5 was fun. If I remember right, we went in with 3x NIN, RDM, BLM, WHM and almost lost it. the other 2 NIN both ate Nightmare back to back (we were stunning with Sword WS's since we had no DRK) and dropped so I main tanked him until weakness wore and we could do some decent damage. Was a fun 15 min and we were very lucky that Diablos stopped spamming Nightmare after tank #2 dropped.

Overall, the BC's are more about player skill, preparation and knowing your enemy. I went through about 75% of the BC fights as THF/NIN which will surprise most people. If you ever want advice on any of the BC's, I can give it to you because chances are, I did them the hard way as a THF. Sometimes I came as NIN but I never had NIN past 40 at the time so after chapter 4, it was THF all the way. The only time you'll need very specific job setups are for the Snoll Tzar BC where you have to do 10K damage in about 45 seconds (I didn't do too bad, 2.5K damage in 45 sec as a THF, the SAM and the WAR out damaged me but I beat the BLM because his casting took too long...bring RDM instead if you can). The other fights can be won with solid cookie cutter EXP parties as long as everyone knows their role, brings medicines and you get a little luck. NIN tanks are usually preferred over PLD but I've seen PLD tank all but 6-4 (the airship fight with Omega and Ultima Weapon...your tank has got to eat his or her wheaties before this one. I watched the best NIN tank I know with dozens of gods and HNM's under her belt wipe to these guys five or six times before winning it).

If memory serves, you'll be on 4-2 next which is the Ouryu fight.



Oreo is a pain in the ass unless you manaburn him. He can be beat with a cookie cutter EXP party but trust me on this one, get a NIN, 3X BLM, 1xRDM and a WHM (or a leecher as the RDM can cure what little will need curing). Tank runs in and vokes but does not engage. BLMs will cast Freeze x3 at the same time (any good set of BLM's will know how to time this). Once they land the tank should use mistmelt and the RDM should Elemental Seal + Sleep. BLM's rest, tank keeps voking and repeat the process (won't have ES second time but no big deal). 3 vollies of Freeze and he'll be down (I reccomend resting between 1st and second volly then after #2, sleep Oreo then have BLM's Manafont for a quick finish but only if you're doing this once. If you're doing it multiple time for a lot of leechers, then you'll want to take it slow but sure. ES+ sleep will get you 1 min or so of resting. Regular sleep about 30 sec which is plenty). You'll need 2x mistmelts for each fight to bring Oreo down after every set of freeze lands. give them all to the tank. He'll have to use it before the sleep can go off because when Oreo flies, he's immune to sleep. If you do it this way with good BLM's and a tank that doesn't panic, it'll be the easiest BC so far in the series.

anyhow, keep your head up. It's a long series of fights and you'll pull your hair out more than once but the rewards are very much worth it. I have a couple good guides I'll link for you. They helped me out a lot.

http://promathia.runtimerepairs.com/
http://www.geocities.com/inariyaffxi/

first link is more complete, second one was made by a good friend of mine.

PS: what server are you on? I'm Alexander server.

3/3/2006 1:16:14 AM

Thanks for the tips.

While I beat 3-5, my static has 10 members, and the other group lost after Diablos spammed nightmare 4 times in pretty rapid succession. So I'll be helping the other four members this weekend, then we're mistmelt farming for Ouryu, who we'll fight next weekend. We're going to go the manaburning route as well, so hopefully it won't be too hard.

For Snoll Tzar, I guess we're just going to have to eat a bunch of exp until we get lucky. We're thinking we'll use icarus wings and do a fusion SC on it, and have our two BLMs (I'm one of them) MB ancient magic on it. We'll have to look at our WSs to see if a fire SC is even worth it, though. Apparently it's mostly luck with this thing.

For 6-4, I was extremely relieved this afternoon to discover that our PLD has SAM leveled to 60. Now we won't have to beat it with a PLD tank. "Whew!" We have a NIN and a BRD, so we should be pretty well off for this fight.

btw, my static and their caps are:

player 1: 75 NIN 60 DRK
player 2: 75 PLD 60 SAM
player 3: 75 BLM BRD WHM
player 4: 75 WAR 60 NIN 40 RNG SMN
player 5: 71 RNG 40 NIN
player 6: 75 BST 40 WHM NIN WAR
player 7: 75 WHM 60 RDM 40 BLM
player 8: 75 MNK 40 WAR
player 9: 74 BLM 40 WHM (me)
player 10: 65 MNK 40 PLD WAR WHM

All are experienced, mature players from a Sky LS we all used to be in. What frustrates me is that even with this kind of manpower, most of our fights are still determined more by luck than skill.

Oh, and I'm on Gilgamesh

3/3/2006 2:47:31 AM

Is there a FFXI demo? I'd be interested in trying it. I might twy SWG while I'm at it.

3/3/2006 2:49:51 AM

Quote :

"For Snoll Tzar, I guess we're just going to have to eat a bunch of exp until we get lucky. We're thinking we'll use icarus wings and do a fusion SC on it, and have our two BLMs (I'm one of them) MB ancient magic on it. We'll have to look at our WSs to see if a fire SC is even worth it, though. Apparently it's mostly luck with this thing. "

skillchains are worthless. too much time to setup. you really rely on spamming WS (iccarus wings) to win this fight and if you spend a lot of time on a low damage WS to open or close a chain, you're in trouble. Ancient Magic is also a waste as it takes too long to cast. 18ish second Flare cast is 33% of your fighting time and at level 60, probably about 30-40% of a BLM's MP. You're best off loading up on Magic ACC and laying down Fire III and FiregaII then manafonting when you run low. Biggest problem I had with Snoll was keeping people alive long enough to unload all their damage potential. No PLD, even with invincible can keep hate off a BLM nuking that hard or a MNK with Iccarus wing > Raging Fists > Hundred Fists or a SAM/RNG unloading 5 sidewinders in a row. So yeah, luck is a big key here. Stock up on Iccarus wings and hope for the best. Bring plenty of clusters for extra salts. It took my group 2 tries to win it.

Quote :

"For 6-4, I was extremely relieved this afternoon to discover that our PLD has SAM leveled to 60. Now we won't have to beat it with a PLD tank. "Whew!" We have a NIN and a BRD, so we should be pretty well off for this fight."

6-4 is really a nightmare. I don't know if you've ever done any of the KS99 fights or Divine Might or the like but they're nothing compared to this fight. It's by far the toughest BC in the game. Expect your NIN to have 2 maybe 3 nervous breakdowns on this one and expect to go nearly broke buying CCB polymers from the AH (farming is a pain in the ass). My reccomendation is to go on 2 dry runs without using many medicines. Your NIN will need to learn how to tank Ultima and Omega as they both have nasty tricks. I can't give much advice as I was THF/NIN in that fight and mainly just tried to stay out of trouble to keep the mages from having to waste MP on me. I litterally stayed away from the mob unless SA or TA was ready and I did my damage then ran. Oh and don't forget the Marmats. 5x marmats open the fight. I soloed one as THF/NIN so they're nowhere near as bad as the 2.5 Marmats. I'd say EM to T at most. Our NIN tanked 2 of them, I took 1, WAR/NIN took 1 and RDM kited 1. WAR killed his then helped RDM kill his. Then they took one off the NIN and I finished mine about the same time they finished theirs. Then we bum rushed the 5th. If you can finish the Marmats in 10 min, you're on track. Then expect 1 wipe to Omega around 2-5% unless you use lots of CCB (though I recommend only 1-2 and save them for Ultima). Try to die by the wall so you can get up and rest. If you're super fast and have 20 min left after Omega, go for the win on Ultima. If not, try ultima but save your CCB for the next run. You'll need 18 min or more to finish him. When you get him to 30%-40%, start CCB, @25% 2 hours. @10%, all melee use Iccarus wing and let him have it. If you get the win, go grab a beer or 6, you earned it.

after 6-4 you have 1 more BC before sea but it's cake. Not gonna spoil it for you. Just get a tank and melee DD's and compete for most damage. It's uncapped so you can really lay waste. Opopo Necklace + Sleep Pots to 100TP > WS > Iccarus Wing > WS to 2 hours and the mob will die within 20 sec. If not you've probably seen the mob do a level 5 (yes, 5) Skillchain and 2 if not 3 of your party are dead. Some guides say you'll wipe if the level 5 goes off but I've never seen that happen. Bring MNK, SAM and WAR in large numbers. Our MNK, SAM, and WAR's all compete to see who can pull hate and die first. It's a fun little fight.

Quote :

"Is there a FFXI demo? I'd be interested in trying it. I might twy SWG while I'm at it."

No demo for FFXI I'm aware of. It should be cheap though.


[Edited on March 3, 2006 at 3:23 AM. Reason : ....]

3/3/2006 3:19:42 AM

I'm not interested in dropping $30 to try out a new addiction when I ought to kick my old one anyway.

3/3/2006 3:27:27 AM

yeah, I really am not aware of any free trial for FFXI. which is a shame because it's a pretty good game if you're into it.

3/3/2006 3:37:25 AM

I'm thinking about EVE Online... anyone else play? I went to their site last night and was looking at the details of the game, but I'd like to get someones opinion who has played it.

3/3/2006 7:21:16 AM

Quote :

"I swear by Star Wars Galaxies, despite the massive restructuring right now. It still has the deepest roleplay possibilities, and the most "lived-in" world. It's a little more social in general, and there's a free 10 day downloadable trial. Bria server is where it's at."

I played on Chilastra for almost 6 months. It's definitely one of the more social mmos, and the gameplay is more varied. I didnt feel like grinding for 6 months to get jedi, so I got bored. Its different now tho.

3/3/2006 10:28:15 AM

Quote :

"STOP TRYING TO TAKE OVER THIS THREAD WOW FAGS"

Agreed, wow shit goes in the billion page wow thread.

3/3/2006 10:30:49 AM

but only if youre not talking about yourself, your characters, or your guild

3/3/2006 11:00:05 AM

http://www.runescape.com

no stunning graphics, but its free, so it fits into a college students budget.

3/3/2006 11:15:17 AM

Quote :

"I played on Chilastra for almost 6 months. It's definitely one of the more social mmos, and the gameplay is more varied. I didnt feel like grinding for 6 months to get jedi, so I got bored. Its different now tho."

I've been playing foe a year and a half now, and been an non-force-sensitive Image Designer since the start. You're right about the varied gamepley. There's actually a significant amount of stuff to do without having to fight.

3/3/2006 1:02:14 PM

Quote :

"I'm thinking about EVE Online... anyone else play? I went to their site last night and was looking at the details of the game, but I'd like to get someones opinion who has played it. "

Dude, I've had two posts already in this thread about Eve. Just try out the free 14 day trial. It takes a few hours to get used to the controls and learn the game, and after that it's gravy. Great game for casual players since you don't have to grind to keep up with anyone.

3/3/2006 2:14:34 PM

yeah... I read their site, I've download the client and I'm installing it now.

Signed up for the free 14 day trial too.

Kinda excited to try it.

3/3/2006 2:38:17 PM

i hear nothing but good things about vanguard. I may move there after wow.

3/3/2006 2:50:40 PM

it was mentioned earlier, and I don't know if they were joking, but I'm looking forward to what they try to do with the star trek mmo...granted it's not coming out till around 2008, so i have plenty of time to wait, i'm just curious

3/3/2006 4:38:34 PM

Remaining cautiously optimistic about the trek mmo and the LOTR mmo

3/3/2006 4:42:12 PM

^ A LOTR mmorpg is doomed from the start simply due to the fanbase it'd attract.

Quote :

"Has anyone heard anything about the pirate mmorpg?"

http://www.burningsea.com/

?

3/3/2006 5:16:31 PM

I dont think you could possibly make a LOTR mmo and have it satisfy the trillion of "lore" hungry folk about. Anything they implemented would be critized and bitched about into oblivion. I think it was an awesome Idea, but i really dont see it taking hold

3/3/2006 5:24:21 PM

EVE is cool, and super-massive, but its loooooooooooooooooong and it can feel like a space-travel-sim sometimes.

3/3/2006 5:25:25 PM

I still don't know how you'd reconcile the fact that Elves are inherently better than the other races.

3/3/2006 6:01:12 PM

Or the fact that everybody wants to be a wizard and there's only five of them.

3/3/2006 6:14:31 PM

I thought many of those thoughts until I saw the fantastic job Turbine did with Dungeons & Dragons Online even down to the fact that the attacks in game are determined by dice rolls. LOTR Online may suck as a traditional MMO but I do not expect it to stray far from the lore.

3/3/2006 6:46:31 PM

Quote :

"but only if youre not talking about yourself, your characters, or your guild"

LOL.

i heard leveling in DD was ridiculously easy? i was reading some forums on the lotr mmo and people were saying they hated DD as an mmo and that ppl were leveling way faster than new content could keep up. at least i thought it was DD. i know it was a turbine mmo

3/3/2006 7:43:20 PM

Yeah, that is one complaint I guess. You can get a char to max level really fast.

3/3/2006 8:28:36 PM

yea i just heard that when it first came out they hadnt really released/finished endgame content and i think i heard a guy maxed out the initial level in 2 weeks playing only 5 hours a day

3/3/2006 8:31:50 PM

Quote :

"the attacks in game are determined by dice rolls."

?

Do they show fucking dice or something?

I mean, all computer RPGs effectively determine outcomes by "dice rolls".

3/3/2006 8:43:03 PM

It shows the dice when you attack. Also you buy weapons based on their dice. Like a sword with two 8-sided dice, etc.

3/3/2006 8:50:18 PM

EverQuest was easily the best MMO of all time. EverQuest 2 sucks beyond all comprehension. It's like they made a bet with themselves to see how badly it could suck, and they surpassed all expectations. Every single thing about the game sucks except for the graphics.

3/4/2006 1:51:05 AM

Quote :

"I'm thinking about EVE Online... anyone else play? I went to their site last night and was looking at the details of the game, but I'd like to get someones opinion who has played it."

It's like a SETI you can interact with.

3/4/2006 1:56:31 AM

Quote :

" It's like a SETI you can interact with."

Well, I download and installed.. and signed up for the 14 day trial. Played about an hour into the tutorials. This shit is complex! Maybe it's just how new it is, but the scope of the game seems quite massive. Plus I barely got outside of the space station before I had to quit.

Seems much more complicated that WoW. That is a good thing I guess, just a steeper learning curve.

I don't really get/see the major differences between the different races you can play, and then the differnt bloodlines. Even after reading through a lot of the player guide and faq stuff, it still seems like I've got a billion more questions than the material online covered.

So far tho... impressed.

Reminds me a TON of Homeworld... but with a pulse.

[Edited on March 4, 2006 at 8:23 AM. Reason : .]

3/4/2006 8:23:00 AM