Hmm..it will be interesting to see how it develops, but I remember EQ2 getting very badly criticized for failing to have more than two capital cities in its launch, primarily due to the comparison with WoW.  Somehow, WoW was able to get a starting city ready for launch for each starting race.   

Perhaps even worse is the fact that a few of the races are not even going to have a melee tank class.  Time will tell, but I think these cuts will hurt.

If you want to call 5 huts on the beach a starting area   .

But yeah, outside of gnomes and trolls everyone got their own area. Not to mention the two new starting areas with the expac.

Yeah, and in WoW there is even lore to explain the gnomes' city becoming, essentially, a dungeon (Gnomeregan). I guess more my point is that it seems like many of these games are starting to fail in terms of releasing a similar level of content to what we saw released in WoW.  I actually prefer EQ2 overall to WoW due to perhaps the level of complexity, but WoW certainly was a very fleshed out product at launch.  Maybe companies are starting to sacrifice content to work on the graphics, but, to me, it doesn't seem like the graphical improvements of a game like AoC over EQ2 or WoW are significant enough to make-up for the lack of overall content at launch.  And I'm just comparing the content at launch - the comparison gets even more skewed if you consider the extra 4 years of development time that EQ2 and WoW have.

That being said, it's better that they are upfront with the changes, and we'll see what the finished product looks like.

Hmm..it will be interesting to see how it develops, but I remember EQ2 getting very badly criticized for failing to have more than two capital cities in its launch, primarily due to the comparison with WoW.  Somehow, WoW was able to get a starting city ready for launch for each starting race.   

Perhaps even worse is the fact that a few of the races are not even going to have a melee tank class.  Time will tell, but I think these cuts will hurt.

Sounds like fun!  Let me know if you ever have room for an additional character who could join up in the adventure.

Well, the subject line says it all.  I uncovered my Fallout 1 game and manual and I thought I'd try an install.  I find out the install doesn't work and the screen goes black.  Anyone get it to work on XP with a minimum of fuss?  I also looked online and saw some copies of Fallout 1 and 2 for XP?  Maybe it would be easier to just buy that copy, if it works?  Anyone had luck?  Thanks!

It looks like there's some directions at the bottom of the home page for that mod that allow you to use the mod with the steam version of BTS.

Jeff,

To attack a city that has high city defense, you really need to get some siege weapons on the field.  Use catapults early in the game to bombard the city to reduce its defenses slowly over a few turns, and make sure you have a fairly overwhelming force.  The 70% city defense means that each unit defending in the city gain that much extra strength, and this is in addition to other bonuses certain units may have when in cities (like archers who get a city defense bonus if I'm not mistaken, and/or if you took city defense as a promotion skill for certain units). 

Also, when attacking the city, try to keep your stack of units on an adjacent square to the city that has some defense bonuses, like a forest or hills (and less likely, jungle), and stick some strong defensive units to capitalize on the defensive bonuses of that terrain. 

Lastly, please remember that unless units have certain healing skills in the stack (some units get healing skills offered to them when they are promoted) or you've built certain wonders, your units will take forever to heal in an enemy cultural zone, and that's why you need to bring fairly overwhelming numbers.  And remember that war generals and spies can be a big help as you go to battle, as will be taking out certain squares that allow the defender to build stronger units (lie attacking and destroying his copper or iron mines early on).

To answer your question on turn order, it's pretty straightforward.  Whatever unit you choose in the stack will attack, and the defender's strongest defensive unit against that unit will defend.  For example, if you attack with a horse archer in early game, the defender will generally choose a spearman or pikemen which gets significant bonuses.  The game will actually show you the likelihood of winning a particular battle before you move.

Glad to hear it was a success!  Keep me in mind in case you need a fill-in in the future.

Crayola, are you planning on DM'ing future sessions as well?  I'd like to participate at some point if you have some room.  If that works, I'll grab the 4th edition books and get up-to-speed as I travel this weekend.

Hey all - just saw this thread now.  I can't make the first session as I'm traveling this weekend, but I'd like to create a character and participate in the future if that's a possibility.  Any class that's currently needed?

Yeah, it's always a tricky balance in these games to create a balance between grouping and solo content.  You should always provide additional encouragement to make people want to group, because it is always difficult to bring people together.  I think, ideally, that a new game should look at EQ2 and WoW and take the best aspects of both to create the best balances.  Something that might include the following features for PvE:

1.  Grouping gives an exp bonus the escalates slightly by the number in the group  (EQ2);
2.  Questlines that are group based that result in substantial rewards (EQ2 - Heritage Quests);
3.  Group instances that net you solid item rewards from bosses (WoW, less so in EQ2);
4.  Summoning stones by group instance entrances (WoW);
5.  MENTORING, whereby others in the group can decrease their level to someone else in the group and still get exp and do quests (EQ2).

It seems like most games have determined that standard group questlines that result in standard quest rewards are on the way out as it becomes hard down the line to find people to help you complete them.  Sure, at the beginning of the lifespan of the game there should be enough people doing them to help, but later they are much harder to finish.  I know EQ2 changed a number of group quests to be completable solo later.

I'm looking forward to better use of group instances in the future in these games - namely, randomized dungeons for groups to enter that still have a good selection of bosses and loot.  Randomized dungeons would make each new dungeon experience fresh and exciting.  I was always hoping that D&D online would have randomized dungeons to make it more intersesting, but they failed in that regard.

Yeah, I have not really seen good tattoos for characters in the recent games.  Conan has a ton of them, but I don't know, most of them seem really poor in the way they blend with the model's other tones and enviornmental effects.

If you're looking for a popular server, the two RP servers are fairly well populated still, even if they aren't quite as RP as they advertise.

Yeah, personally I find Vanguard and EQ2 to still be the most "complex" of the MMORPGs out there.  By "complex" I mean that there is more to the combat and crafting systems than other games.  Also, both Vanguard and EQ2 have the widest variety of races and classes to select from.  There are some drawbacks to this though - EQ2 has a much more difficult time adding in additonal armor models because they have to do them for each race and gender combination, and this is why it has taken so long to begin seeing some variety.  Vanguard took the easier way out - and that's why you don't see tails and the like.  They use similar models, but change out the head, hands, etc.

In any case, I'm a fan of having tons of different attack skills to choose from for different situations.  In EQ2 there are varieties of instant buffs, snares, facing dependent attacks that keep things spicey.  Vanguard also has chains and a variety of attacks to use that are situationally dependent.  Personally, WoW gets very boring - I feel for those pyro mages, for example, who just repetitively cast the same sequence of spells for damage.  Some people may prefer simplicity, but I have a good 6 hot-bars filled in EQ2 that contain useful skills, items that I use in situations, or potions.  Vanguard isn't too far behind there.

I'm playing AoC also right now, as well as EQ2, but I'm also in the camp that AoC needs to make some improvements.  Grouping in AoC is a pain as the "summon to instance" command seems useless at the moment so it is very hard to meet up with a group (basically you need to go back to the beginning of a zone, zone out, and zone back in to join the leader's party).  I have a station pass so I occasionally hop into Vanguard, but I'm waiting until they have some kind of rerelease so the population jumps up a bit.  I like grouping.  =)   Instancing and zones have never been pet peeves for me - I sometimes actually prefer joining a group and entering an instance.  It brings me back to the D&D days where it's just your group and the dungeon.  I'm looking forward to a time when some of these games can perhaps add some more randomness to the dungeons - kind of like what Anarchy Online tried to do but with more complexity.  D&D online gets a bit old because the dungeons are always the same after the first run through, and you rarely group with people who haven't been through the dungeon once.

Like the poster above said, there is a bit of timing involved, but not in the way you might think.  For all the talk of combat being closer to a first-person shooter, it's really not.  For combo attacks, especially those requiring more than one auto-attack, you need to wait to make sure the 1-2-3 (or q and e also for higher levels) directional attacks resolve in order before pressing the next button.  If you press them too fast you ruin the combo altogether.  Same for single combos.  Make sure the combo finishes before pressing any other attacks or you may ruin the combo.  Hopefully that makes sense.  The main thing is to watch the pop-up to see the directional attacks finish before pressing the next one in the sequence.

I guess I'm lucky that I've been running solo so far up to 16.  My main concern so far has been whether grouping would be as fun an experience as it is in EQ2 and WoW, and .  I'm not sure if the roles are as well defined in AoC as they are in those games, and typically that makes the battles more immersive.  However, it sounds like the bigger issue will be this disappearance bug.  Seems like it would make grouping futile to some extent.

That's good to know.  I was a little concerned that the higher level content might be lacking.  I'm taking my time though, and I'll keep bouncing between EQ2 and this for the time being.  The game is a bit too simple to drag me away from EQ2 in its current form, but I'm hoping more complexity awaits at the higher levels.

On that note, I've played all of the major fantasy MMORPGs that have come out, and I keep going back to EQ2 after a bit of time off.  I've always liked EQ2 for being more complex than most of the games out there, but this comes from a non-PvPer.  20 distinct races (different models, from rat people, to dragon people, to frog people) and 24 classes with their own uniqueness to the limited extent we can have it.  And, the GUI is really good - you can have three resizeable hotbars all triggered by numbered keys in conjunction with the CTRL and ALT keys, and you can have all 10 hotbars on the screen if you want to.  You can solo all the way up, group for dungeons, and raid in different tiers (not saying you can't do this in other games, but I'm just noting that this is possible in EQ2 now).  Mentoring is yet another nice addition, where high level characters can mentor lower level characters, allowing them to play at the same level of the lower level friends.

Personally, I have played all of the fantasy MMORPGs that have come out and I think EQ2 is the best of them at this point in time.  The number of expansions and quality of improvements puts EQ2 ahead of even WoW in my book.  I think WoW just feels a bit more repetitive, likely due to the simplicity.  Less spells, skills, easier crafting, etc., etc.  However, the biggest thing might be that EQ2 community consists of an older and more mature player-base.

One thing I've complained about in the past from beta is the "constricted" feeling of the zones. Now that I've delved deeper into the game, I feel a little sheepish because I was totally wrong. Some of the zones are indeed MASSIVE - bigger by far than anything in EQ2. I was very pleasantly surprised when I finally got deeper into the real world and realized that exploration was totally viable.

Needless to say, I'm having more fun than ever now. I've also got the hang of fighting really well now, including understanding what all my skills do and the best time to use them. When that flow of combat suddenly 'clicks' it becomes an entirely new game.

I'm liking the game so far as well.   P4 3.6 Ghz machine, 2Gb or Ram, with an 8800 card and I'm running fine on the middle graphics level.  Generally around 30 fps with minor slow-downs at times.  So far I guess I've been lucky.  I've only crashed once to the login screen, but I was immediately able to log right back in.  I'm hopeful that it opens up a bit after like King says above.  As one quick correction/note, EQ2's recent expansion Kunark has some absolutely enormous zones.  I'd say that some of them are 2-3, maybe 4, times larger than the largest zones that came with the original game.

Thanks, that's a good idea.  I'm guessing an NVIDIA® nForce™ 790i Chipset board would support both dual and quad core chips?  I'd likely get an Intel® E8400 Core2™ Duo (overclocked to 4.0GHz x 2) with 6MB of L2 cache at first.  Hopefully it would be fairly easy to upgrade to quad core later. 

For video card(s) I'm thinking of going all out and getting: 2x NVIDIA® GeForce™ 9800 GX2's 2GB GDDR3 in Quad-SLI.  Would it be better to just go with standard SLI rather than Quad at this time?  Something like 2x NVIDIA® GeForce™ 9800 GTX 1GB DDR3 in SLI instead?


I'm still tempted to buy a laptop, but it seems like it's just not value for gaming.

Hi.  I'm thinking about getting a new system, and I was wondering whether the extra price of a Quad Core would be worthwhile for a gaming rig?  Or is it better to go with an overclocked Dual Core?  Any thoughts?

Ok, it's about that time again for me as well.  My last, and most recent, computer is a Dell XPS still running off a Pentium 4, and I think it may be time for more than an upgrade.  I don't have time in my life, sadly, to put together a computer myself these days, but thankfully I work my you know what off so that I have some funds to play around with to buy fairly top-of-the-line stuff when I need to make the next jump.  However, I've been toying with the idea of getting a gaming laptop this time around so I can do some gaming on the road.  However, if laptops are still lagging behind desktops by a significant margin, I might reconsider.  Any suggestions on any computers I should be looking at that fit the bill?  I'd like to be able to play all the newest games when they come out this year at good resolutions.  Thanks!

Yeah, with the Civ games, they are only going to be fun if you get into the number crunching required in a turn-based game with such complexity.  I kind of like that myself.  Here are some I couldn't get into:

1.  Tabula Rasa:  No grouping made me very sad.  Seemed a bit too simple, and everyone is too much alike.

2.  Heroes of Might and Magic V: For some reason the graphics actually hurt the gameplay for me.  Still nothing beats HOMM3.

3.  Neverwinter Nights 2: I may go back to this one, but I stopped playing about the time you have to start building a fortress.  Seems like too much "work" to play.

Brandywine is a very active server if that helps.

Well, when I was in for the free month, the one thing that VG had going for it that some of the others don't is that people do actually group on there.  When I go on WoW, unless I'm on a level 70, I hardly ever group or see anyone in the low-level ranges.  Sure, you might be able to find some groups for instances, but it's hard to find them for anything else.  This proposal might meet with great disdain by the regular WoW players, but I think that they should allow Horde and Alliance players to group together on the non-PvP servers.  You can still keep the PvP flags and such in place, but it would be helpful in finding groups - I don't quite get why they can't talk to each-other on non-PvP servers.  Or, do what EQ2 also did (EQ2 long ago decided to allow the 2 factions to group with each-other), and allow mentoring so level 70s can level down to join up with lower level group members.  EQ2 is really ahead of its time in that regard for this kind of game.

Well...moving on my frustration is still going on Noveria.  The Hot Labs proved to be a bit painful...I was too weak to make the mad dash through the Rachni at this level.  Finally made it on the 5th try or so.  I need to pay attention to the subtle hints next time! 

I kind of think this game made its biggest mistake in the art department.  There just isn't enough to customize your character with.  Seems like there is even less than say, Mass Effect, which I'm currently playing.  They need to add more looks to distinguish folks.  I'd also say that there isn't enough class diversity.  I hardly see anyone grouping at lower levels, and that doesn't make for an immersive environment.

I kind of think I know what happened.  Because I was such a low level, my Adept's biotic skills (and Garrus' damping skills) were not powerful enough to stun Benezia (I tried everything, but nothing worked on her), so she could get off one of her big blasts before I could do anything.  Obviously the scaling for this battle is not as effective.  My comrades would be knocked down, but, being an adept, I could weather her blast a bit and stay on my feet a bit better.  Thus, they always seemed to be blocked when I tried to call them up. 

On normal combat level, I tried everything I could think of - to using Phasic rounds to get some damage through those biotic barrier shields, to trying radioactive damage, etc.  Sadly, it was further complicated by the fact that I was out of grenades after the first battle.  However, it was much easier on casual and I got past the battle on the first try.

It's really too bad that they don't give you at least some prodding to do this later in the game.  It seems like it would be a neat later battle if I had a bit more experience (and better gear) under my belt.  Overall, it's a fun story, but I hope they improve on the combat a bit in the next game in the series, if there is one.

Another note that some might find helpful - if your character, or your comrades, are actually capable of regenerating health, this actually happens WHILE you converse with someone.  I noticed that if I skipped through the conversation with Benezia between the first and second battles, some of my guys would not have fully regenerated yet, thus forcing me to listen to everything, or just let the conversation hang while I went and got some snacks.

Calvin, yeah I got through that part....the fight after that is the hardest.  Sorry for any spoilers, but all the stuff talked about is pretty obvious, and you know this fight is going to happen from the beginning of the game.  However, this will be good for all people playing.  Do not go to Noveria directly after the Citadel.  Although they supposedly scale the battles, this one is not scaled enough, and it is very difficult on normal level.  I finally got around it by cheating slightly and turning the combat down to casual.

Actually, I'm totally wrong.  I'm now stuck at the second battle, and I've tried a dozen times to no avail.  I may be screwed.  My foolish comrades are useless, and my biotic powers are very limited.  I just try to kill Benezia as quickly as possible, but usually the rest of the gang is close to dead, then we get ganked up there on the platform.  I really need some help here, otherwise I'll have to sadly start over from a much earlier point.

Misguided, yep, I'm through that fight.  For some reason, the next one is causing me problems now (where you finish her off), and I know it's technically easier.  My silly comrades are doing stupid things in that battle, and they don't respond to commands well (they also get blocked so I can't access their skills).

I've been adding points.  From what I've read elsewhere, the fight is very tough if you do that planet first right after the Citadel.  I'm only level 11 or so.  I've got Garrus and Ashely in my party and Shepherd is an Adept, which doesn't help a lot.  Sadly, Garrus has damping, but I can't access his skills during the battle as they are "blocked".  And because "X", like you said, doesn't allow you to journal the specific conversations I've been going through the dialog.  I'm now stuck at the middle battle where you finish Benizia off, I'm sure I'll finish it soon, it's just a bit frustrating.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS IN THIS THREAD:

Well, I've been really enjoying the game so far.  Unfortunately I made the mistake of going to the Matriarch Benezia planet directly after the Citadel.  The final confrontation with her is very hard at such a low level.  I've made it through the first wave, spoken to her, and now I just can't seem to finish her off.  Any advice?

I think part of my problem is that I've never wanted to switch to the receiver to catch balls.  I much prefer just focusing on being the QB and making the throws, letting the receiver catch them on his own.  I've been finding the 1 on 1 match-ups, but say on a streak, almost every time I've had Moss on a CB 1 on 1, the AI CB jumps in front of Moss to deflect or intercept the pass.  I'm sure in those instances if I was controlling the receiver I might be able to fight back and grab it, but I really don't think I want to have to do that.  It's exhausting enough trying to avoid the super-fast blitzing as it is.  That being said, the first few games were tight (because I have no trouble on defense), but something about the passing wasn't right.  I found I just had to focus on crossing patterns where the receiver was clearly in front of the defender and thus open rather than 1 on 1 match-ups deep or out to the side, if that makes sense. 

It also doesn't help that there is such a lack of options in the 360 version (such as camera angles).  Is there a way to see the whole field?  I find I have to roll-out to even see if a wide-out is open.

I think my main problem and frustration is that I really want more of a sim with some playability, and Madden is feeling more and more like an arcade game.

Well, I played it some more tonight after getting the update.  The fumbling is certainly less, but now I'm starting to see how unplayable the passing game is on ALL-PRO level, which seems to be about the right level for me (otherwise the computer will never move the ball).  Sadly, all there is at that level is the same trick passing plays as the receivers never seem to get open and even with interceptions on 0 for the computer, they still intercept like crazy.  I also notice that supersim is totally broken.  This ranks as one of the worst Maddens I have ever played, and I've played a lot of them.  It's all lacquer and no substance.  Anyone want to trade something for Madden 08?

Ahh, so I guess I need to sign up for a silver account at least?  Thanks.

Quick Question:  What do I have to do to get the Madden update?  Never done this online thing on a console before.  Thanks in advance!

Krono,

Sadly, there is.  On standard controls, it's the right button.  However, like I mentioned in my OP I started trying that on all kick and punt returns and it did nothing.

However, I haven't patched the game yet.  Guess I need to set-up my XBox Live account so that I can login and get the update?

So I bought an XBox 360 over the holidays and decided to grab Madden 08 while at the store.  So, I fire it up, start a franchise and start to play a game.  First play of the game my kick returner fumbles the ball.  I'm starting to think, "Oh crap, THAT hasn't been fixed yet?"  Nope, I proceed to fumble at least 2 more kicks during the game and in frustration I start another one. 

Between games I try to adjust sliders to increase carrying ability.  Can't in this version.  Also no accelerated clock or the ability to automatically sub out players who are tired (to better distribute stats for those of us who want realism). 

Disappointed I start another game.  This time it's raining.  I think to myself that the graphics look great.  First play, my kick returner fumbles again.  I hold the opposing team to a field goal.  I start using the protect the ball button on all kick returns.  I proceed to fumble yet again regardless on the next 2! kicks in a row.  My RB, Reggie Bush, who has a carry of 78 (not good, but not the worst) ends the game of 7 minute quarters with 4 fumbles.  Overall, my team has fumbled 11 times.  The game goes in the closet (it should go in the trash).  What a disappointment, and with no sliders, I really don't understand how people can play this crap.  Madden used to be better than this.  It's particularly sad because the graphics are so good.

I wanted to alert everyone to the fact that you will have a free month of access to Vanguard if you cancelled your account more than 2 months ago.  Due to the absolutely poor communication of SOE, I had no idea until I happened to glance at a forum posting.  The game has improved a wee bit (still needs more in my estimation, but good for a free month), and you can get a free flying mount through January 3 (a flying reindeer named Randolph) that helps get you around Telon for the next week.

Well, I finally got the copy, but I'm a little behind you guys.  Should be on a bit later tonight (if significant other allows) trying to figure out whether I like my soldier or specialist more.  I like the idea of dishing out logos damage, but I'm not sure how well developed the exobiologist is at this point.  It also seems like the specialist has much greater survivability at least at early levels, which more than compensates for the lack of damage.  Oh, and the surname is "Murdox" if you want to look me up.

Well, I'd like to play this weekend, but my 3 day trial ended last night, and I'm not expecting to receive the game from Amazon until Monday.  Anyone have any guest pass thing that could help us both over the weekend?  I'm on the East Coast Server as well.

Regardless, I will wreak vengence on the game engine and complete the game!    Just started Chapter 3, so we'll see what frustrations are in store for me in this chapter!