darktyger

*snerk* Definitely a matter of opinion on WC3...
--
Dark Tyger, keeper of the Nerf Railgun(tm)

All hail the Thief....

42

Actually my favorite RTS of all time still has to be Warzone 2100.
Everything since then has felt like a giant step backwards in user
interface.

With 2100 I could run a multi-pronged attack, maintain unit production,
rely on base defenses to hold up without continual intervention, rely on
individual units to return to nearby repair bases for repair *and*
return to their battle groups without my intervention, and not be
perpetually farking around my base clicking on frightened harvestors...

It had some balance issues, and was vulnerable to early zerg like
virtually all RTSes, and it was still a clickfest... but it felt
productive... I wasn't always madly clicking on idiot units trying to
get them to do something more useful than stand there, madly searching
for units who had fallen out of a group and were sitting abandoned in
the middle of nowhere, madly searching for harvestors who were hiding in
corners... I was madly clicking because I had multiple armies engaging
multiple fronts, while directing bomber runs, surgical vtol strikes, and
monitoring the perpetual barrages of artillery and counter artillery
striking accross the map... twas glorious

Your right, Warcraft 3 isn't quite the revolution it should have been...
but if your looking for a quality revolution in a Warcraft clone like
LoE... nuff said.

darktyger

Just to back up what I said in my other reply:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/games/...earch=warcraft

WC3 got 79 positive review out of 79. WC3TFT got 21 out of 23....and
one of the review Rotten Tomatoes said was rotten gave it a 90+%, and
the other gave it a poor review because the reviewer thought the
single player was too hard. =/

Mind you, my own opinions were developed before I saw this. In fact, I
only bothered to check this out after reading your post. WC3 and the
expansion weren't perfect, but between my own experience, reading
forums and newsgroups, and the reviews above, I'd say that to say you
found it "rather poor" puts you in the minority. That doesn't make you
wrong, of course...just felt such a negative review needs to be
countered with the other end of the spectrum.

I can't comment on AOE, though.
--
Dark Tyger, keeper of the Nerf Railgun(tm)

All hail the Thief....

davian

A matter of opinion. I actually like strategy games, but I prefer turn
based, like Civilization. For me, the real time seems to take the strategy
out of it. Turns it into just another twitch game, where the person that
can click the fastest wins.

--
Dearic - Level 65 Overlord on E'ci
Talynne - Level 65 Deceiver on E'ci

davian

I don't really mind the idea of selling the beta. I just think the price is
outrageous. After all, most MMORPG's never really move beyond the beta
portion of thier development, IMO. Where they lost me was because they went
out a'spamming. I don't preorder games... and I'm certainly not going to
buy it after it's released, considering they've made me click through an
advertisement for it every time I log in for the past 3 weeks.

Then they started the in-game spam via GM announcements. Kind of funny to
see every chat channel start going nuts every time they do it. SOE is
definitely not making friends with this agressive advertising.


--
Dearic - Level 65 Overlord on E'ci
Talynne - Level 65 Deceiver on E'ci

darktyger

I do prefer Civ type games. I rather preferred Alpha Centauri,
actually. Not so much Civ3. If they could have taken Civ3 and AC and
merged the best concepts of each into one game, it would've been
perfect, IMO. Master of Magic and Master of Orion were both
terrific games in the genre, too.
--
Dark Tyger, keeper of the Nerf Railgun(tm)

All hail the Thief....

42

Yikes... I heartily agree with him here. Alpha Centauri was 'best in
class' for its Diplomacy engine... I won several games because I knew
how to turn my opponents against eachother... and loved it because it
wasn't some goofy trick... it made perfect sense.

MoM was another brilliant title that suffered primarily from being too
easy. And both MoO and MoO2 are classics, although I haven't tried the
3rd installment.

Too bad DT plonked me this week... but, for the rest of the group, he's
right on the money here.

bob perez

Oh come on, the OP asked for more information about RTS games and made it
clear they weren't familiar with WC or AOE, so I elaborated for the benefit
of someone who doesn't understand what an RTS is. I made it clear that
although I found the game "moderately fun", I wasn't commenting positively
on the gameplay, the AI or the potential longevity of the title.

To suggest that I was paid by SOE (yeah I know it was in jest, but still) is
overstating things, don't ya think?

For the record, I spent some time playing this game earlier tonight and I
can tell you with confidence: don't buy this unless you have a serious
jonesing for EQ in an RTS, or if you just want the EQ2 Beta invite. A few
observations:

1) If you want to play a skirmish against the computer, you would probably
look in the Single Player menu and choose Battlemap. You would be wrong,
that option is only for custom maps made by the mod community that has yet
to materialize. No, in order to play a single player skirmish vs the
computer, you have to go to the Multiplayer menu, choose the LAN option,
then click on your opponent to turn him into a Computer player. Of course,
this means that you can't save or pause your game since you're playing a
multiplayer game. Those features are only available if you choose one of the
Campaigns. /boggle.

2) The AI stinks. If you approach, say, a pack of gnolls and stand near one,
it will aggro and come toward you. At that point you can sic your Lord
against this one unit and not worry at all about the other units all
standing nearby, apparently oblivious to one of their kind being slaughtered
in front of them. If you accidentally step into aggro range of the others
and they charge you, no problem. Just step back a few steps and they'll run
back to where they were standing, apparently forgetting that you're fighting
in front of their faces. Imagine if EQ worked that way.

3) I went online to SOEGames.net, the new online matchmaking service for
playing online LoE. There was no one in the lobby, and apparently no games
being played. So I left. I tried it again later with the same result. This
is exactly what happened on the first day that I brought the title home, on
Day One, which is kind of surprising for the launch of a major title. Well,
I was curious about this and visited the forums and the response from the
forum moderator was that the service doesn't give any indication of games
actually being played. It only shows games waiting for players and then
promptly removes them from the display once started. The impression created
is that SOEGames.net is a ghost town and no one is home. The forums had
messages to this effect from players disappointed that no one is playing
this new game. The designer who came up with this idea needs to be awarded a
plaque or something in recognition of their contribution to the cause of
Engineering Efficiency, and then promptly FIRED for one of the dumbest ideas
in the history of computer gaming. They are consciously hiding the fact that
people are playing their game. Brilliant marketing!

Too bad, it is a gorgeous looking game and it's FUN to have a Lord that is a
Barbarian Shaman who carries a spear, slows enemies and buffs allies. It's
fun to wander into a pack of gnolls, assess the situation, opt to take out
the soothsayer before hitting the warriors and then find cool items of loot
on the corpses after the battle, like regeneration charms, etc. My Shaman
casts Spirit of Bih'Li and my blackguards backstab! My Elemental Masters
cast Eye of Zomm and can Evac if we're in trouble. And then to hear that
trademark Ding when one of your guys levels, there's a rush for any EQ
player. It *could* have been a great game...

Except it's not.

Winterfury Thunderwolf
Barbarian Luminary-Shaman of 57 Winters
Citizen of Firiona Vie and RTS gamer

kinslayer[2040]

go here and read
http://pub147.ezboard.com/ftheconcer...=18413 .topic

65 Sage Arcanist
65 Sage Coercer
60 Baronoss Assassin
Tholuxe Paells

graeme faelban

I am a US citizen, and I don't want to be annoyed by it every day either,
don't have any plans on buying it either. --
On Erollisi Marr in <Sanctuary of Marr>
Elder Graeme Faelban, Barbarian Prophet of 65 seasons
Tainniel Fleabane, Halfling Warrior of 31 seasons
Giluven, Wood Elf Druid of 26 seasons
Graeniel, High Elf Enchanter of 25 seasons