Ripper McGee

I think it's an interesting coincidence that "Dark Millennium" is in the WAR40K title. Joe Mad worked on the Tradewars: Dark Millennium project that later become Exarch and finally Dungeon Runners:

http://www.eisonline.com/twhistory.

Name must have been too good to let go!

One question I think needs to be asked is whether or not the game in question has unique content for new characters; content based on some combination of class, race and or geography. In a game like the late Earth Eternal, where every character--regardless of race or class--went through the exact same content (literally every quest and area), an exp bonus might seem like a good idea. Then again, there wasn't anything to do once you reached the cap, so it's moot. The point, however, is that it needs to be appropriate for the game in question. In EQII, it seems like it is, because there are options for advancement.

Honestly, I think the bigger underling issue is "why is the extra XP necessary"? Is it because there isn't anything to do? Is it because there isn't enough unique content for an alt to make it genuinely interesting? Is it because the game skews heavily to a high-level population? I think the extra XP potentially points to design issues.

Ooooh, sounds cool. Space Legends' play is significantly more polished than Pocket Legends, IMO, so I can imagine how nicely a newer MMO will play.

The funny thing is I have a buddy who works for Space Time and I asked him a week or so ago if they intended to revisit Pocket Legends and polish it up to the same level as Star Legends; lessons learned and all that. Now there's a press release about a new MMO building on lessons learned.

@Rialle

"Seen as unfair" is not the same as "is unfair" and therein lies the problem - perception. There is no way to know how a player got his or her non-cash shop gear without firsthand knowledge and even if that player obtained the gear through time invested, there's no guarantee he or she will mesh with your group or raid. You need to "feel" players out. If somebody joins a raid, has what looks like a great character with excellent gear and plays like a complete tool then guess what? They won't be getting group and/or raid invites much longer...

Also, does this logic apply to vanity items? If I want to spend real money for a shiny, limited edition, holiday-only sparkle pony instead of having to use the same old, but equally as good, brown nag I could get in-game for free does that mean it's not fair to non-paying players? That has nothing to do with fairness, but everything to do with jealousy. It's no different than complaining somebody IRL can afford to buy a nicer, more expensive car than you. I don't begrudge Paris Hilton being able to buy a Ferrari when I have to settle for Kia.

@Rialle

"The WoW auction house may be seen as a convenience, but you are spending gold you earned by playing the game"

It doesn't "seem" like a convenience. It is a convenience. As for "playing" the game, that brings up the same concept of "earning" gear? What if I found a great item I could sell for a lot of gold after only a short amount of time, but another player has has misfortune and hasn't found anything worth selling even after spending substantially more time playing? Have I really earned the item by "playing" the game even though the other player has actually invested far more time, by comparison?

Also, FYI, I'm referring to early game and I haven't played any single WoW character past 20, nor have I ever raided. Also, my play experience was well before the dungeon finder mechanic. I simply used it as an example of how to obtain items through convenience rather than actual invested time played...

@(Unverified)

"Why sub games are generally better because they are of higher quality, better supported, and the game play is 100% guaranteed that everyone is playing on a level playing field and they earned what they have."

That's both incredibly naive and emphatically untrue. If it was true, there wouldn't be issues with hacking, powerleveling, gold selling, account selling, etc... Whether a game is P2P or F2P, there will always be players willing to "easily" obtain gear, levels, power, cheats, etc...

It also ignores the concept of "competition". If it's a true PvE game then why does it matter if one player bought exp scrolls or better gear? How does that adversely affect your play? If it's a PVP game and the only way to compete is to purchase gear then you have the choice of not playing the game - vote with your wallet!

@(Unverified)

I think that's overly simplistic in that it lumps all players into a single "why we play" category that's obviously not universally true. Also, the statement "...finding items..." implies "...earning items...", a separate concept that also needs clarification.

Regarding the first issue, players obviously play for different reasons and those reasons change over time. As an example, I'm not the same MMO player I was when I first bought EQ in 1999. I don't have the same time to commit and my play is fairly casual, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy the games, the game communities, camaraderie, etc.... With your statements, you imply that you know why all MMO gamers play games, but the reality is that's simply not true.

Regarding the second issue, let's talk about the concept of "earning" items:

* Is it fair to say one has truly earned the right to enjoy an item only if that person loots the item? What if it's not a drop off a named mob? What if it's completely random?

* What if there's an auction house in the game? How is it different if I pay real money for the convenience of getting a good item without having to put in a lot of time if I could simply buy a similar item from an auction house? They both facilitate convenience....

Within a few of hours of playing WoW, I learned how easy it was to equip a character in much better gear simply by auctioning off randomly found items I couldn't use and then using the proceeds to purchase better items for my character. Those were items I couldn't possibly otherwise gear out for with "normal" play, meaning there's no way I could have found all the level AND character appropriate items I wanted just through normal adventuring. Players who uses an auction house for the sake of conveniently obtaining items, be it for gear, ingredients, recipes, etc... are conceptually no different than players who purchase comparable items rather than wait to loot them...

I think there needs to be context to the concept of "fairness" in order to really evaluate the issue. What's "fair"? Is the game primarily competitive (PVP-oriented) , non-competitive (mostly PVE, maybe with consensual PVP) or a mix (separate PVP and PVE servers)? How does the cash shop affect competition? To me, that's the most important question in terms of "fairness".

As an example, I personally take issue with a game company selling items in a pvp-oriented game that offer a significant competitive advantage over somebody who's unable to obtain similar items without spending money. To me, that's incredibly unfair as it essentially creates a pay-to-win environment.

If, however, the items sold in a PVP game are "vanity" items or if they're sold as a convenient alternative to earning a comparable item through normal gameplay then I don't really have any issues. Faxion Online was a good example of this model. One could purchase vanity and convenience items but nothing better than what one could find in game. The purchase simply saved one the effort and time to find the desired items.

Lastly, if a game company sells uber +1k chain swords of ipwnjoo in a PVE game, but don't offer similar items through in-game pla, is there still a problem? It's true that some players may have elitist attitudes, depending on the PVE goals (I still remember original EQ players not allowing others into raids if they didn't have the "required" gear), but that's a social issue, not necessarily a game-mechanic issue adversely affected by a cash shop.

This would give me an opportunity to show of my own swag to my son, who far outstrips me in both experience and cool gear! Well, I could be on par with him, at least, since I coincidentally bought him a super bundle today!

I'm a big fan of Star Legends, as is my daughter. We're able to play it on a variety of devices, yet still remain connected to each other. I can play on my phone, she plays on her Vizio table or I play in Chrome on my laptop. Love it.

I do think the gameplay and UI for Star Legends is more polished than that of Pocket Legends, but that makes sense, since it was released later. Lessons learned and all that.

Kudos to Spacetime Studios!