Brainiacrk

Analysts might as well be weathermen. Actually, that's a low blow to weathermen.

That said... I can see this game, as many have said, having server population issues in regard to Tier level once everyone starts getting higher level characters.

I canceled my account today. My biggest problem with the game is that all of my friends canceled two months ago and went back to WoW.

With that, my char is only mid-30's and it seems like there are never enough casual players in my range to form a group... and I can't do the current mission set by myself (and I don't want to join a guild).

All that said, I still enjoy this game and hope to come back to it in a few months or a year. Like so many, I'm hoping WAR is the second coming of MMO, and I think the colorful cast of races/classes and well developed backstory will probably be enough to keep me interested.

Cool thanks for the info.

I actually have yet to venture into PvP. I'm currently on PvE Thog as a lvl 33 Barbarian and a lvl 9 Demonologist.

I'll eventually make my way onto Tyranny and get more involved with PvP.

Where is says:

'Combos and all other actions will be aborted when you start to charge'

Does 'charge' refer to sprinting (as you do when you hold down the Shift key) ??

Probably a stupid question but I never actually paid attention to what term they used to refer to sprinting/charging in this game, and I'm at work right now so I don't have access to AoC to check for myself.

I have occasionally seen comments (here, Shack, elsewhere) where people complain that they did not get DX10 implemented and that this was a blatant sign that the game wasn't ready to ship yet.

(I mention this because there is a question related to DX10 in the article above).

I'm glad they will have it implemented soon but, um... this game, visually, looks absolutely amazing. DX10 support is a nice bonus, but who really cares?

I would think they would design the game so that the universe exists in a time at which the Federation is at war with one evil alliance or another (or the Borg). This would allow for a large ground-based component to the game, as well as justify the existence/need for multiple fighting classes and weaponry specializations.

In addition, the Elite Force FPS games open up a lot of possibilities as to the types of specializations and combat that could potentially be featured in a game like this.

There's a lot more to the Star Trek universe than being a generic crew member on a Starship (though being on and/or piloting a starship would also be sweet).

That said, away missions would be a great early game play component as well as a great way to earn special technology for yourself and/or your ship later in the game. Also, if they could work a diplomacy system into this game that would be sweet too.

Please someone build a mainstream MMO where gearing up isn't an integral aspect of statistical domination (I don't mind necklaces, rings, etc. being exempt from the point I'm trying to make).

Sure, equipment like armor should of course have a defensive rating, and weapons should have attack power. However, something like DPS should be an aspect of my character's ability with a certain weapon type, not the weapon itself. Let me decide what stat boosts to add to my character (even if I have to do high lvl missions or something of that sort to unlock things like Ice/Fire damage for my weapons).

That somewhat pointless rant aside, I of course think Valve + Steam + MMO = Success. However, Valve's penchant for quality would likely mean that even if they've already been working on an MMO for the last five years behind closed doors, we probably wouldn't be able to play it for another five. That in itself isn't a bad thing, but imagine how slow they'd be to be new content patches, update packs, and expansions out the door.

A GTA MMO from Rockstar could potentially be the best thing ever. But... once all the praise for GTA IV died down, it was easy to see several flaws in that game (like the hundreds of thousands of useless dollars I earned doing missions) that make me question whether or not they could pull off an MMO. Also, it would probably be a console MMO.

My dream MMO would be for Id to make an MMO set in the post-apocalyptic, demon infested setting of Doom II where you play as a survivor scavenging for armor/weapons/demonic magic power. Not only do you have the entire Earth as a setting, you also have multiple moon bases, Mars, and Hell. I realize Hellgate kind of has this vibe but I haven't played it so I can't comment on if it is a lot like I just described a Doom II MMO should be.

I'm at lvl 32 (Female Barbarian) on a PvE server.

I agree with Smith's assertion that the armor available at my current level is not really any more decorative/elaborate than the armor available to me in Tortage. However, I haven't had a problem finding armor that is more statistically desirable (slightly higher defensive ratings, higher health/stamina bonuses) as I progress... so far.

I do appreciate the realistic, pseudo-European look they are going for in-game. That said... I think the armor is, in general, ugly and the environments, while often beautiful, are repetitive and bland in many places.

I don't know much about end-game / guild city building / PvP. I am a player that doesn't care about that content. My interest is in playing the game because I enjoy exploring the environment, completing the quests, and experiencing the story/dungeons. Again, AoC's quests run from numbingly mundane to quite interesting. This is no different from any other MMO I've played so this game doesn't gain/lose any points in that category.

I'll play and pay for the game until I've peaked at lvl 80 and seen (mostly) all that there is to see. I guess my point is that I'm a casual player and I'm trying to represent the game from that perspective.

As Smith points out, I also think this game could really, really use a strong infusion of non-critical game play via mini-games, community events, etc.