mechanicalturk

Sorry to burst your bubble, but FE is not a good game. I have played in the beta plenty (and won't any longer). Is it the worst game I have ever played? No, but it is definitely not worth any type of subscription fee.

The combat that you highlight as a shining point is mediocre at best. The combat mechanics, motion, targeting, and animations are all clunky. I hate turn based combat, but this is not the answer. DDO, AoC, and even TR have (and had) far better combat mechanics. Yes, the first two are fantasy games, but DDO handles the combat mechanics nicley. I'm not looking for auto-targeting either. Aiming at a stand-still is even flaky.

Crafting is decent, but the resource gathering grind is not even remotely fun. It is as boring as any other MMO. You have a post apacolyptic theme. Make the resources truly contested by others in desperate need. Not the boring mob spawns that are the same all over the map. Spice it up with more incentive and PVP options. Start it early in the game also. There is far too much waiting for anything interesting to come along. People will play the first several levels and leave because of a lack of any excitement.

Performance is pretty poor for a game with such low graphical quality. Yes it is beta, but I got better performance from games 4 years ago on a far inferior machine.

What this all boils down to is poor execution. I don't care about the potential this game has, or what it is trying to do. I truly wish it made good on its Mad Max type promises, but FE is just a very bland offering. Having a great idea and not executing will only get you a big fat zero in this competitive market.

Soloing is definitely a viable option in DDO. I strictly play solo, or duo with a buddy. Many dungeons have a "Solo" difficulty setting, in addition to "Normal", "Hard", and "Elite". The hirelings make also difficult content more accessible.

The new release of DDO at the end of the Summer should also include dungeon difficulty scaling for all but the high-end raids. I believe it means that the mobs in the dungeon will have their hp scaled to the size of the party. Rewards and xp will probably be scaled accordingly.

Sadly, the combat mechanics are the only reason I have not tried LotRO. I still do not understand why Turbine didn't use the combat engine from DDO. My only guess is that they are worried the combat is what encourages many players to stick with DDO. DDO has other good qualities, but LotRO gets most of the love from Turbine.

I'm interested in giving AoC another look. The bugs and other issues never bothered me. I loved always having to watch my back when I entered a new zone. I left after they made changes to PVP, with the infamy system. Something was needed, but their system seemed to discourage open PVP.

I never got higher than level 36. No one at higher level had any interest in any PVP action. They always worried about the consequences. It definitely discouraged griefers, but it also took away the constant open PVP battles I was used to. Has there been any real progress made in balancing the penalty system for PVP?

This stuff looks great, especially the skirmishes. I have been wanting to try this game for a while. Unfortunately, I think the combat mechanics will drive me crazy. I play DDO and love the combat system. If LotRO would adopt DDO's combat system, I would make the switch immediately.