blop

Get out of your panic room every once in a while.

Yes, you are ignorant. No you don't understand to whom and why bittorrent can be very useful technology. Let me tell you about my situation as an example:

The US networks seems to be a bit off when it comes to data packages and their cost. I'm located in Sweden and my one and only internet connection is via tethering on the 3GS, Works great, no cap and quite cheap. Up to 6Mbit/s (yes, I'm seeing close to that speed). BUT mobile networks tend to be flakey compared to other so my connection drops sometimes, meaning that any ongoing download of medium to large size (whatever that means) might go poof and have to be re-downloaded. Tried download managers with sporadic success.

Enter bittorrent. Line goes down? Wait a sec let it re-connect and you're going again. No re-download necessary. Mobile connections over 3G are common over here and relatively cheap. The networks are not yet robust enough to take the bandwidth beating we're seeing here.

It's not proprietary. Anyone can include the technology in their apps.

Oh, since I'm sure you'll ask this is for legal downloads. Look at what's happening. Steam (which does have its own downloader that can resume)? Many, many gigs there. In fact the size of common desktop apps are sometimes only available as a digital download. Maybe 2-300MB are relatively safe but they're growing in size. Rapidly.

Regardless of what connection a person might have there is need to disconnect for any one reason at times. Those time you want to be able to resume if it's a sizeable download.

A http streaming torrent suddenly seems like good solution not only for a company but also for the end-user, don't you think?

The one argument against bittorrent seems related to what it does for overall network strain; central servers are off-loaded but the networks themselves take a beating. Maybe someone is able to elaborate on this?

Please, don't pull the piracy crap. RAR compresses pirated files, Google lets people find them (for every removed link pointing to an illegal download 100 new pop up) AND we are using computers to use said pirated files. Give me a break. Also, cars are very popular as get away vehicles I hear.

So for someone who yearns for a sci-fi MMO (post-apoc or not) and likes the character customizability and freedom of, say, EVE and Asheron's Call (yes, I said Asheron's Call), will Fallen Earth deliver?

I love exploring (meaning houses/buildings/things-meant-for-entry that you cannot enter pisses me off) and many of the newer MMOs give me *less* in this regard, despite showing off all this "new tech". Having a whole city around you when it's essentially just walls with a nice surface is an instant turn-off.

In EVE I train frigs exclusively because that's what I like to fly. In Asheron's Call I had a quick and nimble "dagger warrior" running around the world, seeing the sights. See any similarities? :)

Love(d) them both.

So can FE be a game for a quick and nimble explorer?

Is it solo-friendly when no-one else is about?

Nope, it's a Gallente Tech 3 cruiser so you're a bit off size wise.

I think it's appropriate to add that, regardless of what others say, Assault Frigates are enough for most level *4* missions.

Ishkur is a champ in this respect. T2 hobgoblins and an active shield tank does wonders in missions. Take out webbers/frigs/dessies with the drones then go full out guns and drones on the bigger guys.

I'm not saying this is the most effective setup but 280+ dps is enough for breaking most NPCs tanks.

Difference between, say, the Dominix is that I'm able to apply all of that DPS all the time, whereas that 500+ Domi DPS only goes for BS sized NPCs, really (on the other hand, 500 DPS isn't really needed for the smaller fish).

Anyones who thinks otherwise hasn't tried or doesn't have the fitting/cap/weapon/tank skills up to par.

I'm yet to lose a mission running Ishkur.

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a frig nut (obsessed, rather *cough*) and rather be fast and agile compared to the "best" and most "effective" mission running BS setup. I just can't cope with the lack of ship speed/agility. Yes, even in PVE.

Lately I've been experimenting using the above mentioned active shield setup on a Taranis for level 4 missions. It works quite well. No, really. :)

I love me some music in my game. If it'd be the case I'd want to turn it off it means it's crap (in a personal opinion kind of way).

And give me a break: orchestral and choir for space? Yeah, we've never heard that before, have we? Try to break the norm and the people screams for the "old ways" to come back. Never disappoint in that area.

Orchestral music can be great but it seldom is because composing an orchestral soundtrack is the easiest, cheapest (not to mention most forgettable, but I digress) way to get a quick soundtrack fix.

There is a reason "the old masters' music" is used alot (besides royalty fees). It is good. It is rememberable; it accompanies you on your quest. Whereas many newer soundtracks is just "some strings, and percussion, and...stuff. yeah" which sounds just like the previous ones.

If it's well-made, like LOTRO's in some cases, sure. But I'm skeptical.

It all boils down to that I believe people do not in general care for what they listen to as long as it gets their blood pumping in the heat of the moment. This goes for both the producers and the end-user. While giving you some extra pulse might be one of the functions of a soundtrack (call it immersion or whatever) you don't exactly need *music* to make that happen. There are all sorts of tricks, audio and visual, to gain the same effect.

Sometimes (read: far too often) it seems the music is a "Oh, just make one of those orchestral things, they always work. You know, like in the movies." kind of things in the games business. Well, the orchestral soundtrack aren't exactly rememberable pieces either in most cases.

I want the music to be something I remember through out my game experience.

I just want some music in my game. Surprise me, like EVE did. Immerse me, like LOTRO did when wandering through the Hobbit villages while listening to the diegetic music surrounding me.

Do not bore me. Please.

GKokoris: Not anymore. Since the Apocrypha expansion the audio-file are encoded in a special file format and not the old ogg-files.

cliff: I have to say I love EVE's soundtrack, even compared to all the electronic music already out there (which, not incidentally, seems to be a genre where you are only cool if it's only a handful of people knowing about a given artist *hops off soapbox*). But each to his own. Music is one of the most subjective things out there. RealX has some competition in Alienhand(.dk) who's been making EVE inspired songs and made them available for free, though.

As a soundtrack compared to other soundtracks I will defend it until my pod explodes. There are few original sounding soundtracks out there. Many are forgettable cookie cutter, nay crappy, shitty, cheap sounding, orchestral hack jobs. A notable exception in that area is the LOTRO soundtrack, which at times is fantastic work. Many seem to like Conan as well but I have only heard short excerpts so I can't really comment.

Arcanum, though not an MMO, had a fantastic original soundtrack with a string quartet-ish setup that many dismissed because it wasn't the usual uninspired orchestral crap. Forgive me if I sound bitter.

What EVE needs in the audio department is audio that is better adapted to a players current surroundings and or events that take place. If you're targeted the music should let you know the heat is on etc.

If I hear another "EVE has sound?" I'll probably go mad. In my opinion the audio the game provides, if well done, if what immerses me in it in the first place. Playing my iTunes list is...crappy at best and has no place in-game. AlienHand excepted, which is a bit ironic I guess since what I think is a fitting piece of music will not apply to everyone (anyone...?).

I'm just one of those people who think music is an underused asset, or the lack of it used as a contrast, for that matter. I actually went as far as trying my hand at creating a personal soundtrack for the far too quiet Asheron's Call many years ago (now lost on some broken hard drive) in hope to find a way to assign tracks to coordinates in-game.

With the scamming "nerf" coming the chat channels will hopefully be somewhat more useable.

It isn't the scamming itself that is bad (sometimes uncreative, perhaps). I find scamming to be an interesting part of EVE.

It was the copious *spamming* of all chat channels with dull contract scams all using the same "spot the commas" system... The ISK spammers are enough. Lately the comma contract is a more common spam than those from the ISK sellers in my experience. There are easy way not to get scammed that way, but the problem still stands: some chat channels I'm in are like Jita local because of the contract scam bot-spamming.

If things get so bad that chat channels become unusable (besides Jita, but that one will never change), things need to be looked over. Period. There will be usual complaints that "EVE is becoming WOW" etc... No offense meant, that's just the usual crappy argument crybabies use for *any* change in EVE, be it 'carebears', scammers, PVE-players, PVP-players who do the complaining. Not many live by the rule they preach to others - "adapt or die" - when there's a change not affecting *their* play style.

Some changes are necessary to keep the game going. This might actually be on of those changes.

Of course scamming will continue, hopefully a bit more inventive from now on.

shinobichocobo:

You are wrong. What most people fail to understand is that what you do to overcome being new is to *specialize*. Training stuff to lvl 4 with lower ranked skills does not take "years and years" and in some cases the difference between a skill trained to lvl 4 and lvl 5 can be marginal.

If all you go for is capital ships and above, well, that *does* takes time. Though, shouldn't it? These ship cost a fortune to make and also make for a good greater goal for those who wish to fly them (I don't but that's personal preference).

In my opinion it's a bit like whining that you do not have the epic gear (in whatever other MMO) from day one. EVE is special in that you have to find your niche to really shine early on. If you feel overwhelmed by all the skills, ships and modules try to think of what it is you want to achieve.

You can do alot of great things in T1 frigates, PVE *and* PVP, as long as you try not to take on everything and everyone thinking that you can always win. Pick a nice T2 frigate and you could even run lvl 4 missions in it later on, if you pay attention to its utility and fitting possibilities.

Find your niche and you will be close to those veterans in many cases. Training lvl 5 cruisers as you mentioned might not be the best idea if you are a new player as most probably your support skills (guns, tank, fitting possibilities, cap management etc) will not be up to the task.

You could definitely argue that this real time training system is not for you, but for me it means that I have a constant mini goal to reach, be it a new module or a new ship that I can get into. This flow of small achievements (well, it *is* waiting in some cases) makes want try that next thing.

What it also does is that training all those support skills might make you eligble for the next ship you aimed for previously, while also unlocking other possibilities.

The biggest difference between a player who played for a year and one who's been in there for five years is that the long time player will be able to fly *more* ships efficiently but not necessarily the one you picked as your favorite for the moment.

I have to say that I think EVE could be better at introducing players to the game in that it's not always easy to find that niche early on. Some feel overwhelmed by numbers and mechanics but it's usually quite logical (besides some of the item descriptions. CCP should *really* look over those).

We can't like every game out there, luckily there are many to choose from. EVE is original in some ways which makes some people shy away from it. For me, the real time training is what makes me able to play EVE at all. I simply have no time to sit in front of my computer hours at end playing games every day.

On the other hand there's still grind to be had. Money.

The skill training and the need for attention and calculating over how to set your ship up, whether to go to the next system to sell and even set up a trade route etc etc etc is what makes EVE shine to me.

That said, most games could be executed better. EVE isn't flawless.

Maybe Jumpgate will be a better choice for you since it is twitch based? I'll probably try it myself - only to get blown up (with a smile on my face).

Instant gratification much?

"I have to wait for a split second? But I, as everyone else it seems, have ADHD! I want things to happens fast, quick, now and instantaneously, mmkay?"

So, since MMO/online seems to be where gaming is headed and the companies want to attract as many players as possible will we see the same rise of "we'll put any genre tag on our FPS, thankyouverymuch" as seems to increasingly be the case with single player games?

I getting bitter... Most "RPG:s" today are FPS/action games with an inventory added to try to justify the genre tag. If Fallout 1/2 or any of those older games were released today the kids (this might not necessary relate to absolute age, more of a mental state) would just go "Why would I want to play that slow a** crap?". Maybe the rise of consoles are the reason? Companies want their bite of that great pie in the sky that is online gaming and need to come off as "casual" (another word I have a strong dislike for) not to alienate with the growing console playing customer base that will buy their games. On the other hand, Super Metroid was one of the best gaming experiences I have ever had and it didn't *feel* like a shooter despite there being a lot of gunslinging and looking for weapon upgrades because of how it was all planned out.

PC gamers have usually been viewed as the more "hardcore" crowd (whether that is actually true is another matter), so consequently PC games are sometimes seen as more hardcore games. *gasp* "You need to put an effort into this? No thanks. I want fun."

Maybe it was the change of pace in EVE that got me interested in internet space ships in the first place. Many others (or a vocal minority?) seem to reject the idea of anything taking time within a game at all, forgetting how much time they're putting into some games they play in the first place (How long did it really take you and struggles didin't you have to go through to get all that epic equipment?). If it was all instant gratification through the whole experience I'd bet most of them would quit quite soon after subscribing to any MMO as having a goal is *critical* to your motivation to play, in my opinion. Being able to have a larger goal, split into smaller achievements is in my experience how it's most often dealt with both by the player and game design wise.

On the other hand, twitch based MMO:s are just starting and I'll most probably try out Jumpgate and Earthrise. But it isn't the actual *getting* the item/achievement/whatever that's fun (and sometimes I wonder if instant gratification wanting players realize that) it's the road to "get-ness" that is. Admittedly, if that *road* isn't fun then we're in trouble.

As a final rant, most who think they want a "real" sandbox do not actually want one as they don't realize it's too much to handle and there might *very* little instant gratification, if any to be had. It's all about the road ahead and what turns you take. Some people like that, some hate it.

We absolutely need more sci-fi MMO:s (not to say, more steampunk ones!) but I hope we will see at least some that are not twitch based (why do sci-fi games necessarily need to be twitch based by the way? Can't we have both?).

That's enough crap from me. I probably (read: hopefully) have it all wrong, anyway.

Brendan Drain:

Music taste is a subjective thing at best but the EVE Online soundtrack is in my opinion one of the best out there portraying the games harshness and desolation perfectly. I for one would probably have turned the music off if we'd gotten the cookie cutter "big a** orchestra" doing their thing for the umpteenth time. We've had that and I'm sorry but it's dull nine times out of ten (and I say this as an instrumentalist who loves and has played classical music for a long long time - in fact looking back at the classic works there is far more diversity than what is produced for games and movies today). I'm not sure what it is but I think it's how EVE's music is detached from a human player/orchestra that makes it so compelling and fitting to the atmosphere of a dystopian, harsh and ultra-capitalistic world.

Also the composer for EVE Online seems to be in on some reviewing and renewing of the soundscape of EVE.

One game that I think has succeeded besides EVE is LOTRO, with its successful mix of orchestral and folk inspired music. Walking through the hobbit villages, hearing the music, was one of many great moments in that game that was fueled by the soundscape.

The good orchestral soundtracks are few and far between today and those that exist are not rememberable. Conan seems to be an exception, though.

When I hear "we have 13 compsers, 123 orchestras, 43 quires doing their thing" it doesn't set my hopes any higher than when I hear Jon Hallur of EVE doing his thing solo. It's in quality, not in quantity.

Quality can be so many things. In music it is often in knowing when, or having the guts, to *remove* something, rather than adding another layer of strings. It's in the contrast.

The first time I entered a tavern in Baldur's Gate (1) was a moment capturing that contrast, going from the great outdoors into the warmth pulling up my legs in front of the fire. The music changed from a large scale orchestra to a few middle age instruments playing a simple tune as if there's a group of entertainers in there.