Darzin

So Cindy, what is the difference between WoW and Alganon? LUA based UI, check! Quest Grinding, check! Handheld minimap quest tracker, check! Talent trees, check! Instances, check! Two faction system, check! My problem is that the game is still a complete ripoff of another game on the market that has 1000x the content and stability.

Heck, even the Alganon world map is a sham. How much of the map is actually explorable, 20%? The rest simply doesn't exist? I am sorry, if you enjoy the game fine, but I have yet to see a single honest reason to pick this game over WoW or RoM, or DDO, or GW, or AoC, or even Aion. So, if I am wrong, please do tell me exactly why we should play this game instead of WoW? Don't say the community because that no longer exists thanks to a certain person who would rather tell people to leave than post criticism.

What a great view, I have never seen random generic forests with random hills before. Simply underwhelming! Well the best part is the healer wearing what appears to be a t-shirt and some skinny jeans. It is a shame that such a wonderfully generic screen shot is ruined by such a horribly ugly player model.

Well textures are textures, but as much as I love the game (I just started to replay it and now have a level 100 shadow) the UI and the models/armor/architecture really needs a complete overhaul.

Look, they just got bought by WB, the game is 10 years old, invest some money and make it look like you actually care about the game. Tell us, well we would have to redo the entire engine... well so what? Redo the entire engine then. I am sure you have the resources now to push out a redone engine by November.

All we need to know is that in response to someone's concerns his Derek Smart's response was: "ktnxbye."

Cindy, did you actually read the article? I am curious because my guess is you didn't. The parts I mentioned, he doesn't contrast and compare them. The Library he talks about how useful it is, but it was always there and hasn't changed. The graphics, he says they were always great and that the minor change is hard to detect, again nothing to do with 2.0. He says the music is sweeping and new, but the music was in game prior, again not a change. All they did was make in more prominent. This is again, a review of 1.0 not 2.0. So yes, he briefly mentions the 2.0 changes, but the focus of the article is mostly about the original game.

What I don't really understand about this entire review is, everything you essentially talk about was in the original release. The only changes 2.0 brought about were the new starting area, the UI and the instances. Nothing else has really changed, this is more like a review of 1.0 then 2.0. The library, graphics, game play, classes, music and study system were always there. So, ummm, ya... what are the actual improvements?

"Lawl, do ever get tired of doing nothing but bashing this game here and on MMMORPG"

First, haven't posted about the game on mmorpg in 2 months, second, I am giving my opinion of the game. You don't have to read it, you don't have to like it, you certainly don't have to respond to it. So, no, I don't get tired of bashing a really poorly made game on any forum. You know why? Because, it's my choice to do so and the game is poorly made.

The game is not fun, at all. As I have said, and I will continue to say. The game is still plagued with a majority of bugs that it had. It plays exactly the game as it did in it's previous incarnation.

If you had played the game prior you would realize that there were a group of people who swore that they had almost no bugs at all. Yet, you play the game now, and they still have no bugs. For all intents and purposes the network code was fixed in early February.

The game itself is disgusting to look at in it's current form. The animations are so poor and clunky that running makes you feel sea sick. You have this little lag, skip, stop, jump, gait run. Then you throw into the game the fact that float jump is still in it and the camera shakes when you move (and it shakes terribly when you run up or down a hill).

The new UI is a total joke. Hey we made it all brown and boxy, it is no longer like WoW! Right? Sure isn't, WoW actually has content you want to play.

Back to the models, the character models are not serious looking, they aren't even decent looking. Limbs are broken, skin looks twisted and deformed, faces are flat and lifeless. They are the ugliest character models in any game you will see. The only game currently available to compare the actual character models with is Everquest, and EQs still look better.

The gaming experience, especially the new part literally consists of 4 quests that have you talk to 4 people before it puts you right back at the original starter zone from the "Soft-launch."

Fighting mobs is slow and tedious as well, and they still warp to you. (Which is better than behind or under but still bad for a ranged class.) The talent tree still offers talents that modify spells on the first tier that you won't actually acquire for quite some time.

The game is not fun, the RMT shop sells actual items so you will never have to do an instance in the game. It sells study time so you won't have to wait for an uber character, and it sells 50% faster XP time, because you need to hit level 40-50 and sit around doing nothing even faster.

The game, even taking everything out that I have mentioned has a huge issue. It has no goal. There is no focus to the game. In WoW, WAR, RoM, Allods... there is a reason to hit the level cap. When you play Alganon you are playing it to hit the level cap and that is it. There is no story here, no lore, no reason to hit 50.

Several people who waited for the game to relaunch came back and said they simply have no reason to play because there is still nothing to do. Create a 50 of every class? Easy, only 4 classes.

The game is an example of how to do everything wrong; The game play mechanics are slow, the quests are boring, the animations are horrible, and the models are hideous. The game has no goal to it, just a grind. You can purchase your gear ($5 for level 20 outfit, $9 for 30, $11 for 40), you can purchase you study time, you can purchase a way to speed up your leveling, you can buy a mount and you can buy your repairs. The RMT actually encourages you into buying your way out of playing because the faster you hit the cap the faster you realize how boring the game really is.

In 2009-2010, the expectation is that an MMO doesn't have to recreate the genre, but it should add a unique twist to it. Whether it be combat, pvp, city building, or whatever. Alganon is a 2004 MMO, with 2004 mechanics and graphics. So, if you are stuck in some sort of, this is the way MMOs should always and forever play -- this is the game for you. If you are interested in how games will evolve, or just tired of the same linear gameplay from 2004, pass this by.

If you just want a free MMO to play, grab DDO, RoM, Allods, Perfect World, Tales of Fantasy, or one of the other countless true F2P games available.

Essentially correct, but more so of a WoW ripoff than before since they also added in instances and racial cut scenes. In essence, while claiming to understand why the game was a WoW rip off, the only thing they could come up with was "it must be the UI." Then they went back to WoW and said, you know, the racial cut scene intros with voice overs are awesome and those instances are snazzy!

I am mightily confused myself as to how this game is any less of a WoW clone now. Heck, it even took a major problem with WoW (being able to earn gear easy) and solved that altogether by just selling it. ($5.50 for a level 20 set, $9 for level 30, $11 for level 40.) The game even sells epics:


Random Loot Box: 40-50 Epic
A random epic item between levels 40 and 50.

The low price of $5 per random epic. (So, spend $50 and you might get a useful piece for yourself!)

http://www.myalganon.com/tribute/index/items for a complete list.

I am sorry, this game is still a pile of junk. Period. Every player with an internet connection can gush over the improvements but let us be quite frank about the improvements.

1) The UI is uglier than it was before. Sure you can reposition the elements but why bother? The scaling feature applies to all elements so you can not make any piece larger individually. Blocky and brown... and some shuffling of the UI pieces.

2) The new introduction to the game actually adds zero to the gaming experience. You can not tell me that the games racial intros (stolen directly from WoW) make them game better to play. They don't. Nor does the fact that the starting area is simply just worthless. When I say worthless, I mean it was thrown in simply to throw it in. The new "character creation" wizard actually makes it take longer than it previously did to create a new character. Because when you click on an option it is an entire new block of text -- essentially a new screen.

So, as an example of how much all of these "new" features add. You hit create character, you go to a screen to choose your race (by icon only, no graphics to see the difference). Then after reading that description you go to pick a family. Again, you get to pick a family the same way. So, you finish that, then choose your class and appearance. The models are still hideous.

Then when that is done, you get the cut scene where you shake your head and ask why they bothered.

Now you are in game. In the "new" starting area. Pick up a quest, speak to another guy. He tells you to speak to 3 other people, they tell you to speak to the guy who told you to speak to them. Then he tells you to speak to another guy, and he tells you to take the portal. That is the extent of the new area -- four go talk to him quests.

Then guess what happens after you port? You are back at the same original starting area from beta. Nothing changed.

3) Several bugs still exist -- including float jump.

4) As you walk, your camera does this small jumpy motion. Your character also lags a bit still, it causes this weird stutter motion in movement. It made me feel sea sick.

5) Mobs still warp. While doing the Zombie Flesh Quest, several zombies warped to me.

6) Casting animations and attack animations are slow looking and laggy.

7) Combat is exactly the same. Talents are the same and they still have talents that actually effect spells in the first tier that you won't get until you are into the game a bit.

8) The RMT shop actually sells gear. Not buffs or enchantments. It sells gear! It also sells, XP potions, Study time, enchantments, mounts and repairs. Essentially you can purchase everything you need to just not play the game. (Yes, you don't have to buy them, but remember, in a level oriented game like this, people always want to be the best. Selling epic gear/enchants and so on will force other people to buy them.)

9) Derek Smart has gone on a rampage today of insulting forum members from mmorpg.com (he told a non-native speaker to "go back to school.") and on alganon forums telling people to basically go away.

10) The game simply isn't fun. Endless quest/mob grinding has been played out. The combat is boring and slow.

I am sorry, the relaunch simply is a joke. I tried it, saw the same gameplay/bugs that the game had before and realized that the game was simply trying to lure people with "new features" while the features actually have zero effect on the actual game.

Not worth playing if you are tired of WoW, play WoW, play RoM, or play any other free to play game. DDO is far better, Guild Wars is better, RoM is better... why bother.