mwilliams

CCon I was just waiting for you to jump in on this one. As always, you don't dissapoint :)

I simply can't wrap my head around Massively being in the bag for Cryptic. These are good people. A search of Sera's column (you are missed!) would quickly point you to a post in which she writes as to why she left Champions Online. Enough said. This argument is invalid.

STO is not for everyone, but I am sure there are people here that apreciate Ryan's column and enjoy the game. Same with Champions. I just dont't understand why some of the readers here waste the energy to type up over the top RANTS on Cryptic EVERY single time something is mentioned about them.

There are a few game developers I don't necessarily care for, but I don't make it my life purpose to destroy them on the Massively forums EVERY time they are mentioned.

If you don't like it, don't play it. Simple enough for most.

I understand the Zero Tolerance stance most game companies use, but the should also inject a "Common Sense" clause as well. Pissing off customers is something that gaming companies stand in elite company with, such as cable companies. Instead of dropping the "Ban Hammer" right away, draw a line in the sand and say "Ok, from here on out if you do it, this will be the consequence". Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?

This kind of story should be a wake up call to Devs. Crap on your customer, it's only a matter of time before they take their free time and money somewhere else. Make sure you are punishing those that are outright exploiting the game, not those that do so unintentionally. It only leads to resentment and lost revenue. And a bad Rep.

I have always rooted for Icarus and Fallen Earth. I don't play cause I don't have the time, but I did try it when it first came out and thought it was very promising. I really do hope Icarus makes it. My heart goes out to those that were let go today, jobs are hard enough to come by.

I'm afraid that the level of people let go today paints a bad sign for the company's future. Letting go the games Producer does not go a long way to reassure the games players.

I sincerely hope that I am wrong and that Icarus and Fallen Earth are around for a long time to come. If I had the time and money I would gladly support them. They have put their hearts into this game.

Now they should get rid of the "Maintenance fee" for housing. ROM gives it to you with no per month fee, LOTRO makes you pay for it AND pay a maintenance fee.

I agree with the EQ2 comment, that was pretty strange to me. I do think that POTBS will go in a different direction, more like Turbines model. The EQ2 model just looked crazy when put against the Turbine model.

Thanks for the reply Beau!

I'm looking forward to checking this out as well. I do wonder about Beau's take on POTBS VS Uncharted Waters Online and how they stack up against each other. First impression is that the graphics of POTBS would be better.

Absolutely agree with you!

Excellent Article and video! Thanks for this! It is nice to know your character can look different from most others, unlike in World of Warcraft as you point out. I really started down my MMO path with WOW, and love the game, but customization was never a strong suit with it. Everyone eventually looks the same. I wish they would get on the player housing thing as well. Runes does that right IMO. With LOTRO, the only thing I disagree with is paying an "Upkeep" for your housing. Runes gives it to you up front, no fuss.

I don't get to play Runes as much as I would like, cause I have a full plate of other MMOs thanks to being a devoted reader of Massively (you guys have truly corrupted me) but I appreciate the insight that you bring.

I like this addition to Massively. And while I have a good idea that my views about things differ greatly from the staff on some of the more social topics, we can all exchange talking points without being stupid about it. These are good people, and I respect that they don't write biased beat downs of games. It does make sense that they seek out people that love what they are playing, and I have given certain games a second chance based on their enthusiasm. More often that not, they have opened my eyes to something in a game that I didn't realize was there.

I must say though that I can't endorse the Final Fantasy love. Nothing against it, I just can't wrap my eyes around some of the Asian character models.

Bottom line, if you want rants and raves, you need to go check out some other blogs. 2 quickly come to mind that are run by a kid in college, and another by some guy in his mom's basement (OK, thats a guess, but I bet I'm close!)

Shawn, Sera and Crew, you do a great job and I enjoy your site. Keep up the good work!