Valkaern

Just a quick note (I haven't long so I can't check if it was corrected elsewhere at the moment), but 'Mob' isn't slang for a large 'mob' of enemies, it's a term that's been in use since MUDs and is shorthand for 'MOBile objects' (Monsters, animals etc) within the game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_(video_gaming)

It's important to me that people respect the online gaming timeline as geeky as that is ;) (you know, WoW not being the first MMO and all).

Yep, the MMO landscape desperately needs something like this to end the clone years drought.

I'm really hoping when a western publisher is found they can resist dumbing it down for us. That would be a disaster (for me).

'Raiding' hasn't felt like a special occasion or exciting event since WoW broke the concept down to it's core simplified mechanics and made it a nightly grind. Sitting in a room night after night practicing our dance steps for content that plays out the same every single time isn't something I'd call adventure.

It's a shame that the genre stopped evolving for over half a decade as everyone scrambled to cash in on WoWs model. Luckily it looks like GW2 is really taking a fresh approach. Hopefully games like Pathfinder Online & ArcheAge also present a nice alternative for those of us bored to death with the whole tedious raid grind endgame scenario as it's been presented recently.

I would love big events like raids if they were a rare special occasion again. As a games main form of content though, raids are just too far removed from what I love about MMORPGs and what they could be.

AC2 .

Or an EverQuest that actually still felt, and played, like the game that originally hooked me on MMOs.

Thanks Wurm, that video was much better.

Even with some of the apparent clutter and clunkiness, I'm still very eager to see this game released in English.

It's been way too long since there's been a solid alternative to the endless onslaught of shallow and linear theme park clones.

Additionally, I would love to see developers target specific niches with the intention of charging a lot more than the current standard to make up for the smaller player base.

If there were a well made sandbox MMO that ticked every box on my list of wants (Pathfinder Online is doing quite well on that front), basically an open ended world (with the emphasis on world rather than game) with an immense amount of character development options and long term goals that had an impact, I would absolutely pay between 30-50£ per month, especially if it secured future content suited towards me.

In light of the seven years of potential advancement the genre lost forever as companies scrambled to clone WoW as best they could, I would strongly consider anything up to £100 for a quality product that showed promise or offered me a solid experience that differed greatly from the same rehashed garbage that's been pumped out since 2004.

All in all I probably spend about £50-60 a month hopping from disappointing game to disappointing game as is. So £100 a month towards essentially all of my entertainment for the month (this is for my dream MMO, so I'd certainly invest some serious time into it) isn't such a bad deal. Considering we pay about £45 a month for a TV that hasn't been turned on in years, I think it's justifiable.

In all honesty, I think it's a bit ridiculous that the price model for sub based games hasn't increased considerably in over a decade. £9/15$ per month is a tiny amount when considered in light of what we spend on other entertainment.

I can't believe it's still going. I remember when it was on my list of upcoming games to watch, then eventually went opensource if I remember correctly?

I haven't popped on in at least five or six years I guess, but I remember always logging in and trying to find the actual game.

Good find, it reminded me of a few other games that I'm not sure if you've looked into or not, which blipped out or were sadly never released/finished such as 'Dragon Empires' and the 'Lejendary Adventures' MMO (which sadly brought me to this over enthusiastic post from '04 as I tried to dig up old info:

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/14/view/forums/thread/10177/page/1

Anyway, thanks, and keep digging them up :)

There's no question that for a few of us that are craving an online world with some danger & risk, these development blogs are ticking all the right boxes.

It's refreshing to see developers that aren't just chasing the exact same piece of pie as everyone else, and instead are trying to capitalize on a smaller market that's simply not being catered to anywhere.

With their goal & cap of 4,500 players in the first month it's pretty clear they have no delusions of dethroning the mass market MMOs, and that speaks volumes. They seem to know who they're aiming for, and luckily I seem to be in that demographic - for just about the first time in over a decade.

On paper I'm sold, now all they have to do is provide a client that functions well mechanically and combat that's more engrossing than the 'push one button and three enemies die' rubbish that's offered everywhere else.

It's been clear for awhile now that to get that 'old school' fix we'd have to look to smaller or indie development houses, so I have pretty low expectations regarding graphics and flash. However, as long as it works, maintains the risk & danger they're mentioning in these blogs, isn't clunky and delivers roughly 50% of what they've mentioned so far I'll be content.

I think I'm allowed to get my hopes up as I don't think my expectations are too lofty.

I've never understood people being so desperate to grab names that are clearly unoriginal. If people are having to tweak a name because someone else has that and others have varients, it might be a good indication that you might need to actually get a bit creative or original.

I've always been amazed by those people that are so desperate to have a non original name that they'll accept an absurd twisted version of it, despite the message it sends to the rest of the player base.

Ahh Leegzolaasz, what's going on in there?