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Started by Frelance, October 15, 2011, 11:39:35 PM

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shojin

Quote from: Shjade on January 03, 2012, 11:27:48 PM
Nah, they are still around on sites like Joystiq, Shojin. They're findable if someone wants them, just not on the official site anymore from the looks of things.

Oh good, no reason to stick my hand into the garbage disposal.

Samael

Quote from: Samael on January 03, 2012, 07:38:14 PM
Wow, the Nitronic Rush looks awesome.
I'm going to download that one and give it a whirl.

Alright, I've been giving Nitronic Rush a few test drives, and it's remarkably polished.
The art is distinct and beautiful, and the controls, outside of the fact that you cannot seem to change them, unfortunately, are adequate and tight enough to make steering rather easy.
It's fast, and interesting, and nice to play a round or two for a few minutes every now and then.

Definitely recommending it
Nitronic Rush - Let's Play
On & Offs | My Games | Apologies & Absences | Tumblr
Et comme des fleurs de glace, on grandit dans la nuit
La lumière nous efface, dans la noirceur on vit
Comme des fleurs de glace, on rêve et on reste unis
Des fleurs au cœur de l'insomnie

"Eisblume - Fleurs De Glace"

Samael

For what it is worth it, Star Trek Online just went Free to play.
http://www.startrekonline.com/frontpage
On & Offs | My Games | Apologies & Absences | Tumblr
Et comme des fleurs de glace, on grandit dans la nuit
La lumière nous efface, dans la noirceur on vit
Comme des fleurs de glace, on rêve et on reste unis
Des fleurs au cœur de l'insomnie

"Eisblume - Fleurs De Glace"

TankNSpank

EverQuest 2 - MMO just went free-to-play and a very good / polished MMO at that.  Much better than the standard fare of F2P WoW clones or asian MMOs.

FreeCiv - A free remake of Civilisation (4X turn-based strategy game)
OpenTTD - A free remake of Transport Tycoon (real-time transport business simulator - you build railroads, roads, etc to satisfy the transport needs of businesses and cities on the map)
The Ur-Quan Masters - A free Star Control 2 port (space exploration)

League of Legends - Free MOBA game (best one of the crop imo)

Quake Live - Free FPS shooter that runs inside your browser

While not free, GoG (gog.com) has a lot of great old games available for low prices ($2.99 - $9.99) and they do giveaways now and then where you can win titles for free.  I recently bought and really loved Space Rangers 1 and 2.

Oniya

I recently had a breakthrough on Gemcraft 0 (level 55, Bleeding Edge mode), so I've gotten back to playing that.  I gave the end-level a go before that, and I still need some leveling.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

TheGlyphstone

Heh, I've been amusing the heck out of myself with Gemcraft Labyrinth myself actually (though I shelled out $5 for the Premium bonuses).

Oniya

I went all the way through Labyrinth, (haven't spent the $5 yet, but I'm sure it's in the future) and decided I wanted to see the 'rest of the story'.  So, I stopped just before the end and chugged back to 0.  I'll be going to 1 after I've thrashed the hell out of this one, then finish off Labyrinth - hopefully in time to catch the release of GC2.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

TheGlyphstone

I played Labyrinth to the end once, but barely scraping by. This time around, I'm going for absolute maximum points that I can on every level, trying to come close to the ridiculous scores you see some people able to achieve.

Though I think Labyrinth is a prequel to Chapter 0, though - GC:L details the release of the Forgotten One from its prison, Gemcraft 0 is where a wizard gets possessed by the Forgotten One, and Chapter 1 is another wizard defeated the possessed wizard.

Oniya

#83
I got the impression that GCL occurred after the initial theft of the Gem of Eternity by the character in GC0 - a second Gem needed to be made (in the final level) in order to replace the stolen Gem. 

EDIT:  Okay, I located the GemCraft Wiki (gods, there's a wiki for everything!)

Gemcraft 0:

The story follows a young wizard who is trying to find the Gem of Eternity, a gem with mysterious power. He's looked for it in books, but the wizard council tried to stop him. One day, his compass points north, towards the Gem of Eternity. He travels north, fights the arcane guardians, and eventually finds the Gem of Eternity. He unlocks it, but by doing so, unleashes the Forgotten. The Forgotten takes him over, and he become the corrupt wizard at the start of Gemcraft Chapter 1 (The Forgotten).

Gemcraft 1:

The story focuses around a young wizard who is sent to fight an evil wizard in the east. The wizard finds out that there is another wizard in the east who has unleashed monsters for some unknown reason. The wizard battled his way across the land, clearing towers of monsters. When he got to the end, he found that something called "The Forgotten" has possessed this other wizard, but it decides that you're a better host, so it kills the other wizard and possesses you. You're then told that it is going to take you to the east, to unleash more havoc.

Gemcraft Labyrinth:

The story in Gemcraft Labyrinth follows a young wizard who's final quest appeared on a map after a village he was guarding had been attacked. The map led him to a labyrinth. The wizard found his way to the center and used the four crafting pylons inside the Labyrinth to make a new Gem of Eternity. He then travels to return the Gem to the SpiritForge, leading up to Chapter 2.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

TheGlyphstone

That'd make sense - I haven't played any of them to their conclusion in a long time, so I'm likely to misremember plot elements.

Elkay

I didn't see a mention of Team Fortress 2 here. It went Free To Play when Meet the Medic came out.

Caeli

I actually want to get back into Gemcraft 0. I always have such a blast killing the little gremlins at high speed and making them rush my towers all at once.
ʙᴜᴛᴛᴇʀғʟɪᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ɢᴏᴅ's ᴘʀᴏᴏғ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀᴛ ʟɪғᴇ
ᴠᴇʀʏ sᴇʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇʟʏ ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ ғᴏʀ ɴᴇᴡ ʀᴏʟᴇᴘʟᴀʏs

ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋ ❋ ғᴏʀ ɪᴅᴇᴀs; 'ø' ғᴏʀ ᴏɴs&ᴏғғs, ᴏʀ ᴘᴍ ᴍᴇ.
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SinXAzgard21

I am waiting on beta invite for Firefall.  It is a FPSMMO that is to free to play.
If you know me personally, you know how to contact me.

Shjade

Oh hey, Lineage 2 went F2P in November and I totally forgot about it. Time to check that out, I think...will report first impressions. ;p
Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
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Kuje

It was announced this week that EQ1 is also going free to play in March.

Shjade

Man. As much as I'd like to be all sweet nostalgia about that, I just can't find enthusiasm for it. Compared to modern MMO's, EQ1 is just so non-user-friendly. x.x

...but I'll probably have to give it another try for old times' sake.
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Kuje

Quote from: Shjade on January 31, 2012, 12:22:23 PM
Man. As much as I'd like to be all sweet nostalgia about that, I just can't find enthusiasm for it. Compared to modern MMO's, EQ1 is just so non-user-friendly. x.x

...but I'll probably have to give it another try for old times' sake.

Yea, that's my problem with going back to it. I loved it when it first came out, I still have the CD's for the original game, but it's just so frustrating to get into now. I'm to spoiled from WoW and other MMO's.

Shjade

Yeah. There's barely any comparison when you put EQ/EQ2 against WoW in basic things like quest and map information, flow of play (EQ/EQ2 both encourage grinding to level much more than WoW's more quest-oriented experience layout), combat execution... Going back to play older MMOs is the best way for me to see why WoW has the kind of success it does by comparison.

Which brings me in a completely non-smooth segue to Lineage 2. My personal internet issues aside, I have to say I'm surprised by the way they've done things. When I played L2 years ago I heard nightmare stories about how much grind was in the game, how slow everything went, so on and so forth. I was playing on an illegitimate server at the time, one with massively inflated gold and experience gain, so I didn't see that firsthand, just stuff I'd heard.

Joining the legit free server, I went from level 1 to 32 in about four hours of play. The tutorial island basically powerlevels you all the way to level 20 and your first class change while teaching you basic mechanics, and the next few quests after that gradually introduce some grindy elements in the form of "kill X monsters in this area" quests. The game seems to lack an on-screen counter for these quests, which is quite annoying: if I need to kill 20 imps, 25 bats and 10 warriors, but I don't have any indicator of how many I killed, am I supposed to just keep track in my head as I go? (The answer, of course, is no - just keep killing everything in the area until you get the ping and new quest info that tells you you're done...but it's still annoying.) On the downside, getting leveled up so quickly means missing out on some travel around that would have been involved in the old L2 world, going from your starter zone to the first town, meeting NPCs along the way, etc. On the upside, who cares, you get to skip ahead!

Considering how incredibly slow character progression takes place in this game (by which I mean I'm level 32 and still have exactly one attack ability, Power Shot, with all my other damage coming from simple auto-attacks; I'd have three or four if I were melee or a caster, but still far fewer active abilities than you might expect to have by your 30's from playing other MMORPGs), I think making your world power newcomers up to 30 or so before even starting to slow down is a great idea. MMORPGs that have been through a few expansions tend to have a lot of layers for new players to learn and climb through before they can reach the "current" new content. Maybe super-fast leveling early on skips early content, but I think giving people the option to backtrack and do that stuff before moving forward is better than forcing them to grind through it to catch up. Interesting choice, in any case; I can't say I've seen something like that in another MMO yet, the closest comparison being WoW's Death Knights getting to start in their 50's.

That went longer than I planned. >.> In other news, movement still feels awkward given it's mainly mouse-oriented, targeting feels a little sloppy compared with tab-targeting in any number of games I could name, actions are on the laggy side (movements take about a half-second to register before you actually start moving), and, as has always been the case in this game, popular teleport/town hubs are absolutely mobbed by player market offers that make it hellish to navigate those areas. Not sure yet whether I'd recommend it (my own internet issues have been frustrating but are unrelated to the game, I think), but it's looking promising for the moment.

Oh, one thing to keep in mind though: it's an open PVP game. Anyone can attack you outside a safe zone whenever they want, and I believe there's some low-percentage chance that you'll lose gear if killed in PVP, but not really sure how that works - I'm not a PVP-enthusiast myself. Just something to know before you decide to jump into this one.
Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
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Conversation is more useful than conversion.

DarklingAlice

Did I mention Spelunky? It kind of falls into the spectrum of roguelikes and kind of not. Still a fun time.
For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, elegant, and wrong.


Oniya

That looks very dangerous.  I feel my productivity seeping away. as I download.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Shjade

Additional caution about trying out Lineage 2: for some reason whenever I log out of it my internet connection seems to completely lock down until I reboot the computer. Not sure what's causing it, but it's definitely linked. So if you decide to check out the game and find yourself having odd internet drop issues soon after...yeah, that's probably related.
Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
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Elkay

Does anyone here play Spiral Knights? It's Free to Play, and it is a sweet little game, but I found it repetitive.

Caeli

Quote from: DarklingAlice on January 31, 2012, 08:58:46 PM
Did I mention Spelunky? It kind of falls into the spectrum of roguelikes and kind of not. Still a fun time.

:o adorbz.

*downloads* ;D
ʙᴜᴛᴛᴇʀғʟɪᴇs ᴀʀᴇ ɢᴏᴅ's ᴘʀᴏᴏғ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ sᴇᴄᴏɴᴅ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀᴛ ʟɪғᴇ
ᴠᴇʀʏ sᴇʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴠᴇʟʏ ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ ғᴏʀ ɴᴇᴡ ʀᴏʟᴇᴘʟᴀʏs

ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋ ❋ ғᴏʀ ɪᴅᴇᴀs; 'ø' ғᴏʀ ᴏɴs&ᴏғғs, ᴏʀ ᴘᴍ ᴍᴇ.
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Tiberius

endofnations.com/en

Totally kick ass game, currently in alpha phase but soon to be moving into closed beta then shortly after public beta. Its a full scale game development for what looks like it should be a subscription model game but they decided to remove the subscription model soon after they announced the game. Its an MMO-RTS with a worldwide metagame that lasts in 3 month cycles where you fight for control of each of the world's regions and has I think a 50 scenario campaign that can be co-opped with multiple players.

The biggest map on the game can hold up to 55 players from memory, I have bad memory so things are usually not completely correct

Shjade

#99
Katawa Shoujo, a visual novel game about a high school boy who finds out he has arrhythmia and ends up being transferred to a school for disabled youths.

Only been playing it for about ten minutes. Writing seems fair, though not really gripping me yet. Pretty good artwork. Hard to argue with "free."

Giving it a try myself since I've never really played/read through one of these for more than a couple of minutes before.

Edit: after finishing one of the storylines...I dunno, it's sorta hard to offer review/critique for a type of story/game that I've never played before. I can't tell if the quality of writing is above or below the average for this kind of thing. All in all it was interesting enough to keep me wanting to see it through, but at the same time I found myself often reflecting on the writing itself with some disappointment/unintentional amusement (especially the euphemism-packed eroge bits, one of which included a phrasing I'd never seen before that made me just go "really?"). Not sure if I could say I recommend it, exactly, but it's interesting enough to peruse if you're curious about the genre, anyway. Seems perhaps a little too rigid in following character archetypes: the shy girl, the loud girl, the calm girl, etc., but at least they don't feel completely flat. A little surprised by how few choices are involved; maybe five or six important branches early on, then everything afterward is pretty much set in stone, from the looks of things. Odd design. Dunno what I think of it yet.

(Spoiler alert: Rin gets all the best dialogue.)
Theme: Make Me Feel - Janelle Monáe
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