This game is not fun

[provisionist1]

(after all, do we have the right to ask for help with the quests ?)

Yes, you certainly do, as long as it's within the character of the game (known as in-character or IC). For example- if Harnquist asks you for iron ore, but you have no idea where to begin, you can ask a someone: "Excuse me sir/madam (not their name since you haven't been introduced yet, even though you can see their name on the screen), the smith Harnquist is short on iron and has asked me to bring him some, but I'm unsure where the nearest mine is, or how to extract ore, could you please give me some directions?"

You can also introduce yourself ( /greet ) tell them your name, etc. and get a general dialogue going.

What you shouldn't do is simply shout at people: "How do I complete the iron ore quest?"

Good luck!

Xirius

[tssthorn]

Yikes  I have not played PS in years. I recenetly returned only to play for a few hours here and there. I am going to give my 2 cents, not to start a flame, but just to put things in perspective of how I view this game.

Planeshift: Crystal Blue was my first time playing an mmorpg. I was super excited because I had always wanted to play a game that had interaction with a bunch of people like the real world. It was fun at first, till I spent 2 years playing it and noticed updates where lacking, and players where leaving left and right. Now keep in mind, most well known good games take 3 - 6 years to make. I spent those 2 years playing back when I was 18. I am 24 now. On top of that, I heard it's been in development for years before I even started playing.

I have been told the line "They work on it in their free time". That is totally understandable. However, what I am getting at is, this game has no future at all. It's been in development for 8+ years. It is no where near completion. At the current rate of creation, and the goal for what the game is suppose to be, the main creators would be dead before the game is completed.

Now here is another thought. The game machanics are absolutly horrible. Why the developers decided to use this game engine, really makes no sense. I mean how much thought was put into that choice? Ontop of that, the game itself is just boring. I could design a house and build it using cow crap and invite some of the most exceiting people in the world there. It's only going to be fun till they leave, no one is going to want to stay once they are gone. Planeshift is crap, and the only thing that makes it good is the players playing it. It may sound harsh, but this is reality.

20 - 30 years from now I can see virtual reality. Maybe even less time. Heck, Sony has a patent on an idea to use frequencies to simulate all 5 senses. They have already been seccesful in being able to create a device to move objects on a screen with your mind.

This game stands no chance in the future, because it's only a matter of time someone makes a game similar but 100x better.

[bilbous]

It is not the destination that is important, it is the travel to get there. There is no future, there is only Now ... err .. I mean now! .... not then but Now!!!
Anyway the point is the real game is not Yliakum and it's denizens, it is the development team and its contributers. If you think any differently you are bound to be disappointed.

Me, I don't play the game, I'm just a kibitzer. I point with glee at bad implementations and secretly chortle at ideas that seem stupid. Sometimes my comments are useful, other times not, and sometimes I try to amuse the people who have missed the bus, playing in the game's virtual world.

If you are not having fun you are not trying hard enough, no pain no gain they always say.

Fun is over-rated.

[Earowo]

As my art teacher always told me sarcastically

No fun of any kind.

[Mekora]

I feel manly when I try to sharpen my pencil with a knife...

Oh, and Bilbous is correct. Go listen to that Miley Cyrus song, "The Climb" and you'll know what he's talking about

Yes I feel extra stupid today.

[Talad]

I have been told the line "They work on it in their free time". That is totally understandable. However, what I am getting at is, this game has no future at all. It's been in development for 8+ years. It is no where near completion. At the current rate of creation, and the goal for what the game is suppose to be, the main creators would be dead before the game is completed.

You say you played it for 2 years, so probably you found something into it. The game has served hundreds of players for years, and many have enjoyed it. It's probably not completed, but still it's a game some people like to play, actually there are people playing it a lot. So see it as if every release is a new game, and probably it will look different. We know the fun factor is still pretty low in game, and we are working to improve it, but I can assure you there are ways to have fun.

The game machanics are absolutly horrible. Why the developers decided to use this game engine, really makes no sense. I mean how much thought was put into that choice?

The game engine has been built by us from scratch as a challenge to our wills, to learn something new, and to shape it as we want. We could have bought a commercial engine, and then be a clone of another game, but we decided not to.

About the overall improvements I think there are two conflicting factors. On one side the new features and areas we add, on the other the improvements of other commercial games, which set the bar a bit higher every few months. I don't think it's a lost battle, because actually we already won. We made the only opensource mmorpg in existance made by volunteers, which is playable and running. The future is still unknown, and depends on many factors some of which are strong willied and talented people joining the team. If you know some send them to us.

[Caratacos]

well, I suppose my issue is that while I enjoy the game, it's mostly for the RP and community aspect, and I'm in the habit of playing for a while every few months and then dissipating again, mostly because the grind just gets on my nerves (especially when one considers it's now at 200 for skills...) I personally HATE grinding, particularly on a game that is supposed to be RP focused, it takes away time I could be using to RP because I need to get my various skill levels up high enough to fight properly, or my angry dwarf is somewhat limited in what he can do, it can get a wee bit frustrating.

[bilbous]

If you can't role play when you are grinding then you are doing it wrong. Stop for a minute or two to share a laugh or complaint with some other grinder, that mob will wait. When you are studying for that big exam at the library do you hide in a room and make your eyes bleed or do you get up every now and then interact with the other grinders, I mean students, Sure you can get up from your computer and go tease your little sister in the kitchen but that doesn't help your character any, taking little breaks in the game to shoot the breeze makes all the difference.

It shouldn't be out of character to train hard to get your character where you want to go, it is kind of out of character to train to the exclusion of everything else. If you do that then your character is flawed.

I get pretty steamed with all you people who think you can do something called "roll play" inside the game, and be out of character the rest of the time -- indeed the tip of the day reinforces this bad habit when it tells you to consider you character like it is in a play. There is no intermission, set pieces do not end, you are your character when you are in the game and everything you do reveals your character. If you are always doing OOC stuff and claiming it is not part of your character you are like the guy who hangs out in gay bars and tries to pretend, somehow, that he never does and isn't gay. If you find the gay analogy offensive, replace it with emo, disco, punk, whatever else you want. You are what you do no matter how much you deny it.

Planking is an up and coming hobby in the real world, PS has its gargoyling equivalent, standing immobile on perches be they in the plaza or on rooftops. Weirdos gotta be weirdos. If you want to just stand there and chat climb under a house where you won't be seen and your precious character will not be affected. If you are standing there in the open doing nothing or running in circles or whatever it displays a part of your character that you may not intend.

[Aramara Meibi]

Planking is an up and coming hobby in the real world, PS has its gargoyling equivalent, standing immobile on perches be they in the plaza or on rooftops. Weirdos gotta be weirdos. If you want to just stand there and chat climb under a house where you won't be seen and your precious character will not be affected. If you are standing there in the open doing nothing or running in circles or whatever it displays a part of your character that you may not intend.

if you see either of my girls doing such a thing, one is most likely spying on someone (your mileage may vary on how well) and the other is meditating. both are completely IC. I agree with you Bilbous, one should remain IC from the moment they log in to the moment they log out. afk may be the one exception, but seriously, if you're going to be afk for more than 15 minutes, just log off already. Even then, I know some players who remain IC even when logged off. I've had entire IC conversations through email. I think that's the whole point with RP, you can go ahead and take this entire game away, but the true RPers will find a way to continue the RP, whether it be entirely in their own head, written down as fanfic, done through IM or chat, whatever... the game just makes it a little bit more immersive and gives us a platform to interact with many players at once.

also consider your character's reality when RPing. they live in a world where death ain't such a big deal, magic solves everything, there are multiple gods who are very real and active, and people stand still and unresponsive in the same location for hours, even days. it's all just part of their reality. I remember once I encountered a glitch when trying to leave the arena, the game kept beaming me back to the arena steps. yes, me the player knew it was a glitch, but poor Ara was scared half to death because she thought some cruel god was playing a trick on her. there was a group of players dueling or something nearby, and I tried to RP it with them, but they just didn't get it. they just couldn't wrap their heads around the idea that a game glitch could be RPable. i was bummed.

[Caratacos]

I do try RP while grinding, I just don't find that many others appear while i'm doing it generally, that's all, it just tends to get on my nerves a bit

[tssthorn]

You say you played it for 2 years, so probably you found something into it. The game has served hundreds of players for years, and many have enjoyed it. It's probably not completed, but still it's a game some people like to play, actually there are people playing it a lot. So see it as if every release is a new game, and probably it will look different. We know the fun factor is still pretty low in game, and we are working to improve it, but I can assure you there are ways to have fun.

The game engine has been built by us from scratch as a challenge to our wills, to learn something new, and to shape it as we want. We could have bought a commercial engine, and then be a clone of another game, but we decided not to.

About the overall improvements I think there are two conflicting factors. On one side the new features and areas we add, on the other the improvements of other commercial games, which set the bar a bit higher every few months. I don't think it's a lost battle, because actually we already won. We made the only opensource mmorpg in existance made by volunteers, which is playable and running. The future is still unknown, and depends on many factors some of which are strong willied and talented people joining the team. If you know some send them to us.

I played it for 2 years, because I enjoyed the people. I was also thinking about applying to help with the project, but I really didn't see much happening.

I am a bit surprised to have actually gotten a response from you ,Talad, of all people. I am also surprised at the fact you all made the engine yourself. I give you kudos for that, because not many game developers go that extra mile. If I had known, I probably wouldn't have ragged about the engine because I know it's pretty hard to start from scratch like that.

As for talented people? I do know a few. I don't know if any of them would be interested though as they are pretty focused on their own project. They some how got me involved because they needed someone who knew quite a bit about the source engine and most of it's tools. I would be willing to lend a hand if I had the chance to, but for some reason I doubt I am good enough. 

[LigH]

Yikes  I have not played PS in years. I recenetly returned only to play for a few hours here and there.

Hey, little ruby, wibble wobble!

[shrapnel]

<sigh>
I'll agree saying "This game is not fun" and stopping there is poor. After all no real feedback there. The Admins and Devs need to listen though too. Looking at this game I have to wonder if it tried being too big right out of the gate. A smaller world would leave more time to develop sub-systems better. It's too late now, unless someone wants to "reboot" the world and everything in it. Even then people would complain.

I see systems that don't have enough people working on them, for the size of the project. I see some poor organization as to the breakdown to the mechanics and sub-system maintenance required.  This includes the quest sub-system with all its broken quests and parts that don't mesh well at the moment. I can see some opacity in the ground I walk on and see the skybox underneath. I can see where some terrain meshes don't connect, or don't connect right and the holes left behind.

I started playing around 2006-7, the last of the 0.3.x period and stopped around 0.4.0, not to come back until 0.5.7, and some changes. Some good, some that were "What the..." moments. I left because the game was starting to get boring, even with friends. Then I come back to a game that in some ways seems to have taken a few steps backward while trying to improve. I feel this game has a lot of potential, it just isn't realizing it because some things are too complicated or not explained clearly enough.

It's fun when you got friends to play with... Solution: make friends and play with them.

It's not fun when quests leave you clueless, or frustrated because you don't know where to go, who to see, or if you have to initiate the conversation by typing, or hoping the dialog box pops up all the time.  Players can't directly do much about it, except file bug reports where it's a bug, and grumble when it's not. Devs need more people with all the right access to all the appropriate code and IP to fix it properly.

It's not so fun when before you took a break, your character could take on an ulber alone and win, just to come back and find that so many below an ulber are now hard to beat, AND EVEN WORSE: The gage used to determine if a monster is something you  can tackle says you have a chance, only to have your life redirected to the death realm 3-5 hits from the monster later. I understand balancing, but I can't understand a system that says you have a chance to win a fight when you can't.

I'd suggest the devs get together somehow, and revisit all the design documentation, and how they can get it back on track, while not being afraid to cut what has been found to be bad, and try something else if need be. The devs need more people to help. 8+ years is a LONG time, for any game. (Someone brought up Duke Nukem Forever, A game where the graphics can show when they were developed, and game play showing nothing original and cutting edge like Duke Nukem 3D did when it was new.)

Would I help? I dunno. But, if the vision for this game is lost, the game is sure to follow.

[Earowo]

It's not fun when quests leave you clueless, or frustrated because you don't know where to go, who to see, or if you have to initiate the conversation by typing, or hoping the dialog box pops up all the time.  Players can't directly do much about it, except file bug reports where it's a bug, and grumble when it's not. Devs need more people with all the right access to all the appropriate code and IP to fix it properly.

Heres the thing, the only time I recall the message box ever popping up for 'any' quest, is when you give the ol, I need a quest, chat, the box pops up to accept or deny, never after that, That does NOT mean you have to type the rest of the quest, if you right click the npc and hit them lips, you get your next set of choices..

[Sarras Volcae]

probably won't look at this thread again. but i have something to say! so i'm gonna say it before i forget.

WOULD BE GREAT IF TALAD SAW THIS!

now that i'm banned from zeroping, i've realized that TSS thorn (lol) is right! the only reason i played was because the players were fun. on ezpc, there isn't really anybody online. it's far too hard to level up to be worth my time (and i have just about nothing to do right now). the quests are so ridiculously tedious. they're horrible compared to every other game i've played, such as WoW or runescape or maplestory or... well, every other game. i only levelled my character because i wanted to be able to match other players in power.

talad, you've attracted a great community. this is probably due to the game's genre, not how the game actually works. free strictly roleplaying 3D MMORPGs are hard to come by. so you're practically a monopoly here. you could do whatever you want with the game and people are still going to play. i know that you're all about originality, but you might have to sacrifice that for the game mechanics. if they were similar to most other games out there, this game would be a lot more popular.