Quake Wars
Name: More Cowbell
IP: 209.160.77.105
Port: 27733

Team Fortress 2
Name: More Cowbell
IP: 209.40.101.181
Port: 27015

Upcoming Game Events
Slipknot de_dust Rammstein Battlefield 2
GR1 :: Heavy Metal GR2 :: Punk Rock
  Listen Now  Listen Now
  Playlist  Playlist
Join Gamers Radio Battalion
The Gamers Radio Battalion is Recruiting mature players with a sense of humor.
 
67.19.27.13:8822 (67.19.27.13:51234) is offline.

Gamers Radio Battalion

About Us
Game Server Rules
Teamspeak Rules
Join The GRB!

Clan Members

Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2142
Counterstrike
Unreal Tournament

Sponsors

Buy.com!
GoGamer.com
Newegg.com.



A portion of your purchase will go towards supporting our Radio Stations and Game Servers without adding any additional cost to you.
Fallen Age - For Real? Dare We Believe? PDF Print E-mail
Written by Atomm   
Tuesday, 10 April 2001
I wanted to play Dawn, really badly...I wanted to seriously roleplay. And I wanted Death to walk the land with me. My friends and I had plans. We had the blueprints of a wonderful village. We had everything set! Gods, language, all of it!

But...*sighs quietly* I am beginning to lose my faith in Dawn.

So, in light of my need to game and to roleplay, my very dear friend "Archaice" *waves at him* sent me this link:

Fallen Age

I went to it...

I read about it...

And...

I WANTED IN!

But once I look over the site...will this be a game I play with enough relish to have Everquest fade into history?

Science Fiction Fantasy hybrid. The game takes place at approximately 6400 A.D. - A strange new earth.

126 Unique Spells and Skills each with their own awe-inspiring 3D effects.
Three Race/Class combinations each with six sub-classes, and the opportunity to partially multi-class in the later levels.

500 levels of action-packed game play.

Several choices for consensual PvP (Player versus Player) combat. (Guild Wars, Deathmatches, PK Zones...)

In-Game Ladders and Rankings for Deathmatches.

An incredible equipment system which provides for 10,000 unique items per game world.
In-Game tracking of Mob and PKills.

A completely original and unique Colonization sub-game! A combination of Turn Based Simulation and Real Time Strategy where you build your empire, ally with friends, conquer enemy territory, manage resources, tinker with politics... become an Emperor.

In-Game property and Housing!

...and much more


?!?!? Can this be real? Lets read MORE!

The date in roleplay is set as December 12th, 6415 A.D. All of humanity has progressed, and then...digressed. Humankind was almost wiped out by beings(?) called Thothan, also to be known as "The Dark Ones from Outside". Oooooo!

After a long period of darkness, I assume? a Great Emperor named Siam brought the human people back together. And they slowly began to crawl their way back up, fighting against Thothan.

For four hundred years, they have fought Thothan. Then a giant cataclysm and the last battle the current Great Emperor would ever see pushed Thothan back, but resulted in a severe blow to the up and coming humans. And the letter that is the "introduction" is apparently a document meant for someone to read yet another three hundred years after this cataclysm.

So what is the story, really?

Players will be the last of the human race, born from specially selected genepools the Great Emporor himself prior to his death and stored in hidden catacombs beneath the earth surface. The document commands these new "children" to go forth, restore humanity to the surface, and unite humankind once again!

Well, for this gamer, there is a method to reviewing a new game site. First, I look at the roleplay, which the "introduction" link was.

Then? Screenshots, screenshots, screenshots!

The website provides screenshots in several categories. When looking on them, one can see the game is run with the same point of view as Diablo and Ultima Online, "Isometric". The images seem very smooth, and the game engine doesnt override the screen with unnecessary and jumbled decorations, so far.

Then we have shots of "colonization". One friend rumors that it will be similar to Civilization and entourage, but the screenshots are very VERY smooth. The player seems to be able to look at the organization of village or city setups head on or "God" view. (Feel free to comment and let me know what you found out about "colonization" in this game).

The next set of screenshots revolve around the creatures of Fallen Age. The very last screenshot in this section is actually a "character lineup", showing various characters casting spells. Very smooth, albeit very small on inspection.

Further down is a category of screenshots showing off the various spell effects that will be available at least for the beta of Fallen Age. RealPlayer videos and animated gifs looking pretty sharp. Comments, anyone?

Next and last is an assortment of downloads regarding the game...logo, artwork, etc. Most interestingly, though, and most intriguing is a pix called the Technology Tree. Things that caught my eye? Lithium Power Plant, Psychic Battery, and Astro Phenom Lab. I challenge any gamer to explain THOSE to me! *laughs*

If you hit the Press link, you will see how much this games developers have been doing lately. Apparently they only announced this game two weeks ago, yet they are flooded with interviews already by such notorious names as Gamespy, Stratics, RPGVault and even a preview with Lum the Mad! How prestigious can you get?

At last this gamer turns her eyes to the FAQ for Fallen Age. And what is this? A new term "I" have not heard before. PSW stands for "persistent state world". Anyone want to explain that in their own laymens terms?

Terms that stick out and that I welcome comment on are as follows:

MMORTSSRPG - Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game/Real Time Strategy and Turn Based Simulation Game

consensual PvP - that will allow pvpers to live alongside non-pvpers

Science Fiction and Fantasy hybrid - futuristic age and technology with swords and magick?

Juno - currency for Fallen Age

Chakra - a magick caster class? resulting in Edel, Astral, Mental, Causal, and Causal Lord

Now, as always, what are the drawbacks of this game? "Suspension of disbelief" is mentioned, and I see that as a bit of a problem. There will be no eating or drinking of food and water in the game. They would rather have players "imagine" that they are doing that. But this brings to mind an adventure in Everquest I had where I refused to take anything but milk and muffins, or food created from meat dropped by actual player races. I was chastised and scoffed at heartily by most fellow players, which was a disheartening experience. Another thing that throws my "vive la roleplay" spirit into a sudden fastbrakes spin is the policy regarding names.


To prohibit certain combinations of letters would deter poor choices in names some might choose, but itd also take away some of your freedom to make genuine names - Wed rather not punish everyone for the sake of a few...if someone wishes to name himself "l33t d3wd," well, thatd be the equivalent of him painting a big red sign on himself that reads, "Im not someone you want to associate with." - So who are we to not grant him that right?


What that means is that all you players who get mad at stoooopid names, just like me, but dont have big mouths like I do, will undoubtedly have to suffer the "l33ts" and "d00ds" just like I will. And because we all know there are far more of these than just a "few" as Fallen Ages producers think, this games roleplay is not going to be any more supported or encouraged than Everquests. The under-age majority will rule, once again, and unfortunately, a good roleplay experience is going to be dampened by gamers who just want to come in, root, nuke, loot and win. And when they get bored, what do they do? Oh yes, make fun of those minorities that came for roleplay and do all they can to manipulate and destroy the game as it was intended to be.

I was very gung-ho on this game, talking with Archaice fervently about how we would enjoy this game. And then I got to the explaination of "colonization". Have we all heard of ShadowBane? That is a game that puts me off completely. Reason being that it is very guild or clan based, and I am not a good follower, nor responsible enough to be a good leader. And in Fallen Age:


Emperors not only get the satisfaction of knowing that they accomplished a near-impossible task, but are rewarded with an NPC shop where they can sell the wares they find it battle. For the first time, you’re given the opportunity to "win" in an MMOG.


This gamer just wants to play! In Dawn we actually had some semi-rulers. But they were a triplicity...a priestess, a general, and a magistrate. There was also going to be a council of villagers, in our village. But in Fallen Age, there is going to be an emporor ruling areas. When a player gets level 30, they do a quest, and receive a plot of land to develop. It will have your own bank, your own excess item vault, and eventually your own army of soldiers, which will be run by an AI(Artificial Intelligence) after you log in order to defend it. The game is about conquering, about warfare, and about building an empire.

Sounds good, for some certain types of players. But that isnt my interest or focus in a game. I dont want to be ruled by an emporor, nor do I want to BE emporor. Will there be room for rogue wandering souls in Fallen Age, like there was going to be in Dawn?

This game will be a good one, I think. The graphics are very nice, the beta is coming out sooner than any other, and the game is set for release THIS YEAR, not years down the line. But will it be a keeper?

Or just filler until Horizons and ShadowBane are out?

Beta is very soon, but there may still be room for YOU on the list! Mention "free" and Im in, I signed up and have my fingers crossed. And there are great contests going on, and a special offer that includes you turning in your OTHER MMORPG game disks for rewards in Fallen Age.

Welcome to Fallen Age... "Its your world now."
 
< Prev   Next >
[ Back ]