Yet another EA MMOG bites the dust - Earth & Beyond

[calthaer]

Looks like another EA massively-multiplayer online game is going to bite the dust:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/03...s_6091609.html

They say that it's the genre itself which is not popular and claim that that's the reason for the demise...this apparently discounting the fact that the Star Wars one is doing well, and that Anarchy Online has also managed to keep its head above-water. E&B, for whatever reason, was so bad that it only has 25,000 subscribers. I remember when that number was five or six times that.

Having played it, I think its demise has more to do with dumb game design decisions, like:

-making the ships with the weakest armor / shields have close-range weapons, and giving ships with the best armor / shields long-range weapons. Hello?

-leaving three important professions out of release, and never inserting them at a later date

-outer space with areas that are essentially 2D...yeah.

I'm starting to think that it's just EA. Can't wait for Marvel vs. EA now.

[Querjek]

It's because Portal was canceled on G4.

[BHvrd]

It's because Portal was canceled on G4.

On a happier note, G4 also cancelled Blister. Yay, no more idiotlar, er sinder, whatever..

[Raedon]

lol! EA just doesn't play the competition.. You don't jump into something like "The Sims:Online" add a "criminal" career and not allow child pimping..

[SoulBlazer]

I'm been playing E&B since beta days and I'm sorry to hear this. Yes, the game had problems, but it was still fun to play.

I need some other kind of 'massive space based online game' to get my fix now. I wonder how EVE is? That's been out long enough.....

[Stark]

EVE is a waste of time. Anarchy Online is the best MMORPG right now even though its a few years old. SWG is not going to last so don't waste your time especially when EQ2 hits. AO has a free 7 day trial so whats stopping you? Its like a drug that gets better with time. Another expansion for AO is coming which will only make this game bigger and better than the others. Its not a chore to play -instead its actually fun. SWG was like having a second job only you were paying to work there!

[SoulBlazer]

I don't LIKE the fantasy ones, though. I want either a realisitc looking one or a space based one. The only other online game I'm playing right now is FF XI.

I wish Nobunagas Ambition Online came over here in the States.....

[SoulBlazer]

Oh, here's one I would KILL for....

An online Star Trek MMOG!

(Starts drooling allready)

[Raedon]

I love Star Trek as much as the next.. trek liker.. yea.. but the license for that world is being crapped on.

I want a Star Trek TV series about the Klingon Empire on HBO so it can be gritty.. but I get Enterprise with it's whimpy Scott Boreula at the helm.. :P

[Raedon]

As for EQ2, I'm all about EQ2!

Only thing that worries me is they went away from their winning EQ1 formula on the Class system.. You pick Warrior, you ARE a warrior from day one. EQ2 has everyone the same class until level 8? or something, then you get to choose like melee, magic i guess then then 20? something you change..

Well, that and SWG is not getting good reviews from people I know who loved EQ1.

[calthaer]

On a related note, Netdevil (the people behind JumpGate) are accepting peoples' Earth & Beyond CDs to give them an extra 21 days of free play on the JumpGate game.

I'm almost thinking of sending in my CD except that defunct games may be a collector's item some day.

[SoulBlazer]

Nobody has the ST licence anymore.....Activision broke it and sued over several issues, so I doubt we'll see any new games. Which are too bad, cause the last few ones have been good (except for Shattered Universe.)

Now, Jumpgate I HAVE played, and that one I found borring. Not very much to do in that one, and too much borring repetive stuff in order to make any progress.

[calthaer]

And Earth & Beyond *didn't* have lots of boring & repetitious stuff? What were those trade routes - exciting, interesting, and / or ever-changing?

I haven't played the Jumpgate one, but I was thinking about sending in my defunct E&B CD for a free 30 days. Before I do, I'm really curious to hear why you think E&B was so much more interesting than Jumpgate.

[SoulBlazer]

Well, keep in mind I played Jumpgate for a month about two years ago -- it might have been changed some.

In Earth and Beyond I always did trade runs in groups -- it was better value for everyone and gave you something else to do. I also made a lot of money and experience doing hunting. I joined a great guild, so that really helped as well.

Once the plot aspects got fully intergrated, I also spent a lot of time checking those out, and I spent even more time helping newbies.

[TNTPLUST]

I'm not surprised E&B died. I played it for 6 months. I got bored pretty quick.

Space Combat was boring. Pull in range to bad guy, see who's shields held. There was no skill in it. Since weapon targeting was handled by the computer and Piloting didn't change the equatinon much.

Those trade runs could get AWFULLY boring.

I thought Arena combat/game was neat but nobody ever played it in my Universe after the first two weeks.

I played SW too. While it's execution was slightly better I found it flawed too and gave up after four months.

I want a game where combat is handled first person without computer targeting (Think Battlefield 1942 or Unreal Tournament).

I don't want a pretty chat room.