Mortal Online
The Open Beta started and everyone who has not preordered it could see it for the very first time. Personally, I dont really like it. I thought of it like Darkfall with a better graphics when I first heard from it, but I guess I miscalculated – it’s some sort of other genre. I’ll stick to Darkfall and hope for a good next expansion.
http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/32499-patch-notes-v-0-12-18-20-february-3rd.html
Nevertheless, Star Vault has released a new patch for Open Beta today. Now, lag problems should be solved. I heard there are a lot of other problems since the patch (like skills not skilling or something), but I don’t really know because I have not played it since then.
Darkfall Online
DFO had also a patch this week, mostly bugfixes.
http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?t=232828
They’ve also introduced a new system for protecting new players in the first hours of playing. It’s a nice idea but I guess they should focus on making skilling or stats grinding faster. I know there are some vets who started a new char to prove it’s easy and fast to level up – but seriously, somebody who starts a new character alone for the first time will probably need five times longer for achieving it, and then, you can’t really compete in PvP because you’ve got a third of the HP the other ones have. Not crying, myself I’m really enjoying the game although I’m also a quite new player, but still I know a lot of people who’d give up faster.
Here are the specifics:
* If you’re a new player entering the game for the first time, newbie protection is on by default. There’s an option to turn it off if you don’t want it.
* You won’t be able to damage other players and other players won’t be able to damage you.
* You can only damage monsters.
* The protection only lasts for a few hours of gameplay. There’s a visible count-down timer. You’ll get a warning before the protection expires
* The protection is active only in the racial starting areas. If you wander outside your starting area, you’ll get a warning and if you don’t return within a couple of minutes, you will lose the protection.
* There’s a visual indicator that signifies you’re a new player with protection on.
* You can trade and interact with NPCs without restrictions
* You cannot use any items that cause structural or player damage (battle spikes, warhulks, cannons, ships etc.)
* You cannot use mounts
* You cannot unspawn objects
* You cannot teleport
* You cannot use Runestones
* You cannot use portals including Nexus
* You cannot create a clan
* You can give and receive buffs and heals
* You can join a clan
* Newbie protection works only for new accounts
* You cannot skill up on other players or be used to skill up on
Battlefield Bad Company 2
I quite enjoyed the start of the Beta of Bad Company 2. After 3 days playing, I decided to preorder it. The fairly new Destruction system is awesome and adds a lot of variety to existing maps. The map of the beta uses Destruction system often and I hope other maps in release will support it as well as.
Most critics write that it feels like a console port – well I’ve to disagree – for me it really felt like playing Battlefield 3 – even when I know it ain’t BF3 and BF3 might be better when it’s done, but still a really good game for bypassing time between BF2 and 3.
