Azvareth

He sounds like a smart kid. On a different note, here's a site explaining in detail how this PvMP thing works. I've given and cited some pretty "oh, um... I think it's a bit like this" explanations and sources on it so far in this thread, but this is a reliable source and it seems to explain pretty much everything there is to know about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribes_2 Basically a game that focuses/d more or less entirely on teamplay (for CTF matches anyway). A succesful setup: a few guys running around maintaining the base, which includes deploying turrets, as well as repairing them, the vehicle pad and most importantly the Generator (if the Generator was destroyed, turrets and vehicle pads would cease to work). The rest would basically just run around and defend in the middle or run bombattacks on the enemy's base in bomb-planes, and finally three or four people continually trying to cap the enemy flag. Lots of fun.

I used to play some ladder games with a clan I was in in Tribes 2 - however that was a good two years ago. Nothing really serious though, was just for the fun of it. But then my connection began to bugger up, and I never got back into it again. Ah Tribes 2... probably had some of my finest gaming moments in that game. Air-duels with spinfusors ftw.

The European "benefits" for pre-ordering are: So yeah, it doesn't appear to include moving your beta characters over, which is a shame. But I'm seriously considering getting it anyway (STICKERS!!!). Also, the monthly fee seems to have been confirmed. At Gameplay they have started to sell the gamecards already. So by the looks of things, it will cost ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã9,99 a month. They are planning to fix this in the future.

Elton John - Tiny Dancer. It is a good song though.

Me and some mates are (almost) certainly going to Sweden Rock Festival this year. It lasts four days. Bands confirmed so far: The lineup was better last year. But then again, you don't go to festivals for the bands.

I believe it is $9,99 USD. However, that is if you pre-order it. I don't think the "real" fee has been confirmed yet. Oh and I've updated my OP.

Yeah, Helm's Deep would be awesome. But man, if they added Minas Tirith, and put as much effort into it as they did with Torin's Halls, I would crap myself.

Works for me now.

I'm having the same problem.

In addition to what Korla said, and to clarify further, if they made the PvP the way you'd want it to be, there could not be any sort PvE besides the "collect X amount of apples" quests. There would only be the PvP, more or less. So I would imagine it to be like a 3rd-person hack'n slash CS game, set in a LoTR-ish environment. It would not be appealing to the average LoTR fan at all. Also, I read up some more on the PvMP, and this is a quote from a forum explaining it a bit more thoroughly: It also seems that you can buy new equipment for your normal character with the "Destiny Points". That point doesn't seem to be totally confirmed however. Also, the people at SA (which is, unlike the official LOTRO forum, an impartial source) absolutely love the PvMP system. A quote: Someone also said that it isn't just something that was thrown in as an "afterthought" but it is actually well-integrated. As for the rank system, which I forgot to mention in my initial post, since it hasn't (remarkably) been mentioned a lot. However, here they explain this. So yes, you will be able to actually adopt people (holy ninja jesus!). This will provoke a lot of creepyness. I want my beta key.

Like I said, ever since the game was announced back in 2003, it has always been a PvE-RP game. The PvMP feature was just added recently to give players something else to do. Besides, upon adding another faction, you must also realise they would have to create raids and instances for them as well. This is where it would not work with the lore. The only sorts of raids I could see viable would be ones where you burned random small villages. But, I mean, there are already quests where you do this. Besides, playing a faction that is doomed, I think, would feel pretty, in lack of better words, "meh". Furthermore, I don't know if you read my post, but I also mentioned that when you reach level 45-50, you will be able to enter the "PvMP island" with your own character. Meaning, you will be able to play against Orc- and Uruk'hai players. So...I mean, that's at least something for the crowd not feeling that battling against a computer-controlled Orc is satisfactory enough. :P

ZZ Top - Lowdown In The Street.

Indeed, this game would be for the people who prefer PvE. And in this, I am quite neutral. While I enjoy PvP... I also think exploring and questing in groups is slightly more enjoying. It all comes down to matter of taste obviously. And that's the reason I also haven't looked into Age of Conan much. While the combat-engine sounds tasty, the "Conan world" just doesn't seem all that interesting to me. I will probably give it a try though out of curiosity. While on the subject, what do you think about SUN Online? I did as well, but I haven't recieved any response from them (well, I got one from them a few days ago, 6 months after I had applied, saying I must apply for the EU one. Apparently I had applied for the US beta... :uhh: ) There will however be an open beta starting on the 30th of March for pre-order customers, and 6th of April for the general public. I don't know if it will have the "try it out free for X days" thing WoW has. If it will, it will probably be implemented at a later stage.

Isn't it? :) The developers are very excited about the feature as well (see: dev chats), so they will maintain and update it frequently. And considering all my friends who will start playing also play instruments as a hobby, and are all equally excited as I, we will have tons of fun with it. And yes, there will be gamecards.

I'm a bit perplexed at the fact that this game hasn't really been talked-about a lot, neither here nor in general (considering the huge fanbase LOTR has created). So I was just wondering if anybody else is planning to get this game when it's released. Me and some friends have decided that we would at least try it out, all of us growing more and more tired of WoW. Some facts about the game: it takes place approximately as soon as Frodo leaves the Shire with the ring. So you'll be able to meet a few of the characters from the book (the ones confirmed so far are: Frodo, Bilbo, Aragorn, Gandalf, Elrond, Tom Bombadill, Old Man Willow, Radagast and DÃÆÃâÃâúnedains (refered to as rangers in the game)). Although its main target group are people that are interested in the LOTR lore and such, it will also have instances, PvMP (more about this later) and raids (24-man raids have so far been confirmed). However, I really hope it will not sell out like Vanguard, and become another WoW-clone where PvP and raids are the only ways to "play the game". And so far that doesn't seem to be the case. :) Now for the PvP, while initially they didn't plan on having a feature like this, it is now something they have not only added, but plan on updating and maintaining as well. However, in LOTRO it is called PvMP (Player versus Monster Play). A quote from the website regarding this: From my understanding the PvMP will go down as follows: you are teleported to an island, and you choose from one of the following "monsters": Uruk-Hai, Orc, Spider, Worg. Your monster automatically gains the max level. You can create your own groups, and then you basically run around and kill other players whom have done the same thing. Upon killing other players, you gain "Destiny Points" which works like "Honor" does in WoW: you can upgrade your monster with new weapons, armours etc. You can enter this place with your own character when he or she is level 45-50. There are also plenty of quests in this area, so it's not only a big ole' gank fest. This actually looks pretty fun from the gameplay videos I've seen. [uPDATE] I read up some more on the PvMP, and this is a quote from a forum explaining it a bit more thoroughly: The points can also be spent to boost your main character's XP. I've also heard you can buy new armours and weapons for your main character with the Destiny Points. Now for the races and classes you can play as in the game: Races are: Man, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit. So, in case I haven't mentioned this earlier, you can only play the "good" races - which, if you think about it, makes perfect sense; think of how end-game raids would be with an evil race. It could impossibly to stay "true to Tolkien's lore", which has been their main goal from the beginning. The different classes are: Minstrel, Burglar, Guardian, Champion, Hunter, Captain and Lore-Keeper. On the initial launch, you will be able to visit the whole Eriador-region which is: * Archet o Hunting Lodge o Brownes Folly o Sprigley's Farm * Bree-land o The Midgewater Marsh o The Prancing Pony o Barrow-downs o Bree o House of Tom Bombadil o Withywindle o Brandy hall o Dead Spire o Brockenborings o Staddle o Combe * Ered Luin o Thorin's Halls o Thorin's Throne o Hunters Cabin o Duillond o Kheledul o Spire of Kheledul o Celondim * North Downs o Trestlebridge o Ruined Watch-tower o Esteldin * Lone-lands o Forsaken Inn o Weathertop * Shire o Bag End o Bamfurlong o Brandywine Bridge o Bucklebury Ferry o Bywater o Great Smials o Michel Delving o The Party Tree o Sandyman's Mill o The Green Dragon Inn o Stock * Trollshaws o Ford of Bruinen o Bilbo's Stone Trolls * Ettenmoors * Misty Mountains o Rivendell * Angmar [/copy-paste] They will continually increase the map however, and are planning to cover the entire Middle-Earth! Now, for a very exciting feature, which me and my friends look forward to the most: the ability to play instruments (real time!) in the game! :D Let me explain. Say your character purchases a lute for 20 silver, you can now compose your own melodies and songs that other people hear in the game! You press key 1-8 for the different notes, and shift to raise the tone, and ctrl to lower it. You can press down 4 keys max (and thus, you can play most chords!). There are 24 notes all in all. While every class can play the lute + one class-specific instrument, the minstrel can play all instruments. And despite of what you might think, this feature works very very well in the game. I have seen videos of beta testers playing various songs from the LOTR movies, the Mario theme, Dust In The Wind etc. and they all sound really good! Yet another thing I was worried about was if the game would be played like Guild Wars and similar RPGs: incredibly linear and no jump feature (:P). However from the gameplay videos I have seen, the game is very much like WoW, in the respect that you can truly wander off on your own and explore, and actually go places where you should be able to go (down a waterfall into the water for example), and you can jump! Which I think is just excellent. [uPDATE] The game will also have a rank system. They explain this here. Now I'll round this off with some random facts: - The (EU) release date is 24th of April. I'm not sure if it is different for US citizens. - You'll be able to have a horse as mount. - Player housing is planned to be implemented in the future. - You can create your own fellowship. But from what I have understood, a fellowship works like a group/party does in other MMORPGs. - Guilds are called "kinships". - Yes there will be a monthly fee. How much it will be has not yet been decided. - There will be an auction house. - Within a fellowship, you will be able to make "fellowship maneuvers", which is a group combat action. They start off simply but later increase in complexity. - You can smoke pipe. - The level cap on LOTRO's inital launch will be 50. - [uPDATE] When making a Dwarven character, there is no female option. Why, is explained here: [quote="ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬ÅThe History of Middle-EarthÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬Å; volume 11: ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬ÅThe War of the JewelsÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬Å; part II: ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬ÅThe Later Quenta SilmarillionÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâÃ

Just wanna say that your videos are impressive. Good stuff. OT: For me it'd probably have to be 70% instruments and 30% lyrics. But that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I play an instrument myself. A good guitar riff and/or a good solo but with pretty bad lyrics can still be a fantastic song in my ears. Good lyrics can be the same, but that is rarer.

I'd have to say Guild Wars. Not that it was a bad game per se, more that I just can't grasp how it came to be such an immensely popular MMORPG. Granted, I could never actually bring myself to play it very thoroughly. I lost interest after two weeks. But you literally max your character's level in 3 days... and, then what? EDIT: Oh yeah, and the only time you get to meet other players is when you go to a city. So it really felt like a single-player RPG. It is also incredibly linear. Whichever path you took always lead you to either a quest-giver, or a city. No "wandering off on your own to explore" value to it at all. Oh, and Path Of Neo. "Did I just warp back to 1995?" was my first thought when I played it.

When I was little I always used to pick 'easy'. Then I realised that 'easy' often equals horrible AI. So I always start off with 'medium' nowadays.

Pantera - The Sleep. God, this solo sends a chill down my spine every time.

Yes I do, and I don't understand why they're posted here in OT in the first place. I mean, movies and TV shows... don't those two kinda go hand in hand? :uhh:

You can try it out for free though for 15 days (in case you missed the big text saying "Try Guitar Pro"...)

I used to dislike the PS3 for the reasons already mentioned (no good games, costs a lot). But man, I just checked some of the games that will be released for it, and I have to say it looks very impressive so far. Might have to buy one.

Attraction: lips, arms - and hair to some extent. Revulsion: none really... big nose? I also dislike long fingernails.

Heroes is the only tv show that I can remember really being sold on. A truly excellent show (so far).