There's only one Bershe

I'm not trolling, I was just hoping that somebody would say "aw, well didn't you go to X system? That's where Juni told you to meet up with the fleet! There's more!"

Instead I'm still left with the fact that there is one single "random" mission to play, which just doesn't sit well with me. It's a decent game, but it could've been exponentially better if they had taken the time to add another few dozen random missions.

I guess I'll stop complaining. If there's nothing left to do, I'll just wait for an expansion or something. Thanks for your help, anyway.

(BTW, I finished Haeg in above-average time, about 23 hours or something...)

<< I think a lot of time hype works AGAINST products. I've found personally I enjoy things that come out of the blue and surpise me much more than things I've been anticipating for a long time, as they generally disappoint in one way or another. If I had anticipated it as the next Privateer and read and researched on all of the cool features that didn't make it in the game or were watered down, I'd probably be disappointed. But this game kinda hit me in the face and pleasantly surprised me, so I guess I was fortunate that I didn't get involved in the hype. >>

This is sooo true!

I'm in the same boat as you regarding Freelancer. The demo sort of came out of the blue for me too. I downloaded and installed it, liked it, and bought the retail version when it came out. I'm totally enjoying it so far.

I also recently bought Master of Orion 3 after just hearing about it. The game isn't that great, so I'm returning it to the store tomorrow, but I'm not bitter about it... it 's just not the game for me. If you go to the game's official boards and read all the distraught posts by those who waited a long time for it but were disappointed by it, though, you'd think that someone had just killed their mothers or something.

I guess that's why I try not to follow every single detail of a game's development if I could help it. Although I have been waiting for the PC version of Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb for a while (whose release date was just pushed back a week ), so I'm really hoping that it turns out good!




Edited by - Bananko on 14-03-2003 06:19:59

I think the greatest underlying flaw in this game is that it seems to have been designed for a console not a pc. To boil it down - The gameplay is shallow and repetetive but the combat is great fun.

Combat's a bit easy though unless you're fighting 6+ ships in which case things are a bit too confused for my liking, I often get hit by friendly fire, have kamikaze's smash into me, get totally creamed in <1 sec when some battleship locks on with all batteries... fewer but tougher opponents would be much preferable. And would like to see the main guns locked (maybe have the turrets auto tracking) and a nicer set of sights too.

The random missions are all the same and compared to the main plot way too easy, and sorry but the main plot missions reek to high heaven of cheddar - runaway -> get shot up -> runaway -> get shot up -> have a load of (psychic) capital ships materialize in front of you -> get shot up -> runaway !!!!CHEESE!!!!

I'm with the general consensus, it has great potential but this version is a 6/10 only. There was a great post on another forum that really nails it on the head (http://freelancer.portalive.com/forum/topic/4/342) I'm hoping the developers will read and take notes.

I downloaded the demo, sat and played for hours. I was so hyped up about the game coming out that I went out and bought it in the first couple of days. I got home, took it out of the box, stared at it for 5 minutes... Said WOW this is what life is about! LMAO

I played the game for maybe 20 hours or so, ended it in a lovly ***** Ship, you all know which one, and loved it... I though that it wasn't over, and that I'd be contacted with a new mission, or some ***** uprising... But, no luck...

I felt, that's it? Then I sat back and said... Check this out, I can still fly around... Explore the systems, buy new ships, and I have... I now fly an *****, with some sweet *********'s, looking for bigger, but still looking...

I saw multiplayer... Found this forum, and the editing portion of it, made my own system, learned alot about the games inner workings, and programming as well. I'm now flying around a ***** Battleship on my server, kicking my friends butts, and making new stuff all the time... The MODDING IS ADDICTIVE!!!

Go out, learn something new, and I'm sorry that you are disapointed in the game... Come check out my server sometime, and I'll show you what a true fan can do!

I shall rise higher than thou... and never fall faster than before...

Edited to remove some unintentional spoiler content.

Edited by - Boscoe on 09-04-2003 23:38:13

Well, im not 100% sure,... but besides the single player campaign and multiplayer part this game has THE longest single player part!

After i finished the SP campaign i send countless hours exploring, getting the best weapons, or making contraband runs, all the time trying to stay either neutral or allied to those that control planets and bases, not to forget te tradelanes!

I havent even started playing online yet!!!!

The abrupt end was a big shock to me too...especially since the last fight was so short and easy compared to what I had gone through in some of the prior missions.

After the first 20 hours (or 13 for you uber folks!) there really isn't anything left to do UNLESS you do enjoy roaming around exploring and increasing your money.

But really, what's the point? It's a bit like winning Monopoly, after you have won, do you really want to keep rolling the dice and moving your Hat round the board all by yourself until you have hotels on everything?

For those who said 20 hours is a long time for solo play so it's good value, I have to disagree. Most games I own take much much longer (e.g. Starcraft, Deus Ex, Thief, Battlezone, virtually any RPG....etc)

It was a great 20 hours though. I don't regret the $65.

Pol

You know I must have missed the point of playing games to begin with! aren't they supposed to be ENTERTAINMENT!? Did eveyone on this post think that they were going to move away into the "world" of Freelancer and live happily ever after? I have read many posts over the last few weeks and have come to the conclusion that there are an awful lot of people out there with a slim grasp of the harsh realities of life. Most of the major complaint posts seem to come from people who blistered through the game looking for who knows what, and are disappointed that it's all over in a few hours. Just for me personally I have spent a great deal of time trying to get ALL factions neutral to me. So far I am only still red with 4 but am determined to find a way to buy them all off. Gaming is no less a crap shoot than a trip to an art musuem. Some of you will like the paintings on the walls and some won't. I'm not saying that the game is the greatest thing since sliced bread it could have had more depth, certainly it should have had some more variety of missions and could it have had a continuing story line after some of the higher levels were reached? OK I'll buy that but the problem seems to be expectaions were very high and they were not met. But remember they were YOUR expectations I personally like the game and having spent something on the order of over 100 hours on it am still playing it. And I still plan to continue playing as I like exploring every single spot in each and every system. Now I also admit due to my work requirements I only play about 2-3 hours at a time so it takes me a little longer to go, do, see, and succeed. How about MODS?, What a great idea! Try looking in the mods forum on this sight and others there are plenty of addon's for those who want them. Cheats they got those too (which I suspect some of those who gripe the most have already used to "beat" the SP mission in only 13 hrs! I think there is some Bovine-Scattology at work there!). I am not trying to flame anyone, you are all entitled to your opinions about this game. I just think you should be careful with the way you post them. How many times have you heard about say a movie how terrible it was and then you saw it and loved the thing despite the reviews? Yet your freinds hated it. I just think we should give each person their chance to form an opinion without preconseption or miss guided expectations. It is easy to sit back and say they should have done this or that but if the game is a success then the seed money should be there for them to "Fix" some of the requests and problems with this version. I have played many a game where the 2nd version was much better and had better game play than the 1st. I recommend that some of you re-try the SP mission in a lesser ship if you think it is too easy or maybe in a freighter for a little spice. I personally have played the SP twice and plan to play it again with a pig of a freighter next time just for giggles and grins. Just some observations from the edge of space!

all the news that no one reads

Some good points there, now if you could get some spacing and grammar in there I'm sure people who run away from dirty blocks of text like that may be a little more inclined to read and possibly consider some of the things you've put forward there.

I've played through 2 servers with 2 pirate characters, next stop on a server will be a freighter/liberty defender or something silly

I'm going through the single player atm and am at lvl11 and am certainly not about to stop when I hit lvl18 and say "WAS THAT IT?"
Why? Well I know that's not it, there's more goodies/bases/potential for megalooting trade and of course the complimentary ships and lvl10weapons, which after 3 weeks of playing I still haven't had a chance to test out (all of em!) because all the other burgers have the wrecks looted before I even get a ship, unless I was there when the server started up.

I see myself enjoying the game/scenery and exploration for another week, playing about 2 hrs odd a day and when I do eventually get bored, then it's gonna be high time to install some mods...

Do any of you remember the early days of video games?? Asteroids, missle command, pac man , ect. Most of those games had one lvl that just got harder and harder.I think Donkey kong was a break though it had different lvls before it started to repeat. But people loved those games and many still do.

Does anyone remember the quest games by Sierra?? Space Quest, Kings Quest, Police Quest?? They werent like quest games today where all you have to do is scroll your mouse around till it lights up. You accually had to study each scene and then type what you wanted to do. I remember once in Space quest I typed use underwear as sling shot. And it worked!!!! I felt so proud.

My point is that as games have gotten bigger, more complex, and flashy, they have also required less imagination on the part of the user. Playing a game that the character is about 8 pixels. You REALLy have to think outside what you see. With Freelancer they give you this great world to explore and experiment. Try different things, I know I see great potential for RPG servers. Because they dont limit you, they leave it so wide open. But thats the thing, some people need features built into a game, they cant just think them up on their own.

If I had the time I would love to start a RPG clan. Have 50+ members, each choose their roles to fill the server with and then just let it run. Have a few scripted events once a week that change the Sirus sector to fit OUR story. I guess Im just a fan of PEN and Paper RPG's, MUDs, and MUSHes and when I see a great visual world pre made I cant stop to think of the possibilities.

I dunno what server features there are, but I think thats where this game should go for sure. More server features so someone can be a Game Master. Server logs would be great, showing who kills what where. Then you can add major events, scripted or not, to a news page. Even create some of you own RPG rules.

Well my mind is going the speed of light right now and I got tons of ideas running thorugh my head. Mabey when I get more time, Ill put them together for poepl that want to have a good RPG experience.

To people who complain about the level 38 cap:

Why bother advancing so far? Limit yourself. Makes it more fun.

Try getting from Liberty to Rheinland space in a Dagger with all house corporations and police/military units despising you. Now there's a good chase.

That or experiment with trade routes if you're patient. Buy something en masse, go somewhere you haven't really gone to yet (Bretonia for me in multi. I don't lik Bretonia.) and see what you can get for it.

There isn't much, but just use your imagination, suspend your disbelief, and find some cool people to play multiplayer with. It helps.

---
No funny sig. Deal.

Spacing and grammer eh? I figure that given the penchant for most of the posters to misspell words and abbreviate things that only they know what they mean I did pretty well ! LOL. However taken in the context of which is was given I shall take it as a compliment that you actually read my reply and understood where I was attempting to go with it.

Kodakmoment you should look at another post on this forum about Middle aged gamers and FL. I believe it has about 75 posts on it by now very enlightening. I myself have been exactly where you are talking about. Those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat it.

I would be interested in someone explaining to me the whole Multi Player thing though. I have been on some server sites though not with FL. The problem is most of them don't have a way to "filter" out those that use hacks and cheats. The next thing you know you die all the time and become disinterested and do not return. I used to belong to a racing community and even with all the safeguards in place, you know there are just some people who have to win at all costs. It is unfortunate that there are those who would spoil it for others, but when it continues to be a problem then why bother.

As I said in my post before I plan to continue to play this game for some time to come what I like to do is let a game "go" for a while and then revisit it. I have done it with Outcast, Operation Flash Point, and many others it is amazing how fresh a game you own can appear when you haven't "been there" for a while.

Just some observations from the edge of space.

P.S. I hope the grammer and spacing were more to your tastes! LOL

all the news that no one reads

Edited by - pressgod on 11-04-2003 05:07:14

I'll just wait for EVE: the second genesis, in the meanwhile, I'll just play other games... (Freelancer is good, but boring after you finish the sp campaing...)

Edited by - cool_dem on 11-04-2003 15:29:05

Can I go on the X-tention, and Eve forums and complain too now about what those game lack?

Moving to spoiler forum where it belongs due to posting of spoilers....

Rob "Stinger" Lordier
Moderator - Lancers Reactor
Creator Privateer FAQ
no good deed will ever go unpunished

I think one of the main problems with people becoming quickly bored with this game (or any game for that matter) is that they hang around the spoiler forums before they even play the game!

Personally, i tried to avoid the forums while i was first starting out (except the technical one-had some problems) of course if you know where all the jump holes are and where all the derelect lvl 10 spewwing ships are before you even start the single player missions then yea! it will be boring!

I had never really played privateer or WC games before FL so this was a refreshing and very cool experience for me! I love this game because it offered something totally different from my usual Freespace or TIE games! Also, i didnt read any of the hype and only found out about it when my friend told me, so I had no expectations except wha thte box said (and what my friend said-which wasn't very much)

Also, to agree with earlier posts, this game is NOT FOR EVERYONE. if you are some fifth grader who takes his parents money to go play CS at the nearest LAN cafe then yells "LAN hacking, LAN hacking" everytime you die from your own nade, then you probly won't like FL that much! (sorry for the grade bashing)

And exploring IS fun for me! When I stumbled upon the first lvl 10 weap wreck and shot it to find strange weapons pop out (and not expecting it) I was pretty excited. finding and trying to go through all those systems that don't have trade lanes and are reeking of radiation while getting raped by Hessians all the way there while I am still in my Anubis was fun and challenging.

It is those kind of moments that make a game good not "i read that the jump hole is in 5D so i better go there" Games are supposed to be fun..is this game fun...yes...does it last a long time (when you play properly, the way it was meant to be played, not cheating) yes it does last a long time.

So far I have spent a good 37 hours on SP and I am not done yet! I still want to get my factions just the way I want them and I don't think I have found all the lvl 10 weaps yet. i haven't even started MP yet and I think this game is totally worth it! It isn't perfect...no game is...but that is why I can look forward to patches, expansions, and eventually i will check out some mods!

In conclusion, if you ruin a game before you play it-with spoilers, cheats, or high expectations, then don't be surprised when you feel "Horribly disapointed if this is all there is" and beating the story missions as fast as you can so you can come post about how shallow and boring it is couldn't have been very fun for you!

Slow down, enjoy the game, get some playing time under your belt, then reexamine your opinion....if it is still the same then great, all opinions deserve to be respected.....but I feel that if you give it more time and a different attitude then you will discover all the wonderful things this game has to offer.