Hey, I'm 30 and I got hooked on gaming back in the 80's with the Commodore 64. Wing commander was my first real game obsession, and what I don't see is a lot of people recognizing that FL is a direct descendant of Privateer, not necessarily Elite. The main differences are that you have a much bigger story and a huge variety of ships, but this is still a chris roberts game, and it's almost identical in concept down to an infinite number of pirates at every F!@#$ing stop! Granted, it's a little more modernized, but you still go to Cambridge (Oxford for you Privateers) which is a , gasp, university planet! Or how about the Detroit Debris field (New Detroit)? So far, I like the game, but I would have liked an autopilot function to cut out these long commutes. I would also like the option to buy maps, so I can stop searching for ****. But since I'm nowhere near middle aged, I'd say this is a good game for the entire spectrum, just stop trying to compare it to a 20 year old game and enjoy the stunning graphics and complex gameplay. Listening to some people on here you'd think they have a TRS-80 set up just so they can revel in the genius of Zork!

The ability to destroy a planet...is just plain fun.

I turn 20 tomorrow.

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.

Games have gotten bigger, more complex, and flashy, but 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. I like Freelancer because with my mind I make this vast sector my own little universe. They give you this great world to explore and experiment, and 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 anymore.

I'm 40 and started playing computer games in the early 90's. Started out with X-Wing and quickly moved onto Wing Commander 1- 4 and of course this led to Privateer, Righteous Fire and P2 The darkening (too bad it was so buggy) I'm playing Freelancer because it's similar to the old Privateer series.

guys!!! iy's just my impresion or there is a lot of us 27ers around ? I was getting worried growing in age and still playing. someone earlyer said he's 61. so they surely must label the games : for children between 8 and 88 yers old

keep it up

i got to say this too:
### Spectrum elite rulez (BTW i still have my spectrum, 286, 486dx4, pentium MMX 200). i had no ideea so manny people played it.



life sux ...and then ...you die

I am 27, and I also went through the usual steps : ZX81 - ZX Spectrum - C16 - C64 - Amiga500 - Pentium... Not to mention the SNES - Megadrive - Saturn - PSX - PS2 consol evolution and all the arcades and handheld LCD games in the 80's.

I like FL because I also played Elite as a cult hit back then. I know FL is not perfect, but more smooth to play and the universe is more "alive", and that is enough for me.

40 here. I have the same history as most of you, Elite on an Amstrad Z80, Privateer, Wing Commander series, etc.
And also to mention: member of an Unreal Tournament Clan, which accepts only Members above 30

I forgot to mention my age before. 36 here and I used to play the wireframe 'Elite' on a BBC model B microcomputer back in the '80's.

Hengist.

Well i'm 47 and have played more space sims than I can remember, starting with the original Elite, through the Frontiers and the Wing Commanders to X-Beyond the Frontier and X-tension.

How does FL rank?

So-so. Fun for awhile, nice to dip into for a blast but ultimately disappointingly simplistic. A nice diversion until X2 comes out.

33 Here.
I'm with most. Started gaming with Pong...been going strong ever since...even through the 'dark years'.
Cut my space sim teeth on Elite, X-Wing,WC and of course Privateer...my still personal favorite.
Freelancer is fun, but it is a bit shallow. I didn't really expect any different so I am enjoying myself, but it is already starting to loose it's place as my game to play. I'm drifting back to UnrealT and other old standbys instead of Freelancer.

What I am reading about X2 , I have high hopes it will fit the bill. And I can use my $350 worth of flight sim gear with it.

I´m not "middle aged" (only 22), but i used to play Elite when I was 8 on a MSX. i had lots of pages filled with Price Tables. Five years later I was playing Wing Commander 2 (my first PC game) on my brand new 286!!! After that, X-Wing, Tie-Fighter, Wing Commander Armada, lots of others until Privateer 1... it felt smaller (the universe) than Elite. But somehow, it was as good as Elite! Played Privateer 2, but it missed something. Played also Elite 2 and Elite 3, but I couldn´t adapt to the piloting style (real physics). too bad, I still think that Elite 3 should be the best one (including freelancer) if Frontier made it´s piloting style more like Privateer.

Now, i´m playing Freelancer.

Although beeing only 22 years old, I consider myself a veteran in computer games (started with 6 on my MSX).

I do agree with tagos! I'm 51 yold. Have played most games there is.
All back with the first console game ever made back in 74 a Philips 8500 with Tic-Tac-Toe and Ping-Pong. Most space-sims I have played also. And now finaly Fl, witch I have been waiting for almost four years. And I have to say...I was a bit disapointed. My so far best space based PC-game was Wing Commander Prophesy, and X-beyond. Now I'm waiting for X2. Hopefully it's better than FL has been so far.

X-lancer

'k been lurking here for awhile reading, playing FL but i'll reply to this one

i'm 47 but middle-aged? I can still slam faster than any "youngun" and all night too. While thrashing my gtr. *ahem* ok

share the history with many here: built my own Heathkit and Sinclair comps, loved hacking my Trash-80 and ST, etc etc. Played almost everything: original Pong <in bars!>, Tempest <alltime fave>, someone mentioned Robotron <yay!>, strange Japanese imports, Zero Wing <all your base are belong to us!>, on and etc.

actually... a lot of similar games i played on... hold on to your hat... paper <g> with small cards and hand-made figurines and a LOT of pencils. And weird-shaped dice. And strangely-shaped ASCII dungeons. But that may be too ancient

one of my prides is having played the original Battlemech in.. pods! yup the networked full-immersion pods; 4 to a grouping, small LAN. Oooo those were the daze.

i am a feared Mechwarrior on any version of that game from the original to Mercenary <new>... specializing in ultralight scouts and assasination <nothing like taking out a fully-loaded Atlas with the precise ERs of my nimble Uller for full salvage>

parallel to this has been modding, which i think is half the fun of the games... started making my own games early, then a bunch of FABULOUS Klick-and-Play <g>; did the infamous "Blue Blaze" and "DoomLA" mods for Doom and Doom II; did Quakeworlds and Quakeweapons, modded my own Homeworld ships, and am happily taking apart .ini files from FL.

i agree with a couple peeps i read here about the "lessening" of games!! Ok this is a diatribe/observation but... whenever MS gets involved, it seems the game comes out PRETTIER but also somewhat dumber. Yeah sure the water lapping at the beach looks real kewl, yup, uh huh, however after like 100 hrs in a game i'd prefer having more to do than watch water lap <or look at fabulous but *yawn* galactic bitmaps; i collect satellite photos and have seen the Eagle Nebula more times than i want to count> It sure seems like the older games, however crude the pixels, actually had more things to discover and control, which kept your interest in the game high for a long time. For me, any game that bores me after 50 hrs is rather a rip-off.


oh, btw: why do i keep seeing stupid reviews everywhere saying, "FL is Diablo in space"???? I have played... i have played D, DII and LoD for more hours than a lot of these posters here have been out of high school; i know lots o' 3l33+ stuffers about it, but... can someone pls explain to me where you go to bribe the Blood Lords? Or those irritating flayer demons...

n if ya keep thinking of us as "old-timers" then um... yep that's me... harmless old timer.. mmm don't pay no 'tention to me... completely... harmless... <snicker>

"I just heard something... COOLANT LEAK!!!!"

I'm 33, and my first computer was the C-64. My first two games were "Beachhead" and "X-Zone" whatever the heck they were because I barely remember them. But what I dreamed of most when I got my first computer were the Infocom games, because I had played Zork on an uncle's computer. Anyway, after years of playing many games which I think back upon fondly (and also think about the money I would have had I waited for them to enter the bargain bin), I am glad to have Freelancer and hope for more and better in the future.