05-04-2003 04:55									#1
	Opinions on Earth and Beyond Get a bigger avatar today!

In my Freedom Force thread, I mentioned that I bought a 4-pack of games for $20 (the other two games were NFS 3: Hot Pursuit and C&C: Renegade). I already have NFS3:HP, and the other I'll throw in, maybe, 5-6 months from now.

The other game in the pack that sounded intriguing was the online "Earth and Beyond." I was wondering if anybody here had experience with it, and if possible, could answer the following questions?

Is it hard for newbies to get in to, or do the more experienced players thrash and pummel the new accounts?

Is it a RPG, 4X, clickfest, or other?

Is it HTML based ala Planetarion?

Would I (a-hem!) be able to play at work without worrying about whatever progress I made at home?

I'd say "thanks", but I'd sound like Speer.

	05-04-2003 08:39									#2
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

The beta I played many many months ago was one of the most boring games I'd ever played.

	05-04-2003 09:06									#3
	Got spare money?

My name was Riis in EnB. I brought about one of the first player-led revolutions in a MMORPG. I did it because the game has a tremendous storyline but never moved it fast enough to keep player interest up.

When a person like me can round up over 400 players and a number of guilds for a nebulous cause, it show that the game itself isn't holding attention.

I have since cancelled my account. I had high hopes for the game.

M

	06-04-2003 07:23									#4
	Remove this text

It is a massively multi-player on-line role playing game set in space. You make a character and then gain experience points by

1. Exploration

2. Combat

3. Trade

and thus you build up your character so you can get more xps, so you can build your character so you can get more xps....

The setting is novel and interesting and there are a lot of nice touchs, but in the final analysis I have to agree that the game is fundamentally boring and not worth playing. An especially annoying point of play in E&B is the endless need to warp from point to point, which takes quite a bit of time during which you do absolutely nothing. You really need to read a book while playing the game.

But if you do like MMORPGs, I will say that the mission system is probably the best in any MMORPG and the writing and story are the most intelligent and interesting. It has a definite "Babylon 5" quality to it. Of course you really don't interact with the story in an significant way.