Earth and Beyond

[Reinn]

The Beta just completed  for Earth and Beyond and it is going gold.  CD's have shipped and the game is going live 9/25.

I have been playing the beta for the past several weeks and have enjoyed it.  Some info is contained in the following review:

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/games/enbreview/

The official site address is:  

http://www.earthandbeyond.com/home/index_marketing.jsp

Although I plan to keep Reinn for a while, most of my time will be playing Earth and Beyond as I throughly enjoy it.  I am partial to scifi type stuff.  

Should any of you think you might try it, look me up on the Orion server.  My characters name is(yup u guessed it) Reinn.   Although I have 4 other characters with diff names.  

It is a completely diff game from UO, AC, EQ and DAoC with many diff options besides kill, kill, kill.

Look me up it ya try it-- I hang around Jupiter sometimes, lol.

Otherwise see ya from time to time in Cammy.

(Edited by Reinn at 7:01 pm on Sep. 24, 2002)

[Axecleaver]

I've seen some stuff on E&B lately... looks passingly interesting. Let's agree to go to Orion if we try it, will make it easier to stay in touch.

The "explorer" class seemed most interesting to me. You get XP just for cruisin around and checking stuff out. Cool.

How do guilds work in E&B?

[Reinn]

Reinn on Orion is an Explorer.  They have stealth and guess what?  No detect hidden heh!   At higher levels of stealth,  an Explorer can stealth the entire group they are in.  

Guilds are much like those in DAoC with a separate chat channel.  I noticed some of the guilds tend to be specialized in one type character(such as Traders-- the business people and merchants types) and others tend to have a wide cross section of skills to make grouping better.  More guild info here:

http://test.earthandbeyond.ea.com/news/news_article.jsp?news_id=295

Here is a video clip of what the game looks like on screen.  This video is sorta fuzzy but actual in game screen colors are very sharp and bright.

ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/earthandbeyond/previews/video/ENBSIZZLE-SMALL.MPG

(Edited by Reinn at 9:26 pm on Sep. 24, 2002)

[Masta]

I just looked at some stuff, flipping threw the pages you could say. Does it require a CD or what?

[Reinn]

Aye it requires a CD.  They just shipped to stores today and should be available in stores on the 9/25.   The Beta was a download but that has to be erased prior to loading from CD.  Saw on some boards that some found it at Wal-Mart today(9/24).

[Malison]

Hey reinn, what's your opinion on the game as a whole?

how many bugs are there left over?
Is there more to do besides fly missions, trade and explore?
How is combat handled? I heard it requires no flying skill whatsoever, and is more based on your level/character than piloting skills.  I really like Wing Commander style games, right up to the point I'm piloting against 30 or so kilrathi.

I was thinking of getting it, but not sure if i am up for another Online game right now.

[Reinn]

This is not a flight simulater game like Microsoft combat flight simulater where you control all the details of flight such as the rudder, elevaters, flaps, etc.  The spaceship is moved in much the same way as the avatar is with the mouse and keyboard arrows, etc.  Combat is not so much determined by flight skills(like in a simulater) as it is the skills of the individual (or group member)in various areas such as weopons, shields, devices that increase effectiveness in certain areas, character uniques skills, etc.  In other words it is determined by skills-- but not flight skills.  You can point and click to target and use autofollow if ya wish.  Also at space stations u get out of the spaceship and use your avatar to move around with.  At character creation you can create up to 5 characters from 6 diff types of characters.  The avatars and space ships for each of the character types have diff features/hair style options etc.  So a Trader has more traditional options for avatar creation then the Explorer-- who are pretty wild with a punk look options.  I had a purple mohawk with my first Explorer character.  The Progens are larger and have more of a traditional Warrior look.  And there r three other character type.  Space ships are unique to the character types too and are created at the same time from diff options of wing types , etc.  I think future patches will add 3 more character types(for a total of nine) such as Explorer-Traders, etc.

I have played UO, AC, EQ and now DAoC and in my opinion there is no comparison-- this game is light years ahead of all four of those.

I am sure there will be bugs but as this stage(just completed 1 yr beta) the game is more complete and finished then DAoC which was released almost one year ago.  I have only played 2 weeks of beta so that is not much time to completely evaluate all aspects of a game but I like what I see so far.

There are 3 main aspects of the game-- Trade, exploration and Combat.  The max level is 150-- 50 for each area.  After lev 150 you only get like 1 pt/level for skill increase.  Up to lev 150 there are 270 pts earned that can be used to dump into about 18 diff skill types.  There are 6 diff character types and each of them have diff skills that they can learn-- some uniques to that character type.  For example if I wanna max out my Explorer in navigation to Lev 7 navigation it would cost 21 points-- 1 for lev 2, 2 for lev 3 etc. Same for a Trader if they wanted to max out negotiate skill at lev 150 and so on.  Although there are about 18 diff things that the 6 diff character types can skill in-- ya can't max them all out at lev 150-- ya have to pick and chose.    So most characters will end up being unique  even if they are the same character type  -- such as an Explorer, Defender, Trader, etc.
  
Like I said earlier-- 2 weeks is not much time to evaluate a game but I am impressed with the incredible graphics, interface and game content /design.  It may not be for everyone(especially if ya don't like Scifi) but I like it so far.  

[Tydd]

Got some questions of my own.

Monthly cost?
What system are you running it on and how is the fx on that system?
To get from one planet to another do you have to actually fly it or is it automated like the horses in DAoC?
Is space combat true space combat?  Uses all the axises?

[Reinn]

Tydd, Movement is in 3 dimensions(xyz plains).  You can use your thrusters to move in any direction but it is better to go long distances between way points,planets,  etc with the warp drive which is about 10 times faster.  In combat you can use manual controls if ya wish.  There are numerous galaxies(about 15 I think) and each galaxy has numerous planet sytems and each planet system has numerous objects,planets, stations, etc.  I don't think one could ever explore it all.  The game comes on 2 cd's and is about 1.3 gigabytes.  The cost is $12.95/mo and as far as your pc system--if ya can play Camelot, AC, etc ya can play this--just need to make sure your hard drive has enough capacity left to hold the 1.3 gigs.  

[Tydd]

I got it.  Tydd on Orion.  And I named my ship.....PURPLE MONKEY

[Lifesbane]

lol

[Tydd]

This game is cool.  I really like that I don't have to fight a damn thing to level up.  I'm level 12 and I think I've picked 7 fights.  Granted I've gotten the crap beat out of me but that's what happens when you EXPLORE new areas and don't know what is there.

You get XP for just finding a place you have never gone to before.  You can also do Trade routes.  Basically Cargo runs.  You get XP and if you do it right you make a profit.

Anyways.  Thanks Reinn for helping me out and telling me about this game.  It is quite possible that I won't be doing AC2 but this instead.

I actually get to say "Engage" right before I warp

Engage!!!

[Axecleaver]

And AC2 sucks. The best part of the game is cliffdiving... but I don't think I'd pay $12/month to cliffdive.

[Tydd]

I agree.  I doubt very much I will be getting AC2.  It's just not as impressive as AC was in it's day.

[Durandana]

I was all set on playing AC2 but after reading the vault boards for the game I can definatly say i wont be playing it. It seems like they are doing a complete reversal from the original game.

In the Original you could solo to your hearts content, In AC2 it appears that you will have to group. In the original you could by semi decent stuff from shops to get you by until you found better. In AC2 there will be absolutely NO NPC shop keepers.

Oh Well i guess we wait for Star Wars. They are talking about a Lord of the Rings Online game now but it will probably take 2 years to get it out the door at least. If that ever comes out i will surely go there.

But anyways I agree AC2 will probably be a dissappointment to most.