Hellgate: London

[zakhal]

Anyone buying this? Its a scifi shooter from the makers of diablo. Comments from betatesters are very positive. Release in november.

Its been marketed as a singleplayer but it does have mm-part too with subscription and all.

This might be the first mmog in 5 years that I buy since conan was delayed. After ultima online no mmog has managed to catch my interest.

[txa1265]

Anyone buying this? Its a scifi shooter from the makers of diablo. Comments from betatesters are very positive. Release in november.

Its been marketed as a singleplayer but it does have mm-part too with subscription and all.

This might be the first mmog in 5 years that I buy since conan was delayed. After ultima online no mmog has managed to catch my interest.

There has been loads of discussion in news threads - are you looking for more of the MMO-ers perspective?

[Dhruin]

I *might* consider it for the SP but I've no interest in the online component and I've got quite a backlog, so reviews of the SP will need to be stellar to get me on board. And yes, lots of earlier discussion in news threads.

[Moriendor]

Anyone buying this?

The quick and dirty answer (with a slight pun) is: Hell no! :biggrin:
As for why... well, let's just say that aside from the extremely underwhelming (and that's still an understatement... I'd have to dig deeply into the realms of profanity to describe my real impressions of HGL) footage that I have seen of this game, the setting appeals to me about as much as if someone would try to sell me an audio CD with the sounds of female polar bears during pregnancy. And I'm not a green, hippie nature lover with an interest in the arctica nor am I a male polar bear (just thought I'd clear that up before you get any funny ideas about my possible level of interest in female polar bears :biggrin: ).

[zakhal]

The quick and dirty answer (with a slight pun) is: Hell no! :biggrin:
As for why... well, let's just say that aside from the extremely underwhelming (and that's still an understatement... I'd have to dig deeply into the realms of profanity to describe my real impressions of HGL) footage that I have seen of this game, the setting appeals to me about as much as if someone would try to sell me an audio CD with the sounds of female polar bears during pregnancy. And I'm not a green, hippie nature lover with an interest in the arctica nor am I a male polar bear (just thought I'd clear that up before you get any funny ideas about my possible level of interest in female polar bears :biggrin: ).

Hellgate: London didnt interest me either at first but now there are som very positive betatester comments coming out for the game from experienced mmog critics. They simply cant stop playing it and want more. Looks like this one is gonna be a sleeper hit.

Also its a shooter and there are no **** elves around. Its also fully singleplayer and not just mmog. Its going to be an addictive and refreshingly new take on the whole mmog industry. Its more or less what tabula rasa should have been - mmo scifi shooter.
Hellgate defined:
"Diablo II meets Bioshock: The game Tabula Rasa wanted to be."

Dont let the name or the demons or the weird sp/mm relationship distract you. Keep an eye on this one.

[Ammon777]

Im not interested in it.

[tet666]

I'm not picking up my preorder. I played the beta and i have to say this game sucks hard unfortunatly, and I wanted to love it so badly.

[Icefire]

This game does not interest me in the slightest.

[Greyloch]

I'd rather not subscribe to it, and it seems a bit too geared towards getting players to do so (I'd rather just subscribe to a real MMO, rather than a wannabe one).

Also, the only character type I was interested in for it was taken out (transformation spec Cabalist). Most of it looks a bit too shooter-esque for me in any case.

[DArtagnan]

I've been hearing many different things about this from people in the beta, and it seems it's the kind of thing where people are very split. Some say it's completely crap and seem very firm on that, and yet we have people saying the exact opposite with equal firmness.

The footage I've seen, and certain comments made by people in the beta have me very worried. I really wanted a true next gen Diablo, but my guts tell me this won't come close.

It might be a decent hack and slasher with good production values, but Diablo 2 was a true work of art, in my opinion, and it would take a lot of work to make something to compete with that. Titan Quest came pretty close, but was ultimately not representative enough of the potential the genre holds.

That said, I'm trying to keep an open mind and if I know myself well enough, I'll be hard pressed not to try this out eventually.

[woges]

I'll be giving it a go.

[zakhal]

Heres the rpg-part from their latest update:

Tuned Game Progression

Level and monster progression is more thematic in nature. While this does not affect the overarching layout of the world map, it does make each act feel more defined and focused.


Gossip

We’ve added loads of additional details on the people and places in the game through various NPCs in the world. This definitely helps make the stations feel more alive and provides players with more of the back-story.


More Quest Information

Quest NPCs do a better job of getting you prepared to know what you’re fighting and why. The overall story flows much better, the named demons that are encountered are given more story weight, and players gain a much better sense of overall direction.


NPC Tweaks

The vocal responses given by NPCs have been tuned so that they tend more towards the serious and “normal”, reserving the twisted commentary for specific player characters or in rare moments for the general populace.


And the stuff you get with subscription (not necessity though)


Subscriber Features


Elite Mode

This is for those players that always feel a game is too easy. The demons are tougher, deal out more damage, move faster, travel in larger groups, and have more champions at the ready. Numerous tweaks to the overall balance and progression of the game make this an extremely challenging mode.


Hardcore

Hardcore mode takes away the various resurrection options. For the gamer that wants the ultimate test, try playing an Elite Hardcore character!


Themed Events and Items


Halloween (October 31 – November 4)


* Zombot - A special pet just for All Hallows’, this amalgam of meat and metal is sure to frighten and delight those players that are willing to put in the time to find all the necessary pieces in order to construct him.


* All Hallow’s Visage - A Unique Helm that has not only very special properties, but as well a look unlike any other helm in the game. Ghost Rider would be jealous!


* All Hallow’s Treats - Delicious and devious, these different candies do everything from temporarily boosting stats to temporarily altering the appearance of the devourer.


* All Hallows’ Quests - There is a pair of special quests available, including one that is repeatable for continuous fun.


* Nemo ~ Master of Festivities - This special NPC can first be found in Covent Garden Station to greet players and send them on their way with quests specifically crafted for the season.


Guild Creation

Buy purchasing a Guild Herald, a character can form a new guild. Characters can only be part of one guild at a time and should a Guild leader decide to abandon their post, they can pass leadership of the Guild to another subscribing guild member.


Achievements

These are long-term goals for players. The player starts with a few new goals in an Achievement Log. These can be as simple as slaying a certain amount of specific demons to something as difficult as completing quests without the benefit of armor! Players uncover new goals as they start to meet the requirements of that achievement. For example, after 50 zombies have been slain, an “Achievement Unlocked” message displays on the screen. Checking the Achievement Log shows how many zombies must be eradicated to complete the achievement. Rewards for completing achievements can be anything from reputation to tags on the player to special particle effects to items to special skills to – well, anything is possible!


Extra Character Slots

While everyone gets 3 character slots, subscribers can have a maximum of 24 characters.


Larger Stash

Each character’s storage locker is doubled in size with an extra 6x8 section, making the hoarding of all sorts of goodies that much easier. Packrats rejoice!


Founder’s Perks

Name Color

Forum Icon

More to come… (this will be an on-going area, as well)

http://www.hellgatelondon.com/underground/subscribers-and-patch-0

[skavenhorde]

played it for about two days and passed. I knew the story would be hollow but this is beyond even Diablo style. As for the gameplay, it was fun for awhile but gets boring quick. I've already unloaded it and put it on my shelf. If they make it more like Blizzard.net where you can jump in on games being played then I might give it a go, but I never did understand how I could go to the fighting areas with other people.

[woges]

You just group and make portals. Nothing in this game is really even as good as Diablo 2 was with LoD - shame really.

[zakhal]

Apparently things are finally looking up:

I went back and played Hellgate recently and it is a pleasant surprise. Things are much better than they were at launch, I'm even considering subscribing at this point. It is much more entertaining than AoC at this point.You should go pick it up then friend,as the bugs are quashed and alot of content which was supposed to be in at launch is now there(clue #1 that it was rushed)and a shitton more.Really and truly the game should be rereviewed but alas,thats not how things work:)I never got to play Hellgate, but the PCbangs are full of people playing it here in Korea.

Thers som major new 2.0 patch coming soon:

New Abyss Quest Line with Five New Boss Fights:

Travel to the all new Parliament Square and help Titus of the Cabal fend off the rapid spread of the Abyss, a new Demonic underground that grows in size as Demonkind consumes more of our world. The only way to halt the Abyss is to seek out and destroy those who control it. Lure the five Abyss Lords from their cursed realm by collapsing their Hellrifts (a new Rift for each of the boss types), then confront the masters as they emerge to investigate the problem. Five repeatable boss runs with five new bosses! Features three new environments and some reworked environments.

New Shared Stash System:

The Shared Stash will now feature separate panes for each gameplay mode: Normal, Elite, Hardcore, and Hardcore Elite. Items currently in your Shared Stash will be placed in the correct pane.

Major Rebalance of the Blademaster Class:

The Blademaster class has been significantly rebalanced with changes to almost every skill. Overall, they should do more damage and have many more options than before. Some of the highlights include Strength now stacking on top of the skill percent bonuses – a huge boost – and Blademasters can now gain a Surge with any melee attack or with any melee skill (rather than just when killing something with a Surge skill).

Improved, Configurable Guild Controls:

Guilds will now have four titles they can assign to members. The titles can be renamed. There can only be one Guild Leader. Non-subscribers can only have the lowest title. The Guild Leader can configure what the middle two titles are allowed to do including invite new members, promote and demote existing members, kick members, and send all-guild e-mail. The lowest title is not allowed to invite, promote, demote, kick, or send guild e-mails.

Consignment House:

Players can place items into the Consignment House to offer them for sale at a set price. All players in the same gameplay mode can see and purchase that item. The Consignment House currently only offers a “buy out” price, there is no bidding.

Three New Skills for all Classes:

Skill Scrolls are new items which unlock the new skills and allow skill points to be put into them. For example, the Spider Mine Schematic unlocks the Spider Mine skill for Engineers. The Skill Scrolls will be tradable and can be used by all players; however, they drop off of boss monsters in the subscriber-only Abyss levels. Only a few of the skills will be enabled in the first Patch 2 build that goes to Test Center. Here are a couple sample skills to whet your appetite:

* The Summoner will get a melee demon transformation with zombie minions.
* The Blademaster will get skills that use up Surges to do things like perform a group heal.
* The Engineer will get Spider Mines.

Trinket Inventory Slots:

There will be two new Trinket inventory slots. The first trinkets will drop as cursed rings which can be cleaned up through the Transmogrifier. These cursed rings will mostly drop in the Abyss levels, but they can be found elsewhere too. These items are tradable and can be used by all players.

Attribute Respec Vendor:

Bob, the Attribute Respec Vendor, will allow you to spend palladium to remove points one at a time from an Attribute and add them to your unassigned Attribute Points pool. The cost to remove each point goes up with character level.

Stack Splitting:

You will be able to right-click on a stack of items and select to split it into smaller stacks using a new radial menu option. A dialog will pop up and let you type in how many items to place in the new stack.

Gameplay Changes:

* Character defenses against Secondary Damage Effects have been increased.
* Shield Overload has been removed from sword weapons.
* Strength has a much more significant impact on melee skill damage.

Item Linking:

Players will be able to enter a clickable “link” to an item’s details into the chat pane by right-clicking on the item and selecting the Link Item option on the radial menu.

Achievement Rewards

* New Armor and Weapons for all Factions
* New Monster Types
* New Chat Color Scheme
* Many bug fixes and performance tweaks.
* A few more features yet to be announced.

[txa1265]

You must have missed the blog where one dev bemoaned that they are bleeding devs ...

[zakhal]

You must have missed the blog where one dev bemoaned that they are bleeding devs ...

Nope. I didnt quite believe the news and checked it for more info instantly when I heard abt it. Its actually you who have missed the blog...
Somberg said he'd written that blog post on a day when he felt "frustrated and overwhelmed", but that after some hot chocolate, a few hours' game time and some sleep, he felt better.

Said Somberg, "I was surprised and disappointed at the community's response to my words, which were more directed at my family and friends to describe my state of mind at the time, than to give any sort of insight into the company. Personally, I think that the 'Towers of Hanoi' series of posts on my blog is far more interesting and worthy of commentary and analysis".
Bummers aside, though, Sulic said that nobody's been taken off or left the Hellgate team except for systems programmer Peter Hu, who's been able to work on some other projects now that the game is well underway. Said Sulic, "Everything else is pretty much business as usual".

Said Sulic, "We've actually had very few people leave. Flagship is still fully staffed and working on both Hellgate and Mythos... I think we have about 100 employees now".

Some people have moved on from Flagship, said Sulic, due to simply moving up on their career paths or being tired of windy San Francisco, but said those departures don't constitute cause for alarm. "People finish a game, want to work on something else, and then leave to do just that. It's pretty typical in this industry. I don't know the exact number, but we couldn't have had more than five or six departures. Still, if those five or six dudes are people you work with everyday, it can't feel great".

http://www.kotaku.com.au/games/2008/06/interview_flagship_studios_on_life_after_hellgate_ launch-2.html

People are of course eager to jump on negative news like they were yellow tabloids but in this case it was a false alarm.

[woges]

Come now don't jump on a guy having a bad day. (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=150111) I managed to get through the game with my blade-master might fire it up again sometime.

[woges]

I'm getting old and slow it seems.

[zakhal]

Come now don't jump on a guy having a bad day. (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=150111) I managed to get through the game with my blade-master might fire it up again sometime.

You should try playing it with the FPS classes like sniper. I found the FPS style shooting very enjoyable in MMOlite type enviroment.

[Asbjoern]

This is not entirely just down to someone having a bad day. If you read his blog post, he mentions in detail many problems that Flagship are having. They are not just a "bad day".
And of course after such negative PR, Flagship would as the first thing they do try to salvage what can be salvaged, and that is what they are doing. To say that Guy's post should be ignored because Flagship always tell the truth is naïve.

I liked Guy Somberg's blog post. He wrote in a well-reasoned manner, which caused sympathy from my side, because he was clearly a loyal employee of Flagship. I interpreted his post as a man resorting to his last means. Under normal conditions he would never have written such a post, because everyone knows it isn't just something that will go unnoticed, but to use a cliché then it was a cry for help. I view it more as a way to internally express his desillusioned mind to his employers, but doing this in an external way. He is someone that don't want to leave Flagship but a low morale over a certain duration of time can force someone to resign.
When saying this, then he is absolutely true:

I was surprised and disappointed at the community's response to my words, which were more directed at my family and friends to describe my state of mind at the time, than to give any sort of insight into the company.

People should not react too heavily to his words, but that doesn't mean they are not true. He should be allowed to express them, but as it is with the internet then everything is blown out of proportion and there is seldom room for subtleties and introvertedness.

[woges]

Regardless, you still don't know if they are true because all kinds of people rant behind the scenes at any social group (inc work). I'm pretty sure HGL is nowhere near as popular as they hoped that much is true but without working there this means little to nothing as far as I'm concerned.

[zakhal]

He is someone that don't want to leave Flagship but a low morale over a certain duration of time can force someone to resign.

What ever the cause for low morale the company still has the same amount of people working.

"In total, we have over 100 employees working for both studios," he said. "As is typical in the industry, after a game is released some people naturally want to work on something else and they leave the company to do so. But in total we have had less than 10 percent turn-over and have rehired for all needed positions," said Brevik.

The original news I read sounded like the company was loosing people and was soon gonna go belly up. Now its just 10 people who were hired to other companies - possibly with better wages - going up the career ladder etc and those 10 empty places were instantly filled with new people.

And I dont see anything special abt that. I myself have changed firms twice in just 6 months for money and career reasons. People in the old job were always bit depressed though to see people leave (me included) but thats life. After you spend certain amount of time in same job you get kinda attached to the place and people in there.

[zakhal]

Hellgate's success in the east continues - its the best-selling pc game in Japan currently:

Japan: 1. Hellgate: London (EA Games), 2. Lineage: The Cross Rancor (E-Frontier), 3. Ragnarok Online Summer Package 2008 (E-Frontier), 4. Final Fantasy XI: Vana'diel Collection (Square Enix), 5. The Sims 2: Ikea Home Pack (EA Games).

http://forums.hellgatelondon.com/showthread.php?t=104489

"The Japanese language version of HGL was just released here. Before that you had to jump through hoops to buy an import of HGL or pay through the nose for a North American/European (English) copy.

Which many did, there is a large community of Japanese players on both NA and EU servers. They just do not talk much."




The big patch number 2 is still in works:
The Lowdown on Patch 2.0 and 2.1

Discover that which awaits you in the Abyss, brave Hellgaters! The Abyss Chronicles (Patch 2) is rapidly taking shape and form and we’re ready to share some of its most exciting offerings with you. As Hellgate: London’s second major content update, the Abyss Chronicles boasts an impressive and lengthy list of new features including a major class rebalance, new environments, new enemies, new skills, new bosses, and new inventory slots . Then there’s the Consignment House, Attribute Respec Vendor, item linking, achievement rewards, and lots more. Suffice to say, the Abyss Chronicle is big. Very big.

Plans are already underway for the patches beyond the Abyss Chronicles. A small content summary for Patch 2.1 has been included as well. This update will open up an entirely new side to Hellgate: London in the form of ranked player versus player (PvP) gameplay. Originally slated for release with the Abyss Chronicles, the decision to release new PvP content as part of a supplemental patch was brought about by a desire to introduce five cohesive elements of PvP in a single update: ranking, matchmaking, rewards, achievements, and Capture The Flag. Together, these features will provide a robust PvP experience within the Hellgate: London universe.

---

The Abyss Chronicles (Patch 2) Content Summary

• New Abyss Quest Line with Five New Boss Fights:

o Travel to the all new Parliament Square and help Titus of the Cabal fend off the rapid spread of the Abyss, a new Demonic underground that grows in size as Demonkind consumes more of our world. The only way to halt the Abyss is to seek out and destroy those who control it. Lure the five Abyss Lords from their cursed realm by collapsing their Hellrifts (a new Rift for each of the boss types), then confront the masters as they emerge to investigate the problem. Five repeatable boss runs with five new bosses! Features three new environments and some reworked environments.

• New Shared Stash System:

o The Shared Stash will now feature separate panes for each gameplay mode: Normal, Elite, Hardcore, and Hardcore Elite. Items currently in your Shared Stash will be placed in the correct pane.

• Major Rebalance of the Blademaster Class:

o The Blademaster class has been significantly rebalanced with changes to almost every skill. Overall, they should do more damage and have many more options than before. Some of the highlights include Strength now stacking on top of the skill percent bonuses – a huge boost – and Blademasters can now gain a Surge with any melee attack or with any melee skill (rather than just when killing something with a Surge skill).

• Improved, Configurable Guild Controls:

o Guilds will now have four titles they can assign to members. The titles can be renamed. There can only be one Guild Leader. Non-subscribers can only have the lowest title. The Guild Leader can configure what the middle two titles are allowed to do including invite new members, promote and demote existing members, kick members, and send all-guild e-mail. The lowest title is not allowed to invite, promote, demote, kick, or send guild e-mails.

• Consignment House:

o Players can place items into the Consignment House to offer them for sale at a set price. All players in the same gameplay mode can see and purchase that item. The Consignment House currently only offers a “buy out” price, there is no bidding.

• Three New Skills for all Classes:

o Skill Scrolls are new items which unlock the new skills and allow skill points to be put into them. For example, the Spider Mine Schematic unlocks the Spider Mine skill for Engineers. The Skill Scrolls will be tradable and can be used by all players; however, they drop off of boss monsters in the subscriber-only Abyss levels. Only a few of the skills will be enabled in the first Patch 2 build that goes to Test Center. Here are a couple sample skills to whet your appetite:

1. The Summoner will get a melee demon transformation with zombie minions.

2. The Blademaster will get skills that use up Surges to do things like perform a group heal.

3. The Engineer will get Spider Mines.

• Trinket Inventory Slots:

o There will be two new Trinket inventory slots. The first trinkets will drop as cursed rings which can be cleaned up through the Transmogrifier. These cursed rings will mostly drop in the Abyss levels, but they can be found elsewhere too. These items are tradable and can be used by all players.

• Attribute Respec Vendor:

o Bob, the Attribute Respec Vendor, will allow you to spend palladium to remove points one at a time from an Attribute and add them to your unassigned Attribute Points pool. The cost to remove each point goes up with character level.

• Stack Splitting:

o You will be able to right-click on a stack of items and select to split it into smaller stacks using a new radial menu option. A dialog will pop up and let you type in how many items to place in the new stack.

• Gameplay Changes:

o Character defenses against Secondary Damage Effects have been increased.

o Shield Overload has been removed from sword weapons.

o Strength has a much more significant impact on melee skill damage.

• Item Linking:

o Players will be able to enter a clickable “link” to an item’s details into the chat pane by right-clicking on the item and selecting the Link Item option on the radial menu.

• Achievement Rewards
• New Armor and Weapons for all Factions
• New Monster Types
• New Chat Color Scheme
• Many bug fixes and performance tweaks.
• A few more features yet to be announced.


Patch 2.1 Content Summary

• PvP Ranking
• PvP Matchmaking for Teams and Individuals
• PvP Points and Rewards
• PvP Achievements
• Capture the Flag PvP Game
• Improved predictability and balance for the attribute feed system.

http://forums.hellgatelondon.com/showthread.php?t=95551