Recent reviews by Centurion

So far so What a Save!

I'm having fun.

I predict I will stop having fun once my MMR reaches the point where I play against ppl who dedicate too much time to this game.

The UI is clunky and at times it not obvious. It's user friendly but its a forced friendliness.

Nice enough base game...the thing is that DLC is still sparse.

I'm writing this review after visiting the junkyard and I gotta say their prices are ridiculous. Supposing USD is worth double the the ingame currency they want 3k (USD) for car that isn't even worth fixing. A car that's been mostly stripped and every part still on it is below 30% condition.

Meanwhile IRL I can go find a running car for 1k on craigslist if I look long enough.

Edit: why do I need to pay 10k (5k USD) to expand my garage in order to get a work bench when half my garage is filled by a bus and boxes? Couldn't I at least park the bus outside to make space?
Why can't I use soap and water to wash cars? Why aren't there car washes I drive take cars to once they're running? Why do I need to spend 1.75k (875 USD) to build a car wash?

At this point I changed my review from positive to negative, here's why:

Ok I just shelled out 12.5k (ingame) for a body repair station and I can't even use it until I max the Renovator perk? 10k for the expansion and 2.5k for the body repair station, which has a fixed requirement of level 6 Renovator, despite not being clearly indicated on the purchase UI. It says "Renovator upgrade required" which I have, just not maxed, rather than saying "Your Renovator level is too low" and preventing the purchase by graying it out.

IRL, minor body repairs are some of the simplest fixes anyone can do on their car. Machining/fixing small parts would have a much greater threshold of impossibility, yet in CMS 21 the requirement seem much lower.

Last night I had some fun using a cheatcode to start with 500k and level 35. I guess I enjoyed resurrecting an imitation Mustang Fastback and building an engine for it, but there was nothing to do after so I went back into my uncheated career and encountered the above issue...

Qualifying this review as a bicycle mechanic and web designer/computer programmer.

I hate it more than when I first wrote this review but I've become addicted.

Helpful

hands down the worst formatted pvp of any multiplayer videogame
block is omnidirectional
you animation cancel if the target you're aimed for cloaks
damage can't be done to cloaked targets
movement is terrible:
>you get stuck on random objects
>the character has terrible stamina (I play soccer and run long distances irl)
some perks make 0 sense and are race locked (see orcs and movement speed buff)
psijic has a 30% movement speed buff that also grants 10% crit buff and 5k damage shield whenever you block (p2w skill line) (did it also grant 30% dmg reduction during channel?)

if you want the immersive world and relatively unlimited mechanics of Morrowind or later titles, look elsewhere.

if you want a carebear MMO with some depth and atrocious lag, maybe ESO is the right game for you.

it's a toy but I must divert my rage into it because it's one of the last of its kind where there is some sense of balance and combat feels kinetic (RIP TERA, KMMO seem always to be mismanaged to death)

gapclosers are lock on and will allow the caster to jump inhuman lengths to reach any target within the skills range

don't fall bellow 50% HP or everyone will cast their finisher on you at once

the build system rewards people for stacking all their attribute points towards one stat

restoration staff seems to be border worthlessness in pvp.

open world pvp exists in a fixed zone with capturable resources, etc, but there is little sense of permanence. it could certainly be expanded upon.

you'll find yourself completing tasks such as crafting for daily writs. you deposit your work into an anonymous box. presumably the devs had intended this to contribute some kind of faction marketplace similar to how shops are run in classic Elder Scrolls titles, but really it just feels like you're throwing your work away for some reward that is barely worth the effort.

the world feels a little bit flat and unimaginative. there are massive sections of the map that are still unreachable.

all and all there isn't much in terms of real innovation that I don't feel is borrowed from other MMO.

Constant dailies, resource collecting through randomly spawned nodes (makes me almost miss mining in Runescape), quests to kill bad guys, staticly placed world bosses, fast travel to wayshrines, researchable attributes (reminiscent of EvE), guild traders (a wonderful system that is simultaneously crippled by how it is accessed), static NPC (no lifecycle or daily routine, shops are always open and there is always the same person operating them) with ability ability to pickpocket and kill them (a hallmark feature of Elder Scrolls game), no player collision, pets have a few animations the cycle through but are otherwise lifeless, no encumberance system (an inventory that requires a cast time in order to summon items would be completely lore friendly, but alas I can carry several tons worth of materials and loot), no VoIP, elemental magicka combat is understated and linear (ignores environment, the distinctions don't feel necessary, unaffected by range as long as target is within tooltip), bow is tab targeted (a mistake), no cooldowns (this decision is very very dangerous, ambitious and completely amazes me how the game manages to still be playable in spite of this diregard for all that is sacred), limited to slotting 6 abilities at a time (5 regular and one superpower) which is bonkers but forces unique decisions and economizing of skill selection, and there is an instance matched dungeon system and battlegrounds. Oh yeah and you can get a spell that reflects projectiles back at attackers.
All the usual. Those are just things you'd want to know about if you've played an MMO before.

I'll speak on why I think cooldowns are necessary. They make a person keep track of as many as 15 decaying timers, with varying lengths in their mind at the same time, if they want to be able to combat with fluidity. As a sorcerer in the MMO TERA I would be able to know when every cooldown was coming to an end, and even keep track some of my opponent's.
In order for combat to go smoothly just about every button that wasn't WASD and was immediately reachable by either hand had an ability bound to it. This is pure insanity. I cannot recommend that any western style MMO try duplicating this depth and resolution to the reaction and decisions I need to consider when playing the game. There needs to be some element of knowing what an opponent can do in the middle of an engagement, at a given distance, based on prior actions they've taken.

The stance the developers have taken on cooldowns is one of ignorance. The affect isn't as devastating as the word 'ignorance' would entail, because the damage model can be steep, and the relationship between players is balanced for a group experience. There is a mild counter to stuns "Break Free" that grants invulnerability from being stunned again for a period of 5ish seconds.

Potions share cooldowns, but thankfully there are craftable potions that incorporate stamina, magicka, and health recovery.

What keeps PvP alive isn't so much the dynamic of chi, it's the constant threat of obliteration.
There is server crippling lag at times.

My high dps combo is as follows (it assumes a stationary single target)
Backlash (20% damage repetition, reduces resistances) -> Volley (procs berserk from enchantment) -> Soul Assault
The only buff applied to myself is Momentum (20% weapon damage increase on 2h).

I can't imagine a better one, but combat doesn't leave room for much traditional patterns to be explored

I've played Morrowind, Obilivion, Skyrim, and Fallout 3. Lore, world building, and immersion are always great in ZoS/Bethesda games.

It has a real charming atmosphere that I can't help but admire. It just needs more things to do other than killing, stuff that is engaging, and killing things needs to be rethought so it's not broken.

I have maintained a wishlist of stuff I that could make this game really great and long lasting, a bastion of exploration, hope, adventure, and less frustrating combat. A world that is more interconnected, somewhere new life can form, a haven from stupid politics and a global community that doesn't require despotic governance.

A+ very good fast pace tactical RTS