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Sandbox-y MMO.

coldbird.coldbird. Registered User regular
edited June 2007 in Games and Technology
I'm itching for an MMO much like old SWG, but good.

Player housing, player cities, economy driven by player-crafted items...

Hopefully pvp-driven.

Is there anything out there like this/on the horizon?

coldbird. on
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    KiwistrikeKiwistrike Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    everything save the "but good" part is available.

    Kiwistrike on
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    Synthetic OrangeSynthetic Orange Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    UO?

    Synthetic Orange on
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    Ultros64Ultros64 Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I haven't really played it myself, but it sounds like EVE may be right up your alley. You create a pilot, make a ship, and try to scratch out a living on the frontier of space while player-driven warring factions square off for dominance of the galaxy.

    Ultros64 on
    It doesn't matter what I say, as long as I sing with inflection
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    Ultros64 wrote: »
    I haven't really played it myself, but it sounds like EVE may be right up your alley. You create a pilot, make a ship, and try to scratch out a living on the frontier of space while player-driven warring factions square off for dominance of the galaxy.

    EVE is not up his ally.

    EVE is more like an economic space simulator. Cold, and lifeless.


    I think he's looking something that's kind of like Pre-Trammel UO. Those type of MMOs are basically extinct.

    Notice he says old SWG, which for a time many heralded it to be "UO in Space". And it was.

    Earthbound on
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    RaereRaere Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    A tale in the desert is the definition of a sandbox. Really.

    Raere on
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    coldbird.coldbird. Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Earthbound wrote: »
    EVE is not up his ally.

    EVE is more like an economic space simulator. Cold, and lifeless.

    You read my mind.

    Give me SWG's "carve out your existence" type deal, WoW's polish and combat system...just hook it into my veins.

    coldbird. on
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    DashuiDashui Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Age of Conan when it's out.

    Dashui on
    Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
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    Ultros64Ultros64 Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Dashui wrote: »
    Age of Conan when it's out.

    Good God I'm looking forward to that.

    Ultros64 on
    It doesn't matter what I say, as long as I sing with inflection
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    I wish we still had isometric MMORPGs. With minimalist GUIs.

    Earthbound on
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    emnmnmeemnmnme Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    It surprises me developers haven't tried to make a GTA-clone into an MMO. Something where you can harrass NPCs in creative ways and spend lots of time playing minigames and skill-based challenges. Planetside doesn't fit.

    What I'd also like to see is a city overrun by zombies. Dead Rising meets GTA - you can enter all buildings and use items creatively to beat back the zombie horde. Put that to an MMO and limit each server/city to 100 people, forcing people to work together to survive, not just acquire loot. I'd imagine the PVP would be fun, too.

    emnmnme on
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    ZenitramZenitram Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    EVE Online is the closest I think you will come currently. It's very economically driven, has great PvP and very shitty PvE/instances. Not sure if you will like it, but it's like SWG in the sense that there are many different careers that you can have.

    The problem is many of those careers can be very boring, like being a miner, merchant, hauler, etc. I think that's what many naysayers refer to. Personally I played the hell out of it for over a year, specializing in PvP (space piracy) and playing the player-driven markets to make some extra scratch.

    Zenitram on
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    Trevor GoodchildTrevor Goodchild Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Raere wrote: »
    A tale in the desert is the definition of a sandbox. Really.

    I thought that game was swell for it was (a kind of spruced up chat/community) with team oriented goals thrown in. I wonder if any PA'ers still play it at all.

    Trevor Goodchild on
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    hamburger helperhamburger helper Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Earthbound wrote: »
    I wish we still had isometric MMORPGs. With minimalist GUIs.
    UO?

    hamburger helper on
    statimg.php?id=280&theme=1
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    Zenitram wrote: »
    EVE Online is the closest I think you will come currently. It's very economically driven, has great PvP and very shitty PvE/instances. Not sure if you will like it, but it's like SWG in the sense that there are many different careers that you can have.

    The problem is many of those careers can be very boring, like being a miner, merchant, hauler, etc. I think that's what many naysayers refer to. Personally I played the hell out of it for over a year, specializing in PvP (space piracy) and playing the player-driven markets to make some extra scratch.

    Man, I don't get why people keep bringing up EVE online.

    In EVE you are nothing but a god damn ship crusing through space. There is no real sense of immersion or carving out an existence because of that. Your numbers are your existence. I imagine the game would be much better if you actually had an avatar that could walk around the insides of your ship, or maybe on the outside of the hull in a spacewalk. From there it's just a stone's throw toward making people walk around in cities, buildings, planets, and combat on foot, opening up a whole new dimension to EVE.

    Earthbound on
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    Earthbound wrote: »
    I wish we still had isometric MMORPGs. With minimalist GUIs.
    UO?

    UO is a shell of what it used to be.

    Earthbound on
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    KimFidlerKimFidler Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Not really an MMO but Second Life might be your kind of thing.

    KimFidler on
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    ZenitramZenitram Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    People get so bent the fuck over about avatars in MMOs....

    Oh cool we can walk around now! This means we can go to the coffee shop to have a virtual cup of Joe, we can chat with folks in the same area (already can) and I can show off my stylish new gold breastplate too!

    Not sure what you mean about numbers being your existence.


    edit: see now you got me all riled up. In my defense though, Eve developers were avid players of UO, and based their game on it. It's the closest thing that a modern MMO can provide, in that sense.

    Zenitram on
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    HewnHewn Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I think the short answer to this question is that no current game exists that fits this mold. I know, because I've been searching and have come up empty. I loved the idea that was old SWG. And I still long for the days of old school UO (the free servers just aren't the same as it was, no matter what they say).

    UO is as close as one can get, and that is quite a bit past its prime and in severe need of an update. They are redoing the engine, though, but the core still needs a year 2000 face lift.

    Hewn on
    Steam: hewn
    Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
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    RubberACRubberAC Sidney BC!Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Uo is awesome if you get some friends/someone to help you out
    too bad official servers are bloody awful now

    RubberAC on
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    SurikoSuriko AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Looking through the wiki page for Age of Conan (how the hell did I not look into this game sooner?), it seems very similar to Shadowbane. Have there been any statements as to how player-made the cities will be - ie. Constructing and placing individual buildings and houses versus choosing armoury size X and Y number of towers?

    Also, for the OP, maybe Second Life?
    I keed, I keed.

    Suriko on
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    HewnHewn Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Zenitram wrote: »
    People get so bent the fuck over about avatars in MMOs....

    Oh cool we can walk around now! This means we can go to the coffee shop to have a virtual cup of Joe, we can chat with folks in the same area (already can) and I can show off my stylish new gold breastplate too!

    Not sure what you mean about numbers being your existence.

    Bend it and shape it anyway you want...

    EVE isn't the game he was describing. No use bickering over the semantics.

    Hewn on
    Steam: hewn
    Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    Zenitram wrote: »
    People get so bent the fuck over about avatars in MMOs....

    Oh cool we can walk around now! This means we can go to the coffee shop to have a virtual cup of Joe, we can chat with folks in the same area (already can) and I can show off my stylish new gold breastplate too!

    Not sure what you mean about numbers being your existence.


    EVE simualtes many things well (the universe, economy, spaceships), but one thing they have forgotten to simulate is the heart. Without the human element and the delicate interactions between people on an everyday basis, the game basically amounts to nothing more than a glorified arcade game in space, except combat isn't twitch based and points are substituted for currency. That, is why I will never enjoy EVE.

    Earthbound on
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    LewishamLewisham Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    emnmnme wrote: »
    It surprises me developers haven't tried to make a GTA-clone into an MMO. Something where you can harrass NPCs in creative ways and spend lots of time playing minigames and skill-based challenges.

    http://www.apb.com

    Lewisham on
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    ZenitramZenitram Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    But...pixels.

    Not seeing/being human character doesn't take the human aspect away, look at HAL 9000. EVE's humanity is that it's a fuck-or-be-fucked world.

    As for it not being what the OP was looking for, that may be partially right, since what the OP wants doesn't quite exist now. As for the other things:

    Player cities: check (sovereign space systems/constellations)
    Player-driven economy: check (EVE's strongest point)
    PvP-driven: check (again, sovereign space and good group vs. group battles. Choke points, key territory, allies, double-crosses, logistics. Very true to real-life situations)

    Zenitram on
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    EchoEcho ski-bap ba-dapModerator mod
    edited June 2007
    emnmnme wrote: »
    It surprises me developers haven't tried to make a GTA-clone into an MMO. Something where you can harrass NPCs in creative ways and spend lots of time playing minigames and skill-based challenges. Planetside doesn't fit.

    I think you can't have that and "massive" at the same time -- not yet, anyway. The servers could probably manage it, but your average internet user probably has a too shitty connection to make it lag-free.

    Echo on
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    What bugs me is that there is nothing preventing us from having another killer-awesome UO-like MMORPG. It's just that developers today simply do not have the creative vision to realize what makes a good MMORPG, as opposed to just a profitable one.

    My dream MMO would pretty much have:

    -Complete open PVP, the ability to attack anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
    -Player housing
    -The ability to loot anything, at anytime, even unlocked houses.
    -Lots of thievery
    -Very minimal GUI, no floating numbers or icons on the screen.
    -Container GUIs are represented by the actual container graphics (example if you open your backpack your inventory looks like a backpack, like in UO.)
    -All statistics of any sort are represented in adjectives, no numbers of any kind.
    -A game that records your life story based on items you aquire and monsters you kill and deeds you accomplish
    -Local Communication only. If you speak only people in your immediate area can hear you and thats it. If you want to speak with people in far away lands you may have to use carrier pigeons.
    -A convincing economy.
    -Lots of player crafting.
    -Ships and sea-travel.
    -Mounts
    -The inability to easily distinguish PCs from NPCs. (think UO again)
    -Permanet Death with bloodlines. (When you die your dead forever but you can then take over your child if you have one and this child may inherit some percent of your skill based on how well it was raised and who the mother was).

    Earthbound on
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    nefffffffffffnefffffffffff Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Earthbound wrote: »
    Zenitram wrote: »
    EVE Online is the closest I think you will come currently. It's very economically driven, has great PvP and very shitty PvE/instances. Not sure if you will like it, but it's like SWG in the sense that there are many different careers that you can have.

    The problem is many of those careers can be very boring, like being a miner, merchant, hauler, etc. I think that's what many naysayers refer to. Personally I played the hell out of it for over a year, specializing in PvP (space piracy) and playing the player-driven markets to make some extra scratch.

    Man, I don't get why people keep bringing up EVE online.

    In EVE you are nothing but a god damn ship crusing through space. There is no real sense of immersion or carving out an existence because of that. Your numbers are your existence. I imagine the game would be much better if you actually had an avatar that could walk around the insides of your ship, or maybe on the outside of the hull in a spacewalk. From there it's just a stone's throw toward making people walk around in cities, buildings, planets, and combat on foot, opening up a whole new dimension to EVE.

    YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

    damnit, if i was wearing underwear i'd need a new pair right now.

    nefffffffffff on
    camo_sig2.png
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    HewnHewn Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Earthbound wrote: »
    What bugs me is that there is nothing preventing us from having another killer-awesome UO-like MMORPG. It's just that developers today simply do not have the creative vision to realize what makes a good MMORPG, as opposed to just a profitable one.

    My dream MMO would pretty much have:

    -Complete open PVP, the ability to attack anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
    -Player housing
    -The ability to loot anything, at anytime, even unlocked houses.
    -Lots of thievery
    -Very minimal GUI, no floating numbers or icons on the screen.
    -Container GUIs are represented by the actual container graphics (example if you open your backpack your inventory looks like a backpack, like in UO.)
    -All statistics of any sort are represented in adjectives, no numbers of any kind.
    -A game that records your life story based on items you aquire and monsters you kill and deeds you accomplish
    -Local Communication only. If you speak only people in your immediate area can hear you and thats it. If you want to speak with people in far away lands you may have to use carrier pigeons.
    -A convincing economy.
    -Lots of player crafting.
    -Ships and sea-travel.
    -Mounts
    -The inability to easily distinguish PCs from NPCs. (think UO again)
    -Permanet Death with bloodlines. (When you die your dead forever but you can then take over your child if you have one and this child may inherit some percent of your skill based on how well it was raised and who the mother was).

    The reason why such an MMO doesn't exist is because most people don't want it. It invites too much griefing and harassment from other players. You described what UO used to be, but much of the player base grew tired of mining for one hour only to have it swiped in 30 seconds.

    As such, it becomes vital to not only allow freedom of criminal acts but an equally inviting incentive to not be a cutthroat robber. On some old UO shards, there was a balanced dynamic of good guys and bad guys. They kept one another in check. People would make guilds with the specific purpose to keep that poor miner safe. However, soon as the server balance got skewed to more player-killers than good guys, the game would become an intolerable experience for new players trying to do the most mundane of tasks.

    So how do you create a balance of good guys and bad guys, but still allow the world to be entirely policed by the players themselves? There's your greatest challenge in your proposed game. I don't have the answers, and UO never came up with them either. But I hold out hope that eventually such a balance can be struck then our ideal game can begin to appeal to the mass market and thus get support for development.

    Hewn on
    Steam: hewn
    Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
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    coldbird.coldbird. Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Age of Conan definitely looks promising.

    For some reason I had written it off as some cheesy MMO with a Conan theme without really looking into it.

    coldbird. on
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    RubberACRubberAC Sidney BC!Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Earthbound wrote: »
    What bugs me is that there is nothing preventing us from having another killer-awesome UO-like MMORPG. It's just that developers today simply do not have the creative vision to realize what makes a good MMORPG, as opposed to just a profitable one.

    My dream MMO would pretty much have:

    -Complete open PVP, the ability to attack anyone, anywhere, at anytime.
    -Player housing
    -The ability to loot anything, at anytime, even unlocked houses.
    -Lots of thievery
    -Very minimal GUI, no floating numbers or icons on the screen.

    -Container GUIs are represented by the actual container graphics (example if you open your backpack your inventory looks like a backpack, like in UO.)
    -All statistics of any sort are represented in adjectives, no numbers of any kind.
    -A game that records your life story based on items you aquire and monsters you kill and deeds you accomplish
    -Local Communication only. If you speak only people in your immediate area can hear you and thats it. If you want to speak with people in far away lands you may have to use carrier pigeons.
    -A convincing economy.
    -Lots of player crafting.
    -Ships and sea-travel.

    -Mounts
    -The inability to easily distinguish PCs from NPCs. (think UO again)
    -Permanet Death with bloodlines.(When you die your dead forever but you can then take over your child if you have one and this child may inherit some percent of your skill based on how well it was raised and who the mother was).


    so pretty much you reference uo then list a bunch of things that it actually has

    RubberAC on
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    Hewn wrote: »
    The reason why such an MMO doesn't exist is because most people don't want it. It invites too much griefing and harassment from other players. You described what UO used to be, but much of the player base grew tired of mining for one hour only to have it swiped in 30 seconds.

    As such, it becomes vital to not only allow freedom of criminal acts but an equally inviting incentive to not be a cutthroat robber. On some old UO shards, there was a balanced dynamic of good guys and bad guys. They kept one another in check. People would make guilds with the specific purpose to keep that poor miner safe. However, soon as the server balance got skewed to more player-killers than good guys, the game would become an intolerable experience for new players trying to do the most mundane of tasks.

    So how do you create a balance of good guys and bad guys, but still allow the world to be entirely policed by the players themselves? There's your greatest challenge in your proposed game. I don't have the answers, and UO never came up with them either. But I hold out hope that eventually such a balance can be struck then our ideal game can begin to appeal to the mass market and thus get support for development.


    I figure that most people don't want something like this. It's the most common argument I hear.


    I don't really know what to do about the balance between good guys and bad guys. And I don't think there will ever be a perfect balance. I think rather than trying to create artificial systems to make the game noob friendly (newbie protection, newbies unlootable, etc) we should simply try to educate noobs on how to not get fucking killed all the time.

    Earthbound on
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    HewnHewn Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    coldbird. wrote: »
    Age of Conan definitely looks promising.

    For some reason I had written it off as some cheesy MMO with a Conan theme without really looking into it.

    Yeah, it might turn out pretty good. But Shadowbane had all the old UO players jacked too, and look where that went.

    I'm just going to come out and say it: I want UO 2.

    Hewn on
    Steam: hewn
    Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
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    AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    coldbird. wrote: »
    Age of Conan definitely looks promising.

    For some reason I had written it off as some cheesy MMO with a Conan theme without really looking into it.

    I did too until those Dev walkthrough videos.

    Oddly enough it seems to remind me more of DAoC than Warhammer.

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    Hewn wrote: »
    I'm just going to come out and say it: I want UO 2.


    Hell, it's about time.

    Earthbound on
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    HewnHewn Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Earthbound wrote: »
    I figure that most people don't want something like this. It's the most common argument I hear.


    I don't really know what to do about the balance between good guys and bad guys. And I don't think there will ever be a perfect balance. I think rather than trying to create artificial systems to make the game noob friendly (newbie protection, newbies unlootable, etc) we should simply try to educate noobs on how to not get fucking killed all the time.

    How about incentives for not having any murders or attacks on your records? Perks in cities, cheaper housing, better quests (jobs) things of that nature. That's quite true to life. Then the benefits of being a crook is, well, all the loot you steal from players.

    In UO, going "red" after so many murder counts and thus being banished from all but the Buccaneer's Den was a relatively hefty punishment for a life of crime. Mechanics like that offer pros and cons to the good and evil choices. Unfortunately in UO, it was often far more profitable to kill and loot than to merely play by the rules. Shifting that would hopefully encourage balance.

    But yes, a proper starting zone that explains all the ins and outs of the mechanics would be vital. UO had no such thing and I know I was thrown to the wolves immediately.

    "Hails, friends! Lovely day in the woods, yes?"
    *arrow to the face*
    *ghost run to corpse*
    "I'm naked and broke. This day has taken a turn."

    Hewn on
    Steam: hewn
    Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
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    chubschubs Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    This is only kind of related, but I'd rather just post it here than start a new thread. I have a pretty old computer, but it can run WoW smoothly on its lowest settings. Should I be able to run City of Heroes very well?

    chubs on
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    Hewn wrote: »
    But yes, a proper starting zone that explains all the ins and outs of the mechanics would be vital. UO had no such thing and I know I was thrown to the wolves immediately.

    "Hails, friends! Lovely day in the woods, yes?"
    *arrow to the face*
    *ghost run to corpse*
    "I'm naked and broke. This day has taken a turn."

    Only noobs really end up like that though.

    Once you know how savage the world is you can pretty much survive.

    Which pretty much makes me imagine noobs are the source of most problems.

    Earthbound on
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    StormyWatersStormyWaters Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Why are mounts important?

    StormyWaters on
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    FirstComradeStalinFirstComradeStalin Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    I remember in SWG I was all pumped up about everything that had to do with how player-driven it was. Mainly, I wanted to adventure around, get enough money to open a cantina in the middle of the city somewhere, sell weapons, drinks, good times, and whatever the hell else I wanted to, open branches in other cities, maybe toss in gambling, then become the Donald Trump of the galaxy. It was gonna be pretty ballin'. Then no one played it, the combat sucked, and my dreams were shattered.

    FirstComradeStalin on
    Picture1-4.png
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    EarthboundEarthbound __BANNED USERS regular
    edited June 2007
    Why are mounts important?

    Without mounts, we are given the illusion that all journeys are within walking distance.

    Earthbound on
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