Originally posted by: Gothgar
Spellborn has (or at least HAD) no plans on releasing in the US.
Spellborn actually just delayed it's overall release due to it finally finding a US distributor. The current plan is to release the US and EU versions at the same time in Q3 08.
I personally have been following Spellborn a lot longer than AoC, but due to the fact that AoC is releasing a little sooner, most of my attention has been focused on it. However, after playing various AoC betas my attention has started to shift back to Sepllborn. AoC is a great game, but it's going to take about a month or 2 of solid patches, tweaks, and bug hunting in order for it to run how the Devs want it to.
That said, there are still a few things that make me kind of wonder about AoC. For one the combat system still feels unnatural. I really can't figure out exactly what it is about the combat that makes me not like it, and unfortunately you would really have to play the game to see it for yourself. Another thing is the world itself. The starting zone is plagued with instances, and I understand thats due to the fact that everyone starts in the same place, however when you pair that with the massive loading times between them, it makes it a lot more annoying. Also, the world itself isn't fully "free roam", many inviable walls exist that really shouldn't be there. For example you will be walking through the middle of a jungle then all of a sudden cant go any further.
All that said, I still don't know if I will buy AoC. I start work this summer so 75% of my time will be taken up, and that doesn't leave much time to game. I think I will probably give it a week or 2 and then decide.
Now on the flip side, Spellborn is a much smaller and lesser known game. It has similar features to AoC, specifically the real time combat system, however that where the similarities end. For starters the art style is a 180, if you could imagine Fable as a MMO thats pretty much what the game looks like visually. The combat system is a lot more dynamic than AoC. Yes its real time, however it has a very unique way of casting spells/melee combos where 1 spell/combo leads you to a new tier of spells. Its really hard to describe, especially since I haven't payed much attention to the game these past months, but if you check out their website you will find out a lot on it. One final thing is the way armor works. Armor no longer determines how your character looks, you do. From day 1 you could have a mage who wears plate armor, or a cloth tank.
At first I thought AoC was going to be my game of choice, but after playing it I am not so sure. Chances are I won't really get to play it until next semester, which is about the time Spellborn is coming out. My suggestion would be if your interested in AoC wait a week or after release to see how well it pans out, and if it doesn't work out so well look into Spellborn this Fall. But hell who is to say you couldn't play both?
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