Miss the days of Ultima Online?

[SunnyD]

Mabinogi

Alright - so here's the deal... you watch the video clip and you instantly think "childish eastern RPG". Seems that way yeah... except when I started playing it it reminded me a lot of UO. There's a huge emphasis on the non-combat aspects in the game. It plays like a typical eastern RPG - semi-realtime combat (if you've ever played Megaten, it's the same sort of thing). The dungeon/instance mechanic is a spitting image of Zelda (trigger something, kill mobs, get the key to move on to the next room).

Thing is this one feels very mature - I don't mean for adult players, I mean the game feels refined. The graphics are an interesting sort of cell-shaded graphics.

Yeah, I'm already feeling the level grind in it, but the atmosphere makes it feel a lot like the initial feeling of awe from exploring EQ, the non-combat "careers" of UO, and the dungeon romping of Zelda, all wrapped up in an MMO.

I believe Mabinogi is from the same folks that bring you MapleStory and Combat Arms... and the best part is the price. It's free! (Not sure what the limitations of not buying/paying is yet, but hey - free is free!)

K, enough pimping it. There's just far too many good quality Free games out there these days.

 

[konakona]

um... I been playing extensively on a korean server, so I can add a bit more to what SunnyD said. I guess I will start with a little caveat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabinogi_(Network_game)

One thing I must tell you right at the outset is, the game is a lot about grinding, especially in the parts you mention - non-combat; your characters get stronger from obtaining bonus stats you get from ranking up your skills, and to rank up any skill you need 1)sufficient "action points" (APs) and 2)100.00 "practice points" for the lack of a better term.

You get APs either by aging or leveling up. Since leveling becomes exponentially harder at higher levels, the only realistic way to earn more APs is by being reborn, which costs money (a character card). Rebirth is a unique aspect of the game, both a blessing and a curse I would say. While on the facade it gives you a freedom to raise your character the way you wish at the beginning and allows you to become a master of all trades, by the end everyone will have just about the same thing, skill-wise. Worse yet, you will be forced to be engaged in a never-ending grinding hell on just one character alone. Take my character for instance, she has about 3300 levels stacked, so thats about 50-60 rebirths over the course of past 4 years or so. They are pretty good about periodically adding new skills and whatnot, prompting people to level more and more. The highest ones around are in their mid 6000s or so AFAIK. Now, this doesn't mean you have to be that high to kill stuff. Dungeons and fields accomodate all different levels/types of characters. There obviously is a point of diminishing returns on everything, and at around 1000 or so you should feel comfortable and not missing a whole lot with appropriate items. Getting there is the fun part, of course.

Leveling is actually the easier one of the two, getting practice points for skills can be very, very time consuming. For tougher ones, this can get up to couple thousand repetition of a certain task that either has a low success rate, or specific condition to meet (e.g. relative combat rating compared to the mob). Part of it could be just a cultural influence, for I have only played on the korean servers and people there are known for their lack of patience and anxiousness to get things done quick.

Speaking of perks of paid services, you would be real hard pressed to get by playing totally free. I am not sure what kind of game packages they offer on the stateside, but you need the extended storage pack at least to be able to carry anything worth a crap; your miniscule default inventory just doesn't cut it.

What I am trying to say by all this, I guess, is that there is so much to do in the game that you wouldn't possibly bore yourself out, but it will take a ton of time and effort to get everything mastered if you are a perfectionist type. Be prepared to lay down some mulah and time. Typical of a MMORPG, probably a bit worse at that 😉

 

[zebano]

Sounds very interesting if RoM was less engaging right now I would check it out.

 

[SunnyD]

There's a "Music Composition" skill in it - you actually WRITE and PERFORM your own tunes. The mechanic is a textual version of actual musical composition (letters as their notes, numbers as their duration, rests, etc). I was wandering around town the other day and someone was playing the intro to Final Fantasy.

The only thing I find I'm not liking is that it's difficult to tell what mobs you can successfully kill and which ones will own you. I've received a few quests which with a good deal of strategy I can kill a certain mob, but odds are I'll either take a beating or die (death penalty is XP loss, and it does go negative). Sucks royally when you're in a dungeon too - you can revive in the dungeon, but an added death penalty of "Wounds" which prevent you from healing to your full HP is added.

But it's still fun! I'm a kid in a candy store!

 

[QuantumPion]

That doesn't sound like UO. UO was basically "Vendor Tycoon...with ganking!" (which was good). This game sounds like everquest...

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: QuantumPion
That doesn't sound like UO. UO was basically "Vendor Tycoon...with ganking!" (which was good). This game sounds like everquest...

Hmm... okay - never played the original EQ.

Anyhow - got to level 20 last night. Combat is - interesting. I think I'm starting to get the hang of it slowly (after reading a few things a bit more sense is made). It's an interesting game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. The only problem I've found is that if there are too many mobs that agro you (ie: more than 1 or maybe 2), you're pretty much dead.

A bit more of the free-play system... I see how they get you now. "Premium Services" (including the all important additional storage service) are totally free until any one character on your account reaches level 30 (overall - cumulative level if you've rebirthed). Then you lose Nao's support and Storage services. Nao's support you can live without (free on-site rez among other things). The storage service - ouch! Losing it means your bank gets cut in half, you can no longer use additional bags, you can't use the personal shop (your own little store to sell items at - like the auction house sort of), and a few other things.

Pets are a nice additional source of damage output. And there's a few that are cheap on the item shop ($3). All in all I'm having a good time, but barely scratched the surface of the game.

 

[ivan2]

i hate grinding. looks like the only thing good about this game is the price.

for other free MMO grindfests, look up Perfect World and Imagine Online.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: QuantumPion
That doesn't sound like UO. UO was basically "Vendor Tycoon...with ganking!" (which was good). This game sounds like everquest...

This game is nothing like EQ. I repeat, NOTHING. The combat, skill, and leveling system are all completely retarded. The user base is really dumb and childish (think of a bunch of 12-16 year old kids who wish they were japanese even though they are playing a korean game).

EQ actually had a decent structure, while Mabinogi's is horrible. At least the grinding in Everquest was satisfactory, while Mabinogi's isn't.

Honestly, out of all the free korean MMORPGs I've played, Mabinogi is by far the worst (and that says a lot).

Originally posted by: ivan2
i hate grinding. looks like the only thing good about this game is the price.

Sure it's free, but to actually be decent and get anywhere in the game you have to cough up money sometime.

 

[konakona]

What have you played really? I never spent much time on american servers. so if thats the way things are over there, then too bad, really.
I never for once considered the combat aspect of the game it's forte; rather, it's more about the way the characters look. There are tons of people out there who prefer this type of presentation to quasi-realistic wannabe appearance which they don't find to their liking. The game has tons of clothing and such, which is a natural draw for female gamers. As a matter of the fact, there are more female than male gamers for this game (FACT), and they have servers divided by age groups in korea. Kids would still do whatever they can to borrow someone else's KID and get into wherever they want, but at least the majority of the players are adults. Not that there is any exclusively adult-oriented content, the adult server (Harp) is by far most crowded.

Having not played (or interested) in EQ, I really can't comment anything in that light. I did mess around on the american servers while they were in beta, and I dont think you are eligible to write it off from what little you have seen. Everything has been changed considerably in the past few years - something you couldn't have possibly been able to see in that limited introductory piece.

Mabinogi is doing relatively well in japan for what it's worth (probably not as well as pangya, but still)

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: konakona
What have you played really? I never spent much time on american servers. so if thats the way things are over there, then too bad, really.
I never for once considered the combat aspect of the game it's forte; rather, it's more about the way the characters look. There are tons of people out there who prefer this type of presentation to quasi-realistic wannabe appearance which they don't find to their liking. The game has tons of clothing and such, which is a natural draw for female gamers. As a matter of the fact, there are more female than male gamers for this game (FACT), and they have servers divided by age groups in korea. Kids would still do whatever they can to borrow someone else's KID and get into wherever they want, but at least the majority of the players are adults. Not that there is any exclusively adult-oriented content, the adult server (Harp) is by far most crowded.

Having not played (or interested) in EQ, I really can't comment anything in that light. I did mess around on the american servers while they were in beta, and I dont think you are eligible to write it off from what little you have seen. Everything has been changed considerably in the past few years - something you couldn't have possibly been able to see in that limited introductory piece.

Mabinogi is doing relatively well in japan for what it's worth (probably not as well as pangya, but still)

Agreed - it's definitely not a western MMO: The focus isn't button mashing your way up to level 80-bazillion in search of the best gear so you can slaughter noobies with ease.

The combat system is an intriguing part of the game. It's neither a strength or a weakness - but it is refreshingly different from typical western MMO's "go into combat mode, mash skill buttons from time to time, pray that you mash out more DPS than the other guy".

At the same time, the skill system in Mabinogi is where it shines, and why I associate it with UO. In UO, the focus was hardly combat on an overall scale. Being western though, it heavily influenced the game (because of open PvP). But UO's forte was the non-combat skills, which is the same as Mabinogi. You can take your time and level your character completely off non-combat quests if you so desire.

Personally - I didn't play EQ... and everything it was described as back when it was popular sounded like a pure western MMO, which didn't appeal much at all to me.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: konakona
What have you played really? I never spent much time on american servers. so if thats the way things are over there, then too bad, really.
I never for once considered the combat aspect of the game it's forte; rather, it's more about the way the characters look. There are tons of people out there who prefer this type of presentation to quasi-realistic wannabe appearance which they don't find to their liking. The game has tons of clothing and such, which is a natural draw for female gamers. As a matter of the fact, there are more female than male gamers for this game (FACT), and they have servers divided by age groups in korea. Kids would still do whatever they can to borrow someone else's KID and get into wherever they want, but at least the majority of the players are adults. Not that there is any exclusively adult-oriented content, the adult server (Harp) is by far most crowded.

Having not played (or interested) in EQ, I really can't comment anything in that light. I did mess around on the american servers while they were in beta, and I dont think you are eligible to write it off from what little you have seen. Everything has been changed considerably in the past few years - something you couldn't have possibly been able to see in that limited introductory piece.

Mabinogi is doing relatively well in japan for what it's worth (probably not as well as pangya, but still)

A game who's forte is lots of clothing and horrible quasi-japanese art is not appealing to me. The draw of Mabinogi doesn't seem to be to female gamers, but rather people who don't really like to play any other games besides boring dress up with some grind thrown in.

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Agreed - it's definitely not a western MMO: The focus isn't button mashing your way up to level 80-bazillion in search of the best gear so you can slaughter noobies with ease.

The combat system is an intriguing part of the game. It's neither a strength or a weakness - but it is refreshingly different from typical western MMO's "go into combat mode, mash skill buttons from time to time, pray that you mash out more DPS than the other guy".

At the same time, the skill system in Mabinogi is where it shines, and why I associate it with UO. In UO, the focus was hardly combat on an overall scale. Being western though, it heavily influenced the game (because of open PvP). But UO's forte was the non-combat skills, which is the same as Mabinogi. You can take your time and level your character completely off non-combat quests if you so desire.

Personally - I didn't play EQ... and everything it was described as back when it was popular sounded like a pure western MMO, which didn't appeal much at all to me.

You can't excuse the crappy factors of Mabinogi with the "oh, its for eastern audiences" line. I'm asian and have played tons of eastern MMOs, all of which were better than Mabinogi and didn't have crappy leveling/skill/combat/gameplay in attempts to be "eastern".

The fact that you categorize western MMOs are "button mashing your way up to level 80-bazillion in search of blah blah blah" says a lot. Isn't it eastern MMOs, not western, that focus on grinding, button mashing, and extreme leveling? Most western MMOs start out with a low level cap. Isn't it eastern MMOs, not western, who are more gear focused than skill?

It's fine that you guys like the game; to each his own. I just don't want some poor old chap to get their hopes up while reading this thread only to find that playing dress up with a bunch of people who wish they were japanese isn't at you guys made it up to be 😛

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Dumac
You can't excuse the crappy factors of Mabinogi with the "oh, its for eastern audiences" line. I'm asian and have played tons of eastern MMOs, all of which were better than Mabinogi and didn't have crappy leveling/skill/combat/gameplay in attempts to be "eastern".

The fact that you categorize western MMOs are "button mashing your way up to level 80-bazillion in search of blah blah blah" says a lot. Isn't it eastern MMOs, not western, that focus on grinding, button mashing, and extreme leveling? Most western MMOs start out with a low level cap. Isn't it eastern MMOs, not western, who are more gear focused than skill?

It's fine that you guys like the game; to each his own. I just don't want some poor old chap to get their hopes up while reading this thread only to find that playing dress up with a bunch of people who wish they were japanese isn't at you guys made it up to be 😛

So you didn't like Mabinogi - okay, we get that. 🙂

To go point for point though - yes, most eastern MMOs are pure grind. However most of the ones I've played aren't the type of automated "go into combat mode, mash your skill keys, and pray you end up the one that wins" that WoW and company are. Many of the eastern MMOs actually require more strategy other than "Do I have the best gear in order to out-DPS the other guy?"

Your comments go to show though - this game has much in common with UO which I alluded to. The focus ISN'T leveling or killing... it's about the other stuff, which is what I said in the first place.

 

[konakona]

A game who's forte is lots of clothing and horrible quasi-japanese art is not appealing to me. The draw of Mabinogi doesn't seem to be to female gamers, but rather people who don't really like to play any other games besides boring dress up with some grind thrown in.

Let me just ask you this, on which server have you played, when and for how long? Your painfully short and dry rebuttal shows how little time you must have spent with the game. Care to discuss concrete aspects of the game that you oh so despised for a change?

The developers never claimed the game to be anything remotely reminiscent of Japanese culture, other than the fact they have some Japanese specific items on Japanese servers (e.g. yukata, katana). On the contrary, the central theme of the game leans towards quasi-medieval, which is what makes it so hard to do any decent cosplay of anime characters if you ever wanted to. While the relatively anime-friendly looks are more inviting to otaku population in general,most of my daily encounters are people that have no interest in anime or Japanese culture altogether (party because many of them are female). They like it becuase they don't find quasi-realistic looks of the western MMOs like WoW appealing at all; this should be obvious to you with your plentiful experience in korean MMOs.

Half of my guild members are female, and same can be said about most of the guilds around - something I know from playing the game for sufficiently long (5years+). I am not trying to be judgemental about it, just saying that your claim of childish gamers is in total disagreement with my own observation. Again, I have no idea what constitutes the demographic on the American servers, having spent no more than a few hours there.

What's wrong with having lots of clothing? I have spent tons of time with Diablo II, and I remember how people resented there aren't more ways to change the way they or their clothing looked. Some ornates were rare and expensive just because they were decent and blue in color. Half of my FO3 mods relate to modifying the looks ore adding new clothing and such.

I never said the game is perfect, in fact there are so many things I wish they could have done better. Somehow they have managed to improve things here and there over time and add new contents to keep it enjoyable. You describe the game as a pure pile of turd, to which at least two of the people who played it can speak against.

What you said has some truth to it though, as I have observed most of the people playing this game have very little experience in other games if at all. At this point I think it would be fair to rest the case and agree to disagree 🙂

 

[ericgomes]

Nexon huh? The same makers from MapleStory? I didn't even have to click the hyperlink in order to know it'd be a childish game. Neat concept, I'm open minded.

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: ericgomes
Nexon huh? The same makers from MapleStory? I didn't even have to click the hyperlink in order to know it'd be a childish game. Neat concept, I'm open minded.

I don't want to rag on the game that I never touched either, but Maple Story does have a reputation for being very much younger audience oriented. For one, I think it is jokingly audacious of nexon to release Mabinogi in the US. Other than those few minority that actually like eastern MMOs, most simply wouldn't "get it". I wouldn't be a least bit surprised if most people found this game uninteresting.

Have you realized how many "childish" games are out there on PS2/PS3 that do extremely well in asian countries? Take MLB Power Pros, for instance, a game that my x-housemate just can't seemed to get enough of. IMO, that stems from the fundamental difference between the asians and the occidentals in what we perceive as childish in the first place.

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: konakona
I think it is jokingly audacious of nexon to release Mabinogi in the US. Other than those few minority that actually like eastern MMOs, most simply wouldn't "get it". I wouldn't be a least bit surprised if most people found this game uninteresting.

Have you realized how many "childish" games are out there on PS2/PS3 that do extremely well in asian countries? Take MLB Power Pros, for instance, a game that my x-housemate just can't seemed to get enough of. IMO, that stems from the fundamental difference between the asians and the occidentals in what we perceive as childish in the first place.

While I agree to disagree on the mechanics of the game, I wish you would keep bringing this up. I am Asian, and I find the game childish. So do my Asian friends. Please stop implying that all Asians have a hive mind that makes them like games like mabinogi. 😛

We'll agree to disagree about the game itself, but I don't think it is valid to excuse my misgivings by classifying it as somehow being inconceivable due to its Asian roots.

 

[ericgomes]

Personally, I find a lot of MMORPGs/RPGs boring. I hate leveling up, it's a constant grind. I used to love it back in the good ol' Diablo 2 days, but I just stick with FPS.