Defiance: new blend of MMO

I believe it was stated by one of the devs in an interview not long before the game came out that the interaction between "the game" and the scripted show was going to be very light in Season 1.

They have all the story scripted and setup. Beyond a few nods to existing locations and a few characters from the game, there will not be many show changing factors within the game itself.

They allude to if the show continues beyond Season 1 they hope to have in place some larger arching storylines they want to put in the game that will be ifluenced by the show.

So I've been reading up on this a little bit. I'm really interested in trying this out, but I'm not sure that I'll like it. Ranalin knows my gaming style pretty well. I like shooters, and I like RPGs, but I don't like PvP all that much. Would I like this game?

On a side note: is the game open-world where every player in an area is visible to everyone else in the area? Or is it single-player instanced until you get into a multiplayer area? For example, if I want to run around town and collect quests, do I do that while other people are running around collecting quests? I've been reading descriptions of the combat and quests, and it sounds like there are multiplayer zones.

From what I gather it is like City of Heroes. Where there is a big open world main area with lots of other players that is also instanced. And then there are instanced multiplayer content on top of the main hub(s?)

While pvp is a part of the game it's not a focus. The way it's structured is more like a single player game that you play among a bunch of other people.

There's instanced coop missions and some of them are fun.

One of the downsides of this game is how hard they make teaming up with and playing with friends.

Overall it's a fun game and definitely worth getting if you're slightly curious about it. Nami i think you'll like it and enjoy it.

One cool thing with it being wide open like it is it's real easy and fun to play with lower EGO players.

ranalin wrote:

While pvp is a part of the game it's not a focus. The way it's structured is more like a single player game that you play among a bunch of other people.

There's instanced coop missions and some of them are fun.

One of the downsides of this game is how hard they make teaming up with and playing with friends.

Overall it's a fun game and definitely worth getting if you're slightly curious about it. Nami i think you'll like it and enjoy it.

One cool thing with it being wide open like it is it's real easy and fun to play with lower EGO players.

Yep. You have to think it's a shooter first and an MMO second. A 5000 ego vs a 100 ego doesn't translate to a level 75 Warrior vs a lvl 2 Warrior in an MMO. Even the gear scales ever so slightly. A 5000 ego will have more perks and better gear (by virtue of playing more) but as little as the bonuses are it probably translates into a single digit percent advantage. This also means you can take on any enemy from the beginning of the game. I'm pretty sure you can even use any weapon, no matter what ego level that weapon is.

Question: Is there any player to player marketplace in this game?

Ego level is largely irrelevant aside from a few perks, inventory space and loadout screens. I've been running a lot of co-op missions lately and I've teamed up with guys around ego level 200 to 2,000 and, for the most part, the missions end with everyone being at least in the same neighborhood for kills and damage. In Shadow Wars I feel like an extremely high ego, talking 3k+ can matter just because with all the right bonuses you could end up doing 10%+ more damage in certain situations per shot and when that 10% is the difference between putting someone in the red from a headshot and putting them down, it's noticeable.

Kehama wrote:

Ego level is largely irrelevant aside from a few perks, inventory space and loadout screens.

Mostly true. The huge issue with EGO level is that you can't use a weapon with an EGO rating higher than your own. That stops you from being able to pass along drops to lower level friends. As your EGO level rises both your drops and the merchant's sale items rise to meet it so you never get to give or sell anything to lower level folks.

Finally got my first orange weapon from a lockbox last night! I had a grenade before but now I have an orange BMG too.

jigsawhc wrote:

Finally got my first orange weapon from a lockbox last night! I had a grenade before but now I have an orange BMG too.

I've had 2 lockboxes, no oranges or actually weps I like so far

Also, I'm now using an infector as my off wep and it is pretty cool. I wish different infector weps spawned different bugs though, that would be cool!

Thinking about getting this for xbox. Is the Goojer population very large at all? If not, I can wait till it drops down to $30 bucks with expanded content.

fogrob wrote:

Thinking about getting this for xbox. Is the Goojer population very large at all? If not, I can wait till it drops down to $30 bucks with expanded content.

Well, since it is also out on console the typical mmo chat features aren't done well so it is not easy to communicate. (read: almost impossible really)

It is pretty fun as a single player romp where groups happen like GW2 at spontaneous events and arkfalls. I like the mechanics and the setting. Plus no sub so that is nice also. If you want to play mainly to group with GWJers, I'd wait for a price drop though.

Most of the time I've been playing in Xbox Live Parties so I'm not sure how the chat is in game. Just have not used it really.
I've not had any trouble finding a group to play with whenever I'm on, but I probably have 10 or 12 people on my friends list who play it regularly. .

Guess I'll try to hang on as long as I can until it drops. Unless, of course, I'm walking by it when the impulse hits me.

Still have not found an orange weapon, maxed out the xp on my assault rifle so now I am using an inferior one. I have really been enjoying the coop maps lately though.

I've only found one orange and that was a so-so shield from a tier 3 box. Naturally it was the only thing that disappeared when I had that massive bug which wiped out about 1/3 of my achievement progress. Still enjoying the game and playing almost every night. I've now finished up the achievements for all of the co-op maps required to get the new outfits so now I just pop on, maybe run an arkfall or two, do a couple of PvP or shadow war matches and maybe run a few co-op maps while I work on the combat achievements.

Gave up on waiting for the price drop and picked it up for xbox. Send me a request if that's your device of choice. Character name "Chip Chipperson".

...Annnnnd the servers are down. Edit: Back up!

fogrob wrote:

Gave up on waiting for the price drop and picked it up for xbox. Send me a request if that's your device of choice. Character name "Chip Chipperson".

...Annnnnd the servers are down. Edit: Back up!

Also on XBL and interested in GWJ folks who want to do the co-op missions.

XBL gamertag : timojhen

Typically on after 9pm on weeknights.....

I added you to my friends list. I've found the game to be pretty fun when grouping.

I'm playing fairly regularly on Xbox. Which for me is a couple nights a week and then on the weekends as time allows.

I'm actually getting a little better at PvP though I still hate the cloaked shotgunners. Admittedly, most of my Shadow War kills come from running people over with my ATV but on the 6 v 6 maps I feel like I'm definitely improving. As long as I get more kills than deaths, I'm happy. After finishing up the main storyline the game has become a daily stress reliever for me where I just hop in for an hour or two, run a few matches or co-op maps and then log out, slowly chipping away at the combat achievements. Still enjoying my time with the game.

Kehama wrote:

I'm actually getting a little better at PvP though I still hate the cloaked shotgunners. Admittedly, most of my Shadow War kills come from running people over with my ATV but on the 6 v 6 maps I feel like I'm definitely improving. As long as I get more kills than deaths, I'm happy. After finishing up the main storyline the game has become a daily stress reliever for me where I just hop in for an hour or two, run a few matches or co-op maps and then log out, slowly chipping away at the combat achievements. Still enjoying my time with the game.

I jumped into this some over the weekend after a break while playing Darkfall and its nice to see my 500 ego pump shotgun is still solid in pvp. I snipe until someone closes on me and then bring the pain with that. I'm this | | close to getting my assasin tag too on the PVE side of things.

I tried the stealth/shotgun approach in PvP but I loathe... LOATHE sawed-off shotguns because of the massive reload time. I actually did fairly well with the combat shotgun that shoots grenade rounds though, for the time being, I've found my greatest success with a LMG and a bolt-action sniper rifle. That 400 damage LMG is just a beast and I like the tighter reticle over the shotgun spread because it gives me more effectiveness at mid-range. It also tears up those armored trucks that seem to be the bane of my existence. I swear half my deaths in shadow war has come from either being run over by or gunned down by that stinking truck.

Kehama wrote:

I tried the stealth/shotgun approach in PvP but I loathe... LOATHE sawed-off shotguns because of the massive reload time. I actually did fairly well with the combat shotgun that shoots grenade rounds though, for the time being, I've found my greatest success with a LMG and a bolt-action sniper rifle. That 400 damage LMG is just a beast and I like the tighter reticle over the shotgun spread because it gives me more effectiveness at mid-range. It also tears up those armored trucks that seem to be the bane of my existence. I swear half my deaths in shadow war has come from either being run over by or gunned down by that stinking truck.

Ive been lucky with my shotgun it's a pump shotgun and super quick fire rate with a decent magazine and more importantly it has a tight reticule unlike most pump shotguns who are wide reticules for multiple targets. Because of that it takes just 2-3 trigger pulls to drop someone at short to mid range.

Everyone but jigsawhc is on something other than Xbox right? I got lucky and found an old guy clan to play with. Been playing almost non-stop since.

quickly losing interest in the show. its pretty trite and unoriginal.

Stephanie Leonidas is about the only thing I like about the show. (The lawkeeper's adopted daughter) And she wasn't in last nights show at all. (why?) The Datak Tarr guy is reasonably believable as is the miner's son. Or at least I see them have some investment in the created universe that I don't see in anyone else.

All the others are pretty terrible actors. Including, unfortunately, Julie Benz who seems to prioritize her breasts over her acting in this show. It is so blatant, it is almost as if she has been directed to do so which is a shame.

There is promise there but the show needs to mature a lot.

I sort of dropped out about halfway through the second episode. I've been dvr'ing subsequent episodes but unless something drastically changes about the formula I doubt I'll ever watch them. The show has so many individual components that I would find interesting, but the way it puts those components together couldn't be more uninteresting.

fogrob wrote:

Everyone but jigsawhc is on something other than Xbox right? I got lucky and found an old guy clan to play with. Been playing almost non-stop since.

I'm also on the 'box, though I'm in the middle of some other games right now and may not return for another week or so.

Honestly I've always prioritized Julie Benz's breasts over her acting anyways. Ironic since she's starring against Dexter's other ex: Ms. "Pardon My Tits".

Well I'm playing this on the PS3. It looks like none of my friends are playing it, so if anyone is playing on the PS3, feel free to send me a request.

I may be a little LTTP, but this spreadsheet helped me unlock all the online bonuses.

I've only played a few hours, but its been kinda tough so far. It's probably because I got the feat that gives extra damage, so my defense is not very good. Still, it's been a fun diversion.

Aristophan wrote:

Well I'm playing this on the PS3. It looks like none of my friends are playing it, so if anyone is playing on the PS3, feel free to send me a request.

I may be a little LTTP, but this spreadsheet helped me unlock all the online bonuses.

I've only played a few hours, but its been kinda tough so far. It's probably because I got the feat that gives extra damage, so my defense is not very good. Still, it's been a fun diversion.

Thanks for that list! It was very helpful. If you're looking for people to play with, you might check out the Gunslingers. It's a bunch of older guys and they have chapters for xbox, ps3, and pc. I've joined them on the xbox side. They seem cool and pretty active.