My Official GF Review

(Aaro Note~ : Is there anyone that doesn't know? It's been Pearz' new spam-topic for a few days. Just in case, GF is Grand Fantasia.)

So, my last post was more of a preliminary review of GF, and therefore this is the more in-depth version. I'm going to start with some MT info though. XD

The promo this week is, I think, amazing. When was the last time that, for 9kAP, you got not only one but actually three new spiffy items? I think it's one of the better promos that they have ever had.

The mass GM spawn events are pretty lulz. Those GMs got a new toy and so they go and spam it everywhere. Nonetheless, the free items for just participating = win. *thumbs up*

Now~ The GF review:

I reached lv31, thus getting to the class change (I changed to Ranger). I see no point in levelling further, since the CB wipe comes on Nov30 and going any further right now seems like a waste. I'll start with the pros of the game since... Well, you will see...

Pros:

Sprite system. A very interesting system requiring your sprites to make all your armour and weapons. These item are also superior to items you pick up, so it's good to have decent sprites. Very nifty system utilizing the sprites; I love it.

Dungeons. The game promotes teamplay. You pretty much have to team up to take down the in-game bosses. Having a balanced team is important. It's always nice to force teamwork between people. XD (Can't comment on the guild system, as I don't know it very well. Aaro Note~ : This means no one wanted Pearz in their guild?!)

Mounts. Who doesn't love riding a Chocobo? 'nuff said.

Quests. There are lots of quests for each area, with tons of maps and instanced dungeons. Each area has its own set of quests that are different and fun.

Reputation. I love this idea; it's probably my favourite. Having each player specialize in one city to gain reputation is a neat idea.

Pros/Cons:
(These are things that you may or may not like, depending on what kind of player you are.)

Levelling system. Very straightforward: point, click, press one button, and then go to next mob. The grind is much, much less interactive than MT, let's say, where you have to watch what's going on. Very zombifying grinding.

Con:

Repeatable Quests. There are some quests that can be repeated indefinitely. These end up flooding out a lot of money. This is bad cause it promotes botting and inflation of the economy. The auction house items will quickly be out of range for any player that plays the game for fun and doesn't spam the repeat quests.

Lack of customization. I said this in my last post, but this is a huge thing to me. When the only thing separating you and any other player of your class is your level and gear, I don't like it. It creates obvious ceilings, because you can only have max xx gear and yy skill by level zz, and then you can only do these quests. Artificial limits are not fun; it's better when you think that the sky is the limit. (...or, at least, it's such that you can't tell where the limit is.)

AP drain. The amount of modding, crafting and item slots is just asking for an AP drain. I mean, who wouldn't fork out to mod easier or not fail crafting like hell? (I've spent 4 hours failing one pair of boots last night. It was 47 fails in a row. (._.) It wasn't even high-level gear; just a pair of lv30 boots...)

PVP. Since all of your skills are set by your level and there are zero stats to customize, PVP would only become dull. Mainly, it will be a pure rock-paper-scissors PVP. You can't beat xx class because of the limits I just mentioned. The only way you're going to win is if you're gear greatly outmatches your opponent or if you have a huge credit card limit.

Bad for the computer. I mean, my laptop had no problem running it on the top setting, but this is bad for your computer (overworking one CPU). My laptop gets pretty hot, too.

ChatBox. Gawd, I hate it. Nothing else I can say.

Camera. I don't know how they expect rangers to kite with that camera that keeps snapping back...

Summary:

I value customization and PVP greatly and, as such, I don't like this game. I mean, I had fun grinding in this game, but I see it getting old fast. Very quickly it will become level xx = level xx repeatable and everyone will follow this one path in levelling by only grind the repeatable quests. Grindfest on a zombie-like battle system = fun? It's very unlikely that I will pick this game up when OB comes out. If I wanted a game where we' re all clones, then I might as well play the Aion private server. At least I know that that has a huge emphasis on PVP at the end of the road. From personal experience in DOMO, this will end up as a "social MMO", with players like me (an elitist PVP) being shunned. When you hit the cap, you're supposed to sit around and just chat, showing off your armor. And PVP? Out of question; that is BLASPHEMY in a social MMO. /anklez

I think people are just attracted to the glow of something new and fancy. When that glow fades, will you still like it?

tl; dr : The game has its good points, but it's not my cup of tea.

~Pearz