Perpetuum Online (MMO)

[Fallen Kell]

Since I don't see any threads about this other then a few posts in the EVE Online thread, I figured I might as well start one.

For those that have not heard about this, it is similar to EVE, but with robots/mechs instead of spaceships. So it is essentially another sandbox style MMO with skills earned based on how old the account is as opposed to grinding for exp (not that there isn't grind still in the game for other things like items/components/etc.).

It has been up since sometime in October/November 2010. The player base is somewhat small (I think daily averages are in the 600-700 range), but it has had a recent growth spurt.

 

[Red Storm]

How is traveling around (compared to EVE's stargates)? Is it like EVE in that you can almost entirely focus on trading/market if you wanted to?

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Is it robots and mechs in space? And by similar to EVE does that mean you don't directly control them, you issue commands?

 

[1ceHacka]

Is it robots and mechs in space? And by similar to EVE does that mean you don't directly control them, you issue commands?

You directly control the Mechs with the typical ASDF keys. Then you use the number keys for the guns and other abilities. So far its an interesting game, but no where near the graphics of Eve. Still seems a bit crude to me.

 

[HarvardAce]

Looks like it's 15-day trial but otherwise P2P, right? Can't view anything other than google caches because they are blocked here at work. Is the trial open enough to get a good feel for the gameplay?

 

[Fallen Kell]

Yes, it definitely is still a little crude graphics wise.

As for travelling, it is a combination of moving by ground and teleport gates. Not all gates are interconnected, so you will in some cases need to walk across an entire island to get to another gate, so it can take some real time to move from one island to another depending on where you are going.

Right now, there are PvP and non-PvP islands (equate islands with systems in EVE). You can flag yourself for PvP anywhere, but you can not force someone on a non-PvP island to fight under the current mechanics (so no high-sec ganking like in EVE). The PvP islands have access to more rich mineral fields as well as are the only place certain minerals can be mined. It is also where the higher level missions take place.

And yes, the trial will get you a somewhat good look. The main limitations are that you can not join a player owned/run corporation or trade items/cash with anyone while under a trial account (I believe you can buy and sell items on the market, just not create custom buy/sell orders).


The developers are actively adding things to the game. Currently there are plans to allow terraforming of new PvP islands that they will be adding. So for instance, if you corp goes out and wants to defend/control that island, they will be able to make changes to the terrain to give them an advantage (for instance, certain weapons are line of sight based, so maybe they flatten large portions of the island to remove a lot of the cover, or if they are mostly indirect fire based, they add lots of little hills, or create large impassible valleys...). They are planning on adding corporation owned structures, like gun turrets, and such as well on those islands. Both of those features are already in their development servers, and are slated to be out before the end of the year at the latest.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Eh, I looked at a video on youtube, and the graphics looked fine.

 

[Red Storm]

Sounds interesting. I will definitely give it a try at least. Is the economy in this game player run like EVE?

 

[Genx87]

Here is a review.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ3Xkh91BNQ

 

[Fallen Kell]

Sounds interesting. I will definitely give it a try at least. Is the economy in this game player run like EVE?

Yes, with a big but. That but is that it hasn't reached a critical point yet like in EVE in terms of items/bots, etc. Currently it is much more corporation based war even on the market (why sell bots on the market that a rival corp will use against you?). The industry is a lot different, and that in term is what causes the more in-corp-only market that exists (well that and the game allows for sell/buy orders to be corp only with drastically less tax rates).

The all but tech 1 level items need to be researched, and then a prototype built. With that prototype, you can then convert it into a "blueprint" (called a CT in the game), which will get some random quality ratings (based on your skills in research, reverse engineering, CT development, and the decoder level you used). Then as you make a manufacturing run, the CT may degrade in either time or material costs. At some point, it is no longer profitable to continue using that CT to make items, and you need to develop another CT. The high cost of prototyping (basically 10x the normal material costs) as well as the need research the item before hand (by researching drone kernels which are drops from NPC bots) before you can build the prototype are what has made the market into the current system.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Here is a review.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ3Xkh91BNQ

Pretty much what I would expect a WoW player to say, especially with the whole no level cap, don't know what to do, no way to catch up to the other guys, no way PvP will ever work comments. An EVE player would tell him to go cry some more, and would laugh at him as he did so.

 

[Kadarin]

Looked pretty interesting to me, but was unstable on my iMac (kept crashing often). If/when I do a Win7 gaming PC, I'll consider it again.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Yes, their mac/linux client needs some work. The windows client has been a lot more stable after the last few patches, but it will still crash about 1-in-20 times when you go through a teleporter or dock/undock from a station/outpost. The GM's are pretty good about replacing your bot if you died due to a crash.

As I have said, some parts of it are pretty raw still, but the patches have been coming fairly quick and the GM's and Developers are very willing to talk and chat with the customers (unlike another game that has been mentioned in this thread).


Also, as for character creations, think a bit about what you might want to do (I know this is hard the first time if you never played the game, but you will at least have some idea if you want to be a miner, a manufacturer, a trader, a hauler, or a combat bot). Once you have that idea in your head, create a character with that exact purpose, and that purpose only (well, there are really 3 main skill trees/attributes, combat, manufacturing/mining/logistics, trading/relations). Focus, focus, focus. Don't try and make your combat toon be a miner, as the wasted EP that you would spend on that could have let you make an entirely different character focused on mining and use those EP a lot more effeciently (since the EP cost of a skill is based on your underlying attributes in those 3 main areas, if your attributes high for combat, they will be low for industry, which means the EP cost for industry skills will be a lot higher on that toon). And since you can have 3 toons on one account, you might as well make a toon that is specialized directly for those skills and put the skills on that toon.

 

[Skott]

Doesn't look like something I'd be interested in.

 

[Arsinek]

The concept has great potential but when I saw their models for the mechs it was a major WTF.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I decided to jump into this as I used to play Eve. Since the game is rather new I won't be at such a skillpoint deficit compared to what i would have if I went back and reactivated my Eve accounts.

I'm still doing missions and grinding out some money, but I plan to make it out of the newbie areas and participate in some pvp in the next few weeks.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Yeah, I am still doing the same thing. I need to put another 2-3 weeks of skillpoints into guns and gun support skills in order to pilot a mech appropriately (may also need another week of engineering/electronics skills in order to properly fit it as well).

I will say that one thing I have found is that navigation 10 is pretty much an absolute requirement for PvP, no matter what sized bot you are using. Speed and scouts are what wins or loses an engagement (at least for roams... incursions on the other hand require a lot more hitting power at a fixed location).

 

[LurkerPrime]

I figure I have another month or 2 to get the skillpoints I need to be somewhat effective in PvP. I've just been grinding away from money. Do the mission rewards ever get worth it? The lvl 1 mission reward amounts are worthless.

 

[chihlidog]

I tried this one for a few days. Honestly, I liked the atmosphere at first, but it got terribly monotonous, and the fun factor just isnt there.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I will admit, the fun factor is with playing with corp mates, which unfortunately isn't something you can do on a trial, which makes it hard to see what there is to do. We have a blast going out to the beta islands and trying to blow things up. We go into that writing off the bot we are taking, because you play a lot better when you are not worried about losing it. Suicide tactics then take place, since there is massive splash damage when you get blown up, so when you start getting hit hard, you start running like a mad man right at the enemy and you maybe take a few with you when you go

 

[Arsinek]

I might give the trial a.... try. >.<

I get the feeling this game is unpolished. Is that true? I tried Black Prophecy and that game shouldnt even have been released yet. But they got screwed with financial problems and corporate nonsense from what I understand so its amazing the game didnt get totally canceled.