I really can't believe no one brought it up yet.
The early access pack was released yesterday:
http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-MMXLDDE/might-and-magic-x-legacy-digital-deluxe-edition-early-access
http://store.steampowered.com/app/238750/
I can.
1) It requires Uplay
2) It's only the first chapter of the game.
3) By Ubi's own admission it's riddled with bugs
4) It's $30
I was interested after Tpek's post. Then I read tgb's post about the uplay requirement and it's immediately blacklisted.
*sigh*
Quote from: tgb on August 20, 2013, 05:19:48 AM
2) It's only the first chapter of the game.
3) By Ubi's own admission it's riddled with bugs
4) It's $30
It's an early access.
Of course it is riddled with bugs and only part of the game.
They have simply adopted the way many games sell via Steam nowadays.
Quote from: Tpek on August 20, 2013, 06:14:07 AM
Quote from: tgb on August 20, 2013, 05:19:48 AM
2) It's only the first chapter of the game.
3) By Ubi's own admission it's riddled with bugs
4) It's $30
It's an early access.
Of course it is riddled with bugs and only part of the game.
They have simply adopted the way many games sell via Steam nowadays.
Less content and more bugs than a demo, AND it's $30? Please, sir, may I have another?
Look, I can understand a small indie developer self publishing and needing to keep cash flow going throwing something like this out there for $30. But Ubisoft? Gimmee a break.
Quote from: tgb on August 20, 2013, 06:32:56 AM
Quote from: Tpek on August 20, 2013, 06:14:07 AM
Quote from: tgb on August 20, 2013, 05:19:48 AM
2) It's only the first chapter of the game.
3) By Ubi's own admission it's riddled with bugs
4) It's $30
It's an early access.
Of course it is riddled with bugs and only part of the game.
They have simply adopted the way many games sell via Steam nowadays.
Less content and more bugs than a demo, AND it's $30? Please, sir, may I have another?
Look, I can understand a small indie developer self publishing and needing to keep cash flow going throwing something like this out there for $30. But Ubisoft? Gimmee a break.
Hey, it's not like they are the publishers of million-dollar selling franchises like Far Cry and Assassin's Creed... oh wait.... :P ;)
I was very interested in this, I have enjoyed this series over the years, but when I went onto the Steam forums for the game it seemed everyone was bemoaning the fact it required this Uplay DRM and most of the posters said that this alone prevented them from a purchase even though they really wanted to. I am not familiar with Uplay but considering the nature of their posts I too decided not to take the plunge. What makes Uplay so bad?
Quote from: Rayfer on August 20, 2013, 07:04:20 AM
What makes Uplay so bad?
Apart from being completely superfluous if you're already buying the game on Steam? Uplay games require constant internet connections even for single-player games. The implementation varies from game to game, but it's been as bad as immediately losing all progress if your connection drops for whatever reason, and being unable to play again until it's sorted. Remember, you don't even need to lose your net connection, you just need to lose connection to the Uplay servers. Obviously this is far from rare, and sometimes the servers are unavailable to everyone; two notable occurences being a DOS attack, and when Ubisoft switched around some hardware, leading to a lot of unavailability even though it was supposed to be very quick.
Oh, and they also lie about it.
From Dust was not supposed to require a constant connection, but did anyway.
This is why Uplay games are on my blacklist, however badly I want them (and my
god I want
Anno 2070 really badly).
Quote from: Huw the Poo on August 20, 2013, 07:48:49 AM
This is why Uplay games are on my blacklist, however badly I want them (and my god I want Anno 2070 really badly).
They dropped the ball when Settlers came out, I thought after that fiasco the idea was dropped until I found Anno 2070, I really loved 1701 and having rebuilt the PC again I was well over the requirements and was all fired up for a purchase till I read about the 'always online', real, real shame.
Darkspire
I'm not crazy about intrusive DRM, which is why I avoid buying games on Steam whenever I can get them elsewhere.
But as HUW says, Uplay has a number of problems that Steam doesn't. The constant connection requirement is one of them. That is exaggerated by the fact that Ubi has a solid reputation as a shoddy developer. Their games are often a buggy mess upon release, and their implementation of uPlay is often poorly thought out. (e.g., for Heroes of Might & Magic 6 you needed uPlay to get certain bonuses for your Hero, but those bonuses were choices you made that were specific to your log-in and significantly affected your style of play--so my wife and I couldn't both play a campaign game at the same time unless we wanted the same style of play)
At the end of the day, given Ubi's record of shoddy software releases and poor quality development, I just don't trust them to turn off the uPlay requirement before they'd go belly-up. There's no reason to think that they value the user experience that much.
For all those reasons, any game that features uPlay is on my blacklist. Which saddens me, because I do appreciate what some of those titles would offer otherwise.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on August 20, 2013, 07:48:49 AM
Quote from: Rayfer on August 20, 2013, 07:04:20 AM
What makes Uplay so bad?
Apart from being completely superfluous if you're already buying the game on Steam?
This is confusing to me (please forgive my ignorance on these issues)....some of the Steam forum posters are saying that you get the worse of Uplay even though you are buying/playing it on Steam. In other words, you get the worse of both worlds. In your above comment, are you saying this as well or something else because others on the Steam forums say that buyin and playing it on Steam negates the Uplay issues?
What I meant by that sentence was that if you're buying a game via Steam, that's already one layer of DRM. Uplay is yet another layer, which is totally unnecessary because you already have the first (Steam). It "merely" adds insult to injury that Uplay is a particularly onerous DRM.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on August 20, 2013, 01:12:57 PM
What I meant by that sentence was that if you're buying a game via Steam, that's already one layer of DRM. Uplay is yet another layer, which is totally unnecessary because you already have the first (Steam). It "merely" adds insult to injury that Uplay is a particularly onerous DRM.
Thanks for the clarification....I was hoping for something else because I enjoyed this series and was considering getting on board early. But I think I'll wait and see how it plays out.
Try Wizardy 8, maybe not up there with the GFX but they do the job and are quite functional, depth is equal to if not better than the current CRPG's doing the rounds and IMO one of the best CRPG I have ever played (and still do). one that has been slated but I quite like in a similar vein is Dungeon Lords, that is worth a look at as well. have not really found a M&M that was any good since VI, before that was the first one on the PC, which takes a lot of Dosbox fiddling to get to work, did have III on the Amiga, but never found it to be worth the effort on the PC.
Darkspire
Quote from: Darkspire on August 20, 2013, 02:05:20 PM
Try Wizardy 8, maybe not up there with the GFX but they do the job and are quite functional, depth is equal to if not better than the current CRPG's doing the rounds and IMO one of the best CRPG I have ever played (and still do). one that has been slated but I quite like in a similar vein is Dungeon Lords, that is worth a look at as well. have not really found a M&M that was any good since VI, before that was the first one on the PC, which takes a lot of Dosbox fiddling to get to work, did have III on the Amiga, but never found it to be worth the effort on the PC.
Darkspire
Agreed...already own and have played Wizardry 8, great rpg. Dungeon Lords I found tough to get into, got it recently in an enhanced or updated re-release but it was still not up to par with the great ones. Agree also that M&M VI is the best of the series with VII a close 2nd. VIII was, IMHO, awful. IX was playable but not great.
Dungeon Lords is nothing like this game.
It's real-time, not party based, has consistently spawning enemies (the reason I stopped playing it was cause I could not stand the spawning anymore), Diablo-like loot system,
and other differences.
Most of the Might & Magic games can be found at GOG.com. No DRM schemes and already set up in DosBox. Why deal with STEAM and Uplay when there is an easier way to game??? They run just fine on Win 7 on my rig.
I sooo want this game to turn out good.
I thought they had added an option to UPlay so you can turn off the 'always online' component. Although I think you still have to log in when you first start your game, which is still complete bullshit. >:(
You'd think Ubisoft would've pulled their head out of their asses, after the droves of complaints about UPlay requiring an internet connection to start. Fidiots. ::)
Most games on UPlay do not require a constant connection these days. Even the majority of the ones that originally did no longer do.
Quote from: Arctic Blast on August 21, 2013, 12:19:41 AM
Most games on UPlay do not require a constant connection these days. Even the majority of the ones that originally did no longer do.
Doesn't it still force you to log in, when you start it, despite having the constant connection option Off?
My only experience here is Silent Hunter 4, and I had only picked that up after they included the option to turn off the constant inter-nanny. But I recall that it would still flip out if it couldn't log in when you first started it. Perhaps it offers an option to start the program despite that, and I just didn't notice?
Quote from: Nefaro on August 21, 2013, 02:01:24 AM
Doesn't it still force you to log in, when you start it, despite having the constant connection option Off?
That's why I won't buy Kalypso games any more, because no matter where you buy them, you still have to use their launcher before you play the game, every time.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on August 21, 2013, 02:32:31 AM
Quote from: Nefaro on August 21, 2013, 02:01:24 AM
Doesn't it still force you to log in, when you start it, despite having the constant connection option Off?
That's why I won't buy Kalypso games any more, because no matter where you buy them, you still have to use their launcher before you play the game, every time.
I could swear I saw someone explain how to play without being forced to use your login back when I was playing Patrician 4. It may be as simple as running a different exe. It was something pretty simple IIRC.
Well, that's good if true, but I won't buy their games anyway because I don't want to send a message that I'm OK with their DRM. I've told them as much, too.
If anyone actually buys this and tries out the game, I would love to see a post from you about your experience with the drm and the game itself. I'm itching to take the plunge but all this Uplay talk has me worried.
Well, it seems I've just sort-a finished the early access version.
Hopefully the full game will be released soon enough. ;)
Quote from: Tpek on August 21, 2013, 12:48:03 PM
Well, it seems I've just sort-a finished the early access version.
Hopefully the full game will be released soon enough. ;)
I dunno.. I hope it
isn't released soon, because the store page says it's only approximately 20% finished! :o
In that case, I also hope you got at least 8 hours of gameplay from that twenty percent. ;)
Quote from: Nefaro on August 21, 2013, 03:59:37 PM
Quote from: Tpek on August 21, 2013, 12:48:03 PM
Well, it seems I've just sort-a finished the early access version.
Hopefully the full game will be released soon enough. ;)
I dunno.. I hope it isn't released soon, because the store page says it's only approximately 20% finished! :o
In that case, I also hope you got at least 8 hours of gameplay from that twenty percent. ;)
Can't speak much for M&M before VI...but from VI on they were mighty big/long games, but who knows about this new one, will have to wait and see.
Quote from: Rayfer on August 21, 2013, 04:25:39 PM
Can't speak much for M&M before VI...but from VI on they were mighty big/long games, but who knows about this new one, will have to wait and see.
The billboard graphics in those drove me nuts. I still think the older M&M 4-5 DOS games looked cleaner. Just so happens that this one looks to be emulating the gameplay from III, IV-V, being tile-based movement and such old school fun. Loved those. 8) I probably won't be able to resist, despite it being Ubisoft.
Quote from: Nefaro on August 21, 2013, 06:41:11 PM
Quote from: Rayfer on August 21, 2013, 04:25:39 PM
Can't speak much for M&M before VI...but from VI on they were mighty big/long games, but who knows about this new one, will have to wait and see.
The billboard graphics in those drove me nuts. I still think the older M&M 4-5 DOS games looked cleaner. Just so happens that this one looks to be emulating the gameplay from III, IV-V, being tile-based movement and such old school fun. Loved those. 8) I probably won't be able to resist, despite it being Ubisoft.
If I remember correctly, VI came with an option to move tile based or open movement. Funny how we all have our different likes and dislikes. I very much enjoy VI, VII and IX more than II, IV and V.
Quote from: Rayfer on August 21, 2013, 07:24:18 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on August 21, 2013, 06:41:11 PM
Quote from: Rayfer on August 21, 2013, 04:25:39 PM
Can't speak much for M&M before VI...but from VI on they were mighty big/long games, but who knows about this new one, will have to wait and see.
The billboard graphics in those drove me nuts. I still think the older M&M 4-5 DOS games looked cleaner. Just so happens that this one looks to be emulating the gameplay from III, IV-V, being tile-based movement and such old school fun. Loved those. 8) I probably won't be able to resist, despite it being Ubisoft.
If I remember correctly, VI came with an option to move tile based or open movement. Funny how we all have our different likes and dislikes. I very much enjoy VI, VII and IX more than II, IV and V.
Well.. the content in the later ones definitely trumps the earlier. Probably due to hardware and programming limitations of the time. I mean, those old DOS games didn't exactly support a huge range of item & loot types, for example, because of the technology during that period.
The leap to 3D games also ended up in the loss of some things that I thought were nice and didn't need to go. The turn- and tile-based RPG mechanics were a lot of fun but the 3D craze just sent it into the bin since everyone want to "walk" around and mouselook freely. I'm just a sucker for turn&tile-based games, admittedly. The truly turn-based RPG became relegated to obscurity for a long time. I'm glad some of these specific kinds are showing back up lately, even if none have been a home run yet.
I'm pretty sure M&M6 and higher had optional turn-based combat mode you could turn on, but the world wasn't a tile-based movement system with the associated always 'on' TB style. It was an open 3D world where you had to hit a hotkey to transition to turn-based mode (much like the Baldurs Gate, Fallout, NWN series, etc of later years except in first-person).
Quote from: Nefaro on August 21, 2013, 02:01:24 AM
Quote from: Arctic Blast on August 21, 2013, 12:19:41 AM
Most games on UPlay do not require a constant connection these days. Even the majority of the ones that originally did no longer do.
Doesn't it still force you to log in, when you start it, despite having the constant connection option Off?
My only experience here is Silent Hunter 4, and I had only picked that up after they included the option to turn off the constant inter-nanny. But I recall that it would still flip out if it couldn't log in when you first started it. Perhaps it offers an option to start the program despite that, and I just didn't notice?
Constant connection meant connection the entire time you were running the game. If there was the slightest hiccup, you were booted.
Some games require you to run them through UPlay, some don't care at all.