A few questions about the game

[CeleryGoblin]

Hi, I was searching for new MMORPGs and came across Neocron, and had a few questions.

Does there seem to be alot of troublemakers in the game? After playing Everquest and EQOA for so long, I'm not sure I can take more Trainers or Kill stealers. :lol:

Is the game active?

Is the game group oriented, solo oriented, or does it depends on what profession you choose?

Is there a good endgame?

I'm still not quite clear on if it is a turn based game, or real time combat. Do, for example, click on the enemy and just let your character attack, or do you click each time you want to attack?

I'm going to try the trial, but I'm not sure my computer can handle it, and I'm not getting one that can for a couple months.



Thanks. :D

[Napalm82]

Lemme see now.

1: Troublemakers.

There are some trouble makers in the game, altho they are easy to get rid off / get killed and the like, so I dont feel thats a big thing.

2: Active

The game is semi-active, by that i mean even tho the playerbase is a bit small at times theres always people to run into.

3: Teamplay?

You can do most things solo, but a team has its benefits like more xp per mob, more fun, the ability to do the harder kinda mobs than you would solo and all that, but if your a loner you can do just as fine.

4: Endgame

Some NeoCron players will say its ALL about the endgame, with the great PvP and all that jazz, I however feel that NC is pretty good at anytime in the game (Low level, mid and endgame)

5; FPS?

Imagine "Deus Ex" meets "Morrowind", that would be my best way to put it, its realtime first-person-shooter with some proper roleplaying elements.

- Nap

[naphead]

I'm still not quite clear on if it is a turn based game, or real time combat. Do, for example, click on the enemy and just let your character attack, or do you click each time you want to attack?

I'm going to try the trial, but I'm not sure my computer can handle it, and I'm not getting one that can for a couple months.
Thanks. :D

Hello CeleryGoblin,
NC2 is very much a real time combat game. I would strongly suggest giving the trial version a shot. You have nothing to loose! :cool:

[CeleryGoblin]

Very cool, thanks for all the info. :D

I'm reading through all the guides, and see PvP mentioned alot.

Is PvP a required part of the game to level up, or get better equipment?

Also, is the entire game PvP enabled, or do you have to press a button or a / command before you can attack/be attacked?

And as far as factions go, can you switch factions, or complete several faction's epic quests?

The more I read the cooler everything sounds. :D

[Sylow]

PvP is not required at all. There is a "switch" between PvP enabled and disabled, this is made by a cyberimplant called "Law Enforcer" (commonly refered to as LE). As long as you have it implanted, you can not attack other players and also can't be attacked by them. There are a few (minor) additional drawbacks when keeping it installed, the biggest ones probably are that it blocks one implant slot and that healers have a hard time on you when you still have an LE and they don't.

If you remove the LE you can't install it again when you go over a certain level. Due to this, almost all high level players are PvP enabled and you'll probably also be so at some time. (Some clans also require you to remove the LE to join them.)

Since the two cities are at war, you'll occasionally find yourself in the line of fire and under attack but at least according to my limited experience (i admit, i am not playing for too long yet) getting killed by a hostile player is not a too frequent occurance. (If your city is under attack by a hostile clan, you'll soon hear about it on your alliance channel. The area under attack can be avoided and you are all fine. Many of the "leveling areas" have severe punishment for playerkilling installed so people won't attack you just because you're "from the other side" there, either... if you offended them badly, they might decide to ignore the punishment, though.)

Things might and will look different if you decide to go to a warfaring clan and participate in battles for outposts, but they are in no way required to play the game. (So, no must-do-PvP like on other games, where high PvP-ranks might be the only way to get special equipment.)

[Foo]

there is a implent in your head slot when you start a char called the law enforcer chip. While this imp is in you cannot be attacked or attack another runner, so you can pve to your hearts content. But the min you pop out that implant you are open to attack from any other non le'd player . The LE chip has a lvl requirment to , so u could pop it out your head the min you start playing , but if you go over the rank of /30 you cannot reimplant it so chose wisely if you wanna take it out.




Switching factions : yes you can switch factions you will need a minimum 50 faction sympathy with the faction you want to join and 350k credits , so you could faction hop do the epics you want etc.


the end game of NC is all about pvp.

[CeleryGoblin]

Thanks for answering all my questions. :)

Sounds like an Assassin PE is the most noob-friendly character to start and learn the game with, so I'm going with that.

Thanks for all the help! :D

[Napalm82]

Other noob friendly chars/professions can be:

Infiltrator Private Eye (Pistols)
Beserker Gen-Tank (Melee combat)
Soldier Gen-Tank (Heavy Weapons)

Why theese? Because Private Eyes and Gen-Tanks have high CON, meaning you'll pretty fast be able to use good armour which is important when you are new, because uite frankly you wont be able to quickly avoid the damage unless you have played a while or are on a constant flow of coffee/Cult :lol:

But give it a try, and even if you die all the time the only drawbacks to death is:
Sinaptic Impairment (Lowered stats for like 5 minutes)
Implant damage / dropout (When you die some random implants will pop out of you and take some damage, this cannot happen to the LE tho)
Belt drop (If you dont have your LE installed you will drop a belt with 1 of your 10 most valuable items in it, you do however have a safeslot for that uber weapon)

As i say to all the other new players, drop your name here on the forums or PM me your name and We/I will try to get you some good leveling stuff and some good advice.

- Nap

[IceStorm]

About the professions...

Professions don't count for anything but the Mr. Jones missions you get as a new player in Dome of York or Neocron (City Mercs faction has no Mr. Jones missions). The skill point distributions are not "required". You can free all your trainpoints at character creation and start from scratch with all your starter points unallocated.

About the Law Enforcer (LE)...

- You cannot join a clan with the LE installed, period. The game's mechanics will not allow it. While it's all well and good to say you're in one in name only, you'll have no access to clan apartment cabinets or clan funds.

- The LE prevents non-LE Passive Psi Spells from affecting you, period. It's not that it's "hard", it's that the game engine will block non-LEs from casting on you, other than possibly while in Neofrag. You'll get no PPU support from non-LE PPUs.

- The LE blocks the effects of certain Passive Psi spells. I believe it's the group heal. Even an LE'ed PPU's group heal won't work on LEs

- The LE prevents non-LEs from damaging any vehicle you're driving (not sure if this applies if you have non-LE passengers). This is a big help when you're out and about and someone decides they'd like to destroy your vehicle.

- With an LE in, you'll never drop a belt. You will never drop any of your inventory on death.

- With an LE, you lose one brain slot for expansion. It's not a huge issue, although for PEs it's a bit more difficult than the other classes due to the lower cap levels for each main skill category.

- After a skill rank of 30 or above (I'm pretty sure it's still 30), the LE cannot be re-implanted. Skill rank is equivalent to the sum of your main skill cateory levels divided by five. The LE does not pop out on its own, however.

- Even with the LE in, certain droner bugs will allow your drone to damage other players and result in Faction Sympathy and Soul Light loss if you're not careful. The bug's been there for years. KK has never managed to fix it, and KK's support policies typically prevent GMs from fixing FS/SL loss attributed to drones by the reporting player.

The only time I've ever removed retail NC characters' LEs is to do the BT epic before they changed the Epics, and both of those characters were deleted after I obtained the epic item I wanted. My main character on Terra was created the day NC1's Pluto server went live (November 12, 2002). His LE has never been removed.

[Bugs Gunny]

"Nothing to see here people, no trouble at all, move along pls...."

*Gunnar pulls out his hacktool and starts hacking the belt*

[Scaramanga]

You've chosen a good time to start playing.
There has been a takeover/merger recently and a couple of new members of staff. There are bugs in the game at present, these bugs and player balancing are being looked into currently and are due to be patched in NC evolution 2.2 sometime around May/June.

I have never played EQ so i coulodnt comment about any similarities.

If you decide to stay after the free trial i recommend making a character with an le, levelling doesnt take too long once you get talking to afew people in Plaza one or Tech haven centre (quite afew tradeskillers thereabouts).

You can practice your PvP and modify your setup to your liking using the Neofrag arenas. PvP is something that is more enjoyable at higher levels and it caters for all tastes. Grouping is mainly done at the Out Post wars. Solo PvP can be persued practically anywhere in game (especially if you opt for rifle or pistol spy).

Anyway, if things arent to your liking and you decide to go elsewhere make sure you come back for another look as soon as you see the adverts for Evo 2.2 pop up in internet land.