Motor City Online???

Anyone know the basis for this online game, how it works etc?

I beta tested this for a while (untill the a patch got me out) So my opinion is from a month before the gold version. The game itself is reminecent of the NFS series, there is a lot of car models, quite a few interesting tracks, cars behave OK. On the Darker side, there was a lot of lag so waiting for about everything was a nuisance, car were jumping all over the place in multiplayer but that could be fixed now. What annoyed me the most was the economy, you had to rely on a badly designed auction system to get better parts, although the beta tester community complained a lot about it I nerver saw improvement on that front. Then again as I say I was kicked out of it 6 weeks ago so that it could have changed in the mean time. The community was fun and the developpers did their best to give feedback so I really hope they did put their act together and fixed things 'cause I think the game has potential as long as they (EA) don't ask to much for the monthly fee... (More than 5$ wouldn't be reasonable) "GoBucks10" <[email hidden]> a �crit dans le message news: [email hidden]... > Anyone know the basis for this online game, how it works etc? -----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =----- http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! -----== Over 80,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----

Think Street Rod 2 (buy old cars and fix them up) wrapped up in the NFS:HS game engine and knit together with chat rooms and a combination salary/time trial/auction economy. You can get a check, earn money through racing or try to outbid folks for needed parts. If MCO were released as an offline game, it would look tired thanks to the chunky graphics and just adequate physics. It is not the next step after NFS:PU. Asking folks to pay to play this thing month after month is pretty nervy. On 20 Oct 2001 20:31:24 GMT, [email hidden] (GoBucks10) wrote: >Anyone know the basis for this online game, how it works etc? Remove "hi" from address or it will bounce....

Beta tested it, definitely targeted for those who like early 90's driving games, yes games. It will be money well wasted by EA sports. "GoBucks10" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Anyone know the basis for this online game, how it works etc?

$39.95 initial purchase price, $9.99 a month for on-line account fees. Basically it's and arcady-sim. Muscle car genre where you can buy and upgrade parts. There are drag races, ovals, and road/street courses. Gain points to advance levels (and salary) as well as cash to buy better parts/cars. There is a demo out and working (free) until the start selling. Try it out. It's not that bad. "GoBucks10" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Anyone know the basis for this online game, how it works etc?

It's not that bad when it's free. :) And, for the folks who have been looking for this sort of experience, it's the only thing out there. Still, the costs do seem a bit high for what is delivered. On Sat, 20 Oct 2001 21:18:27 -0400, "Michael Basden" <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>$39.95 initial purchase price, $9.99 a month for on-line account fees. > >Basically it's and arcady-sim. Muscle car genre where you can buy and >upgrade parts. There are drag races, ovals, and road/street courses. Gain >points to advance levels (and salary) as well as cash to buy better >parts/cars. There is a demo out and working (free) until the start selling. >Try it out. It's not that bad. > > >"GoBucks10" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >news:[email hidden]... >> Anyone know the basis for this online game, how it works etc? > >

Remove "hi" from address or it will bounce....

They are nuts! -Larry "Michael Basden" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:0opA7.18922$[email hidden]... > $39.95 initial purchase price, $9.99 a month for on-line account fees. > > Basically it's and arcady-sim. Muscle car genre where you can buy and > upgrade parts. There are drag races, ovals, and road/street courses.Gain > points to advance levels (and salary) as well as cash to buy better > parts/cars. There is a demo out and working (free) until the startselling.

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> Try it out. It's not that bad. > > > "GoBucks10" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > Anyone know the basis for this online game, how it works etc? > >

I too have been beta testing this software once it went into open beta, and I agree that it is not a cutting edge sim, but the draw will the "character" advancement, and the car expansion. Currently the economy model is pooched, seems some people know how to create money in the game. This produces people bidding $200,000 on headers. Or one person bidding on ALL of a certain part, since they don't have to earn money, it means nothing to them. People who are trying to play the game properly get shut out of auctions fairly quick. I feel this is the make or break problem for me, if they don't staunch the flow of illegal money I will not play the game for very long. Everything else, like lag and connection problems, those I could deal with as part of the growth process, but the flagrant cheating will drive me away. btgoss "Larry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:qorA7.22729$%[email hidden]...

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> They are nuts! > > -Larry > > "Michael Basden" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:0opA7.18922$[email hidden]... > > $39.95 initial purchase price, $9.99 a month for on-line account fees. > > > > Basically it's and arcady-sim. Muscle car genre where you can buy and > > upgrade parts. There are drag races, ovals, and road/street courses. > Gain > > points to advance levels (and salary) as well as cash to buy better > > parts/cars. There is a demo out and working (free) until the start > selling. > > Try it out. It's not that bad. > > > > > > "GoBucks10" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > > news:[email hidden]... > > > Anyone know the basis for this online game, how it works etc? > > > > > >

In article <0opA7.18922$[email hidden]>, "Michael Basden" <[email hidden]> writes: >$39.95 initial purchase price, $9.99 a month for on-line account fees. :( In other words: if it is a good game, I'll play it for 2 years at 280$ if it is a bad game, I'll waste 40$ I really dont like any of these options.. Calis

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> > In other words: > if it is a good game, I'll play it for 2 years at 280$ > if it is a bad game, I'll waste 40$ > > I really dont like any of these options.. > > Calis

I have been playing the open beta the last couple of weeks. I can see potential in the game, but it is not quite finished imo. Here are some negative issues that I see: - LAG. Frustrating beyond belief. All data is stored on the server and the server is just not fast enough. This alone is a show stopper for me. Every move in the game needs to go through the server. Most actions take 10 to 30 seconds of waiting. For example, repairing your car takes one delay and then a yes/no dialog, then another freaking delay. Frick, they should just repair the damn thing automatically when leaving a race. Duh. - Parts system is pooched. Catalog parts now are useless. Auction parts are now slightly better than useless. The rare good parts up for auction become incredibly expensive. - Cars are very difficult to get to handle well because of lack of suspension parts and a fundamental physics 'issue'. Every car I've setup for road racing, the front tires had to be downgraded to prevent massive oversteer. Adding weight seems to act as a downforce and actually improves cornering grip at that end of the car. As a result, the heavier front end of the car has way too much grip. This game is no N4. - Racing your own car against other players is a zero sum game(the total money put in is the total money taken out in prize money), plus you have to pay to repair the car after every race. NOT a way to make money in the long haul. Drag racing with your own car might be fun, but if you are interested in making money and points then forget it. Major design flaw here. - The best way to make money and points is through open time trials, where you take your car to a track and try to beat the set time. The problem here is balancing. The tracks are still not balanced, it quickly becomes apparent where to go to maximize cash and ponts. Why drive one course for 7 minutes to win $1400 when you can drive another for 2 minutes and win $750? Balance is needed. This should be finished since the game is about to be released. -Parts wear. Another balance issue. Parts wear out too fast. I finished building a nice 351 windsor engine just a few days ago and it is already almost worn out. One does grow weary of forever hunting down parts. To sum up my beefs ,there are basically 2 types of car to build in the game, a road car and a drag racing car. Each has different priorities in terms of engine and chassis components. But currently I don't see the point of doing a lot of drag racing since the cash rewards are worse than a zero sum game. So that leaves a road car to build. But with the current choice in chassis parts and tires, combined with the suspect physics, just try and make it predictable and controllable. Forget it. I do like the concept of Motor City Online but for now, they won't be getting my money. Roy Berube

Hi Roy - I agree with most of what you wrote, just a few additions: Lag when repairing your car or working on it gets worse the longer you play. Exiting the game & restarting makes it work normally again. This would seem to indicate a memory leak or some such. EA seems to be trying to increase the longevity of the game by deliberately holding back good car parts, slowly introducing them into auctions and the Catalog as the months go by. So why should I pay to play now, working to build up a car, when I know in several months something better is coming out? Weird. Adding new features in upcoming months would be one thing, deliberately crippling your options (& enjoyment of the game) is another. I've had the opposite experience with car setup. I use the same size tires all around (315s), and set the car balance to moderate understeer by using a stiff front end (both springs & anti-roll bar) with a relatively soft back end. This balance seems to help me get the power down earlier out of a turn without going into power oversteer as easily. I usually do my suspension tuning on TBird Alley. If it works on those tight turns, it'll work most other places. I would rate the physics as slightly better than NFS:PU, but only slightly. I find the lag & warping in player v.s. player racing is often annoying. I've never tried VROC or N4 online, so I don't know how those compare, but MCO can be frustrating. If all four players have a good connection (there are little indicator lights next to each name) then it can work out OK. But in more than half the races I ran, one or two would have a 'red' connection and would at best be jumping all over the track. At worst, they would be shown as far behind you over many laps, then suddenly finish ahead of you. And after one race, two guys were saying "Hey Klinn, next time you want to pass, go around me, not *through* me!" But in my view, both during the race and in the replay, I was always in front, never hit anyone. In their game & replay, I blindly drove right into them. Thank goodness the physics are more relaxed (compared to GPL or such) so it's easier to recover when getting clobbered. Bottom line for me: no, I won't be buying MCO initially ($40 US initially, $10 US per month after first 'free' month) but I will keep track of how it's doing. If it survives and improves over the next 4 or 5 months, (and no cheats appear) then I might consider it. ...Klinn "Roy Berube" <[email hidden]> wrote: (liberally snipped by me) > - LAG. Frustrating beyond belief. > - Parts system is pooched. Catalog parts now are useless. Auction partsare > now slightly better than useless. > - Cars are very difficult to get to handle well because of lack of > suspension parts and a fundamental physics 'issue'. Every car I've setupfor > road racing, the front tires had to be downgraded to prevent massive > oversteer. > I do like the concept of Motor City Online but for now, they won't be > getting my money. > > Roy Berube

In article <9r3cjr$fb9$[email hidden]>, [email hidden] (Herbert Pohlai) writes:

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>In article <0opA7.18922$[email hidden]>, > "Michael Basden" <[email hidden]> writes: >>$39.95 initial purchase price, $9.99 a month for on-line account fees. > >:( > >In other words: >if it is a good game, I'll play it for 2 years at 280$ >if it is a bad game, I'll waste 40$ > >I really dont like any of these options.. > > Calis

How much do Air Warrior and/or Everquest cost? There still seem to be enough people willing to pay-to-play. Maybe we'll be the only 2 who don't...<g> Eldred -- Dale Earnhardt, Sr. R.I.P. 1951-2001 Homepage - http://www.umich.edu/~epickett GPLRank - under construction... Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.