Yea, it is set up as a very subscription mindset. You have skill rankings which restrict what equipment and ships you can use. So there is no way to use the good stuff until you level up your guy for a month or two and since it is a PVP friendly game you are going to get raped hard until you can level up.

It definitely has some progression built in. I am not sure how bad you will get smoked at the start, depends on how you play maybe. First time i really got some time in, I was mining and trading and only got killed once.

The other night though, I got killed right outside a base, and could see the guy was sitting outside it camping for me. I actually called for assistance (there is an anti-pirate guild called the vipers that assist traders), and a guy showed up in about 5 minutes and killed my stalker so I could safely sneak away. It was actually kind of cool.

Anyway, I won't be playing again till laer this week, I am away on a conference until thursday, so I will write up some more impressions then.


Cheers!

Hey,

As a long time player I just wanted to mention that your skill level or number of "experience points" accrued is much less important in this game than in your traditional MMO. The great thing about it is that it all really boils down to you, the player. A player with a lot of natural talent or who is simply skilled can easily defeat an opponent who is using superior equipment. Vendetta Online has got to be one of the best gaming experiences ever. I guess the fact that I've been playing for coming up on 9 years is telling of my viewpoint. It is relatively un-marketed, so definitely spread the word if you enjoy the free trial and end up subscribing. I upgraded to an Xperia Play smartphone just so I could take this game with me on the go. I will log in from time to time when I am in a waiting room or have a while to kill and want to do a few trading runs; it helps to keep those credits in the bank for when I get home to my laptop / gamepad for some serious PvP.

You can also design missions and contribute to the game's evolving storyline if you join the Player Contribution Corps. So far, I've submitted over 70 missions that have made it into production, and am currently working on my largest mission design project ever. Trust me, you will not want to miss this game. It was on the drawing board before the term 'MMORPG' even came into use, and I get the feeling it will be around for a long time after the term goes out of style. The 8 hour trial is free, no cc required, and you can spread your trial hours across as many sessions and as much time as you wish. If you give it a try, I think you will end up subscribing, but that's just me.

Actually, cool timing on an experienced player popping in for some comments.

I was wanting a general consensus in the poll before then and we got that.

Interesting to me that so few people have heard of it. I will post details of the poll over at the Vendetta forums.

One thing I can say, I am not feeling like I need to 'grind' at all in order to enjoy the game. Agreed, I can't access all the weaponry, but I am finding that I don't need to right now. Just having fun running some of the missions and learning combat.

Cheers!

mojoflow.

Cheers mojoflow,

Glad to see you active on the Vendetta boards as well.

For the more visually-oriented people, here's a vid I put together of an event that was held in honor of VO's 10th anniversary:



A Trident-class capital ship was on a humanitarian mission to the planet Ka-Tek, when after some engine trouble it was beset with pirates who managed to disable the ship's motor drives. As many refugees as possible were offloaded the Trident before it exploded, either to be rescued or taken hostage.

For those interested in trying it out, and want some help to get going, this is a really good series of 'tutorial' videos that have good pointers as well as some good missions to take for some quick xp.



Cheers!