Went to IHOP this past weekend and got their steak omelet and wow, it was great! It was bigger then a burrito because it was stuffed with hash browns which was awesome. I can't stop thinking about how great it was. I'm already trying to get the woman to go back this weekend. Now, the service itself is never great and almost on the rude side sometimes. And the food could be a bit slow but it comes out hot and fresh so really can't complain there. As I tell people who go there, sometimes you get a show with your noms.

I saw that the NBA has online streaming service like the MLB does. Since I'm interested in the NBA now, I thought to check it out. For the season, they want $169 or to watch just five teams, its $109. That is some BS pricing right there. For a strike shorten season, the price is BS. For a sport that has games only 48 minutes long, the price is BS. You can also do it monthly at $30 which is still BS. Lets compare it to the other streaming sport, MLB. Right now, the price for the whole season is $120. They have yet to announce the monthly cost so we'll skip that. Anyway, so right off the MLB is cheaper by $49. Lets compare the value of the money. The MLB has 2430 regular season game with an average play time of roughly 2.5 to 3 hours. The NBA has 1230 regular season games and since they have timed quarters, generally they are 48 minutes long. So the MLB not only is cheaper, gives you 1200 more games, and longer games as well. Thou, I will leave that last point up in the air as some people prefer quicker games. Anyway, I'm very glad the NBA is offering a streaming service but the cost is simply way too high. I have been using the free preview of NBA League Pass and will so until it ends on the 8th. After that, I will just hope that there is a game on cable.

Speaking of MLB, I really don't plan on getting the full season like I have been doing the past few years. I tend to stop watching games in the Aug-Sept as I'm simply burnt out from watching from April-July. So, I do plan on getting the monthly sub for at least April and May and then see how I feel after that. Using the monthly prices from last year, its $25 a month for the high quality streams. That translate to roughly five months of content. So the season pass of $120 gomes from April to Sept. A total of six months. Six months at the monthly cost is $150. So you save $30 if you plan on watching the entire length of the season. Now, lets knock off Aug and Sept as I know my trend to drop off viewing by then. So thats down to $100 for the monthly. Right there I be saving myself $20. I know that during certain parts of the season, they lower the cost of the season pass but I can't recall if they also lower the monthly. That would be a nice bonus. Anyway, thats the plan this year. So, we'll check back on this topic in a couple months.

Quick notes: 1) Holiday season is over and woot for that. 2) The NFL playoffs start this weekend and I have a few teams that I like in it plus 'my' team as well. 3) Thinking of getting a portal basketball hoop in the spring. 4) My annual Xbox 360 vacation is going well. I've not touched it since early Dec and right now it could be sometime in Feb before I touch it again. Sure won't help my backlog.

10am this past Friday and I was on my PC. I was hovering over the icon for SWTOR. A quick double click, a small patch, and the play button lit up. It was time to play the weekend beta. This was to be my first time playing SWTOR but I kinda knew what to expect. Before the NDA was lifted, I was able to watch a vidoes as they was leaked. I knew the general style of gameplay and such.

The plan was to pick the class that will be my main and skip all the cutscenes. That will help to make the retail 'fresh'. I also did it that way as I don't want to get caught up in the story but rather just burn thru as much content as possible. I had the main goals of doing two flashpoints, do some ship missions, and check out the crafting.

Its very much apparent that the first flashpoint is meant for 2 players cause my friends and I went in as 4 players and destroyed it. It was fun and the rewards were nice. The second flashpoint was for 4 players and even thou we was a couple levels above the mobs, it was still a good tough fight. We had to be careful on our pulls and the boss fights were very fun. We were able to use two short cuts due to our craft skills so that was very nice. Its also nice that when we wiped on the last boss in the second flashpoint, when we ran back in, we loaded at the spot of the previous boss so it saved us a long run. Thats very nice.

I got my ship and I must say that is awesome to be given a ship. Nothing in WoW can match it. And if the devs allow you to customize the interior at one point, people will be going nuts for that. My first mission was the shuttle escort and I must say that I love the style of gameplay. It feels different and fresh. Its also just plain fun and the visuals are great. My reward was a ship upgrade which I had no idea that there was upgrades for them. I went and bought all the first level upgrades I could. I then did the space station mission and the Javaal one I think its called. Just fun and a nice challenge. I love that they give you the timer and mission objectives in the corner.

I picked armstech, salvage, and treasure hunting as my crew skils. The mission rewards were good enough to where I didn't need to really craft any weapons and such but I did enjoy the whole system. I found being able to send my companion off during group time was a very effective way to keep progressing. All in all, I was able to progress very well in my crew skills without having to do a grind. Its a very much improved system then WoW's.

In terms of visuals, I had everything on high and was getting an average of 60+ FPS and never went below 40. There was a couple visual bugs or such but nothing that impacted the game play. Audio was fine and the space combat used directional sound very well.

The ui was fine but I really want four bars at the bottom or even six. There is a lot of info in the character screen but I was able to get all the info I needed after a couple hours. Inventory is simple but I wish the colors for the items were more visible. I couldn't tell what was a grey with a quick glance.

So at level 14, you get a sprint skill that you toggle on or off. Any time you are out of combat, you will sprint for 35% speed. I was really amazed of the size of the maps beyond the starting planet. And I'm told that the later planets are even larger. So, I went to look at the mounts. The first mount you can get is at level 25. I was 19 when I finished 99-100% of the quests on the second planet so really I didn't feel that was a bad level to get it at. The mount itself cost 8000 credits which isn't much at all, I had nearly 15k at one point. However, the training is 40k. Yup, thats a lot. For a total of 48k credits, you get a 90% speed mount. The next level is 100% and that mount itself is 25k I think and then a 110% is 55k. I have no idea if you have to train and if so how much. Personally, I think the increase between the mounts isn't worth the credits.

I've been seeing reports that the build used for the weekend beta was 2-4 builds behind the current one. And that the build used for the weekend was very much improved even from the weekend test a couple weeks ago. So, I have real high hopes that the actual retail build will have better everything.

The server I was on never had any down time while I was on it. I did experience a couple moments of intense delay but it was only for five seconds or so. A person I was playing with was having visual issues on the ship but since he running an ATI card and quite frankly I think they suck with every new game, I don't think thats the game's fault.

All in all, I've very much liked what I seen and did this past weekend. I will be doing a couple things tonight just to check out some stuff but I'm really looking forward to the game now. This is really the MMO I've been looking for since WoW became a 1-6 month tour distraction.

I've been watching SWTOR beta gameplay videos and have gotten a really good idea bout the basic game play. I've seen well over a dozen videos of different classes in the 1-10 range. While it looks like the melee classes could be compared in a way to WoW, the range to me is totally different. The Trooper looks awesome and thats for sure going to be my main. The companions I've seen have ranged from tank, dps, to healer so I've seen them in every role and have no complaints. Sadly, only one or two videos have shown anything of the crafting. I think that its a great system they have going but I'd like to see more of it. Of the people who posted 1080p vids, I find the visuals to be good. I think its fine that they aren't awesome as I rather have a fluid experience with a dozen people on screen then a jagged screen shot with three people on screen.

Its nice that they are doing one final massive beta weekend most likely on Turkey. I expect to see massive ques but I hope to get a couple hours in. I did pre-order and registered my code so I'm hoping to get at least two days of early access. Pretty much if I can get access by noon on Sunday, the 18th, I'll be very happy. Guild is shaping up to have around 10 members at launch. I would say at least four will be very active. No clue on the rest.

I've been logging a lot of hours with the Xbox 360 these past few weeks. Not suprising with all the great games being released. I've finished MW3 and BF3 and I say they are both great games. Both had some great moments during the solo. I'm hoping we are done with the russians and terrorist in both games. Time to move on to a new, fresh, plot.

I also finished some letter known games like Tropico 4 and Air Conflict something. Both were fun in their own way. I'm currently swapping between Skyrim and Saints Row The Third. Both games have some game design choices that I think hurt the experience. Skyrim's inventory is horrible. In a RPG, I want a graphical thing showing my body and armor slots. The Saints issue is that you kill one gang banger and then cars will just start coming like mad with more and more and its nearly impossible to get away from them. Do I really have to do a car chase for 10 minutes to get rid of them? They need to make it show them calling for help and if you kill them before they complete the call, that should be the last of them. Right now it just sucks. Thankfully both games do a lot of stuff right and thats the reason why I'm still playing.

I plan on playing that new Halo update but beyond that, I'm not sure how much more steam I got left in the Xbox 360 tank. I'm ready to take a break and play SWTOR for a few weeks. Thou, I am looking forward to playing coop games with my brother during Turkey.

Ahh Turkey, my favorite holiday. Its always been at my parent's house but not this year. With my brother moving out even further from the midwest, my house is more in the middle location. So, to save him four hours of travel along with the dozen or such hours he already has to drive, one of my sister's family and my brother's family plus my parents will be coming to my house this year. My other sister is going to her in-laws due to a death in their family this year. So, even without her family, the house will be full. Now, I've done a large gathering before but it was for only a couple hours. I'm quite happy that I won't have to drive this year. Their kids should be old enough to not tap on the fish tanks but eh kids, I don't trust them.

So yeah, next couple weeks going to be very busy.

Played Driver: San Francisco this past weekend and it was done quite well. The visuals were good, the controls were great, the story was decent, and the gameplay was fun. I did half the dares, half of the movies, and I think half the activities. Being able to shift into cars was a great idea and I hope in the next game, they expand it to motorcycles, airplanes, helicopters, and even boats. The achievements were pretty decent but a couple of them was quite difficult to me and there was too many MP ones. The only real negative thing I have to say about the game was that the last boss fight with him throwing cars at you was pretty cheap at times.

I’m currently half way thru Tropico 4 and I really like it. I played dozens of hours in the last Tropico game and I can clearly see the improvements. Everything just seems to flow better and the missions are better structured now. I know a few have QQ that not enough had been change but what do you expect for a genre that is barely alive? You want the dev to spend millions to make a whole new game then watch them go out of business? Some people are clueless. Anyway, the story in the game is starting to get really interesting. The game should easily keep me busy till Skyrim.

I watched some SWTOR beta footage leaked out by users and I think the gameplay looks fun and interesting. I find myself however having doubts or maybe better described as buyer’s cold feet. Shoot, maybe just MMO $15 a month cold feet, ha. I have a group of co-workers in a guild already. There is about 6-10 of us with various play styles but even then, I still worry about getting my money’s worth. I know I’m being foolish and that I will love it but with 50 days left to go, I got plenty of time to doubt myself.

One thing I’m not doubting is Skyrim and Saints Row The Third. Skyrim has that total 100% free roam explore blah blah that I love and the new Saints Rows just look fun beyond fun to stupid fun. I’m hoping that in Skyrim to make a toon that uses magic for long range and 1h axe for close up. I’ll probably explore for hours and hours before starting the story and even then I will spend most of my time exploring. The only other game I remember coming out on a Friday was Gears of War 2.

I saw on IGN a review for the new Golden Eye remake and I was going to pass it by but for giggles, I checked it out. I must say I’m impressed by how much work they done on it. Sure, they could of done more for the AI but it looks to be a fun shooter and sometimes that’s all ya need. So, add another to the back log. I’ve been doing pretty good on keeping it below 50 but it’ll probably hit that mark by the end of November.

Quick hits:

I hate the cards and to have them win the World Series sure does fit with my current luck this year.

NBA sure makes me mad. To cancel games thur Nov, so far, is BS. If I could, I would make radical changes to the way pro sports are done in the USA.

The Colts should just quit right now or use the rest of the season to give rookies experience. Colts never did have a great Def but to see the entire team sink so low because just one person got hurt. That speaks loudly of a horrible front office with no planning.

Doing good in my fantasy football. Tied for first but sad to see that we might have a quitter already. I wish it had a system that if you didn’t log into your team at least once a week, your team does not play.

Last year, I played the heck out of MLB 2k10's my player mode. I did a pitcher and a RF. The pitcher I liked quite a bit but it felt so slow and that any improvements to my guy took forever. The RF was horrid as you would go a lot of at-bats with no hits. Well, unless you used a template and just hit HRs all the time. I didn't bother with my player this year nor really the game itself since it was pretty busted at release. Even with a couple patches I've still not found myself going back. Could be my decline of interest in baseball or just the simple fact that the game isn't worth my time. As I've said in previous blogs, I was real excited for NBA 2k12 and for basketball in general. Well, I've played nearly 40 games as a shooting guard and I can't get enough of it. I think the game can be harsh on some penalties and some of the crap it does like swapping who you are supposed to guard is bogus but overall, I just love it. I feel like my player improves at a steady pace and if there are any bad shots or such, its generally my fault. I like the my player mode so much, I've not played any other mode yet. But, I have been mixing it up with another game too so I don't get burnt out or rage quit.

First game I mixed it up with was Warhammer 40K: Space Marine. I should of played this a month ago but eh. I'm a huge fan of Warhammer and have been since the 80's. I've never been able to understand why we can't have any good FPS or RPG type game but at least we finally got a good 3rd person shooter. I think they overthought the health system in the attempt to make it 'different' but its just annoying really. Other then that, I love the game. I got goose bumps when the Chaos Terminator came out of the warp portal. I think the scale they used was much too small but that could of been a simple design limitation. Thought the story was fine and man I loved that heavy bolter. :D After finishing Space Marine, I did my player nearly all Sunday but I did start Rage that night. I knew the game play wasn't all that great and so far I've not been surprised. Sure the visuals are really nice but there are low-res items scattered thru out levels that I've seen so kinda takes away from the whole thing if ya ask me. I still say Just Cause 2 is the best visual game so far. Anyway, the game play so far in Rage is average and wow, the game might have rag doll effects but when a bullet hits an enemy, its just a puff of blood. It looks soooo bad, pretty sure Bodycount did it much better. Supplies cost too much money to buy which I find annoying. Think its $75 for a small gear? Horrible. After Rage, I'm looking at either the new Batman or Ace Combat. I would think it be refreshing to play an airplane game. Or, if Rage takes me long enough, I could hold out for Battlefield 3.

Finally, my friend was able to fix one of the Xbox 360s I sent him. The one I thought had a good chance of being fixed. He did a reflow and its back to running like a champ. He should be mailing that back to me tomorrow. The other 360 that was worked on by someone who didn't know what they was doing burnt up some chips and bent the mobo pretty bad so eh, its got almost no chance.

Short bits:

I hate the cards, I really do. And I hate the braves for letting them into the play offs. I hope the Rangers sweep them.

I hate how I like basketball now and the stupid league is on strike. And, there is a good chance it'll cost us a whole season.

Getting cold out which I love but I sure do hate the leafs that are on the ground.

Doing good in fantasy football, tied for second and just one game back. Thou, the person who is first has a really solid team.

Next year I will be skipping mlb.tv and getting a basketball hoop for the drive way. Had one growing up so I miss being able to shoot around.

Having my parents, one sister's family, and my brother's family come to my house for turkey this year. I'm thrilled that I don't have to drive but also scared of the costs and overall management of the thing.

For some reason, I find myself drawn to the Dark Souls forum. I think what I really want is a fantasy RPG but I will either wait for Skyrim or start a better game I already have.

This past Saturday, I mailed my friend two broken Xbox 360s.  He has had some luck in repairing them with his electrical background.  One of the 360s that I sent was bought for $20 plus all the stuff the guy had.  This was done three years.  The 360 did have a issue with the dvd drive not being very good at reading discs so once that install feature came out, it didn't have much trouble then.  I used it I think for eight months before it started to overheat.  So, I'm hoping its an easy fix.

The other 360 is even older and was given to me broken with some attempts at fixing it by the previous owner.  I don't have much faith in him fixing it but it was just taking up space in the house so why not try it.  If anything, he can use it to practice stuff on. 

So, he should be getting the box today so I hope to hear good things this week.  Was a $15 investment to get them shipped so I hope I get some type of return.

Switching topics to the DS.  When I had one, I think the game I played the most was FIFA.  It wasn't perfect but it just felt like a solid game.  I bring this up as I finally played FIFA 12 on the Xbox 360.  Everything is real good and tight.  The ai could use some work as sometimes they don't go after a ball that they should.  I love to do random matches and try out new ways of attack the goal.  I've had some amazing goals that I don't think Madden could ever recreate the feeling.  If I had to pick one EA Sports game, it would be FIFA every time. 

Speaking of sports games, this is the first time I've ever been excited about a basketball game since the mid 90's.  Heck, I even excited about what was supposed to be the NBA season but eh, thats what I get for caring about a sport.  Anyway, I almost broke down and got last year's game but I held on and can't wait to dribble some balls.  Thou, going to be hard to find time to do a lot of playing as the flood gates for holiday releases have started. 

First Monday of the month so I updated my want list.  Both this month and Nov has about the same number of releases.  There are a few odd ball games that I will have to wait to see how they turn out.  I've broken down the games as I got the time.... 

OCT:
Dark Souls - Real iffy about this one still.  Might be a game to get later on.
Rage - So far I've heard mix things about the gameplay.  Some say its fun, others that its nothing special.  Only thing people agree on is that the visuals are top notch.
NBA 2k12 - Already talked about.
JASF: Janes Advanced Strike Fighter - I recall the glory days of PC when Janes had awesome flight sim games.  I've heard nothing so I going by name only.
Forza 4 - Release day player for sure.
Ace Combat: Assault Horizon - Should be fun.
Batman: Arkham City - I thought the first Batman was way overrated and I said that it needed to be 100% free roam to be a true Batman game.  Looks like I got my wish as the one game play video I seen was awesome.
Tropico 4 - I had fun with the 3rd but I hope they make it easier to learn the game and provide more help.
Battlefield 3 - Has a solo part so eh, I'll give it a go. 

NOV:
LOTR: War in the North - Eh, why not?
COD: MW3 - I'm sure it'll be just as scripted, short, obvious, and mostly avg as the last one but ya got to play it so you can complain properly.
Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - I hope the combat is improved.
Halo: Combat Evolved Ann. - I did play the first one back on the PC and actually did quite a bit of MP.
Assassins Creed Revelations - I really hope they done some new stuff for this one as the last one was exactly like the one before it.
Saints Row 3 - I liked the second one well enough and this new one is looking to be great.
Need for Speed: The Run - Going off of name only at this point.
WWE 12 - I played an old WWE game but it was actually fun so for the first time since I owned a 360, I'm excited for a WWE game. 

So a lot of games to add to an already big backlog.  I have been able to make a dent in that and bring it down to 40 while adding more games.  Taking a quick look at the backlog, a lot of RPG and JRPG.  Time busters for sure.

Looks like I maxed out my 360 playing when I was racing towards 125k.  I started one new game this past weekend but it was a dud so taking a week off or so.  That means putting my focus on the PC. 

Generally this means playing the type of games you can't find on the 360.  Thats pretty tough really.  Anyway, it seems that the Sept beta weekends that I was hoping to get into for Star Wars The Old Republic have been put on hold because they are wanting to release a new build first.  So the chances of getting into that any time soon is bleak. 
I recently have started reading Warhammer and Warhammer 40k novels after a four year break so that got my interest going for the Warhammer Online MMO.  I know its fantasy and yadda yadda but they got a free trial so I'm going to give that a shot tonight.  I know its mainly a pvp type game in one way or another but this trial will allow me unlimited time to mess around.  I highly doubt I actually buy the game but I just need something to do this week. 

In other news, watched Thor which was ok but not great.  Portman was the best thing about that movie and honestly, Thor's hammer didn't give me that impression that it was an awesome thing of power. 

I also watched Fast Five which had pretty much zero cars, a generic cop vs robbers theme, and a lot of cheesy moments.  And please, the 'gun' chick, who never fires a gun at all, does not have a great body at all.  Now, the rookie cop chick had a fantasic body and was better looking too. 

Got Xmen First Class, Source Code, Hall Pass, and a doc for next weekend.  I sure hope they are better then the last two movies.

Took nearly 13 months but I finally reached my next gamerscore goal.  Last night I hit 125k.  Its always nice to reach goals and getting 25,000 gamerscore alone is a nice goal to reach.  As always, my next goal is to reach 150k.  Overall, I would love to hit 200k before I retire the Xbox 360.  I think its possible to hit it in three years time and there is already plenty of games to do it.  But, I rather do it playing games I want to and take my time. 

Keeping with the same theme, I reported in another blog that I felt myself sliding towards the achievement hound style and that has continued to happened.  I'm back to looking at unreleased games achievements to see how good they are.  I looked at Gears of War 3 and they look great.  And, if you can get a lot of the MP ones by just doing a bot match then woot! 

There is one thing still that I won't go back to do doing is tedious/grinding achievements.  Only if the reward is great will I bother.  Case in point was the WWE 09 game where you had to play each week of a career.  Took 30 minutes and 66 matches but the reward was 100g I believe.  To me, that was worth it. 

I would think anyone who spends a fair amount of time playing video games will say that sometimes you really don't care to play then you have times were you are just dieing to get home to play.  Right now, I think I'm entering in a dieing phase.  Could be that we are finally getting some great games released after months of nothing.  I know I'm having a plast with Deus Ex HR and I can't wait for Space Marine.  Gears 3 will melt my face I'm sure.  I've gotten a little more excited for Rage but I'm quite excited for NBA 2k12.  First time I've ever been excited for a basketball game. 

Quick hits:
1. Madden 12 is getting trashed which what all these reviewer idiots should of done years ago to force improvements in this stale and cheating series.  Thou, the achievements are worth getting.  :D 

2. Finally seeing reviews for Bodycount and as expected, they are average scores.  I'll give it a go as it looks to be a fun shooter.  Not every game needs a epic story or blah blah. 

3. I really hope Space Marine is a solid game. 

4. August went by pretty fast and I didn't have any hype burn from the Star Wars MMO.  Still hoping I get in beta but until I see a release date, I'm not really checking in on it. 

5. Even with the $50 price drop for the PS3, I still have no desire to get one. 

6. Three day weekend coming up.  Looking forward to grilling and playing my Xbox 360.

Generally I don't get excited about new MMOs simply because of WoW.  I've logged countless hours in WoW and when you do that many, you rarely want to start all over again.  Factor in that most MMOs are a fantasy setting, it sure don't help.  Of the few rare non-fantasy MMOs out there like Eve, Champions, and Star Trek they all come up lacking in content and fun.  Even free to play I find it hard to get invovled with them. 

Don't get me wrong, I would love a Warhammer 40k MMO and last I heard they was making one but waiting for a MMO is like waiting for justice to happen in the world.

I'll let you on a secret of mine, I don't really care for MP.  In the sense that I HAVE to rely on strangers to be able to progress in a game.  In WoW, I have a guild and friends so anything small like quests and instances are generally not a issue but raids are a huge issue because, atleast when I last played, they are such a huge grind.  But I've already ranted about that before so moving on. 

What I need is a game that has a huge solo part, easy access to instances like less players needed, and a end game that does not require hardcore devotion.  And, I think I finally found it. 

Lets make it clear that I'm not a Star Wars fan.  I think Star Trek is far superior in every way.  However, that does not stop me from looking and even sometimes enjoying Star Wars games.  I never care to look at MMOs before they come out for reasons I mentioned above unless there was a beta.  The past couple days, I've been looking at Star Wars: The Old Republic (ToR) and here are my thoughts and why I might be excited. 

Gameplay vids are pretty hard to find but of the ones I seen, the combat looks good and fun enough.  Much room for improvement but as is, I'm happy with it.  The visuals are fine but it looked like hit detection had some issues but nothing to take away from the fun.   

In terms of game design choices I think the idea that everyone gets a loot bag with a chance to get armor for their class or tokens to buy gear is simply awesome.  This will greatly increase the number of people willing to do higher level content. 

For the next thing, let me say that for years, I've been hoping that WoW would include a instance system designed for 2-3 players.  They could have used it as a way to include dungeon sets again and make the end game progression a step at a time instead of a leap.  Anyway, what I think is a huge step up for MMOs is the ability to use companions incase you need to fill a slot in a instance.  I'm just so delighted now that you and a friend can do the instances alone.  Yes, it would be better to have a real person but it sure beats waiting in a 45 minute que for some jerk to show up. 

If someone was to ask me what game design choices I needed to get excited about a new MMO, I think the loot and the companion would be at the top of my list.  But, it gets better. 

The raid sizes are 8 and 16.  Going with their groupings of 4 for instances, it makes sense.  I have not been able to confirm if you can also use companions in raids but if so, that would be huge.  Now what I think is a great idea and something WoW started but left under developed was difficulty settings.  They have not said what settings there will be like easy, normal, hard but just the option is great.  I assume they'll have a lock out period but as long as you can complete each setting then I think they'll really have a hit.   

Just think, your guild of friends starts raids at easy or the lowest setting.  You can start clearing it and getting people upgrades.  Then when ready, you try the next setting and lets say you get 25% done, you then go back to the lower setting and clear it to continue getting gear and badges.  You are progressing thru the raid levels but at the time sime still getting the chance for better gear.  Its a win-win! 

I doing my best to fight the hype but if they do these game design choices right, this game could be epic. 

A few side notes:  Companions can be set to gather materials for you but it appears that you still have to be logged in the game for them to be doing it.  Not as great as if they was doing it 24/7 but sure beats farming yourself a times.  Mounts are in the game but since I've not really seen any solo content, I don't know how needed they are.  There is space combat in your ship but no idea how that plays yet.  I think the price of the retail game is high for a PC game and a MMO.  $60 for the standard, $80 for the digial deluxe, and something like $150 for the collectors edition.  I think the standard should be $40 and the deluxe $60 or the retail game should come with two free months instead of one.  I bet there will be quite a few people who'll not be first day buyers because of the prices.  So far I've not seen any info on the monthly fees.  I would assume they'll stick to the normal $15 a month with minor discounts for doing three or six months at a time.  Anything higher would surely have a huge negative impact.

 
Since the game is scheduled at this time for a 'holiday 2011' release, I'm really not wanting to get too involved in the game.  They are going to start large testing in September probably for server load tests which is a good sign they are about done but they said there is a chance it would be extended to October.  That tells me that they are shooting for a late October or early November launch.  August just started so getting all wrapped up now will just be painful unless your in the beta.  I really hope at some point I get in that.  For now, I'm going to go find some leaked beta content to see if I find any issues that might prevent me from getting the game.  As it stands, I think I finally got a new MMO to be excited about.