Roma-Victor

[Caius_Julius_Cato]

www.Roma-Victor.com

 

Massive multiplayer online RPG, I have not played it yet ( I am holding of, my girlfriend is currently playing it and I will make my decision based off her) But check it out, and tell me what you think. I believe it is still in beta.

[Diocles]

www.Roma-Victor.com

 

Massive multiplayer online RPG, I have not played it yet ( I am holding of, my girlfriend is currently playing it and I will make my decision based off her) But check it out, and tell me what you think. I believe it is still in beta.

 

I've been looking into this game as well, I've been playing MMO's for a long time and have been waiting for a Roman one to be made, the possibility of it (if done right) could be endless. I've read a few reviews and browsed their forums to get an idea of this game, but I have yet to take the leap and actually purchase the game.

 

Perhaps the largest positive is that there is no monthly supscription with this game, it is a one time

[Nephele]

Diocles, thanks for your review here, and the picture of a character creation from the game. I have a question, if you can answer it please?

 

I noticed in that picture to which you provided a link, there are the following Roman character names appearing at the top: Herius, Nepos, and Tadius. Does the game assign a name to one's created character, or does the player get to choose his/her own name? And, are there female characters that one can create for the game?

 

-- Nephele

[Primus Pilus]

All 3 of this sites triumvirs (Moonlapse, Viggen and myself) were all involved with the Roma-Victor community from its earliest inception. For various reasons, each of us moved away from it over time. For myself it was more rewarding to create this site and focus on historical research, writing and discussion for its own merit than to do so in an ancillary capacity for a computer gaming experience (no matter how historical its nature).

 

In any case, Roma-Victor has been a project long in the making and a bit on the slow side. Redbedlam, the developers, are a small private operation, and are thusly limited in comparison to larger software houses. Unfortunately, that slow pace has hampered the ability to build and maintain an active and stable community. It has been terribly slow in implementing features that make the game truly playable, and is the significant reason for a low player population. Of course, low population = low revenue = slow development; a cycle that is difficult to overcome. As Diocles stated, graphics are hardly cutting edge either, but this game was indeed being developed with an almost MUD based community nature in mind.

 

Nephele... if I remember correctly, the game has a random name generator using the trinominal system (at least for Roman characters). The praenomen and cognomen are the random components, originally made up from a list of true historical options (painstakingly done by a member of this very forum by name of Jugurtha), though I can't attest to whether or not that concept still remains in force. A character's nomen was the true individual identifier and was created by the player. Female characters are very much playable. I remember that gender specific roles were to be in place (ie no female characters in the legions or as magistrates, though non traditional roles were acceptable in free society), but I have absolutely no clue whatsoever whether this is followed or not.

[Nephele]

Thanks for the background information, PP! I'd known that UNRV had been inspired by an earlier community called Roma-Victor -- but I was confused as to whether this game was the same Roma-Victor, as the discussion here gave me the impression that this game was something new. I can see now how slow the development of this game has been, considering that UNRV has already been around for at least four years!

 

Jugurtha has an interest in Roman onomastics? If so, I would have liked to see him join in on some of the Roman names discussions. Too bad he doesn't seem to be around any longer.

 

-- Nephele

[Caius_Julius_Cato]

Yeah, I haven't made the leap to buying yet. Been tinkering with my girlfriends copy, as of right now I think just the area of England around Hadrian's wall. Rather low population as of right now (still very very much a beta) Though it is actually quiet fun. Though since I have been tinkering with her character...I'm a barbarian woman (Ahem...) But still fun, you can craft things (though not all crafting has been implimented yet) But the community is really ingenious haybale forts and the like

[necromaniac]

I was in beta before launch, then quit and came back a few months ago to see how well it was going. Needless to say, the game leaves much to be desired. It is, after all, free, and a player is getting exactly what he is paying for. Redbedlam is so hell bent on trying to keep the game "realistic", that they sacraficed gameplay fun. The tasks given to become a citizen are ridiculous, and takes legitimally 2 real-time months to complete. While wandering aimlessly around trying to harvest items for the tasks (firewood, stones, etc), you can find yourself magically warping to a different location.

 

The graphics are horrendous, but once again, the player is getting what he paid for; a pasty, potbellied half-naked Roman slave wandering about in early 90's style graphics.

[Moonlapse]

Last time I played, the game was just barely enjoyable on a high end system with an almost top of the line graphics card and it used up about 1GB of memory!! Things may have improved since then. I would talk to some of the community members about how the gameplay is before making a decision.

[Ceolas]

I've been playing Roma Victor since March 2006. It is a one-time pay game, with a compromising VERM system if you want extra in game currency (sesterces), although you could make your way in game without ever VERMing.

 

The game has actually come quite a way since the beta back in June 2006. Since, it has been a slow process to add additional content, but it does slowly come in. Like necromaniac says, you do get what you pay for. Although the teleporting still exists, it's slightly less random, or at least in my opinion. Lag is progressively getting better, and recently there's been a large addition of roaming bandits and many animals implemented. There are also new craftable weaponry, armours, etc.

 

It's definitely still got a long way to go to be called finished. The graphics are not all the great, they have had a certain level of "overhaul" but they still don't look amazing. They aren't too horrific though. Lag was always Roma Victor's problem. However; it has actually got quite a bit better since the testing, and early days of release. That kind of threw a lot of players off of Roma Victor. I wish that a lot more would come back to try it, because it could actually be a pretty decent online game with more of a populace. The community in general are usually quite pleasant, we have our oddballs and troublemakers, as every community does, but that is unavoidable. Seeing that it is a historical game, you may also find avid Roman history fans there as well, always a nice thing, seeing as you're reading a Roman-History forum right now.

 

The RedBedlam team is often very incorrect about their release dates, however. Currently a large overhaul of the system is being slowly implemented, to increase guild interactivity and guild relations. It's called The Escalation, and some of the things which are coming in, or have been claimed to be coming in, are rather good. For me to explain all of the features so people understand it, they would probably have to be players.

 

Seriously, if you want to be drawn in, or potentially drawn into a good community, where you feel like the game needs your support (which is often what keeps me there), you may as well try it. It's only

Edited October 13, 2007 by Ceolas

[Northern Neil]

Well, I 'took the plunge' last night and signed up. Maybe its my computer, I dont know - but after 4 hours loading the game, I spent a further 2 hours frowning and giving myself a migraine simply learning how to point with the dagger - thingy, and then change again to viewing mode. I could not do this and eventually had to move around the place crabwise as I could not look left or right! In the meantime the

[Favonius Cornelius]

Not sure that 'massive' is accurate....maybe multiplayer online role playing game. MORPG!

 

In the time I played it though it was pretty fun. I guess my biggest gripes about it would be needing to add 1000's of objects into a mud hut to make one, and the combat system. Point, click, and hope the gods are on your side that day!

Edited May 11, 2009 by Favonius Cornelius

[Caesar Jr]

Sorry to resurrect an old topic. But I strongly advise against buying this game, its slow and its boring. And because its got so little in it doesn't really feel realistic.