So what's the bottom line?

[pogowolf]

After taking a while off from HZ, my wife and I are starting to play again, but when logging in I'm treated to a nice little message saying that HZ has been sold!!

Which, in my eyes, may or may not be good news. I've skimmed some of the forums and notice upheaval with the change over and I'm left with a few questions that I'm hoping someone will be nice enough to answer.

A) What is to become of HZ?
I've been playing off and on since release. We, as a community, have been promised SO much over the past 3 years with either nothing happening or EXTREAMLY slow changes taking 6 months or more. There are maps embedded in the original version that show underground temples and such. Graphics, spells, and abilities that are shown in the Demo movies that never became apart of the game. Mounts (pony's) where promised, and never happened, and now the expansion pack (to tailor our homes) hangs in the balance..

Changes are going to happen.. How are those changes going to affect us? are we looking an another 'server merge?'


B) What's the future plans of HZ?
I understand the new owners aren't going to kill off the game, but rumor has it that the other MMO hasn't really been updated. (Granted, that's just rumor..I don't play it, and really haven't had the time to check into it, yet.)
Are we going to get the housing, and game play like we where promised 3 years ago? What are there plans for the game?

C) Will the game really worth coming back to?
We ALL know HZ has it's problems. Shifting between parents 4 times is enough to embitter any child, and upset any loyal follower. Are there things in the works that will make people take a second look at the game? Things that will make the old school players want to return to the game?


I, for one, don't want to see HZ die a painful death. I would like to see HZ return to it's roots and be the game it was supposed to be.

[TheHaunt]

You ask questions that have, in one form or another, been asked before. I hope we will soon see answers to them.

I agree with your last statement, wholeheartedly...

• "I, for one, don't want to see HZ die a painful death. I would like to see HZ return to it's roots and be the game it was supposed to be."

[pogowolf]

Well I do have the orginal 'specs' for the game before it was even in beta, running around in my archive somewhere..

[Dravatar]

We are still finding out ourselves Pogo. All of your questions have not been answered yet. Additionally,there are some cut-over problems that have exacerbated things.

[pogowolf]

Thanks, Dravatar.
I prey there is better communitcation with the new owners then I've seen not only here, but in other games. Nothing says 'We care nothing about you, give us your money' then asking pointed relivant questions and not getting answers.

at this point I would venture to say that most of the oldbies still know more about the game then EI Interactive does. it would show a lot of class to get at least someone from the company on here to answer the questions and, at least, provide a line of defense between the players and the company.

Besides, I would venture to say that most of us are just scared that HZ will shut down, or we're in for another massive game change. (read: server merge)

[BKBanzai]

Depending on when you last played, there have been a number of improvements to the game play, which were not 100% reversed by the last "poorly" tested patch that went live. That patch created some rather nasty aggro issues. However, the game is still definitely more playable and stable than it was say in January of this year and much much improved from a year ago.

You might find that there's enough new content in game to keep you happy and occupied for quite some time, before waiting for another patch or content changes.

[pogowolf]

Even though I've not been playing continually for a while, I have been keeping up with the updates, and yes there has been a lot of changes in game from Jan of a year ago. Some good, some bad, some equate to nothing.

Where as there might be a little more for me to chew on, that is not my issue here. I wish to know if the patches are going to continue or not, and what the future holds for Horizons.

[Aamer Khan]

Heya pogo, good to see ya ingame last night standing in aug.

At this point, we have no clue when the patch process will resume, although many of us believe that it will. My suggestion for now, is to set a few goals that will hold you 2-3 months and see what happens. I seriously doubt they will get up to speed before then.

What I feel is going on is they are trying to get familiar with the current patch process, and reviewing everything to decide what direction to go next. My hope is that they concentrate on returning us to having fun first, then work on fixing client bugs that are preventing many from a stable play experience. Once those goals are met, next they would do well to find out what the majority of players want to see as the future of this game, and then work towards an agreed upon single direction, and move forward.

To that end, I hope players will return to adding suggestions for the future.

[Fratricide]

Forward is always a good direction, I hope to see some sort of a basic plan in the next couple of weeks so that the Playerbase can know that HZ is going to actually go someplace. Whether that direction will take us back to the origional outlay of the game as proposed, or towards a new end that hasnt yet seen the light of day is what keeps us all teetering. Either way, I'm sure there is enough funds within the new company to provide service to the game for at least another year before they decide to sell it off.

[pogowolf]

Forward is always a good direction, I hope to see some sort of a basic plan in the next couple of weeks so that the Playerbase can know that HZ is going to actually go someplace. Whether that direction will take us back to the origional outlay of the game as proposed, or towards a new end that hasnt yet seen the light of day is what keeps us all teetering. Either way, I'm sure there is enough funds within the new company to provide service to the game for at least another year before they decide to sell it off.

Yes, forward is always a good direction. =) I'm worried about the whole dog and pony show. Being told that everything ok (which we really havn't been told anything, from what I've read) and then having HZ closed down or worse yet, stopped developement. =(

I still enjoy the game but, honestly, I'm afriad to REALLY get back into it not knowing what the future might hold.

Knowing that EI Entertainment is a company, and as a company, they want to make money. WE are the ONLY player base they have. WE are the ones that can help to make or break the game by telling people not to play.. or 'forceing' our friends to give it a try. Not saying anything to the fan base is asking for trouble on their part.

I just want answers, like we all do. Just something I can sink my teeth into. reassurance that the lies, and BS from the past is just that.. the past. I want a nice pant in the back, a gold star, and the reassurance that the game will continue to move forward. But reading that even the expansion pack may not even see the light of day.. (and knowing that it wasn't even much more out of the PLANNING STAGE ( ) ) tends to make you think about the future of the game you've spent SO much time and money in. Let along the friends you've collected (like crunchies) along the way.

Horizons has been stagnet for way to long. Where as yes, Tulga jumping did help the game, at least in the customer relations department. But you've also got to remember, there really hasn't been that many major updates in the past 2 years or so. Server merge was the primary change. Followed by ROP/AOP.. then nothing for many moons until the dragon lairs where added. The rest of the updates where nothing more then 'minor' database updates (which includes Quests).

The time is now to focus and make HZ the game it was supposed to be. I've got a list a mile and 1/2 long (printed out double spaced of course) from everything from what has changed since alpha, beta, and release, to player suggestions, Ideas. I, at least, am one of the many that understand JUST how good HZ can and should be.

and please, everyone (includeing Our new lord and masters) don't get me wrong, I believe saying what everyone is thinking and I tend to be vocal about it. I'm trying to be civil, and just make pointed comments to my thoughts and feelings. and I'm darn glad I have a strong soap box..

[Fratricide]

Honestly, if HZ was now, the way it was origionally designed to be, I probably wouldn't have played it much past beta, heh.. I probably wouldn't have played it in beta much more then a week. The game itself probably would have a much greater, in size, playerbase then it now does, and probably wouldn't have gone through the extremely rough server merge. That being said, it probably wouldnt have the community that is presently here either.

It seems the problem with this, and most, game is that the investors are unwilling to put forth the time, effort, and monies needed to make the game ultimately successful. When AE had the game, they had the intent to make the game great, but the time and money were not there. When TG took over, the time and money was not there again. I would hope that now that EII has taken over, they have the real desire to put into it (not just saying they have a desire), intend to put in the time needed to do it right (not just half arsed), and plan to spend the cash needed to hire the right people and the right number of people to ensure that all their goals are accomplished in timeframes that they put forward and are reasonable, so that the playerbase can see the fruits of their labors and once again be cognisant of progression with the game that most of us are passionate about.

[MadDwarf]

has EI stated exactly anywhere what their development plans for Horizons is ? If you look at their other acquired title and use that as a gage one might be worried. But horizons is a different beast with different needs. I hope EI realizes that.