Any AOers playing Earth and Beyond??

[Berkut]

Impressions, comparisons, etc., etc??

Berkut

[Gearbox]

I've been playing it for the last week. I do like it- it seems full of quests, at least for low level players. The graphics are gorgeous. It's great to get xp from things other than combat.

I have a level 20 Trader with who's got most of his experience from trading... and the rest from exploring to find new trade routes. He hasn't killed a single thing yet, and would probably have trouble bringing down a level 2 mob, honestly.

But coming from AO, it seems to be very lacking when it comes to RP tools of any sort. The space stations are akin to DAoC's towns... cut and paste affairs that are built for function, not ambience.

I also feel much more adrift in E&B than I ever have in any other MMOG. Upgrading your ship doesn't really change it's appearance much at all, so the drive to do that is rather reduced. Since you spend the vast majority of your time in space, you rarely see other players (their ships, I mean), up close. They're generally just a blip on my radar screen or a streak passing me along the beltway.

It has a sort of isolating effect for me.

But it somehow manages to be an interesting and fun game, once you start to explore it. It's just very very different fro any other MMOG. A nice change of pace for AO players suffering from burn-out, I would think.