TMC Player Reviews: Federation II

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Sephorin] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

Having played both Federation 1 on AOL in the '90s and the new
Federation 2, I can say that there are certainly a number of
similarities and differences. Some I like more than others. One
similarity is the fact that Fed 1 and Fed 2 are both as stable as
rocks. I have never had any problems with the stability of this game.
Perhaps crashes happened a couple of years ago when Fed 2 was still
young, but I, myself, have not experienced even one since I started
playing about a month ago.

I was a bit put off by the reviewer’s characterization of the Fed2
Star. This is the weekly newsletter that the staff and players put
out. It’s an entertaining read, and I very much appreciate the time
and effort they put into writing it. Since Federation 2 is free to
play, the designers are naturally eager for donations to defer
server/connection costs--hardly an unreasonable position in my
opinion. What’s neat is that you can use your donations to buy extras
within the game, things that are not necessary to advance but that
make your life a bit easier.

I disagree with the reviewer's comment about the FOLLOW command
undermining socialization in the game. I don't recall there being a
FOLLOW command in the original Fed (and if there was one, I didn't
use it), and that by no means made it difficult for me to form
friendships. I don’t think having the command is even necessary, and I
would personally rather the designers spend their time coding new
ranks (which I would certainly use) rather than adding a follow
command (which I probably wouldn’t use).

In any case, I hope you won’t be dissuaded from trying Fed 2 by the
anonymous reviewer’s comments. It’s a great community, and I’ve had a
lot of fun with the game. If you do stop by, be sure to say hello to
me.

Sephorin

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Kalandra] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

While I understand the exasperation for having parts of the game not
functioning the way /he/ wants them to, its important for anyone to 
recognize that Fed2 is a game being built around the players that are 
in it.  Player suggestions are constantly being added to the game to 
make it easier and more fun to play.  This kind of flexibility just 
isn't available in a game that is already coded.  Sure the crashes are
annoying at times, but as sad as it sounds, each crash actually brings 
us closer to a finished game that functions well not just in testing 
but in real play.  

There was one time when a player picked up an object that was supposed
to be immovable! No one had thought of it until he did it by 
accident.  It's things like this that make the game more fun, not less 
so. BTW taking a taxi is no longer something that you can do. :) As 
for only one person coding the game, I think that it provides a 
stability to the game, the progression of additions is logical and not
just whatever gets done fastest and of course it always keeps us on 
our toes wondering what he'll come up with next!  

Oddities aside, try the game, have some fun with it, get to know the
people in it.  Its not all about racing to the finish line and 
'winning the game' its about enjoying the social aspects of playing 
a game with friends. 

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Cloudbase] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

I played the very original FED on Compunet prior to its
reincarnation on AOL, and after many years was delighted
to find FED II in August 2006.

After all those years much has changed, but I can assure
you of one thing, I have been playing FED II everyday
for the last 8 months without exception. Yes, there have
been crashes during that time, to my recollection 3 of
them, and yes on one occasion it caused a roll back to a
previous save, but it was hardly the end of the world!!!

So has any of those 3 occasions put me off playing FED
II, not at all. I am still logged in 24/7's and am still
loving every minute of it.

Its not just the games itself that challenges you in
different ways for different ranks, its the community of
people that live within FED II.

Every new player is made to feel welcome and is never
shunned. And yes, one big difference from when I first
played FED, is that the game is totally free. You can
purchase Slithies via the website, and this allows
benefits and aids, but the game is totally playable
without these. All the staff ask is that you make
contributions towards the upkeep of the game, and I
stress ASK. I was always taught that if you dont ask,
you dont get. Its  a game, but to keep it running for us
to enjoy, I understand that it takes cold hard cash. So
for this reason, I donate in the form of purchasing
Slithies, apart from a thankyou email for doing so, I
receive no other benefit or recognition than anyone who
does not, nor do i know who does or does not.

I hope FED II stays free, it will attract more players
and be even more enjoyable, but I for one will say now,
if i had to pay to play (just like I did in the old
days), I would have no hesitation in doing so.

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Anon] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

I completely agree with the author's opinions. Players lose much with
the frequent game crashes, which can't seem to be stopped. Other
games I have been in are much more prepared for the loss of personal
money and other such things. It has been one headache after another to
deal with the internal problems of the game.

The social aspect of the game seems to have stagnated over the last
year, or more. New players seem to have fun, but once in the game for
any long length of time, they grow bored with the lack of things to
do, since really it's all about hauling, hauling, hauling.

I think the senior staff really need to stop and re-evaluate where
they want the game to go. Another thing that might help is if the
senior staff actually played the game they created, from beginning to
end, and perhaps they would be more aware of the problems lurking
under the surface. Also, it would be nice if for a change, the senior
staff and game developer actually listened to playerbases wants and
needs, instead of deciding what the player will want and dismissing
player/customer input out of hand.

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Brian Christopher] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

Wow, talk about being negative. Some truth to what was said but 
let's be fair. Fed II is a work in progress and not finished.
The original was a terrific game, but give this version a chance. 
Why? I'll tell you why. First of all it's free and secondly, despite
any shortcomings, it's fun. Remember its a game and as a game I 
have enjoyed playing it for a long time now and for me it's #1.

(The following review comment is the opinion of the comment's author [Dopplershift] and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff).

First, Fed2 is a good game, but it could be a great game. I played it
for a long time.

It is marred by the fact that staffers play the game and form
alliances with other staffers, and even 'marry' them in the game.
This leads to the formation of cliques. Differ with any of the staff,
however slightly, and you find yourself locked out of the game.

I was locked out because I objected to a civilian contractor (Zardoz
and other alts) playing the game big time on government time.

As a veteran, that galled me. There was no verbal abuse or language
involved. Zardoz complained to his 'wife' (A staffer) and I was
locked out for 'Harassment'.