When entering a timed mission on dialup i often would appear in a new area with a 00:00:00 on my screen and a dead NPC next to me. After a bit of confusion i figured i had entered a timed mission and the time had expired due to my load time which can easily be up to 40 minutes on dial-up when entering a new area.
If i enter these missions SOLO why would the timer start before i appear in the area? Especially when my pre-download times can be so long they easily eat up a timed mission counter?
Trying PvP was also a nightmare. I tried five times to 1v1 someone just to see what it was like and each time i entered i had a long load. On entering each mission i had a dead Ghostly Hero and a 00:00:00 time left on my screen. I would have thought that maybe my load times would have reduced but by the fifth try it was still some 15 minutes to load and i gave up.
I would have been happier with perhaps not being able to enter until everything i needed had pre-downlaoded. Being able to enter a PvP mission at the start and not 20 minutes later is a huge issue i think.
But not all is doom and gloom on dial-up, the response time to combat and the smoothness of moving and control is beyond any other game i've seen on dial-up, the game play is excellent once its downloaded. The load times however had me contemplating wishing i never pre-ordered as Presearing Ascalon felt like just another MMO but with long downloads and no one to group with, but once i entered Searing Ascalon the load times seemed less and the game involvment hightened as missions required you to group and the game prooved itself to be different, i now am glad i pre-ordered the game.
j
