Just 3 questions

[Sakyia]

I have 3 questions that are somewhat connected..

I read the comments about the game (PC version) at either Amazon or EBgames, and someone said that you have to download files online aside from the disks that you get, and that it's like 8500 files and for someone who has a 56K modem it would take a day or more, is this true or is the person just trying to diss the game?

It doesn't make sense to me that you'd have to download more files online, I mean, it's an online game, it comes to you when you log in; perhaps I don't fully understand how it works.

Well, I hope it's not true, because there's absolutely no way I'm going to leave my computer on for a day or more to download files, I refuse to do that. It's my first computer (I've had WebTv for a long time), I just got it back in November, I'd rather not kill it by doing something such as that.

Oh, and the 2nd part of the questoin is, the requirements for the game.. I have a Pentium 4 Windows XP home edition computer with a flat 17" monitor, a Dell Dimension 4600 series w/ an NVIDIA Geforce FX 5200 graphics card, 256 Ram (which I intend on uping to 512; having trouble with Gothic 2) a 32x CD/DVD ROM Drive, and more than enough VRam, all of which meets the recommended requirements for the game, but what I'm worried about is the 56k modem or higher that is required.

I have a 56k modem, but when I go online and put the cursor on the Earthlink icon it says "You are now connected, etc, and it says that my connection speed is 49.3 kbps, I never get anything higher than that. Will that be a problem? I do have the Earthlink Accelerator which has an average speed-up of about 2.5 times, but I don't know if that will help playing the game or if it only applies to actually loading pages and downloading stuff.

Also, last question, do I have to get another ISP, or a different one? I have Earthlink, but the 6 month trial runs out soon, and I was thinking about going with NetZero and getting the Hi-speed connection with it through Dial-up, but I'm not sure yet

So I'm a bit worried, if someone can help me out with my questions I would appreciate it.

[Stormfalcon]

It is true that there is a massive initial patch to be downloaded and that, since it is over 8000 files, it can take quite a while. This is because the version on the installation CD-ROMs is, by nature, outdated. Those CD-ROMs were authored months ago and the game is updated from time to time (usually once-a-month). In fact, we just had an update on the 15th.

This is the nature of online games...the occasional need to patch. Sometimes it's bug fixes. Sometimes it's new content or features. Sometimes it's to take care of an exploit that cheaters may have discovered. It's a necessary evil.

Now, the upshot is that the huge initial patch is a one-time deal. Future patches after that one will be much, much smaller. It's just that one big one you really have to worry about.

Another bit of good news is that, while dial-up can be a liability when it comes to downloading patches (especially the initial one), it's not a liability when it comes to actually playing the game. The game is capped at 56K so that broadband players won't have a huge advantage over dial-up ones, putting everyone on a somewhat level playing field (user hardware will still be a factor).

As a side note, 56K is a misnomer anyway. No one ever gets 56K on a phone line, since the FCC doesn't allow it. The most anyone really gets on dial-up is 53K, and that's if they have an extremely good line and connection. 56K is more of a marketing term, since previous modem speeds were 14K and 28K (56K being double of 28K, following the pattern). Don't sweat having 49K connections on average. You're not that far behind the ball with that speed.

[Sakyia]

Thanks! That was very helpful. If I have to download all that and it takes forever, oh well, I'm sure it'll be worth it, because if I got it for the PS2 (it's already installed in the Hard Drive, and perhaps those updates as well) I'd have to fork out $180 or more for the Network Adapter, the Hard Drive which comes with the game, and a keyboard, as opposed to just $49 for the game on the PC. Also, I'd rather play the game on my 17" flat panel monitor than my 13" tv screen.