what makes an mmo good? your thoughts please

Morrak

anyone who checks pretty much any mmo forum has seen the posts... more and more people are tired of games not living up to the standards that made older mmos  like eq1 and uo shine. so the question is not why does "x" game suck so much... but what should have been done to imrpove upon "x" game

here are some things i think make an mmo good

1.) there has to be something that forces people to work together, any game that you can solo all the way through probably wont appeal to most people. people like a challenge, i thought everquest did this good while still giving some classes the ability to solo if wanted. it seems like everywhere i go people are always complaining how "x" game feels so barren... thats because people arent going to group unless they have to, why share the bling if you dont have to?

2.) Storyline... this should not be limited to quests. everywhere you go should have some kind of background information. quests should tell a story, not "kill x amount of y creatures" people are not dumb we see this for what it really is... grinding.

3.) make people work for what they get. i like the idea of random drops throughout zones. but i would much rather camp something for 4-5 hours to get that uber item. if people have to work for something they will appreciate it alot more.

4.) Gameplay... gameplay is more important that graphics (look at wow :P), developers spend so much time in graphics they seem to forget that they mean nothing if no one plays the game, people dont care how pretty your character models are if there is no meat to the game...

these are just some of my opinions, please post yours!

Jackthecat

Community and the ability to create your own content.

 

I don't mean creating your own content as in placing a building in this area, but rather using the game mechanics and setting to hold an event of some sort.

 

Those are my two biggies.

MMORPDEATH

The biggest factor to me has to be Immersion. This can be accomplished through good sound effects, music, lore, graphics, game-world architecture, art style,  realism, and world-design.

It is very rare that MMO's can beat single player or even multiplayer RPG gameplay. Large scale zerg-rvr and keep sieging do significantly set apart games like Warhammer and DAOC from anything non-mmo's can offer, but thats about it. Open PVP also provides some unique experiences not found in other genres. PVE-based games like WOW and EQ2 live or die on the immersion factor, as it is unlikely that their combat, quests, or dungeon crawling can compete with top non-MMO competition.

 

Anofalye

Simple...what makes a MMO good:

 

- I play because I might be able to progress all the way till the end/maxed, always doing what I like.  If I stop/fail, it will always be doing what I like anyway and just because it is becoming insanely crazy/hard.

 

Giving better rewards in Raiding/PvP/RvR/Tradeskills make a MMO subpar and uninteresting.  I, as a player, command the gameplay which is worthy of a reward. Not the devs, all they can command is 1 less subscriber. I want to group, gimme all the best loot obtainable in an optimal way by grouping and doing nothing but groups.

 

There is no point in grouping in a MMO, if you are already trying to push me into a foreign gameplay which is not appealing to me.  Again, I command, as a player, the gameplay which I choose to play.  I pick grouping.  If you are not willing to meet my needs, then you will have far less players...in this case, you lose the PUG-vitality, as all PUGs lovers will scorn your game...and PUGs are essential in a MMO.  Without PUGs-lovers, new players will have an immediate dilemna to join guilds...and LOL, this is crippling your game.

demc

Originally posted by Morrak


anyone who checks pretty much any mmo forum has seen the posts... more and more people are tired of games not living up to the standards that made older mmos  like eq1 and uo shine. so the question is not why does "x" game suck so much... but what should have been done to imrpove upon "x" game
here are some things i think make an mmo good
1.) there has to be something that forces people to work together, any game that you can solo all the way through probably wont appeal to most people. people like a challenge, i thought everquest did this good while still giving some classes the ability to solo if wanted. it seems like everywhere i go people are always complaining how "x" game feels so barren... thats because people arent going to group unless they have to, why share the bling if you dont have to?
2.) Storyline... this should not be limited to quests. everywhere you go should have some kind of background information. quests should tell a story, not "kill x amount of y creatures" people are not dumb we see this for what it really is... grinding.
3.) make people work for what they get. i like the idea of random drops throughout zones. but i would much rather camp something for 4-5 hours to get that uber item. if people have to work for something they will appreciate it alot more.
4.) Gameplay... gameplay is more important that graphics (look at wow :P), developers spend so much time in graphics they seem to forget that they mean nothing if no one plays the game, people dont care how pretty your character models are if there is no meat to the game...
these are just some of my opinions, please post yours!

 

This is what would make an MMO good for me and where I am trying to head with my game.Here is what I am trying to acomplish in the game system. It is not an easy task either

First, some background of whren.

Whren is a world set 50,000 years into the future. The world known as Earth was destroyed in a necular holocaust 50,000 years ago and all techonolgy was destroyed. Beast took on human form and 6 races became intellengent. One being a humanlike race developed from the monkey and looks human. Another a wolf like with human features, and so forth.

Anyway, a political separation took place 650 years before and races tooks sides based on the principles of what they believed. The house of peace belived in not having conflict (neutral). The house of order despised war (right wing) but was willing to take on anyone that tried to control Whren. The house of war (left wing) wanted all of whren but feared the king because the king was a faction of the house of peace.

Anyway here is a quest as it is writen.

Hammer is a player for the house of war. Johf is a player for the house of Order and Gretch is a player for the house of peace. Gretch also likes to PvP.  All three players have reached the level cap and are seeking a quest to occupy their time for the next couple hours. Hammer goes to his task master.

"Ah, if is not the great Hammer!. I have a roumor that Hejax the city in Haxen territory(an open battleground) is a shipping grounds for wood being delivered to the house of Order in Jaxen (city inside Haxen that is a safe zone)."

Hammer choices.

1. "so what you want me to do?"

2. "so what and good day"

Hammer chooses 1

"I want you to gather a force up to 40 and go to Hejax. Overtake the city and destroy the wood your reward is (random gold/faction)."

1. "I can not gather the forces"

2. "As you wish"

Hammer chooses 2. Makes a battle group and starts looking for other players to help. Suppose he gathers only 5 others.

Johf is also gathering his task on the oppsite side of the world. Johf goes to his task master.

"Greetings Johf!. My scouts have reported that there is about to be an attack launced on Hejax the city in Haxen territory(an open battleground)

1. "so what you want me to do?"

2. "so what and good day"

Johf picks 1

"I want you to gather a force up to 40 and go to Hejax. Defend the city against attack your reward is (random gold/faction)."

1. "I can not gather the forces"

2. "As you wish"

Johf chooses 2.

Johf is able to gather 7 other players.

In the mean time all around Jaskesn (House of Peace), Gretch hears about a war unfolding in Hejax when he passes any NPC. Gretch wants to work off some faction from the house of Order so he puts up a LFG on Mercernary for The House of War (Hammers side) and Hammer takes him agreeing to give some gold.

Now all the players begin travel. Johf can fast travel to Hejax with his group. When he arrives 32 NPCs are there to help round the battlegroup to 40.

Hammer can fast travel to a keep just a few minutes away from Hejax. When he arrives there are 34 NPCs to help.

Gretch ports to the keep on call and replaces one of the NPCs (---edit)

Hammer calls for mounts and away they go.

Johf calls for mounts and head to meet up.

When the battle is over all players get the reward but Gretch because he is a mercenary.

The winning side (last man standing and not a NPC) gets double.

 

FUN! is what I want in a MMO.

Darksunrise

I played everquest 1 for some time on Sullon Zek and i loved that game, but i think what i miss in a game is exactly what the original swg had... Fast lvling through skill trees instead of lvls optional pvp when ever and where ever almost as well as the base drops and the player housing and towns... They had a grood craftying system and with good crafting pros.   It was a great community you had to almost always interact with some one else to get armor and weapons made...

The combat only had a few flaws with the dots and poisons, and jedi started to become a problem  you cant  have one way over powered class like a jedi, it makes the game unfun, but other wise it was a great system and a great game....

So community, game play, and flexiblity, the ability to change your class in a mater of hours was great cause you still had to work for it but it was easy to do and at the same time you just mad cash.