Because WoW happened, and publishers now think that by making games piss easy they'll capture the WoW audience. They have no idea that WoW was a fluke or why it was a success.
The idea of allowing people to fail is taboo to big publishers that don't understand video games.
I am having fun looking for caves. I've been playing Everquest a lot lately. Enjoy pushing a few buttons and following GPS.
EQ needs looking for anything? I remember all it is .. is killing a static spawn again, again, and again. And yes, the combat in EQ is pretty shallow .. just pushing a button.
Modern MMOs have much better combat .. at least you have to react to props, and manage CDs, and even switching of weapons. But hey, you are not in it for combat, right? So a combat-shallow game will suit you.
Yes the dungeons can be fairly hard to find. So can the zone points. It's easier now as some areas have maps and sometiems you can use the find function to help you find certain areas, but it's still a lot harder to find places than in most other MMOs.
In regards to combat I have tried a lot of the recent MMOs, but I don't think their combat is anything difficult. I thought EQ's combat was a lot more difficult. It's not so much now since they added mercenaries, increased exp, removed death penalties, etc. Sadly it's still more challenging than most MMOs. You can die a lot easier due to mobs being more difficult to defeat or getting swarmed by a bunch of adds. Most classes that can cast spells are fun to play. Pure melee classes can be a little boring.
EQ's combat was never difficult - it was punishing. Thats not the same at all. If you ran into some high level mob - and you weren't a necro - beastlord - shadownight or fungi tunic wearing monk you were toast. The best you could do is run away.
Difficult combat is an action RPG like GW2. 99% of the players will get owned by a Champion 1 on 1. But the 1 percent - they have the skills to down it without taking any damage. That's difficult combat. Combat where by dumb luck you get ruined isn't difficult its punishing.
For something to be difficult there has to be SOME people that can do handle that challenge. Calling EQ combat difficult is like saying its difficult to survive a firing squad. The only way you survive such a squad is if you don't get in that situation in the first place. And that's what people did in EQ. If you weren't one of the soloable classes you hunted in groups. But in groups the combat wasn't difficult either. The hard part was finding the group..
EQ's combat was never difficult - it was punishing. Thats not the same at all. If you ran into some high level mob - and you weren't a necro - beastlord - shadownight or fungi tunic wearing monk you were toast. The best you could do is run away.
Difficult combat is an action RPG like GW2. 99% of the players will get owned by a Champion 1 on 1. But the 1 percent - they have the skills to down it without taking any damage. That's difficult combat. Combat where by dumb luck you get ruined isn't difficult its punishing.
For something to be difficult there has to be SOME people that can do handle that challenge. Calling EQ combat difficult is like saying its difficult to survive a firing squad. The only way you survive such a squad is if you don't get in that situation in the first place. And that's what people did in EQ. If you weren't one of the soloable classes you hunted in groups. But in groups the combat wasn't difficult either. The hard part was finding the group..
Having a death penalty wasn't the only thing that made EQ combat difficult. Basically what you described in Guild Wars was possible in EQ quite a long time ago. I used to kite things around with a Necro in Planes of Power expansion. If I missed one spell cast at the right time or got hit once I was dead. The same is true for a lot of classes when they solo. You had to use your skill/spells exactly at the right times in a lot of cases and messing up meant death more often then not.
As far as groups go I also disagree. The healer had to time heals perfectly. The puller had to make sure they pulled correctly (not an easy task). The tank had to make sure they didn't loose agro. The DPS had to be careful not to pull agro. This may sound simple, but it wasn't. People would cause wipes all the time that would result in a lot of exp loss for everyone.
Most MMOs I see now people just rush in and press buttons. If they die it's no big deal as there is no death penalty. There need be no real strategy in groups. Even solo the mobs are generally so weak it doesn't matter much.
EQ's combat was never difficult - it was punishing. Thats not the same at all. If you ran into some high level mob - and you weren't a necro - beastlord - shadownight or fungi tunic wearing monk you were toast. The best you could do is run away.
Difficult combat is an action RPG like GW2. 99% of the players will get owned by a Champion 1 on 1. But the 1 percent - they have the skills to down it without taking any damage. That's difficult combat. Combat where by dumb luck you get ruined isn't difficult its punishing.
For something to be difficult there has to be SOME people that can do handle that challenge. Calling EQ combat difficult is like saying its difficult to survive a firing squad. The only way you survive such a squad is if you don't get in that situation in the first place. And that's what people did in EQ. If you weren't one of the soloable classes you hunted in groups. But in groups the combat wasn't difficult either. The hard part was finding the group..
More important, EQ combat is a lot less fun than action RPGs (to me) because there are fewer things to do, fewer strategic options, and fewer interesting enemies.
I would play any Diablo, heck any action RPG over EQ any day.
My first MMO was Everquest 1, but you know what's sad? I spend a huge amount of time on Farmville now because of how boring mmos are, with every mmo being so dumbed down and nerfed easymode, there is no drive for me to bother playing them . There is no inner desire to excel anymore, because it is all pointless, and every expansion nerfs any raid gear that you bothered to get, so there is no point of continuing the loot treadmill path that we have all played for the past 12 plus years.
*shrug* Its so easy and pointless in games that so-called heroic modes are trivialized by new content patches and rediculously easy. With the vertical gear progression being out of balance and insanely overpowered, people just solo everything and it is all pretty much boring, or you have the people who can't do rediculously easy things and stand in stuff and die constantly to the same mechanic over and over.
My first MMO was Everquest 1, but you know what's sad? I spend a huge amount of time on Farmville now because of how boring mmos are, with every mmo being so dumbed down and nerfed easymode, there is no drive for me to bother playing them . There is no inner desire to excel anymore, because it is all pointless, and every expansion nerfs any raid gear that you bothered to get, so there is no point of continuing the loot treadmill path that we have all played for the past 12 plus years.
Why is it sad? No entertainment last forever. The Avenger is a great movie, but you don't see me watching it 100 times, and complaining about it getting boring.
If you don't like MMO anymore, find something new. There are plenty of good entertainment options.
[quote]*shrug* Its so easy and pointless in games that so-called heroic modes are trivialized by new content patches and rediculously easy. With the vertical gear progression being out of balance and insanely overpowered, people just solo everything and it is all pretty much boring, or you have the people who can't do rediculously easy things and stand in stuff and die constantly to the same mechanic over and over.[/quote]
video or it didn't happen. The world of warcraft board has always been filled with people bragging about how easy this - but the real completion numbers show a different story..Very few people complete the heroic modes.. LIke I said the people that say GW2 dont do high level fractals. The people that say WoW is easy don't raid heroics or do arenas.
IF you are looking for a punishing leveling experience its not happening.. The difficulty is in the end game now.
IF you are looking for a punishing leveling experience its not happening.. The difficulty is in the end game now.
Not true for a game like GW2. There is no restriction of what quests/events you can do when leveling. In fact, when i play GW2, i fight mobs a few levels above, and multiple of them.. and that is challenging.
It is like an implicit difficult slider. If you choose the easy way, don't complain because the difficult option is also available.
Comments
Because WoW happened, and publishers now think that by making games piss easy they'll capture the WoW audience. They have no idea that WoW was a fluke or why it was a success.
The idea of allowing people to fail is taboo to big publishers that don't understand video games.
Yes the dungeons can be fairly hard to find. So can the zone points. It's easier now as some areas have maps and sometiems you can use the find function to help you find certain areas, but it's still a lot harder to find places than in most other MMOs.
In regards to combat I have tried a lot of the recent MMOs, but I don't think their combat is anything difficult. I thought EQ's combat was a lot more difficult. It's not so much now since they added mercenaries, increased exp, removed death penalties, etc. Sadly it's still more challenging than most MMOs. You can die a lot easier due to mobs being more difficult to defeat or getting swarmed by a bunch of adds. Most classes that can cast spells are fun to play. Pure melee classes can be a little boring.
EQ's combat was never difficult - it was punishing. Thats not the same at all. If you ran into some high level mob - and you weren't a necro - beastlord - shadownight or fungi tunic wearing monk you were toast. The best you could do is run away.
Difficult combat is an action RPG like GW2. 99% of the players will get owned by a Champion 1 on 1. But the 1 percent - they have the skills to down it without taking any damage. That's difficult combat. Combat where by dumb luck you get ruined isn't difficult its punishing.
For something to be difficult there has to be SOME people that can do handle that challenge. Calling EQ combat difficult is like saying its difficult to survive a firing squad. The only way you survive such a squad is if you don't get in that situation in the first place. And that's what people did in EQ. If you weren't one of the soloable classes you hunted in groups. But in groups the combat wasn't difficult either. The hard part was finding the group..
Having a death penalty wasn't the only thing that made EQ combat difficult. Basically what you described in Guild Wars was possible in EQ quite a long time ago. I used to kite things around with a Necro in Planes of Power expansion. If I missed one spell cast at the right time or got hit once I was dead. The same is true for a lot of classes when they solo. You had to use your skill/spells exactly at the right times in a lot of cases and messing up meant death more often then not.
As far as groups go I also disagree. The healer had to time heals perfectly. The puller had to make sure they pulled correctly (not an easy task). The tank had to make sure they didn't loose agro. The DPS had to be careful not to pull agro. This may sound simple, but it wasn't. People would cause wipes all the time that would result in a lot of exp loss for everyone.
Most MMOs I see now people just rush in and press buttons. If they die it's no big deal as there is no death penalty. There need be no real strategy in groups. Even solo the mobs are generally so weak it doesn't matter much.
More important, EQ combat is a lot less fun than action RPGs (to me) because there are fewer things to do, fewer strategic options, and fewer interesting enemies.
I would play any Diablo, heck any action RPG over EQ any day.
The reason mmo's hold your hand is because they are made to appeal to the lowest common denominator. If an idiot can play them then everyone can.
They are designed as a return on an investment, not as games.
My first MMO was Everquest 1, but you know what's sad? I spend a huge amount of time on Farmville now because of how boring mmos are, with every mmo being so dumbed down and nerfed easymode, there is no drive for me to bother playing them . There is no inner desire to excel anymore, because it is all pointless, and every expansion nerfs any raid gear that you bothered to get, so there is no point of continuing the loot treadmill path that we have all played for the past 12 plus years.
*shrug* Its so easy and pointless in games that so-called heroic modes are trivialized by new content patches and rediculously easy. With the vertical gear progression being out of balance and insanely overpowered, people just solo everything and it is all pretty much boring, or you have the people who can't do rediculously easy things and stand in stuff and die constantly to the same mechanic over and over.
Why is it sad? No entertainment last forever. The Avenger is a great movie, but you don't see me watching it 100 times, and complaining about it getting boring.
If you don't like MMO anymore, find something new. There are plenty of good entertainment options.
[quote]*shrug* Its so easy and pointless in games that so-called heroic modes are trivialized by new content patches and rediculously easy. With the vertical gear progression being out of balance and insanely overpowered, people just solo everything and it is all pretty much boring, or you have the people who can't do rediculously easy things and stand in stuff and die constantly to the same mechanic over and over.[/quote]
video or it didn't happen. The world of warcraft board has always been filled with people bragging about how easy this - but the real completion numbers show a different story..Very few people complete the heroic modes.. LIke I said the people that say GW2 dont do high level fractals. The people that say WoW is easy don't raid heroics or do arenas.
IF you are looking for a punishing leveling experience its not happening.. The difficulty is in the end game now.
Not true for a game like GW2. There is no restriction of what quests/events you can do when leveling. In fact, when i play GW2, i fight mobs a few levels above, and multiple of them.. and that is challenging.
It is like an implicit difficult slider. If you choose the easy way, don't complain because the difficult option is also available.