I don't like the precedent it sets. Cosmetic items have always just been a sideshow of the game, no impact one way or the other. This is outright skipping parts of the game. Don't get me wrong, I have 2 90's and 4 85+'s, I get the appeal of skipping junk I've done multiple times.
But it opens doors to things like "Well, I just bought a 90, I wish I could get him epic flight and the other licenses but my mains are too poor, maybe Blizz should sell gold or at least the licenses for flight."
"I paid to jump to 90, what makes Blizzard think I want to go back to all the low level areas I just skipped to level professions? They should come with the character, or at least allow them to be sold in the shop."
It's a precedent that just sets up all sorts of possibilities and I'm pretty certain that as long as they don't sell current content character and gear, people will defend it.
On the other hand, people already go to third party sites for powerleveling and have been since always. They also buy accounts, so from a business perspective it's stupid to let others make money when you could make it yourself, while simultaneously making the entire process safer because people won't be giving out account info so powerlevelers can log in to their account.
Not really. As everyone would have the same option then it isn't really unfair to those who choose not to avail themselves of it. It's not like MMOs these days don't put all their content in the endgame basket so if you're going to have that kind of game this option makes some sort of sense.
first off, OP I don't know if intentional or not but you have some serious propaganda in your tittle vs poll. The same question is rephrased such that what would be a "yes" in title is a "no" in poll, and a "no" in title is a "yes" in poll...well done, comrade.
secondly...it's known that today's MMO have levels just as training for endgame. as such if one doesn't need training...let him buy. I know I need training, I know i have a hard time even offspec-ing after leveling one spec to cap. Others can jump right in, land running and out-dps the average, so let them do it. They skip a week of power-leveling. In a week it won't matter.
i'm fine with it.
Ahh sorry about that , I will fix I was on my Ipad so I could only se half what I was writing. It was not my intention.
Current games; Star treck online Rift Eve online Firefall
It's not a question of it being fair, but about what it says about their game and their playerbase.
PS: EVEs way is better, at least in their systems there is no added value to the ingame economy when someone buys a high lvl char.
Originally posted by nethaniah
Seriously Farmville? Yeah I think it's great. In a World where half our population is dying of hunger the more fortunate half is spending their time harvesting food that doesn't exist.
Originally posted by Mr.Kujo In good PvE, if someone pays to get to the point where I am right now instantly, I lose nothing, he looses the chance to play the game, which is basically the whole point of a games existence in the first place.
If it is a well designed PvP, then I get the opportunity to kill the crap out of some unexperienced guy in shining armor.
If a game is designed in a way, that PvE is so pathetic, that it is just a formality to get to the end game, and PvP is so badly balanced it requires no skill and experience gives no advantage over new players, then I don't play this game, so still - those players have no influence over me.
Is that a rhetorical question? Is there really someone who suffers because of that. Well, stop playing crappy games.
I agree but are we conditioned so much that we cant tell a crappy game ?
Brilliant PVE captivates us maybe its just my obsessive compulsive side but I tend to play more crap then good these days though I make it a point to play a new game weekly so I don't miss anything new out there.
Could be I don't focus on just 1 game (there are exceptions what I call screensavers like eve online and lotro that are always installed on my Rig.
And yes I have a problem luckily I can afford my habit of too many Subs.
Current games; Star treck online Rift Eve online Firefall
I went with "no" simply because in my experience it doesn't bother me, however I have had discussion with folks that are a bit "put off" by this trend. I respect those feelings, but I do feel if you ran this same poll in EQ 2, Rift, or WoW, you might very well see a similar set of responses you're seeing here.
The problem with purchasing a level 85 or a level 90 character may very well be if the person that purchases said level is a completely new player to that mmo. Then you would see some problems with pick-up dungeon runs, especially if that character is a healer or a tank. In truth though, looking at the mmo's that currently have this and are planning this, there aren't nearly as many true new players coming on-board these games. This means, to my way of seeing it, as actual experienced gamers wanting to get a chance to run with their guild or friends in- game. Experienced players understand the ui set-up and spell rotations better than someone unfamiliar with the game, thus they "learn" quicker and the deficit is much lower.
Just my two cents, cyrician
Alyn
All I want is the truth Just gimme some truth John Lennon
Originally posted by donpopuki I'm selling level 100 characters for my pernonnely developed MMO for just $50 a toon. Another $50 gets you best in slot raid gear. For another $100 you'll get a personnel Skype "you win party!".
Translation: "I don't understand."
I understand plenty. I understand some competitive types are obsessed with winning. I say go ahead and offer the max level toons, I won't buy but if someone wants to short cut their game experience then go ahead. On a side note I think leveling as we know it might be on its way out. In GW2 you get to scale down and EQN there are supposed to have no levels. Locking out people from playing with each other on equal footing has always been a problem in MMOs. I just think its awful they are monetizing on a design failure.
I don't like it in PvP games, because I feel it's unfair. In PvE games, while I am not thrilled by it, it's less of an issue. We'll all hit max level eventually.
Let's put a different twist on this question. What if I already have a max-level character? The biggest argument is that people buying these are missing the whole game. However, what if you've already played through the game? Maybe you want to try a different role? Maybe you want to try a different class?
Unfortunately, there is really not enough differentiation in content between classes to justify the time spent leveling alt characters (spoken from someone who has 4 level 90 characters in WoW and another 2 over 80). Ignoring the story or lore part of it, what about class changes? I mean rarely are there such drastic changes to a class that would make you not want to play it anymore, but if there was, then you're basically snookered.
I voted No based on the notion of "fairness". I don't think you'll see this feature in new games because they really DO want you to play through the content. I think this option is, really, aimed at people already playing the game who want to roll a new character class or something like that, but want to keep their current toon as well. I mean I can pay $25 each for a class & faction change as it is right now, so why not offer me an option to buy a character at $50 instead? I think that people are taking this as a way for developers to bring in new customers, but I really don't think it is. I think this is more geared towards renewing interest of existing clients. That's always easiest anyway. Chances are, if they haven't peaked your interest with their game yet, then offering an insta-level feature and increasing your financial barrier to entry isn't going to really sway your decision to not play.
It is going to happen it is only a matter of when. I personally can't wait, I am tired of grinding out toons. I have ground out enough toons to last me a lifetime. I just want to get into endgame where all the fun is at, FOR ME.
"The King and the Pawn return to the same box at the end of the game"
now now company are selling maxed chars with basic gear like the private servers do? or they will also sell top grade gear by cash? truth be told sooner or later people will ask if the dude bought the cahr or lvled it, since bought ones never know how to play his char right it would be his loss.
but again I have to ask, company are jsut telling us they lvling process in they game are that boring tehy offer players to pay to skip that all? sooner they will make lvling impossible to reach max lvl unless you pay, and the fun part is most player with the excuse of not having time or having life (yeah right), are ok with it, then I remember one dev who did get a nice and huge backlash for giving the player chance to skip all combat in the game.... because the game is jsut for the story not the gameplay.
damn how I miss the old days when game was made not only to tell a good story, but for you to play and have fun, be it fighting a hard boss or lvling it up...
now now company are selling maxed chars with basic gear like the private servers do? or they will also sell top grade gear by cash? truth be told sooner or later people will ask if the dude bought the cahr or lvled it, since bought ones never know how to play his char right it would be his loss.
but again I have to ask, company are jsut telling us they lvling process in they game are that boring tehy offer players to pay to skip that all? sooner they will make lvling impossible to reach max lvl unless you pay, and the fun part is most player with the excuse of not having time or having life (yeah right), are ok with it, then I remember one dev who did get a nice and huge backlash for giving the player chance to skip all combat in the game.... because the game is jsut for the story not the gameplay.
damn how I miss the old days when game was made not only to tell a good story, but for you to play and have fun, be it fighting a hard boss or lvling it up...
I have seen/played with more people that played their characters for 60-70-80-90 levels and still have no clue how to play their characters than those that either borrowed/bought toons and had no clue. Playing my toon for 100 levels is just silly to think that is what makes me know how to play. I could pick up a max toon of any profession in any game and play it proficiently after a week, just saying. MMO's are not that complicated bro.
"The King and the Pawn return to the same box at the end of the game"
now now company are selling maxed chars with basic gear like the private servers do? or they will also sell top grade gear by cash? truth be told sooner or later people will ask if the dude bought the cahr or lvled it, since bought ones never know how to play his char right it would be his loss.
but again I have to ask, company are jsut telling us they lvling process in they game are that boring tehy offer players to pay to skip that all? sooner they will make lvling impossible to reach max lvl unless you pay, and the fun part is most player with the excuse of not having time or having life (yeah right), are ok with it, then I remember one dev who did get a nice and huge backlash for giving the player chance to skip all combat in the game.... because the game is jsut for the story not the gameplay.
damn how I miss the old days when game was made not only to tell a good story, but for you to play and have fun, be it fighting a hard boss or lvling it up...
I have seen/played with more people that played their characters for 60-70-80-90 levels and still have no clue how to play their characters than those that either borrowed/bought toons and had no clue. Playing my toon for 100 levels is just silly to think that is what makes me know how to play. I could pick up a max toon of any profession in any game and play it proficiently after a week, just saying. MMO's are not that complicated bro.
I agree. Give me 20 minutes with a max-level toon and I'll be more than competent. Also agree with the people who leveled to max that have no clue at end game. That could be down to people just playing solo. Tanks especially, they forget to build up threat/aggro as they didn't need to when soloing.
Its just cutting out the middle man. Asian gold farmers have been selling max level characters for years now, the studios are just trying to take the profits back for themselves.
It might be worth while in an older MMO such as WOW and EQ2. Both have established communities and I'm sure many people have alts at max level. Also it may be hard to level your toon when all the leveling zones are empty. Offering max level toons at or near launch of the game is poor design.
now now company are selling maxed chars with basic gear like the private servers do? or they will also sell top grade gear by cash? truth be told sooner or later people will ask if the dude bought the cahr or lvled it, since bought ones never know how to play his char right it would be his loss.
but again I have to ask, company are jsut telling us they lvling process in they game are that boring tehy offer players to pay to skip that all? sooner they will make lvling impossible to reach max lvl unless you pay, and the fun part is most player with the excuse of not having time or having life (yeah right), are ok with it, then I remember one dev who did get a nice and huge backlash for giving the player chance to skip all combat in the game.... because the game is jsut for the story not the gameplay.
damn how I miss the old days when game was made not only to tell a good story, but for you to play and have fun, be it fighting a hard boss or lvling it up...
I have seen/played with more people that played their characters for 60-70-80-90 levels and still have no clue how to play their characters than those that either borrowed/bought toons and had no clue. Playing my toon for 100 levels is just silly to think that is what makes me know how to play. I could pick up a max toon of any profession in any game and play it proficiently after a week, just saying. MMO's are not that complicated bro.
I agree. Give me 20 minutes with a max-level toon and I'll be more than competent. Also agree with the people who leveled to max that have no clue at end game. That could be down to people just playing solo. Tanks especially, they forget to build up threat/aggro as they didn't need to when soloing.
or so what you both say, too bad I will not belive, top runing guild sure will also not belive
now now company are selling maxed chars with basic gear like the private servers do? or they will also sell top grade gear by cash? truth be told sooner or later people will ask if the dude bought the cahr or lvled it, since bought ones never know how to play his char right it would be his loss.
but again I have to ask, company are jsut telling us they lvling process in they game are that boring tehy offer players to pay to skip that all? sooner they will make lvling impossible to reach max lvl unless you pay, and the fun part is most player with the excuse of not having time or having life (yeah right), are ok with it, then I remember one dev who did get a nice and huge backlash for giving the player chance to skip all combat in the game.... because the game is jsut for the story not the gameplay.
damn how I miss the old days when game was made not only to tell a good story, but for you to play and have fun, be it fighting a hard boss or lvling it up...
I have seen/played with more people that played their characters for 60-70-80-90 levels and still have no clue how to play their characters than those that either borrowed/bought toons and had no clue. Playing my toon for 100 levels is just silly to think that is what makes me know how to play. I could pick up a max toon of any profession in any game and play it proficiently after a week, just saying. MMO's are not that complicated bro.
I agree. Give me 20 minutes with a max-level toon and I'll be more than competent. Also agree with the people who leveled to max that have no clue at end game. That could be down to people just playing solo. Tanks especially, they forget to build up threat/aggro as they didn't need to when soloing.
or so what you both say, too bad I will not belive, top runing guild sure will also not belive
With the abundance of guides, videos, and turorials for how to play every class, in every game, a little practice is all it would take for an experienced MMO player, they all mostly play the same anyway (Neverwinter has thrown me a curveball with healing ill admit). A player new to mmos would benefit from the full leveling experience. As long as you are familiar with the game a max class should able to be picked up fairly fast.
Top guilds? most players will never get into a "Top" guild anyway, or really try to, they tend to be smaller and more exclusive regardless.
now now company are selling maxed chars with basic gear like the private servers do? or they will also sell top grade gear by cash? truth be told sooner or later people will ask if the dude bought the cahr or lvled it, since bought ones never know how to play his char right it would be his loss.
but again I have to ask, company are jsut telling us they lvling process in they game are that boring tehy offer players to pay to skip that all? sooner they will make lvling impossible to reach max lvl unless you pay, and the fun part is most player with the excuse of not having time or having life (yeah right), are ok with it, then I remember one dev who did get a nice and huge backlash for giving the player chance to skip all combat in the game.... because the game is jsut for the story not the gameplay.
damn how I miss the old days when game was made not only to tell a good story, but for you to play and have fun, be it fighting a hard boss or lvling it up...
I have seen/played with more people that played their characters for 60-70-80-90 levels and still have no clue how to play their characters than those that either borrowed/bought toons and had no clue. Playing my toon for 100 levels is just silly to think that is what makes me know how to play. I could pick up a max toon of any profession in any game and play it proficiently after a week, just saying. MMO's are not that complicated bro.
I agree. Give me 20 minutes with a max-level toon and I'll be more than competent. Also agree with the people who leveled to max that have no clue at end game. That could be down to people just playing solo. Tanks especially, they forget to build up threat/aggro as they didn't need to when soloing.
or so what you both say, too bad I will not belive, top runing guild sure will also not belive
With the abundance of guides, videos, and turorials for how to play every class, in every game, a little practice is all it would take for an experienced MMO player, they all mostly play the same anyway (Neverwinter has thrown me a curveball with healing ill admit). A player new to mmos would benefit from the full leveling experience. As long as you are familiar with the game a max class should able to be picked up fairly fast.
Top guilds? most players will never get into a "Top" guild anyway, or really try to, they tend to be smaller and more exclusive regardless.
Yep. When I say competent in 20 minutes, I'm talking PvE. That shit's easy. PvP on the other hand, a different matter.
I think it's fair, most MMOs have improved content significantly over expansions and honestly the older content just feels like a grind compared to the new ones. Being able to skip it and get to the good stuff for a price isn't really a bad thing. I find leveling up and doing boring quests fairly tedious. The "journey" is boring in most MMOs (including old school ones like Everquest and FFXI) and I'd rather just skip to the destination as sadly the true journey begins at endgame (I have yet to see a MMO where the content is as compelling at low level as it is at endgame). I'd still rather play through the entire game to get acquainted with the characters and progression systems, but I don't have a problem with people wanting to skip content especially if it's not their first character.
SoE does not offer max level characters, but characters close to max. You still have to level up those characters near the endgame.
I think it's a bad move. One reason to level up isn't just to get the gear but to learn your place in a group. It's to learn your class and learn it's moves, abilities, and try to fine tune your charecter so you can play it to the best of it's abilities. You throw someone to level 85/90 into an area that is hard to Solo and you're asking for disaster. Just because a tank plays well a certain way in Game A doesn't mean it'll play the same in Game B. An inexperienced player paying his way to max level will kill a group because he, more than likely, won't know what he is doing.
As far as it being fair for those who played to the max, I think it can be seen as a slap in the face of those that spent countless hours grouping, grinding, questing their way up the ranks, but all in all, they know what they're doing, they know their toon, and they have the experience to back them. And I won't mention the monthly sub they spent for how ever many years they spent getting to where they are. I see this ploy as just another way for companies to squeeze that little bit more money out of players because the ones that do spend that SC or whatnot to insta-max-level will see that they won't...well, to be blunt...be welcomed for the fact that they lack alot of experience that they in essence need to be able to properly fill a role in any high level group.
Originally posted by donpopuki It might be worth while in an older MMO such as WOW and EQ2. Both have established communities and I'm sure many people have alts at max level. Also it may be hard to level your toon when all the leveling zones are empty. Offering max level toons at or near launch of the game is poor design.
I agree with this. Older MMO's I understand more than new MMO's. Either way I don't really like it. Whether people will admit it or not MMO's are partially about accomplishment and showing off those accomplishments to other people. There is not much accomplishment for anyone the second they start selling max level toons.
Personaly I feel this defeats the purpose of playing the game as it's the journey that I enjoy
This is pretty much sums it up, rpg's are all about the journey.
This is based on the erroneous assumption that everyone enjoys the same thing. Sure, you enjoy the journey. Feel fee to level up 10 alts on the same content.
There are those who enjoy end-game pvp, or pve. For them, sales of max level characters is a good thing.
It is silly to assume that every part of every MMO is entertaining to everyone. That is just not possible. This is just another way of letting people choosing which part they want to play. Choices are good.
Personaly I feel this defeats the purpose of playing the game as it's the journey that I enjoy
This is pretty much sums it up, rpg's are all about the journey.
This is based on the erroneous assumption that everyone enjoys the same thing. Sure, you enjoy the journey. Feel fee to level up 10 alts on the same content.
Thx, do that all the time (ok, sometimes with more than 10 alts).
As for the This is based on the erroneous assumption that everyone enjoys the same thing. part, who said that? If you'd read my post I wrote exactly that I know the trend, and the weight is at the "endgame is the real game" players. We will see less and less leveling in the future as the playerbase is keep changing, and of course everyone enjoys different things.
That's why I don't like this trend of giving away jumpstarted characters, because it's only accelerating the process above. I'd like to enjoy the leveling for at least a few more years, before mmorpg's will lose the rpg part forever and turning into lame DotA clones, with a short tutorial and then the so-called "endgame" grind right away... Sadly that's the future.
I think people are forgetting that blizzard pretty much already did this with Death Knights. Not a true max level for the time, 1 expansion behind, but people were still able to learn the class.
Comments
I don't like the precedent it sets. Cosmetic items have always just been a sideshow of the game, no impact one way or the other. This is outright skipping parts of the game. Don't get me wrong, I have 2 90's and 4 85+'s, I get the appeal of skipping junk I've done multiple times.
But it opens doors to things like "Well, I just bought a 90, I wish I could get him epic flight and the other licenses but my mains are too poor, maybe Blizz should sell gold or at least the licenses for flight."
"I paid to jump to 90, what makes Blizzard think I want to go back to all the low level areas I just skipped to level professions? They should come with the character, or at least allow them to be sold in the shop."
It's a precedent that just sets up all sorts of possibilities and I'm pretty certain that as long as they don't sell current content character and gear, people will defend it.
On the other hand, people already go to third party sites for powerleveling and have been since always. They also buy accounts, so from a business perspective it's stupid to let others make money when you could make it yourself, while simultaneously making the entire process safer because people won't be giving out account info so powerlevelers can log in to their account.
Ahh sorry about that , I will fix I was on my Ipad so I could only se half what I was writing. It was not my intention.
Current games;
Star treck online
Rift
Eve online
Firefall
It's not a question of it being fair, but about what it says about their game and their playerbase.
PS: EVEs way is better, at least in their systems there is no added value to the ingame economy when someone buys a high lvl char.
I agree but are we conditioned so much that we cant tell a crappy game ?
Brilliant PVE captivates us maybe its just my obsessive compulsive side but I tend to play more crap then good these days though I make it a point to play a new game weekly so I don't miss anything new out there.
Could be I don't focus on just 1 game (there are exceptions what I call screensavers like eve online and lotro that are always installed on my Rig.
And yes I have a problem luckily I can afford my habit of too many Subs.
Current games;
Star treck online
Rift
Eve online
Firefall
Hi Cyrician,
I went with "no" simply because in my experience it doesn't bother me, however I have had discussion with folks that are a bit "put off" by this trend. I respect those feelings, but I do feel if you ran this same poll in EQ 2, Rift, or WoW, you might very well see a similar set of responses you're seeing here.
The problem with purchasing a level 85 or a level 90 character may very well be if the person that purchases said level is a completely new player to that mmo. Then you would see some problems with pick-up dungeon runs, especially if that character is a healer or a tank. In truth though, looking at the mmo's that currently have this and are planning this, there aren't nearly as many true new players coming on-board these games. This means, to my way of seeing it, as actual experienced gamers wanting to get a chance to run with their guild or friends in- game. Experienced players understand the ui set-up and spell rotations better than someone unfamiliar with the game, thus they "learn" quicker and the deficit is much lower.
Just my two cents, cyrician
Alyn
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
John Lennon
I understand plenty. I understand some competitive types are obsessed with winning. I say go ahead and offer the max level toons, I won't buy but if someone wants to short cut their game experience then go ahead. On a side note I think leveling as we know it might be on its way out. In GW2 you get to scale down and EQN there are supposed to have no levels. Locking out people from playing with each other on equal footing has always been a problem in MMOs. I just think its awful they are monetizing on a design failure.
https://www.therepopulation.com - Sci Fi Sandbox.
Let's put a different twist on this question. What if I already have a max-level character? The biggest argument is that people buying these are missing the whole game. However, what if you've already played through the game? Maybe you want to try a different role? Maybe you want to try a different class?
Unfortunately, there is really not enough differentiation in content between classes to justify the time spent leveling alt characters (spoken from someone who has 4 level 90 characters in WoW and another 2 over 80). Ignoring the story or lore part of it, what about class changes? I mean rarely are there such drastic changes to a class that would make you not want to play it anymore, but if there was, then you're basically snookered.
I voted No based on the notion of "fairness". I don't think you'll see this feature in new games because they really DO want you to play through the content. I think this option is, really, aimed at people already playing the game who want to roll a new character class or something like that, but want to keep their current toon as well. I mean I can pay $25 each for a class & faction change as it is right now, so why not offer me an option to buy a character at $50 instead? I think that people are taking this as a way for developers to bring in new customers, but I really don't think it is. I think this is more geared towards renewing interest of existing clients. That's always easiest anyway. Chances are, if they haven't peaked your interest with their game yet, then offering an insta-level feature and increasing your financial barrier to entry isn't going to really sway your decision to not play.
Crazkanuk
----------------
Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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now now company are selling maxed chars with basic gear like the private servers do? or they will also sell top grade gear by cash? truth be told sooner or later people will ask if the dude bought the cahr or lvled it, since bought ones never know how to play his char right it would be his loss.
but again I have to ask, company are jsut telling us they lvling process in they game are that boring tehy offer players to pay to skip that all? sooner they will make lvling impossible to reach max lvl unless you pay, and the fun part is most player with the excuse of not having time or having life (yeah right), are ok with it, then I remember one dev who did get a nice and huge backlash for giving the player chance to skip all combat in the game.... because the game is jsut for the story not the gameplay.
damn how I miss the old days when game was made not only to tell a good story, but for you to play and have fun, be it fighting a hard boss or lvling it up...
I have seen/played with more people that played their characters for 60-70-80-90 levels and still have no clue how to play their characters than those that either borrowed/bought toons and had no clue. Playing my toon for 100 levels is just silly to think that is what makes me know how to play. I could pick up a max toon of any profession in any game and play it proficiently after a week, just saying. MMO's are not that complicated bro.
I agree. Give me 20 minutes with a max-level toon and I'll be more than competent. Also agree with the people who leveled to max that have no clue at end game. That could be down to people just playing solo. Tanks especially, they forget to build up threat/aggro as they didn't need to when soloing.
or so what you both say, too bad I will not belive, top runing guild sure will also not belive
With the abundance of guides, videos, and turorials for how to play every class, in every game, a little practice is all it would take for an experienced MMO player, they all mostly play the same anyway (Neverwinter has thrown me a curveball with healing ill admit). A player new to mmos would benefit from the full leveling experience. As long as you are familiar with the game a max class should able to be picked up fairly fast.
Top guilds? most players will never get into a "Top" guild anyway, or really try to, they tend to be smaller and more exclusive regardless.
Yep. When I say competent in 20 minutes, I'm talking PvE. That shit's easy. PvP on the other hand, a different matter.
I think it's fair, most MMOs have improved content significantly over expansions and honestly the older content just feels like a grind compared to the new ones. Being able to skip it and get to the good stuff for a price isn't really a bad thing. I find leveling up and doing boring quests fairly tedious. The "journey" is boring in most MMOs (including old school ones like Everquest and FFXI) and I'd rather just skip to the destination as sadly the true journey begins at endgame (I have yet to see a MMO where the content is as compelling at low level as it is at endgame). I'd still rather play through the entire game to get acquainted with the characters and progression systems, but I don't have a problem with people wanting to skip content especially if it's not their first character.
SoE does not offer max level characters, but characters close to max. You still have to level up those characters near the endgame.
I think it's a bad move. One reason to level up isn't just to get the gear but to learn your place in a group. It's to learn your class and learn it's moves, abilities, and try to fine tune your charecter so you can play it to the best of it's abilities. You throw someone to level 85/90 into an area that is hard to Solo and you're asking for disaster. Just because a tank plays well a certain way in Game A doesn't mean it'll play the same in Game B. An inexperienced player paying his way to max level will kill a group because he, more than likely, won't know what he is doing.
As far as it being fair for those who played to the max, I think it can be seen as a slap in the face of those that spent countless hours grouping, grinding, questing their way up the ranks, but all in all, they know what they're doing, they know their toon, and they have the experience to back them. And I won't mention the monthly sub they spent for how ever many years they spent getting to where they are. I see this ploy as just another way for companies to squeeze that little bit more money out of players because the ones that do spend that SC or whatnot to insta-max-level will see that they won't...well, to be blunt...be welcomed for the fact that they lack alot of experience that they in essence need to be able to properly fill a role in any high level group.
I agree with this. Older MMO's I understand more than new MMO's. Either way I don't really like it. Whether people will admit it or not MMO's are partially about accomplishment and showing off those accomplishments to other people. There is not much accomplishment for anyone the second they start selling max level toons.
This is based on the erroneous assumption that everyone enjoys the same thing. Sure, you enjoy the journey. Feel fee to level up 10 alts on the same content.
There are those who enjoy end-game pvp, or pve. For them, sales of max level characters is a good thing.
It is silly to assume that every part of every MMO is entertaining to everyone. That is just not possible. This is just another way of letting people choosing which part they want to play. Choices are good.
As for the This is based on the erroneous assumption that everyone enjoys the same thing. part, who said that? If you'd read my post I wrote exactly that I know the trend, and the weight is at the "endgame is the real game" players. We will see less and less leveling in the future as the playerbase is keep changing, and of course everyone enjoys different things.
That's why I don't like this trend of giving away jumpstarted characters, because it's only accelerating the process above. I'd like to enjoy the leveling for at least a few more years, before mmorpg's will lose the rpg part forever and turning into lame DotA clones, with a short tutorial and then the so-called "endgame" grind right away... Sadly that's the future.