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A more immersive experience
sleeping1252
Member Posts: 16
Here is what I believe needs to be changed in order to have a successful immersive experience in the game. Currently, we have an overwhelming number of players per phase. I am not sure the technicalities of how phases are capped or created.
1) Cut the number of players per phase by a large amount. We don't need to see ~15 players at a spawn. I understand that "all players are on the same page," but the way phasing works has me worried for the final product.
Take a look at WoW. On release day, everyone chooses a server and starts together. It's overcrowded, as expected. This player load goes all the way to 60. 5 months later, everyone is in higher level zones and the lower zones are empty (this is an example, not truth). Now going through the lower zones seems a little more immersive because there aren't thousands of people killing King Dramur and saving the day.
Now at ESO. All players are on the same server. In the beginning it's overcrowded, as expected. Players that started on release day are at max level in a month or two. Now, different from WoW, when you make a new character, you're not in an empty zone. You're still in a very crowded zone. Even at any given time, if ~200 people are on a starting island (which with a game this popular, WILL be the case for several several months), and will all be put in the same phase because of the cap being as high as it is now.
I fear we will never have not-overcrowded zones. If it will be different on release, great, I'll cross it off my list.
2) Allow us to choose if only our personal group members can be in our phase for caves, mines, public dungeons, etc. Public dungeons could be instantly transformed into an awesome duo-trio experience with this option, even at release! Instead of groups of 20 players facerolling through the whole thing.
I once walked through one of the starting public dungeons without killing one enemy. What the hell is that?
3) PVP. If we are sneaking, get rid of the HELLO I AM RIGHT HERE I AM ON RED TEAM, CHECK IT OUT button over our heads. Are you serious? The stealth game could be PERFECT if you added this little tid bit:
If you are sneaking, the only way a player can see the big team identifier over your head is by scrolling over you. Boom. Done. It's easy. We don't need to turn invisible, or anything like that for it to work. If I am hiding behind a rock, and you can't see me, then you can't see my identifier. If I am on your peripheral and you don't notice my character, I remain hidden. With these huge identifiers, you can't hide. It could be so easily fixed.
That's it for me for now. Off to work.
Comments
OI completely agree. Very nice writeup. However, I also believe that there's such a level of narcissism that goes on in the creation of mmorpgs (or possibly anything for that matter) that the most common sense changes aren't even considered. Of course there shouldn't be a giant identifier over someone's head in the case of the pvp game. Of course seeing 200 people in your quest zone is a god-awful experience that only the rich, young, and unemployed tend to avoid because they reach cap so quickly.
It's frustrating. We are all still living in a cave when it comes to how these games are made.
You just described the Launch of every MMO game ever released.
You should have seen FFXIV release, there was so many people around an NPC you couldn't even click on an NPC.
In ESO you are actually able to see and talk to the NPC which removes all players around the NPC from the cutscenes and talking to NPC.. This is the best your going to get in an MMORPG launch.
This confuses me. If you are hiding, they won't see you. Now if you're hiding in plain site, using heaven armor etc. you have a greater chance of being seen. I had a group of over 30 guys swarm over me. I hid between a rock and a tree, keeping myself as much out of LOS as possible. I was detected at one point but no one saw me. Luckily no one saw me come out of hiding. I waited and slipped back into hiding. The indicator is there to help differentiate the enemy. The hide system helps take into account things like auditory giveaways like the type of armor you're wearing. IE- wear light if you want to do a lot of sneaking.