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Semi-instanced content: how to make instances more sandboxish.
maccarthur2004
Member UncommonPosts: 511
Everyone knows that instances go frontally againts all the realism, sandboxiness and world feeling of a mmo. So a sandbox cannot have any instanced content. However, there is ONE advantage in instances: they avoid the overcrowd of a dungeon and allow a more tactical, teatralized and "dramatic" approach of a dungeon content.
So, how can we keep this single advantage in a dungeon while it is still open world and sandboxy: Simple... we make a open world dungeon with restrictions in its entrance!
The entrance could be some sort of magic gate where the players could fight to be the first to enter there (could be a kind of base control pvp). The first raid leader to enter could so bring together all the members of his raid and start the dungeon progress without be molested by others. If the raid be wiped, they would be carried out the dungeon and another fight proccess to enter would start. The second raid group to enter would continue FROM where the previous stopped.
These semi-instanced dungeons could be epic events that respawn only once a day (or once a week, like the epic bosses of Lineage 2) and give a big amount of reward for what would be worth wait and fight.
Comments
SWG is largely considered one of the sandboxiest wide open titles that has been released in this genre. It had instanced content. Long before the NGE... It never devalued the rest. Just thought I'd throw that out because of this line.
"Everyone knows that instances go frontally againts all the realism, sandboxiness and world feeling of a mmo. So a sandbox cannot have any instanced content"
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
why make instances more sandboxish? The whole point of instances is NOT to be like sandbox, and be a better (to me) game.
I have no intention to play a game that i need to fight with others to get into a dungeon. I want a game that when i want to go in a dungeon ... i do so at the click of a button, depending on no one else.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin
Yes, but still much more sandboxish than current instances we are used to see.
yeah mmos are catering more and more to those ppl that want to cut down on the "boring" parts and get insta ported to the "fun stuff"....
I don't find load screen after load screen, coupled with the ever tinier worlds that still give the feeling of an overall lack of other people that fun myself, but to each their own.
That is why it is a BAD idea for my enjoyment.
Yeh .. that is why i came back to MMOs.
More fun is good.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
In all honestly i don't see how you could utilize instancing in a sandboxish way. But that does not mean that you can't have instanced content in a sandbox game(not everything have to be sandboxish). Although i personally don't need or want any instances in my sandbox game... i just don't see any advantage.. though i am not a raider, and always liked pvp enabled big open dungeons(DF, UO dungeons) a lot more.
But, the bigger problem is more often than not what goes with instancing(dungeons, raids), and that is loot distribution, and the neccesary progression raiders need. And both don't fit in well in a sandbox game.
I don't mind a 15-30 second "down-time" when cut-scene events move the story forward.
Anything that bores me is too "sour". For me, of course.
Ugh.
Better to find a way to remove instances so people can play together.
If people who to play with any stranger who come along, instances would not have been invented in the first place.
Personally, i don't want to play with random strangers without my control. I prefer instances much more than open world.
Yeah some people insist that mmorpg be diablo clones and the like and insist this is step forwards instead of a step backwards. lol
Some think their preferences means evolution of gaming if all genres adapt the same gameplay and if we dont agree it's because we can't "adapt" lmao
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
"insist" is a strong word .. but certainly it is a preference, just like any other.
This/
The secret is to make dungeon vast and not the 1-2 hour dungeons we have today. Vanguard has some vast dungeon that span many level, dungeons within dungeons that take days to finish and in some cases weeks.
No need for instanced dungeons if done right.
Whether the game use instances or not has no bearing on game being a sandbox.
nah .. either you have to walk a long time before seeing anything interesting, or it will be too long to fight through.
Instances are much better ... more control ... no need to bump into others.
Well instances is certainly not a step forward for all genres would you not agree?
Keep in mind I like diablo, I also like ddo which is more of a lobby game than a proper mmorpg but that doesn't mean I always want to play game like that or a that I'm always in the mood for quick action fixes.
Sometimes I want to immerse myself in a full rich world full of other people not knowing if I am going to ganked while collecting herbs or other things for my crafting, sometimes I wanted to just wander around a huge seamless world and maybe run into some people I can rob or other bandits I can go after for a nice bounty etc etc
I enjoy both genres...
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
It is a step forward for people who like that kind of gameplay.
Genre is just a convenient label .... people are still debating if DDO is a MMORPG.
But would you not agree instance is a step forward and innovation in gameplay design?