What is the worst common feature in modern MMOs?

bartliolio

While there are plenty of things that can be praised about the strides games have made the past 5-10 years, not all changes have been for the better. What are some features or systems in MMORPGs that you absolutely loathe?

For me: Daily quests that are mandatory for progression.

I am not the type of person to read a novel, watch a movie, or play a game more than once-- so I hate when an MMO asks me to do the same quest  chain over and over again. I would rather mindlessly kill a monster 100x then have to repeat a quest multiple times.

xAPOCx

The worst common feature is this...

 

                    

Foomerang

I don't like in game cash shops. I didn't mind it as much when they were only on the main website. But with buttons in my menu bar, or reminder popups, or just a straight up in game npc that can take your real money. Bleh no thanks.

bartliolio

Originally posted by xAPOCx

The worst common feature is this...

 

                    

So does this mean you'd prefer to have to speak to each npc individually to find out what their "quests" are? Not saying that's a bad thing, but this is a feature that's even bled into traditional RPGS and Action RPGS. 

What is the alternative you'd prefer?

bartliolio

Originally posted by Foomerang

I don't like in game cash shops. I didn't mind it as much when they were only on the main website. But with buttons in my menu bar, or reminder popups, or just a straight up in game npc that can take your real money. Bleh no thanks.

Oh and when you can't customize the UI to remove the "Shop" button... it's definitely annoying. I am sure they design it that way on purpose though, because they want you to always be aware that you can buy yourself convenience. 

ryvendark

I'm finding levels are something I like less and less. It gates so much of the content and makes the whole world seem like it's on rails. It kills any real exploration because you can only really go to the zones you're the right level for. You can only play with people of your level and only do what the game tells you, you can do at that level. And once you level past something you never have any reason to ever go back.

It also means that end game is limited to the very small scope of activities they provide because everything else is lower level.

deniter

Linear gameplay.

Playing through predefined tunnel of quests and events that ends eventually and gives you an option to participate on whatever type of an endgame a game has to offer is by far the worst feature in modern MMOs.

This kind of gameplay is fine in SPGs but MMOs should offer more freedom.

Colt47

Originally posted by bartliolio

Originally posted by xAPOCx

The worst common feature is this...

 

                    

So does this mean you'd prefer to have to speak to each npc individually to find out what their "quests" are? Not saying that's a bad thing, but this is a feature that's even bled into traditional RPGS and Action RPGS. 

What is the alternative you'd prefer?

the problem with the quest marker is that if people are more interested in looking around for orange exclamation points than freely chatting with NPCs that doesn't bode well for how interesting the actual game world is.  When I play The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker, there aren't any exclamation points, yet I still manage to find all the quests because it's interesting to talk to the island inhabitants.  It's hard to say the same about the NPCs in many MMORPGs.

itchmon

for me it's one thing above all others in terms of features that are an abomination.

 

group-finder/raid-finder....

 

I think of the 10 or so people i met in EQ 12 years ago that i still talk to to this day, 9 of them i met through getting a group together the old fashioned way:  by communicating.

 

also, when GF are available somehow the overland population disappears in some MMOs.  last time i went to azeroth, i was on a high pop server but saw very few people because everyone was in a groupfinder dungeon.

 

For a runner-up i will go with pets and outfits that are asynchronous with the rest of the game, such as the motorcars in Archeage (which i am still looking forward to despite said cars)

MacShwangus

Quests.

bartliolio

Originally posted by ryvendark

I'm finding levels are something I like less and less. It gates so much of the content and makes the whole world seem like it's on rails. It kills any real exploration because you can only really go to the zones you're the right level for. You can only play with people of your level and only do what the game tells you, you can do at that level. And once you level past something you never have any reason to ever go back.

It also means that end game is limited to the very small scope of activities they provide because everything else is lower level.

I was starting to think about this a lot too-- I don't know if you would know of it, but there was once a PVP-only MMO called Fury that took this concept to the extreme. It's implementation was a bit lacking, but it was the closest to a level-less MMO that I have seen.

Honestly I wouldn't mind a game that has a series of increasingly difficult (skill difficulty, not artificial stat difficulty) content. 

Arglebargle

Static spawns of both mobs and resources.   Leads to utterly predictable situations.   And a host of issues. 

zach_b

Trammel.

azzamasin

For me it would have to be linearity in design.  From linear quests, to linear zones.

 

I want the freedom to go where I want, when I want.

Joeyjojoshabadu

Originally posted by bartliolio

Originally posted by xAPOCx

The worst common feature is this...

 

                    

So does this mean you'd prefer to have to speak to each npc individually to find out what their "quests" are? Not saying that's a bad thing, but this is a feature that's even bled into traditional RPGS and Action RPGS. 

What is the alternative you'd prefer?

I think it's a bit of a crutch. A good idea may be for devs to design a game to be fun and engaging at its core, without any quests - then add quests later. Use them as enhancements rather than core gameplay.

rojoArcueid

Originally posted by bartliolio

Originally posted by xAPOCx

The worst common feature is this...

 

                    

So does this mean you'd prefer to have to speak to each npc individually to find out what their "quests" are? Not saying that's a bad thing, but this is a feature that's even bled into traditional RPGS and Action RPGS. 

What is the alternative you'd prefer?

the problem is not seeing the ! sign for easy access to tasks. The ! only tells you who has a task for you. The problem is the generic task system of leveling and story telling. Story telling needs to be told with epic quests, not boring and generic tasks. And if the leveling of your character is tied to it then that makes questing even more important than most features in an mmo. It needs to be well done.

So that is the worst common feature in mmos, the horrible boring generic task collection simulator. Until they start breaking that mold and coming up with different ways to tell the story AND progressing your character then they will all make the same boring mmo over and over.

There is already enough evidence out there, many mmos adding X feature, Y feature, Z feature, and all of them feel the same because 90% of the game relies on questing to reach max level and they all feel like the same boring game. That is what needs to change. GW2 focused on fixing that but while it feels fresher than the rest of generic tasks it still didnt get far enough. More companies need to take leveling and questing to the next level if they want a fresh themepark mmo again.

Jemcrystal

2 things - lagg & repetition

 

Lag - pretty self explan.  Only thing I can add is not everyone is using a decent PC.  Fix this (nicely) and we fix half the problem.

 

Repetition - "there's nothing new under the sun"  Ec1:9 - Holy Bible.  I can personally think of a hundred new ways to plot an mmo but devs just keep repeating the same damn package.  New paint job, same old garage.

Nadia

private instancing / phasing

- where you can see only your group and no one else

Kuviski

Probably dungeon finders.

The concept of automated group finding alone isn't the problem, but the teleportation and extra rewards are.

To paraphrase a videoblogger who likes to rant about modern MMORPGs, not many things are as immersion breaking as when you play, say, a warrior character who can never learn to create portals or teleport himself around the world because he is not a wizard, but when this warrior hits level X, they can suddenly magically teleport to any dungeon of the appropriate level.

iixviiiix

Originally posted by Nadia

private instancing / phasing

- where you can see only your group and no one else

Agree , if there are worst feature in MMOGames , it's instance

 

cerulean2012

Originally posted by Gorwe

Top 3 off the top of my head:

1. Tasks masquerading as Quests: There is nothing more aggravating than having to do these constantly one after another. When the game asks you to do them AGAIN just because you wanted to experience another way of playing the game(alt) it becomes EXTREMELY OBNOXIOUS. Leveling shouldn't be so tied to the quests imo.

2. Skill Design: We have 2 thoughts of game design as you are assuredly aware. PvE players want diverse classes with as much fluff as possible(think of EQ or Vanguard). They also want synergistic skill design where one class naturally relies on another. Then we have PvP players who want classes and their skills to be design as uniform and as simple as possible. You can't blame them after all-1s is an eternity in PvP and if fluff confuses you in that 1s...you understand. Think of MOBAs when you want to think of PvP skill design. The modern MMOs(starting with World of Failcraft) offer you some weak middle of the road approach-neither PvP nor PvE. And who ends up satisfied in these MMOs? ... I'll leave that one to you.

3. Static and Respawning things: This is VERY immersion breaking to me and no amount of imagination and/or explanation will or rather should suffice. I am talking of constantly respawning MOBs, resources etc. I am, however, all game when it comes to phases and such because you FEEL your impact on the world. And I think that is one of the cores of RPGs-to fell the impact of your actions. If we don't feel that, we are playing a VERY bland version of Diablo. Diablo that can't be soloed and that doesn't have as kinetic combat as all ARPGs have? BORING.

Combine these three and you get a horrible, bloody mess. An ingredient that most assuredly ruins every meal it touches so to speak. Shame about the potential of this genre...

I agree with your number 1. 

As for number 2 above, maybe they could have 2 diff skill sets, when you PvE you have your "fluff" skills and in PvP those get removed leaving only the uniform type skills.

I understand your number 3 but that is a tough one.  If you us phases for each character then it would be difficult to see anyone else at all since what you did will most likely differ from almost everyone else.

Volumends

There isn't any danger ingame anymore.

Ahh, old days when your heart was beating as hard as Hulk's in situations where you could loose your hard grinded stuff and exps. I miss this so hard

apocoluster

The vocal minority who run off to third party web forums to complain about said games. They are the worst common feature

delete5230

1) F2P

2) Cash Shops.

3) Carrot on a stick game play.

4) Dungeon Finders.

5) Personal stories ( Longgggg solo quest )

6) Small zones, and load screens.

7) Easy and to fast leveling.

8) Dynamic Events where you jump in solo.

9) Mega servers.

 

I would like to put them in order but all are equally bad.

Unknown

all of everything you all said is summed up in one topic.

Solo game play, for however many years, has been focused on more than group/party/raid game play.

sirphobos

Solo, non repeatable quests. They go far beyond giving players the option to play alone, they actually encourage soloing and make it hard if not impossible to group with anyone not on the same quest as you. A close second would be reusing old content, hard mode dungeons and raids. It just reeks of laziness.