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Races you Want to See More of?
poman313
Member UncommonPosts: 35
I have been playing MMorpgs for years now and I have seen many different races over the years what are some of your favorites you have seen in a MMo or would like to see more of?
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Sadly this is where Devs have fallen into a state of ignorance at its worse. The total lack of imagination is just boggling and makes me wonder how they got their jobs in the first place. Here's my list of what I'd like to see in games.
Giants,Centaurs,Fairies,Gnomes,Trolls,Ogres,Dragons,Valkyrie,Liche,Zombie,Manticore
Bear Race (like Kodans from Gw2)
Iksar (Lizard man race like EQ)
Arcanist Humans (like Erudites from EQ)
Ethereal Mummy Race (like in old Nagrand from WoW)
It's not a lack of imagination but rather a better use of resources, especially when weighing the amount of return vs the cost to support it. For example, Ashen Temper had often spoke/written about that after the release of Shadowbane. The cost to maintain such a varied set of animations and models, plus world building to accommodate each, is pretty massive. That time and those team members could probably be working on projects that offer far greater returns in a fraction of the time. It might be worth considering that the reason so many things 'boggle' you about the industry may be because you have created for yourself so many preconceptions and assumptions about it.
@OP, I'd like to see more Lizardmen and Ratmen. Maybe even anthropomorphised fox and bird characters.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
The most popular MMO in the market already lets you play as three of youoptions..
(WoW - Troll, Gnomes and Zombies)
Personally I think it's more to do with logistics and balance.
For example, Lichs by definition are supposed to be really powerful, so how would you balance it as a playable race? (a lich in most fantasy settings is supposed to be a powerful wizard that binds its sould to a phylactery so it can live forever). How do you deal with Manticores and weapons/armor that are usually the backbone of most MMOs?...same with dragons... which is why usually these races are left as foes instead of playable races.
Then comes the Giants, Fairies, Gnome races... how much of a size difference do you make and still not make it unfair towards one or another?. GW2, for example, does have a big size difference between the tallest Norn and the smallest Asura, and while it doesn't translate into any real advantage when it comes to hitboxes, running speed or stats, already PvPers are favoring asura because they're harder to spot.
That said, while most games don't have all those races you mention as playable, some do have them as characters. GW2, for example (the one I'm using as example just because it happens to be what I'm playing right now) have giants, centaurs, trolls (well, Jotun, who aparently in old norse myths are the same than trolls), ogres and dragons, and actually most of them aren't all foes but some are friendly and with an interesting backstory to them (Jotun are all aggresive, but they do have some nice story associated with them as well).
What can men do against such reckless hate?
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
If the game were to be about cooperating together with others instead of competing against them perhaps this wouldn't really matter to much. In EQ there are spells that can shrink or grow people.
I just would like to see any non-standard races. Anymore it feels like we get Humans, Elves, maybe Barbarian types, and possible some animal.
I do miss the variety that EQ brought. For me it helps make the world more immersive when they have a nice amount of different races each with their own starting point. Thats another thing that seems to have gone away out of convenience... shared starting lands so you can play with your friends immediately. Zzzz..
pretty much anything non-conventional for the most part, but i have a personal preference for anything undead/robotic. i would have a much better time playing a typical warrior or mage or whatever generic class as a skeleton/zombie/ghost than if i were yet another typical human/elf/dwarf.
all i see when somebody says that some new mmo is innovative and amazing, is "we have the exact same classes as every other mmo alongside the most generic of generic races to go with them". how can you be new and innovative if you're using the exact same things everybody else does?
Elves serve a purpose. They portray a certain aspect of humanity. Unfortunately they are the most appealing visually to most people. Elves are a good example of people not actually caring about races in game these days. No one cares what an elf is and stands for. They just care about how they look. Elvish culture, strengths, and weaknesses are disregarded.
Art is the start. Making their cities and other outpost reflect who they are is a start. IMO more games need to also add a race/ranking story. Most MMOs head to a main story line or a class but IMO race can be a much more interesting story. If you dont care about your race and picking it just for looks, that MMO has failed in some way but it can also be said most races are picked for how they look. Guy sick of being small and picked on in RL makes an Orc. I think like elves each race should have many sub races. The Elder Scrolls did this well and lends itself to RP.
Most games must be failing at it these days then because race doesn't really mean a whole lot other then appearance. You pick the race, but when you are in game you start in the same place and do the same quests as everyone else. It's the same with class. There are not specific quest lines for classes to follow. Pretty much everyone does the same thing. There are no factions, gods, or prejudices past PvP at times. Some single player games do it a bit still. Skyrim did it decently well I'll admit.
I also think that games are too complacent when it comes to races. Humans and elves… booring.
Where did the dwarfs go! I always play a dwarf or halfing.
Iksar in EQ was a great race. Trolls and Furbolgs in DAOC were unique. Lurikeens were the best!!!
Also love the goblin in War. Orcs.
Honestly… anything but Humans or Elves…
I dont like mmos where eveyone looks the same. A lot of races and many different gear sets make it much more immersive.
The way mmo's were: Community, Exploration, Character Development, Conquest.
The way mmo's are now : Cut-Scenes,Cut-Scenes, solo Questing, Cut-Scenes...
www.CeaselessGuild.com
Sorry but the back story even in WoW is awesome. There any many MMOs I have rerolled just to switch races because I like their back story more. EQ again rich depth and thats being rewritten in EQN with great care and art, each city is it own story about the race. I would say most MMOs do a great job as making you care about your race but I think it can be improved upon.
You picked a couple that do, but those are not recent MMOs. Those are MMOs that have roots in old time gaming. Games today are more like Elder Scrolls where everything is superficial. While WoW does have some nice cities and races it doesn't have many quests that are unique to those. I seem to remember it originally did, but not so much anymore.
Fine I will go with a MMO IMO flopped. Wildstar, their background and story covers every race and how it ties into the major story and why each race and why its in the faction it is. Even in game this is deepened. I think there is a group of gamers that pick their race by look and a group that picks them for who they are. I will be honest I did pick elves just to stir the pot no matter how much I do like elves. =-)
If I pick an elf of some type I usually have a roleplaying reason for it. For instance I might want to pretend to like nature, hang out in the forest, help lost travelers, and slay foul orcs who pass bye. I don't see many games that give you an opportunity like that these days. Usually you just start in the same place and follow the same quest line as everyone else (more or less).
I really want to play a character with either more or less than two legs. even if the character is disabled and missing legs that would be interesting.
I wonder if they would sell you racial traits in cash shops as well lol. You can have troll regeneration for 10 dollars. You can have every race hate you for 20 dollars. You can have an scratch my butt animation for 15 dollars.
Seriously though this is kind of sad.
This would make more sense if they didn't already have the models running around in the game as npc's. At least LOTRO allowed people to play monster races, too bad they were only different in their skins. If people were happy with simple reskins of their current character then WOW, ESO, LOTRO offer such items. I think the problem is how much the new games are trying to make everything look like a human.
I want to see something like Dave Hargrave's Phraints (ant men) from his Arduin Grimoire books (1977). The suggestions by other players are great. Anything other than a human variant biped would be nice. How about Barsoom's Green Martians with six appendages?
How about letting us play monsters for a change? As a special event? How about letting a guild pick 10 players to run the bosses in an instance?
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https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
To give an example of how extensive any of those lists can be, you're looking at 100 to 1000 animations for any given player character depending on the MMO. Not frames. Animations.
Now, before we get the "no one needs emotes" or "there's software that does them all for you", please consider this is the same crowd that will go ballistic if a character doesn't jump - the most useless yet most used animation outside idle and running - exactly how they feel the character should jump.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey