Originally posted by darquenblade Originally posted by Kane I gotta say $50 monthly fee for ANY game seems ludicrous to me. Anything more than $20 and I wont touch it.Well yeah, I agree--I wouldn't pay fifty bucks a month for any game either; I was just saying that if they can have a premium service that expensive for a text based game, then it surely wouldn't be out of the question for them to offer one for HJ.
Darquen the text based game genre is a different genre, its not as high risk, and people are used to MUD offerings that are premium services with high prices. In the MMO genre its a lot more sensitive, so if you start making discernable differences in what you get in terms of how much money you put in and how much you get out of it, it will simply shy away a lot of people regardless.
When you design a MMORPG the idea is to at best appeal to as much of the mainstream as possible without compromising your design goals, that way yo uboth have a good business model and a good game. MMOs are still a baby genre and the bar to entry has always been the price point, so focusing any more on the price point would only be counterproductive. They wil llikely provide options as to REDUCE the bar to entry, not to EMPHASIZE it. I.E. price points LESS than 15$ so people who are unable to play due to this bar to entry, can play, and enjoy a 'core' game, and those who can pony up a bit more will enjoy premium features of the game. But this would not exceed say 15-20$.
Hey! Former DR player here (started playing back in the days of the AOL portal). I played a number of different characters, but spent several years as an Empath. Being a non-combat character was rewarding, but also very challenging. In the end, I became frustrated with the lack of choices available, if I was to advance my character (level-wise). But I very much enjoyed the experience overall.
My question is, what non-combat (or minimal-combat) type opportunities will there be in HJ? For example, if my idea of a heroic character is that of the reclusive ascetic, what will my game-play options be? Will there be viable solo quests available for a master herbalist who disdains the use of weapons or combat magic? What about the ability to survive on the field of combat (healing wounded comrades, looting, etc) without being a combat specialist? It's not that I'm afraid of danger, I just like having the option to face it with something other then spells and swords.
Note: As a DR Empath player, one of the biggest griefs that some of my professional comrades had, was the frustration of how, as their non-Empath peers advanced, they were unable to accompany them onto the field of combat, and be effective field healers, unless a disproportionate effort was expended to keep them safe, or they went hunting below their level. In essence, the Empaths could not "keep up" with their peers in other guilds. In regards to that type of problem, I am very encouraged by what I have read about HJ's attempt to fix that type of problem, to allow players of differing abilities, and characters from a wide range of skill levels to participate in quests together. I look forward to seeing how this will be implemented.
We've heard bits and pieces about quests being able to pull variables from your own personal Journey, such as a nemesis that you may encounter repeatedly. What other things can you tell us about the Journey System?
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss
Comments
Darquen the text based game genre is a different genre, its not as high risk, and people are used to MUD offerings that are premium services with high prices. In the MMO genre its a lot more sensitive, so if you start making discernable differences in what you get in terms of how much money you put in and how much you get out of it, it will simply shy away a lot of people regardless.
When you design a MMORPG the idea is to at best appeal to as much of the mainstream as possible without compromising your design goals, that way yo uboth have a good business model and a good game. MMOs are still a baby genre and the bar to entry has always been the price point, so focusing any more on the price point would only be counterproductive. They wil llikely provide options as to REDUCE the bar to entry, not to EMPHASIZE it. I.E. price points LESS than 15$ so people who are unable to play due to this bar to entry, can play, and enjoy a 'core' game, and those who can pony up a bit more will enjoy premium features of the game. But this would not exceed say 15-20$.
Hey! Former DR player here (started playing back in the days of the AOL portal). I played a number of different characters, but spent several years as an Empath. Being a non-combat character was rewarding, but also very challenging. In the end, I became frustrated with the lack of choices available, if I was to advance my character (level-wise). But I very much enjoyed the experience overall.
My question is, what non-combat (or minimal-combat) type opportunities will there be in HJ? For example, if my idea of a heroic character is that of the reclusive ascetic, what will my game-play options be? Will there be viable solo quests available for a master herbalist who disdains the use of weapons or combat magic? What about the ability to survive on the field of combat (healing wounded comrades, looting, etc) without being a combat specialist? It's not that I'm afraid of danger, I just like having the option to face it with something other then spells and swords.
Note: As a DR Empath player, one of the biggest griefs that some of my professional comrades had, was the frustration of how, as their non-Empath peers advanced, they were unable to accompany them onto the field of combat, and be effective field healers, unless a disproportionate effort was expended to keep them safe, or they went hunting below their level. In essence, the Empaths could not "keep up" with their peers in other guilds. In regards to that type of problem, I am very encouraged by what I have read about HJ's attempt to fix that type of problem, to allow players of differing abilities, and characters from a wide range of skill levels to participate in quests together. I look forward to seeing how this will be implemented.
We've heard bits and pieces about quests being able to pull variables from your own personal Journey, such as a nemesis that you may encounter repeatedly. What other things can you tell us about the Journey System?
"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -Dr. Seuss