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MMORPG.COM News: Editorial: My Ultimate MMORPG
Dana
Member Posts: 2,415
Staff Writer Jeremy Starley has penned an editorial where explores the idea of his ideal MMORPG. Relying on his own experiences, he looks at the various features important to him.
;) MMORPG.com: Right now it is the age of the next generation MMORPG - or so we are told. Of course, from now until eternity it will, in fact, be the age of the next generation of our beloved games. There will always be newer, better games just over the horizon, taunting us with promises of better graphics, newer features, and more immersion than ever before.
What I want to know: where is the ultimate MMORPG? I have read about the new games on the horizon, and they seem to all have one thing in common: They focus on a few key features, and leave out brilliant concepts that have already made it in to modern games. That means that in order for the players to get all the features they enjoy in a game, they would have to play more than one MMORPG, if not many MMORPGs. I do not know about you, but I struggle with playing one at a time. |
You can read Jeremy's full article here!
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Comments
Lets see..
Character Customization- "Star Wars Galaxies, to this date, is the best example of a game that got this feature right"
Combat- "A little post-apocalyptic MMORPG called Neocron has a great combat system."
Crafting- "Again, I turn to Star Wars Galaxies for an example of a good crafting system."
Player Housing and Cities- "Two games pop into my head as having outstanding player housing and cities. The first is, of course, Star Wars Galaxies. "
Quests and Spawns- "World of Warcraft has a decent quest system."
Character Skills and Class- "Star Wars Galaxies also gets good marks for allowing you to pick up skill trees from any profession, provided you have enough points to learn it."
So to you, a the ultimate MMORPG would be SWG with a better quest and and combat system?
Pretty much spot on for the ultimate MMORPG for me.
A few things you forgot.
The Emote System.
While most MMORPGs have /emote or /me commands where you can type the action, to few of them have a lot of visual emotes.
Visual emotes helps alot to set them mood for role playing.
Star Wars Galaxies had properbly the best emote system in MMORPG, even if the characters are very dead if you just stand and talk to other players, World Of WarCraft characters are more alove and use better gestures when just talking, helping to five the character a more "alive" feel.
The RP System.
Most MMORPGs lack enough freedom for true RP, World Of WarCraft has nice animations for when you sit down and eat and drink, you can still eat and drink in most MMORPGs but too few have animation for the action.
The emote system has alot to do with RPing so again Star Wars Galaxies again stand out because of the very detailed emote and mood system.
I have a hard time disagreeing with any of his points. SWG is a good game IMO, however it would be INFINITELY better if the combat system was a bit more active and if their was...you know...a quest system worth a damn.
But, yeah...take all his points and put them into a fantasy setting with RvR combat and I would be VERY happy.
You should really check out The Chronicle and other games coming out on the MMO Center network. Not to blatantly plug our projects or anything, but as I was reading through that essay, I realized that we've overcome every problem you mentioned and opted to create our games in every way you said was the best.
Check it out here.
_____ ____ ___ __ _
Visit MMO Center today to discover the future of subscription MMORPGs! Brought to you by Rapid Reality.
Maybe we should all just wait till Roma Victor comes out...DUH! This is what I thought this entire news thread would lead up to. It is supposed to have practically all the features he listed (and yes I am sure it will). The only thing is that Gandalf won't be swingin' his shiny sword because there is no magic in the game (unless you count lore but...no its not magic).
Notice he never said that graphics is one of the main elements that make up the game...
That mmo center thing that Nathan posted looks pretty cool...
I just couldn't agree more with everything in the article, VERY well written Mr. Starley **cheers**.
My biggest thing is character customization, I seriously wanted to run to the EQ2 fan fest and yell at the very top of my little lungs. "WHY !!!!!!!?" I really don't get it, really, how could they be SO lazy as to pull off such a limited custimization tool when, as mentioned in the article, they had the SWG technology RIGHT THERE. Such a dissapointment in my eye's.
Sure, give me boring crafting, a lowly appartment, hardly no differences in clothing options but at the very least give the chance to make my little Elf look even mildly different then every other one out there.
Anyways... here's to praying along with you that someone, somewhere actually figures out that we have ALREADY told them what we want, they just have to deliver.
Important Information regarding Posting and You
Good show ol chap!
Couple things I would like to see (or am glad that i am starting to see)..
Build your own instance. Second Life lets you build your own world, but I want a game that will give a player the opportunity to not only build a house, but perhaps build an instance for others to enjoy.
Maybe it doesn't have to be a Platnium Edition Neverwinter Nights caliber, but I would love to have a small lair unerneath my tree hovel or basement of my cottage connect to a underground network of tunnels and such. I'd pay a premium per month to have my instance for all to enjoy (or fear!).
I like SOE is taking a page from the old D&D modules and offering them instead of expansions. If you want uniqueness in your quests, forgo the monthly fee and buy a "module". Team up with others that you give access to your quest or perhaps you can only team up with other buyers. A random generator or loot, monsters, traps. puzzles, room designs and Bosses should keep spoiler websites frustrated. Don't want to pay for a unique mission? No problem! A standard set of missions everyone can participate in is always available. Randomly generate mob names, triggered spawn points please..
More Cinematics! I love Guild Wars cinematics and to see your character immersed in it impressed me greatly.
Skills versus clones. Like you said, I would rather be able to choose what I want to be then have to be pigeon holed into a profession. That being said, I don't want to see clones of a Fighter/Mage/Cleric/Rogue Uber type running around. I have been playing with a PC game Dungeon Lords and the advancement skill points system is a decent method. The more specialized or powerful you wish to become in one skill, the more costly it is and leaves you weak in other skills. If you want to be a jack of trades, youll end up being medicore in everything and almost useless in high end challenges. The emphasis of skill also deters the level treadmill drive. Play to have fun, not to level.
[Insert reason to be considered a super nerd here]
Strangely missing was any discussion of gameplay and of the RP in MMORPG -- roleplaying. As in, immersion into another world, another environment that isn't Earth (save for sci-fi that may include Earth, of course).
The perfect MMORPG? Again, this is a subjective question, so here are my answers (which will almost certainly not agree with everyone):
An immersive "fantasy" (not necessarily fantasy the genre) world -- NPCs that go about routines instead of standing utterly still all the time. Quests that are dynamic -- a branching dialogue tree, perhaps, with options that affect the ultimate outcome of the chain-of-quests (might be one solution). Characters that give quests but are available only according to an internal schedule (as in, a guy giving quests in his armor shop may not be available in the middle of the night!). Graphics have to be realistic (I'm sorry, I liked WoW initially, but the glazed-cartoon look just doesn't cut it, again in my opinion). I'd hold up the sheen of "wet" that happens on stones when it rains in Everquest. Weather is an option, but if you're going to implement it perhaps consider something like AC's "weather front" system instead of just randomly generating "rain" in a spot. Then again, even just generating "rain" or "snow" in a spot would be an improvement over the utterly static WoW. And that brings up the biggest thing of all: the devs have to remember that we're in ANOTHER WORLD and that "holidays" in the real world DO NOT translate in their fantasy world (hear that, WoW? No Santa Claus, it doesn't make sense in the World of Warcraft lore, does it?).
Character customization is another part of it, absolutely, and I agree wholeheartedly on the EQ2 comments (and the decision to not comment on WoW's non-existent customization). EQ2 has amazing depth of detail -- but they forgot to include enough variation in the racial models. Also, their armor and equipment, while amazingly detailed, needs to be a bit more differentiated, perhaps by race, perhaps by adding color, perhaps... well, there are a lot of ways to improve this.
A combat system that is involving and dynamic, not static. Most of the games are improved over the old "auto attack" button. Adding skills and "buttons" for skills that are useful in combat is a step in the right direction. Heck, the old "power" and "height of attack" system from AC was pretty dynamic (though it could be improved, what couldn't?).
Heck, that's enough. I'll come back and more later.
Edit: AC does meet the article writer's terms, doesn't it?
While I enjoyed the article and I agree on most points (except his example of SWG being a 'good' example of housing and crafting) unfortunately, what I want and what someone else may want can vary substantially. For example, I am totally uninterested in PvP or crafting, but for someone else having a great PvP or crafting system is a must have.
There is just no way to please everyone so the game developers have to make some tough decisions early on and follow along that path. I have come to accept that there is no game that would please me completely. I just make sure to avoid games that focus on PvP and instead try those that incorporate LOTS of exploration, have interesting quests, have opportunities for Roleplay and have a combat system that doesn't put me to sleep. Oh, and I do enjoy having place to hang my helm.
-Tessa
This is a very limited article... it's vews are straight foward and obviously writen by an avid SWG player. And I'm not saying that anything is wrong with this... But take into consideration some of the qualities and features that non-fps games include. Make the article more broad and General:
For Example; I have played many of the more popular MMO's and I have one thing that I honestly hate about almost all of them, The leveling treadmill! I'm sorry but If I repeat the task 1,000 times I hope I'm at lvl 100 or I'm going to be Pissed!... but of course that's too easy.
Soooo, the Game I would like to take the skill system from would be EVE-Online which allows training of skills to be time based and the skills train night and day, even when you aren't online! Some may look at this as more of a hassel, but for normal people it's nice to know that while you are at work or in school that your char is still doing something and you look foward to coming home to play with your newly learned skill.
For Graphics I would like to say that Everquest II has some of the most beautiful graphics I've ever seen in an MMO, However... Load times for zones of 2-3 minutes (even on the lowest setting) have made me decide that it wasn't worth it to play EQII.
For Quests which I myself hold dear to my heart. I would like to do a mixture of World of Warcraft and EVE-Online. What I like about the WoW system is that each person has a different quest/s and doing a set of quests for a person will progress you through the game and onto the next npc with quests. However making the replayability somewhat low. EVE has more of a dull repetitive system. However doing the mission progresses you through the game like WoW. But also the npc's remember what you've done for them in LP (Loyalty Points) and after you build up a bit of LP they offer you great rewards in return. So all the time that you put into doing repetitive Missions is repayed to you, not in the usual gold and items way, but in a really expensive or important artifact kind of way. And then I would also like to relate a pretty good quest system to Runescape and EQII. The ill looked apon game of Runescape has a well thought questing system and here is how: In some of the quests, if you complete them and the land is suposed to be changed or different in somekind of way... it looks that way on your screen! If you plant grass in a part of the world for a mission... it grows and stays that way forever. Moving onto EQII, NPC's actually talk and tell you what to do for a mission. This is anoying when they yell at you while passing by but at late times of the night it is nice to close your eyes and let the npc do the reading for you.
Ahhh... the Community. Well I must fist tell you that the people who play the chars of MMO's make the game. Let me give you a bad example of community... Runescape. Full of 10 year old boy just learning how to cuss I often kept the public chat off; favoring peace over "YOU ***** ****!" Now I do not have virgin ears and I am not prude to explicatives myself however using them in a meaningfull way and not FLAMING all the time makes the community a better place.
Player Housing: for this topic I would like to look towards The Sims Online and Second Life. Actually skip Sims... it's like the offline version so... I'm sure most of you know what it's like. But Second Life, Wow... You can do ANYTHING in that game! You can make everything from wallpaper to a household bong. You can make a clapping Monkey toy to sit on a table. You can make your house 10 stories tall or float on a cloud of nothingness at unthinkable hights. From Mansions to Malls, from Single Family Homes to Apartments and Condo's. You can make what your heart desires! You want a garage? Make it. You want a couch? Make it! You want an Alien to open your door when people knock... MAKE IT!!! In the article above you hear of mainly 3 or 4 MMO's but why not take the qualities from the games that make them what they are? But as for me... However nice they are, I don't really fancy paying a monthly or weekly or yearly rate (in game or out) for a house.
As far as crafting goes... I think that EVE and Second Life beat the others yet again. EVE for it's complexity of making items. Basically you mine the ore for an Item and refine the ore into the minerals needed. Then you make copies of the Blue print of the item you would like to create in a "research facility" which you must own and then run the blue print though a "factory" which you also must own with the necisary minerals. A long process... but well worth it and not tedious at all. And then... Second Life again... you can create anything but the coolest stuff can only be made by the best of programers. I did not find the language easy to learn but some do. But after you have the basics you can make things from vehicles to teddy bears and sell them for whatever price you want and still own the code which is hidden from your buyers.
And the Make or Break for ALL MMO's is LAG... if you can't handle 20 billion people on your servers then BUY MORE!!!! and then get more BANDWIDTH!!!
That's all I can think on right now but tell me what you think,
-Nate
Well most of the article is not a brainer, really. I am surprised (although i could have missed that part) that author didn't find nothing to add to player interaction in games. There is a big difference in games in how do you go about looking for groups or players that are LFG, content intended for groups or raids etc. There is also a difference how far your /ooc chat will be seen in games. Marketplace is another worthy issue to discuss. Don't get me started about whole PvP approach...
Some side notes: I liked Daoc idea to automaticaly assign new players to a startup guild. I liked CoH shared skills trees. After playing WoW where quest givers are clearly marked, EQ2 feels like real pain with trying to find quests in certain area. I also like WoW extensive UI customization by players community.
His opinion is to me a variant of Brad's vision. It is an extremely opiniated point of view that leave many players on the side. He completely left on the side the topic about what matter the MORE:
GAMEPLAY evolution. Does a soloing game turn into a raiding game after a point? This was always a bad feature to change GAMEPLAY. Whatever the gameplay is at level 1, it should always remain the same until the end of the game. Of course you can have MANY GAMEPLAY in a game, as long as you are bright enought to not crush 1 of them under another(exemple: SoE crush soloing, grouping, Tradeskilling and PvP gameplays under the big label: Raid gameplay, thereby if you dont raid, you lack and cant focus on the aspect you enjoy, no reward, no point to do it).
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Wow...you've described (on the web site) just about everything that I've been thinking I'd like to see in an MMORPG. I'm REALLY impressed. Can I be in beta?
Seriously though...if you guys can pull off all that you are proposing, you've got a player for life, here.
Another good example (which may have been mentioned in the replies I haven't read yet) of an MMO with a different combat system, is Auto Assault. There is no auto attack button, and similar to the Neocron game mentioned in the article, you have to aim your weapons at the enemies to hit them. After that the skill/combat system figures out if a nd how much damage you manage to do. Characters are also highly mobile (cars are fast, duh.) and the faster you move, the harder it is to hit you. Combat then takes on a completely different feel than any other MMO so far, and the fact that you can also blow up just about anything in the game world makes things even more interesting. (Need an exit? blow one up)
Just thought I'd hype that game a bit =D
*roar more*
Skill-based customization leads people on a meta-quest to develop the perfect template - the killer combo of characteristics that would be the absolute best. Asheron's Call was infamous for this. There is no way to develop decent balance between characters if all of them are archer-mages.
WoW very much wants you to spec along certain paths. You will be mediocre if you don't choose a specialty and stick with it; I still haven't hit upon the druid spec combo that will let me be a decent healer and also a good fighter or mage or rogue. Usually groups want the healing, thanks...
I've posted elsewhere about this; but what I would like to see is far more individuality across the entire system. A fighting technique that you developed for yourself based on your own stats, strengths, and perhaps some rare teachings you discovered. Or a collection of runes from which you could make your own spells, some rune perhaps only you possess. The old GURPS or Fantasy Hero systems, where every single ability you had, was custom, limited only by the number of points in your pool. And if you wanted to give yourself some disadvantages to offset even more power, well, go for it.
That's what I'd like to see in a next generation game. A combo of unique attributes and open-ended ability system.
I am at my "day job" at the moment, but I just wanted to quickly touch a few points here. (Don't worry, I am very verbose, I'm sure I will post more later...)
Numero Uno - This article is by no means all-inclusive. I do have limitations set on me, and - quite frankly - if anyone was to have the choice between reading a 500 page novel or my exhaustive dissertation on all the qualities I would like in a game, I would hope they would read the novel. (Myself, I am wizzing through The Half-Blood Prince)
Numero B - I know this is my version of the "Ultimate" MMORPG. In fact, I put a little disclaimer in the first few paragraphs acknowledging that everyone thinks different things are important. However, if you read closely, you will see that I also explain that if one game had something for everyone, that would make it the "Ultimate" MMORPG. For instance, say I think graphics are best, you think sound is best, and another person thinks music is best, wouldn't we all be happy with a game that had great graphics, great sound, and great music?
[quote]
Strangely missing was any discussion of gameplay and of the RP in MMORPG -- roleplaying. As in, immersion into another world, another environment that isn't Earth (save for sci-fi that may include Earth, of course).
[/quote]
My take on role-playing is this: You can lead a hippogriff to water, but he'll bite you if you try to force him to drink. You can put the most ingenious, immersive elements in the game and make up rules until you are blue in the face, but you'll still have someone try to name himself RandAlthor666, and you'll still have to deal with "d00d, I pwn joo in da face!" It's just something we have to learn to live with and ignore.
P.S. Someone show the dumb new staff writer how to quote correctly on these boards...
Agent_X7 AKA J Star
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Notice: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of MMORPG.com or its management.
I have played most of the games out there specialy the big ones going back to M59. I agree with you on most of your article and most of your examples. I would like to add to and point out a few things.
Character customization: While SWG probably has the best for this example PE (Project Entropia) also has a great one.
This is the first of the most important things a MMORPG should have. Its the first thing you do/see afterall.
Combat: This absolutely needs to be skill based IMHO.
For a game example I will use several games here.
UO used a skill based system and you worked your guy up to 100 in skill by using the skill appropriate for the weapon type or spell type. This is what I think the best all around system.
Daoc Used a Level/Class based system,While it worked I just never really liked it.I always felt I had to reach the next level and then once I reached the top I was like hmm this is missing something.
I agree with you here it needs to be both skill and twitch based.
Crafting: WOW is this and important one if not the most important one.
UO while having a fair crafting system mostly do to the sheer amount of things you can craft.Is still way off from the best system out there.
Your idea of SWG having a great crafting system needs to be over looked. You definately need to check out WURM This single handly sinks home what a crafting system should be like. There is no better crafting system on the market today.
Not only is everything in the game crafted by players,but the lanscape is dynamic. If you so choose you could dig dirt or sand and carry it out in the water by swiming or by raft. (a raft you have to make) and build your self a island,where you could place a house,shop guards.You can plant trees,grow a garden with all sorts of plants. But since the land is dynamic you can also dig caves. This feature is not yet impimented but its soon on its way.
What I do agree with in that SWG crafting system has the placement of resource gatherers. I loved that part and should be looked at in other ways for medevil games. Solution possibly is having npcs hired that will mine for you,that can be killed by players.But the npcs can be equiped with weapons/spells and should have the same skill set you have. Basicly duplicates of your self. To harvest resources for you while you can actualy do other things.
Another possible solution for this is having a mine that opperates by itself.
Player housing: UO has the best for this category with not only a single room house but up to a castle. While the castle was not the best designed in space it was the prestigue in owning one that counted. SWG's player housing was alright but limited the guild leader to one guild house.That could be changed by now not really sure been along time since I was in that world. Other games to mention with player housing are,Horizons,Wurm,PE (Project Entropia) DAoc now has housing,and there are several others now that have it. EQII just blew housing to a new low level with the instanced housing,this is so against why players have houses its not even funny.
Another key feature for the player housing Both UO and SWG right was the right to decorate and convert your house into a Shop. UO by far though has the best housing system on the market though.
Your items can be locked down and anyone can come in and see if your house is unlocked.While SWG limited that feature im sure for good reasons since pvp would be a issue.
Quest: This is another huge feature game makers need to take great attention into. Quest help players feel they are part of the game,While EQ had horrible waiting times for trying to finish quest waiting on X to spawn the quest its self was done pretty good. SWG also had some good questing. GW also has great questing,WOW also weighs in here.
But I think Guild Wars has done the questing system justice. What I dont like is its instanced.But im not sure how you could do such a great system without it being just that. The mini movies that include the player are just the best the market has to offer.
I think some improvements into the questing system might be,allow or add tools so the players can create quest for other players to run.
Character skills and Class: While this is not high on the list of important things it is none the less important.
I agree with you here let them be anything they want to be, but there needs to be restrictions in some things.
Armor is my main point here. I cant see a mage wearing full plate very realistic. I think there should be limits put on the armor depending on your skills. Sure if you want to be a mad mage and use a sword sure,but if your going to be casting spells you best not be wearing armor,or only cloth armor.
If your going to be a archer you should be limited to some type of leather.
Thinking back to some of the games I have played, I think Daoc did this best.
Something you really did not hit on but ...
PVP:
M59 for guild based PVP. This had the best system for it. You had a guild hall which was very limited to how many were on each server, I think it was 6. But these were capturable. This promoted spies and even infilteration of enemy guilds.
UO also has a great pvp system. Which had lovely battles in the cities that happened all around players not even involved in the battle itself.
Daoc has a great pvp system.
EQII ? they droped the ball here and just left it out.
SWG it was fair but still lacking when I played do to some classes that were not finished.
Another thing I think game devs are missing out on that UO had,even if it was by accident.
A rare system. Yes those server birth rares that were so highly collectable that were not locked down for what ever reason.
I think a game should have rares,even if player created by accident,or drops that are unique. I would prefer player created as that helps the economy flurish. Money sinks are after all important.
Uo would hand out gifts at Christmas,Easter,Halloween and the aniversery,Every year something different,those items became very collectable later on in the games life as other players came along that also turned into the rare collectors.
Another thing UO had that turned out to be alot of fun,was house decay. Waiting around hours on end for houses to decay so you could ravage the items the house had to offer. WOW what fun that was.
Last thing of importance.
Emotes: PE did this the best of any of them I have played. OMG the dancing was still is a riot to watch. But this also plays a roll in something important even if last in my list it will be higher up in others.
Out of all the games on the market I say for the money you pay out of the box,UO is hands down the best over all game there is. While lacking in graphics it still has more content any game has to offer. Out of the box,you can get a house,ships,and mounts of all sorts. No other game to this day come out of the box ready to offer you those 3 things.
Games I have played or and tested from the begining.
M59,UO (all phases) EQ,Lineage,Daoc,PE,E&B,SWG,Horizons,L2,EQ2,WOW,Wish,Mourning,Wurm,Roma-Victor,Irth,GW.
Games im looking forward to seeing in completion:
#1-Wurm
#2 Irth
Both of these games have very high potental.
I also want to see Roma-Victor but left it out because it is a real money game and really is in a different class of games than just being a MMORPG.
I like to call it like PE a MMORPGG The second G for gambling.
Where will the next big game come from? I doubt its going to be one of the big game companies EA or SOE or even Atari. I think its going to be one of these small private funded companies. like Irth or Wurm.
Everyone has a different taste for what they are looking for,these are just my own. If you agree fine,If you don't fine too.
played M59,UO,lineage,EQ,Daoc,Entropia,SWG,Horizons,Lineage2.EQ2,Vangaurd,Irth online, DarkFall,Star Trek
and many others that did not make the cut or i just plain forgetting about.
A question for those of you responding to this article...
Your opinion of this piece aside - is this something you would find interesting to see more of on the site?
Edit: To be clear, I meant editorials in general.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
I would like to see all games broke down for what they are. Sorta like what we have done here. It doesn't have to be biased,just be cruel honesty and break it down for whats good and whats not good.
But again one persons Wonderful game,might be anothers horrible nightmare.
Maybe even go further and break it down for each category we have listed. IE-all the systems and what they are like,maybe even a rating for each type of system it has.
I saw Eve listed several times as a great game for X. while I tested it for um a whole 1 time I never really delved into it,but it sounds like something I would like to give a try out.
I personaly liked this article alot.
I think I was so into E&B at the time I did not give Eve a chance.
Sure write some more for us to add to.
played M59,UO,lineage,EQ,Daoc,Entropia,SWG,Horizons,Lineage2.EQ2,Vangaurd,Irth online, DarkFall,Star Trek
and many others that did not make the cut or i just plain forgetting about.
Character Customization - For me, it would be a combination of Star Wars Galaxies and City of Heroes. City of Heroes has the best customization tool I have seen to date.
Combat - I despise "auto-attack" with a passion. I want an active combat system, much like City of Heroes, but with the "chaining" of Dark Age of Camelot. What I mean by this is, use one skill..which opens up access to other skills. I also like the Heroic Opportunity feature of EQ2 (which i believe was originally used as "Rinke" in Final Fantasy XI). Its one thing to hit skills during combat, its something totally different to mold your attacks to become more powerful.
Crafting - While I am not much of a crafter, Star Wars Galaxies had the best crafting system I have seen to date. I remember crafting in EQ1. Combine 9 million components (by click and dragging) to complete 1 component which is used to make another item. Time sink.
Player Housing and Cities - Shadowbane and SWG 4TW.
Quests and Spawns - Questing is one of my favorite things to do in online games. It takes away from the stress of staying in one spot and pulling for exp. While I am not a big fan of WoW, the questing system I experienced during Beta was fun. However, much like most games that have alot of questing, they begin to repeat themselves after a while.
Character Skills and Class - I like the "class" systems of Shadowbane and Star Wars Galaxies.
PVP (added) - PvP done right is hard to find. Alot of games are adding it as "afterthoughts", then try to balance it when the get around to it.
Shadowbane for the city sieges and Guild Wars for the random pvp fights.
Basically, the "ultimate" MMO for me that allows the best customization and in-depth gameplay, while providing at least some challenge.
Edit: Yes, I find editorials like this quite interesting. The more, the better.
Raquelis in various games
Played: Everything
Playing: Nioh 2, Civ6
Wants: The World
Anticipating: Everquest Next Crowfall, Pantheon, Elden Ring
I greatly enjoyed the article. My only complaint is that I would have liked to see it go even more in depth, even if that meant it would be substantially longer.
Yes, myself enjoy reading views of folks.
Not at the expenses of the rest however, but yes, reading highly detailed point of views is something great, like a brainstorming for the fun of it, but well, since we are on a MMORPG site, such brainstorming should be happening...even if it lead to me and "insert random raid lover name here" sharing tenders words of concern!
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren