A Better Space MMORPG

RabbidFerret

Im a big fan of space MMORPGs, and the lack of them compared to Fantsy/Mid-evil MMOs is dissapointing. Right now Eve is the only good (i know theres other like Vendetta Online) Space MMO out there ATM. However Star Trek online sounds like it could be a good game, and a bit off the beaten (or not so beaten in this case) path. I played both Eve Online and Earth and Beyond for over a year each, and heres what i think a good space MMO should have, with the downfalls and strengths of the others:

Background Story:

Earth and Beyond: There was only the basic story, just enough to get by. It evolved in a very weak fashion with almost no politics involved in it.

Eve Online: Compared to EnB...amazing. There is nothing the background story missed....straight down to the scientific workings behind Jump Gates. The story evolved in a huge amount of depth with both player and NPC politics in huge depth

Perfect Space MMO: I would have to say EVE has it covered...the better the background story, the more the players can get into the game.

World

Earth and Beyond: The world was small. One sector covered about 1/4 a side of saturn with very little freedom. However, the ability to get out of your ship and walk around a station (although limited in size) gave EnB a bit of a shine.

Eve Online: Eve gave the full fealing of how vast space is...but it was almost too realistic. After a while all the systems became the same...they have a different background, different planets and stations, but they all looked the same. While you were not in the vast void, you were in a station that you could not move around in. All you could really do was press button and move thing from window pane to window pane. A little bit boring.

Perfect Space MMO: I would have ot say a mix. Larger than EnB, but not overkill like Eve. Systems have to look different and give players the security of feeling like they are somewhere (not in the middle of nowhere) while still giving them freedom to move about as they please. Oh, and walking around in stations i feel is a must. No more button pushing..

Gameplay/Interface

EnB: Enb gave you the normal 3rd person view behind your ship. You could move your ship in any way you like and that was good to have. There wasnt anything really bad about the interface. The combat was sort of same old same old, but i have yet to see a MMORPG where PVE combat is full of heart pumping action.

Eve: I liked the ability to look all around your ship, although a first person view would have been nice too. However, the ship movement was horrid. I hated the double click thing. I know, i know, it realistic...but its another one of those cases where it should be sacraficed to make way for better gameplay. Interface was great with a bunch of different options, but the combat was sort of dull too. Right click...orbit...fire guns...use shield booster. The Pvp wasnt as bad but we'll get to that later.

Perfect: I dont have an opinion on the camera settings except for the first person option. However you should be able to move your ship with your keyboard/click and drag. Like Freelancer if anyone has ever played that. Asking for really good combat would be too much.. unless its and FPS, its hard to do.

Ships

EnB: Ships i feel is a big part of the game. With EnB you were stuck with one ship that would get upgrades as you went along. You could customize you ship with shields, engines and weapons. However, when it came to combat devices it lacked the sheer variety that Eve had. You could change the color and choose from about 9 selection of how that type of ship could look.

Eve: I loved the amount of ships you could choose from, but i hated how you couldnt customize them. Scratch that...you could customize them in most ways now that i think of afterburners and shield boosters..there was just something about how you did it that i didnt like. That is more of a player to player opinion and wouldnt make or break a game.

Perfect: The abilit to have the different ship types while being able to change thier appearance would be great. However, just different ship types would be fine. I think being able to customize engines/shields/weapons/all the other stuff is a must. The more in depth it is the better.

Thats all i feel like typing tonight...and problably all you feel like reading. Opinion/comments/flames are all welcome. Addons too would be great. Ill add on things like PvP, Guilds/Corps, Npc Hunting, Mining, Missions, Market, Yadda yadda yadda....later.

FrostWyrm

Not to sound like a grammar teacher or anything, but it's "medieval", not "mid-evil" (not criticizing, just letting you know in case you didn't).

Um...that aside, I think the first thing a really awesome sci-fi/space mmorpg would need is the actual scope of a real galaxy. Each planet you can visit about the size of a fantasy mmorpg's world.

The ability for one to own his/her own ship eventually, and fight off creatures, space pirates, or what have you, in space as well as on-foot combat on the different worlds. Ships could even be like housing in other games. Small cruisers could be relatively inexpensive and require little upkeep, while larger ships would need, say, an NPC crew whom you have to pay on a regular basis.

Anyway, just a few ideas of my own to add there.

Dinion

You could try SWG, space is more an after thought mini-game though.

Paladin3211

nice but any free ones?

RabbidFerret

Nothing free thats worth playing ATM.

Mikey0114

Lol stop talking about Eve

Anyway yeah I love Eve's concept but I want a game which isn't limited to space travel only....can be a bore...for me anyway

But really I want to land on planets....maybe be restricted only to the station....I don't mind aslong as there are fun things to do.

SWG is the coolest, but I hate Sony Online Entertainment and am not a big fan of Starwars so I wouldn't go for it.

Elnator

Erm

So what you're saying is the perfect space MMORPG would be a blend of:
E&B
EVE
and
Jump to Lightspeed

I tend to agree.