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MMOSBG..
treed0223
Member Posts: 84
The future of the MMO industry is same ole, same ole as of now. You have your fantasy rpgs, and a few sci-fi's, some possible historical ones. Thats pretty much it. But I have to ask..
Why do we pay for games that limit us, when we know they have the technology to make a game so much more. I played WoW till 60, and realized the error in my ways. However the BEST games that I have played were a sandbox form. Games with politics, crafting, housing, pking, freedom to do what YOU want.
I played SWG pre-cu, and there were so many options for one to do. Crafting, a good, running GCW, even be a dancer if you liked. Become a famous weaponsmith or armorsmith and make millions, a politician or a great leader of people. Too bad SOE blew it and did what THEY wanted.
Shadowbane, as far as I've seen is also a good system. An extremely in-depth skill system, sieges, many different classes and races with different weapon specializations. The politics are extremely noticeable (I.E. You help an ally guild out in a siege, but then the guild you attacked destroys your town.) You can choose to be a PKer or choose to stand up for the weak. Sad thing is that this game will probably be closed down in a couple weeks.
I wonder why many gamers choose to follow the linear path. Why do quests to get to lvl 60 and do more quests? Why huddle yourself in an instance over and over again just to see the same thing over and over again. Why PvP when there is NOTHING at stake.
My main drawing to WoW was the RTS games. Warcraft 2 was one of my favorite games when I was younger. However, if I wanted to play something as repetitive as the WoW endgame, I'd just play an RTS or FPS. They have limited everything to doing instances over and over again, that includes battlegrounds and theres hardly a point in PvPing outside due to low "honor" and nothing to gain or lose. So basically your getting better gear to PvP, so that you can get even better gear.
I believe that the market needs a great (MMOSBG-Massively Multiplayer Online SandBox Game), one in which you are free to do what you want, when you want however you want. Where the "Roleplaying" in the MMORPG is where you are playing YOUR role, not just another Joe Mage, Don Warrior, or Twitch the thief.
There are very few of these on the horizon. However, I believe that with the right team at the reigns, an MMOSBG can be GREAT. I'm just waiting for a game where there is FREEDOM to go, do, kill, mine, craft etc., whenever, wherever (within the confines of the game). Know YOUR role, not some role defined by the makers.
Comments
I agree. I don't understand what is going on with the genre.
Every single new game is almost the exact copy of the previous - you have your
third person view, you have a bunch of icons you can click on to make your
character fight, you have your chat window, you have your NPCs that give you short
simple quests, you have your loot, xp, levels, fighter/healer/mage classes, you
have your creatures that wander around aimlessly, which you have to kill
mechanically dozen after dozen.
It frustrates me when during a discussion of an upcoming new MMORPG, people
post threads asking things like "What is the highest level?",
"What is the tank class like?", "Where're the best places for
farming?" It's almost like people expect the game to contain the same old
crap as all other games of this kind, and don't even want to think of any
alternative ideas.
And consider the recent trend - commercial companies that level your character.
Hello?!! Is a game so not fun that you actually are prepared to pay someone to play it
for you?
This is a very unfortunate situation. Sparse complaints like mine and yours
won't change things for the better. As long as there's demand for this kind of
games, companies will continue spew them out
I have an idea why things are the way they are. MMORPGS seem to cater to a
special subclass of gamers - those lacking skills and those dreading challenge.
How much skill is needed in order to get one's character next to a
creature and press the ATTACK icon, thus making the character do the combat automatically? None! How much challenge do players want
to have if they continuously whine about permadeath, PvP, etc.? None! I had a discussion once
with a player in EQ2 - turned out she was a 40+ house wife, with kids and responsibilities,
and she viewed the game world as a safe retreat from the harsh reality, where
she could be successful and secured without trying hard.
Phew, I got tired after typing all this out, so I'll conclude with a list of things
which I think could breath life back into the stagnant corpse which is modern MMORPG
genre:
1) Dynamic combat (akin to Thief I/II, Blade of Darkness, Gothic, Morrowind
Oblivion). For god's sake, if a person is not capable of playing basic FPS style game, he/she should consider being a craftsman, a healer, a librarian, anything but a "tank" (I hate this term, shows how low had the genre sink).
2) No xp-based levels. Please, eliminate the grind. Have NPCs teach you new things for performing quests, have other players who are certified teachers share their knowledge with you, for a fee, anything. I fail to see how one can become a better trader or increase his/her speech skill by repeatedly slaughtering zebras/turtrles/crocodiles/rats/wolves/mountain lions/birds/bears/snakes/fishes/spiders/bugs/worms/poisonous plants/.................................................
3) Get rid of the notion of PvE/PvP. Just like in real life, if you can't
protect yourself or don't have anyone around to protect you, you're screwed. If you're a vile criminal robbing people exploring remote lands, have a bounty put on you, so that strongers players could hunt you down and receive a quest reward.
4) Add incentive for a interplayer conflicts. It can be anything - resources, hunting grounds, castles,
anything that would prompt players to join in groups and fight other groups.
5) Add permadeath (another LAME term which I hate) or at least limit the number of respawns. Think twice before you
team up with an inexperienced player, or go harassing players from other
factions. Face the consequences of unresponsible actions, and have your name written in sacred annals if you fall as a hero during a big battle. Make it so that a fallen hero's name can't be taken again by new players.
The possibilites are endless. I can think of thousands more things which current technology would allow the game designers to implement.
"I'm just waiting for a game where there is FREEDOM to go, do, kill, mine, craft etc., whenever, wherever (within the confines of the game). Know YOUR role, not some role defined by the makers."
I've been recommending The Saga of Ryzom a lot on this forum lately, but I'm going to do so again. People seem to be wanting, searching for what I believe is already in Ryzom.
It's not Fantasy, or Sci-fi. It's Science-Fantasy.
It does have XP and levels, but it is also classless. You want to do something, you learn it and do it. There's been several times when I've melee'd, healed, foraged, crafted, etc. all within a minute. 250 levels per skill branch equalling about 11,000 total levels, which, given enough time, patience, and determination, you could acheive all of without any penalty.
"The politics are extremely noticeable (I.E. You help an ally guild out in a siege, but then the guild you attacked destroys your town.)" - Check! Since outposts were introduced, we've had some very intriguing politics. Mostly involving neutral guilds since the factions (Karavan vs. Kami) tend to be more predictable, though they've had their interesting political fluctuations as well.
So give it a try, maybe it's what you're looking for...
Just a (hopefully) helpful suggestion...
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In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on August 13, 2008.
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No Permadeath... A shame.
Everything else is virtually in it tho.
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