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The Stale MMORPG Era (It's long, hope you're bored)
Hello all. I wanted to express my opinions about my MMO quagmire that I have fell into.
I would like to start off by saying that this is a discussion and your thoughts are encouraged, I only ask to keep them reader friendly. I know people have their own favorite MMO that they will praise until the end of time, so if I mention YOUR game in a negative way, try not to take it too personal.
From what I see, there isn't anything worth my time coming out anytime soon. All eye candy. Nothing new. Sure, there may be a few little features that are new in some of the up coming games but nothing really exciting. They are all the same. Too cartoonish. Too simple. Either an EQ clone or a WoW clone. But why? why not just play WoW or EQ, that's basically what these new games coming are, just different titles.
There are exceptions. PotBS and STO. Which I don't have any interest in any of them. I'm not sure why either, maybe I feel they have lack of customization.
AoC looks kind of cool, it would be my first choice if I HAD to pick a new game. The only feature that looks good is the real-time attack feature they have. I haven't been keeping up on it lately so I don't know if you can block hits the same way, but if not, then why?
I can't go to the forums because I can't find much useful info there. There are too many people making "Hey look at me" threads in hopes of getting picked for Beta. Or kids posting about how excited they are to chop off NPC heads. So I stopped going.
One turn off is the PvP areas seem odd, from what I understand, they are instanced? I see exploiting here. If I'm ungrouped, I run into a PvP area, fight someone, they zone out, I follow them out, they zone back in, I zone back in, but I'm in a totally different GS then them now. That was just an example. I don't like level systems either.
Darkfall? Seems good, but it might be a griefers' game. I like to PvP but I'm never as good as the hardcore players.
Which brings me to hardcore players. I play a lot. At least 6 hours a day. More if I didn't live with my girlfriend heh. But I am never as good as the others that play as much as I do.
I want to re-define hardcore player a bit. Because by definition, I am one, yet, I'm not. Hardcore players are more likely to cheat. You can say no that's not true, or "I don't". But let's face it, they buy credits online, they know all of the latest exploits. I buy credits sometimes, but I'm too cheap and I'll camp for whatever it is I need instead. So I ask myself, am I a hardcore gamer? No. But I'm not a casual one either; who by defininition, doesn't play as much.
If I could have a discussion with a game developer I would rant on the following:
This ruins games for me:
Credit Farmers
Buying credits is bad for the economy, it's especially bad for new people just starting out.
Exploiters (to include speed hacks, invisiblity hacks, aimbots etc.)
These people are the lowest of the low. I don't know how many nerfs were a result of exploiters in SWG, so bad that it wasn't worth playing your profession anymore. In fact, it changed the game.
I think both groups should be actively hunted down and thier IP addresses perma-banned period. Not just accounts, IP Addresses.
Things that I would like to change/see in an MMO:
Games are too simple now. I'm an adult. Don't insult me with elementary school games.
An example would be my character. I don't want to look like ANYone else as much as possible.
Another, Levels. Too simple-minded. It pretty much indicates when you will reach your endgame. This of course is affected by grinding xp and basically if the devs determine how long they want you to work towards that end game, they would only adjust the amont of xp per level is needed to get to the next. No thought, it's the lazy way out for devs IMO.
Skill systems require thought and offers diversity, kind of like Eve. The more array of skills offered the better. Too many times I've seen lvl 60 wizzy battle another lvl 60 wizzy and the wizzy that shot off his lvl 60 Fireball of Doom first = win. NO NO NO. I would have more fun not knowing what the other guy can do, it causes me to THINK about what I am doing. A huge complex skill system is the kittens meow in my book.
Nomore cartoon graphics. That goes for the wierd fairy dust animations everytime I swing my sword/fist/foot/etc. I am perfectly able to read my combat window " you have been kicked in the ass by player x".
Larger worlds. DnL for example, has/had a HUGE world (only thing they had going for the game though). I don't think there would be a problem finding people in such a huge world. There will always be "hot spots" for PvP, just like in any game. Find groups to PvE with is done much the same way. There are always those certain towns/cities that people are attracted to for markets and such and usually a meeting place as it is. Though I've randomly found a group to PvE with while running around in the middle of nowhere. But, large worlds are great for exploration, guild functions/private events, and the soloist.
Items such as weapons and clothing. I'm up in the air about this. Some people have thier opinions about, loot and craftables. Or what the item mods do. From the games I've played, I liked everything the way they were. So no special request from me on this topic.
Crafting was awsome in SWG. Never got around to craft in other games much. So no thoughts from me on crafting.
PvP Griefers. Well, they are annoying. Corpse campers, Load campers. I would like it if the opposite faction couldn't see your name (or on radar for that matter, while I'm at it). Only your faction and who you allow. I think this would cut down of griefers. Also, probably what matters most, for me anyways, I don't like the fact that I can't ambush somebody because of my big red name blinking like Las Vegas lights over my head. Why can't this be done away with? Like in WW2 Online, you can't see the enemy's name, nor can you open chat with him because it comes up in area chat as jfjgfihmrudyrm ikdbnfhtu ifhgfb. Seriously. That cuts out the "I PWN J00 NOOBENS" comments, which upsets people. And I can only laugh at it so much before I question why I'm playing with kids.
PvP also needs to have a common goal. Both personal gains and factional gains. But impacts the game world.
This topic is not final but this is where I'm wrapping my "want in a MMO list". Customer service. And I'm not going to talk about fixing in game issues, I going to talk about playerbase and a little marketing.
Do NOT change the game that you launched to compete with the newest fad. SWG - WoW. You have 1 million subscriptions because 1 million people would rather play YOUR game not thiers. There will always be a new game coming out, and people are always going to try it out, whether they try it for a week or two months, they are going to make a decision anyways. Why play a copy of something when you can play the real thing?
Don't let a hand full of whiners pull the wieght of the playerbase. Just because a child doesn't like to read or get the alpha class in the first hour after installing the game, doesn't mean you should dumb it down. You are just going to ruin the game for others. If a player doesn't like how something is in the game, that person can go find another one. I laugh when I see these" well, I just called/e-mailed the CEO" threads. Who do these people think they are? If they don't like the game, they can just find a new one. And that's ok, you keep your current customers and you don't have to re-develope a whole new game. You're not going to see me calling FunCom and demand that they have Elves in AoC, oh and I want to have the best weapon given to me on the first noob quest. No.
I've seen a lot of talk about games doing in-game advertisements and/or not charging a monthly fee but selling items for real money or charging real money to travel, etc.
Bad idea. I'll end up paying more monthly by doing this (which I'm sure it's why they want to impliment it).
I wouldn't play if this is where MMOs are heading. Instead of figuring out how to make more money off customers (like millions a month just in monthly fees alone isn't enough), they should spend more time developing a QUALITY game of THIER OWN (not a half-assed rip-off of another). And you will get your money from all the subscriptions as a result, I promise. DO NOT let this become the norm people.
Fellow gamers, I for one expect quality. We should not settle for anything less. Demand it. Because when you settle, you get games like the ones we are seeing launched lately, and it is horrible.
I know a lot of you are as bored as I am, but settling for the current crap these companies are pushing out is sending the wrong message. Ask youself this, what's so special and DIFFERENT about the game you are waiting for in developement? Are you just bored of WoW and will buy anything? Cause all I see coming out is WoW and EQ in the next year.
Do you know it will be 2009 untill we start seeing the next batch of launches from new games? That's a long time to wait.
So what do you guys think about this?
Comments
At some point, there will be a company that will take a chance and go in a different direction than all of the current batch of MMOs. However, profits drive development, and right now most companies don't see a huge profit in groundbreaking MMOs.
Did you know schools here in the US are lowering thier standards so the dumb kids can graduate? It's sad. I have to reduce myself to interacting with todays stupid kids now, great.
Guess I should keep my eye out for a new console and games soon it seems. Too bad they are lonely.
Well, like you sad, this is what we'll see for a few years until someone goes a different direction, but IMO, that company is going to do very well.
Stale gameplay is a perfect word to describe the entire gaming market, in each sub-category (FPS, RTS, MMORPG), complexity actually goes down. Just like a moldy piece of bread, in each sub-category games are degrading also.
Master of Orion---->Master Of Orion 2,3 BOOOOOOO! Downgrade.
Empire Earth--->Empire Earth 2 BOOOOO! Downgrade.
Hearts of Iron---->Hearts of Iron 2 BOOOOO! Downgrade.
Ultima Online--->Everquest---->World of Warcraft BOOOOO! Downgrade each time.
Quake -----> Every other FPS out there BOOOO! Same game, different graphics.
Star Wars Galaxies -----> Star Wars Galaxies BOOOOOO! Downgraded their own game, dopes.
A very well thought out post
And I have to agree, everywhere I look, it is more and more of the same.
I've got a long gaming history - and in every game there are different degrees of different things - good and bad - that make that game fun and that increase the time I'll spend there.
Here are my personal nitpicks :
Character Customization - Aesthetic : I don't understand these games that come out where you choose one of 6 (if you're lucky, that many!) identical 'models' and go. Throughout your gameplay, you see thousands of clones of you in varying sets of equipment. Everquest 2, City of Heroes/Villains are examples of games with good character diversity. You can spend an hour just trying out various options modifying well, just about any aspect of your characters appearance. I'm not saying that we need it to this degree, but being able to choose say, a hairstyle, a hair color, a skin color, mix-and-match is really a must.
Character Customization - Skills : This is the big killer for me. So many games nowadays are coming out where you pick a 'class' and then thats it. Except for slight differences in equipment, once you are at the level cap you have the same array of skills/abilities as everyone else of that class. (Eq2, WoW, etc.). And before you tell me 'Oh wait, WoW has Talent Trees!' -- we both know that they are a joke. Respec for cheap as often as you want, I'm a shadow priest in the morning for bg and discipline in the evening for a raid - and honestly, this gives a few different skills and boosts a few different things but essentially we're all the same. Eq2 didn't even have that much - a monk was a monk was a monk and only your equipment made a difference. The 'achievement' line didn't really help much, either.
Gone are the days of stat points, putting them into things. The days of raising skills you prefferred over ones you didn't, the closest you will come nowadays are 'skill trees' which are still limiting and frustrating and typically open only to certain classes. Do you guys remember Asherons Call, where you could train in any thing you wanted? I mean, you could have war magic and sword and spear and run speed trained. It was still possible to 'gimp' your character into complete ineffectiveness - or tweak them into excellence. I miss the rewards of smart character building. Remember Anarchy Online, where if you felt like spending the increased cost of points you could have that Doctor wield a submachine gun? Or sacrifice your defense and other abilities to tweak your agent into an omg-ridiculous weapon and do great damage? I miss games where you could click on someone, see what class they were, what lvl they were even, and still have *no idea* what they were capable of. Now there isn't really a 'build' - this era of games is all about 'fullfilling your role in the team'
Which brings me to my next point :
Forced Grouping - DaoC gets a big gold star for this, the game where you cannot solo. (Well, you CAN, but it surely isn't very productive ). And this has gotten a lot better with 5 years of patches and additions, but still holds pretty true. Soloing is a no-no. You need at least ___ people to do ____, and at least ____ people do this other _____. I'm not saying you should be able to obtain the biggest best items in the game by your lonesome, or that levelling by yourself should be faster than in a group, but being completely helpless to do anything other than stand around saying 'lvl ___ fighter looking for group' is just ....bleh. Some of the games right now, we will call them 'potion chuggers' eliminate this frustration, however they add the cheesiness of carrying 500 health potions with you and going on your merry way. Its a solution, albeit not a great one.
Forced Raiding - Same as above. I really don't want to have to find 39 other like minded people, all online and willing to dedicate the next few hours (or 6..7..)to a raid. No ones going to afk. No ones going to go to the bathroom. No ones going to screw up. Oh wait. Yes, I know there are hard core, disciplined guilds out there who can get the job done. I've been in them. I've LED them. These guilds typically have a DKP system of some sort and raid schedules and attendance requirements and it just...feels too much like a job for me. There's got to be a better way. 'll give an example. In WoW, back in the day, there were certain quest rewards you got for completing certain instances in a 5-man group ( as opposed to a raid group). Now at first, you didn't see these things very often because doing a 5-man in some of these dungeons was difficult to virtually impossible, and only people who knew what they were donig could get them. Of course, after many nerfs as well as the addition of higher and higher end equipment in the raid dungeons, they have become stupidly easy. However, the idea was good. Why not let the people who are good players, but who are burnt out and bored with the babysitting that large-scale raiding turns out to be, have access to the high lvl equipments without the headache? I'm not saying you should be able to solo a raid boss - but why not have equivalent loot in a very difficult 1-team capped dungeon instead of forcing people to go through this weekly raid schedule - which really is just highly organized farming. That got old in WoW, it got old in Eq2, and it is just old everywhere.
Particularly since these are often just zerging the mobs. There was once a bit of skill that came into play, but now just follow the FAQ of 'how to kill ....' and do what other people have tried and tested, and you'll get it. Or defeat it once and the mobs will act predictably in each successive encounter.
The decline of populations in most of these games due to many issues but as well as the quantity of games on the market today really does not make 'large scale raiding' a really possible thing. I recently went and played Daoc again (memory lane...) for a few months. I had my faithful shaman on autofollow on my laptop since soloing was impossible. In this manner, myself playing 2 accounts along with my boyfriend playing 1, we had enough of a 'team' to make the levelling somewhat less painful. But we hit a wall, because it was impossible to find more than 1 or 2 people other than ourselves online looking for something to do, and even with a team of 5, a good % of the content wasn't doable. After two months of trying to find a raid happening for what we needed, we got frustrated. We joined the biggest guild on server. Of course, with a game that's been out that long, so many people are already done with everything that doing it again doesn't happen much. Even this proved boring because in *THE BIGGEST GUILD* on our server, we still couldn't fill a single team half the time - and there were 3 of us - we were already halfway there so to speak.
So, yes. Small group content. Please.
Forced PVP - This is where you'll flame me. I don't think people should be forced to PvP. Ever. I'm the type of gamer that seriously enjoys PvP - but when I choose to. I don't want to be ganked while levelling. I don't want to be ganked while crafting. In other words, I don't think PvP should interfere with the rest of the games content, unless you are intentionally playing something designed to have this sort of 'conflict'. Remember AC? AO? You were safe unless you actively chose to flag up. In AO, there were certain zones that were PvP, but you didn't have to go there. And if by chance you did, you still had your yalm so you could fly over most of the danger. NOthing is more frustrating than have your quest be in an open PvP zone and you get killed by a level 100 every time you step over the threshold. In WoW PvP was restricted to 'voluntary' or 'battlegrounds'. OR special ruleset server - all of which I am fine with. But who can compete with the people that don't have jobs and just play all day while you're at work or at class or whatever and then you come home, log on, try to go lvl and they just splat you over and over?
I personally think those people should be perma-banned from the entire MMO world, but failing that, the games should be designed to prevent this. Make a special ruleset gank server so all the people who want to do that can go there and leave the rest of us in peace.
Or if that's too much to ask - make it so I don't lose xp and items when someone twice my level decides to come 1-shot me. That would be inconvenient, but bearable. Personally, if I just want to kill other players, I'll go load up an FPS - where we all start on equal ground. Trying to balance MMO classes for fairness in PvP just ends up with boosts and nerfs on a roller coaster and which class is uber this month. Causes untold frustration on many lvls. Just ...go play an FPS.
Better for everyone.
So yeah. Basically, I just want to play a game where my character can be unique, where I have the ability to customize my stats/skills to have my character perform in a particular way that is effective for *me*, and I don't want to be forced to rely on other people to accomplish things. I like the idea of community. Trading, marketplace, teaming if you want to - but the ability to still go off and make decent progress by myself if there are no teams available, without worrying I'm going to lose an hours grind because someone is bored and wants to come kill people that day.
Some games have 1 or more of these things, but none that I've played have all of them. So we compromise, and we deal with one annoyance to enjoy the 'good things'.
So I'm in the same quagmire ...drifting from game to game ...sometimes staying for a month or two, a lot of the time considerably less than that. Even games that have a lot of great features and a lot of the things mentioned above that I enjoy -- after a few months, I'm maxed out. Lvl Cap, best gear you can get before-spending-6-months-raid-farming-nightly-boring-blah, nothing else to do, etc.
Oh, and one last thing ! >< Travel :P
In WoW, it took 15 minutes (at least )to get from Ironforge to Dire Maul by using a succession of gryphon rides that coast beautifully over the scenery that you've seen a million times, interrupted by waiting for a boat, riding a boat, getting off the boat, getting on another gryphon and finally a nice horse ride ( assuming you have a mount ) through the jungle and then creeping through to the instance entrance itself .... by the time your whole team gets there someone is leaving :P And there are some games out there, where you wouldn't even have all of that. You'd just have to walk :L
In EQ2, you had Mariner bells, got you from one place to another a bit more quickly. In AO you had your personal plane, whompas(portals), etc. In AC you had the option to train 'item magic' to portal yourself around or make portals for others. In many games you have mounts. In Guild wars you opened the map, clicked the place, and zzzt! There you were.
Nothing is more frustrating than forming a team to go do something and then it taking an hour for everyone to get there, or people dying on the way. Especially if you don't have 6+ hours per sitting to invest. I'm on the other side of that equation, I've got all night ...but once the healer has to log off well ...you know how it goes.
Anyway ...yeah. Still waiting for that next great game.
Till then ....I am a ghost on these boards :P
Gaming? That's not gaming!
That's just people sat 'round in costumes drinking...
You think the combat in something like Call of Duty or Unreal is the same as Quake engine games like Wolfenstein? I mean, if thats how you feel then ok. I feel like they're radically different in terms of objectives, TTK, movement, usefulness of cover and sniping... I think your comparison is so tolerant of degrees of difference that you're going to lump everything in every genre together based on the fact that they're in the same genre.
Count me out. There are are plenty of games with that.
Thats exactly the point ;P
Gaming? That's not gaming!
That's just people sat 'round in costumes drinking...
I think you've summed up everything I feel, I've been playing mmo's for a long time now, and i've meet some friends online who i've been playing with for 6-7 years across multiple games. Games that force grouping imo are the way to go.
I don't agree with your stance on pvp though. If someone has the time to sit there in game all day to get "z0mg 133t" items to own you with, that should be their prerogative, however items should give them an advantage but that advantage should be countered by skill (IE minimal advantage, but it's still there). I'm a PvP'r at
, thats what i like to do, but I do agree that getting ganked while leveling is annoying. I think DAOC handled this perfectly with zones that were just meant to pve, and were completely seperated from pvp conflict, in fact other factions couldnt even pve in the same zones as you (unless it was a pvp zone, and who is stupid enough to pve in a pvp zone ;p ).
In WoW I'm in a "hardcore" raiding guild, and I have to say some of the Boss fights are fun, but in truth whats the point? there is no "end-game" You raid for hours upon hours to get item #4592057 for what? so you can move on to the next boss and get another item? That is not my Idea of character progression. I'm looking forward to some games with a meaningful endgame, something that will differentiate your characters from everyone else.
Just my thoughts.
You know, it's funny I should come across this thread, seeing as how I was about to post something with a very similar gist myself just recently. I totally agree with the premise that the MMO genre is quite stale at the moment, and is in need of something refreshing to inject a little excitement back into things. Sure, the genre is bigger than ever with things like WoW out there, but at the same time it's suffering from the same problems it's had before and even introducing new ones.
AC was my first MMO and despite it's flaws the early time in that game remains far and away my best experience not just with MMO's but with gaming in general. It was a game with great concepts, but with some sub-par execution, such as the skill system (pointed out earlier in this thread) where anyone could train anything. The problem was, there wasn't enough truly useful skills, and too many throwaway ones, so in the end there were far too many people with the same skills trained up. I always imagined that the next MMO's to come would take the basic idea though and refine it to something which could lead to a real plethora of unique characters.
PvP is another important area for me, and while I know it's a controversial stance to take, I'm looking for a game which at least offers one server with full unrestricted PvP and maybe even some loot drops as well to offer real risk and reward. AC had this, and while it was brutal and many times woefully unfair to the lower levels, the sense of accomplishment and achievement when you overcame the struggle made it far far sweeter. And no, this view isn't coming from some 12 year old griefer punk who loved to gank newbies, this is from someone who spent his days on AC's PvP server endlessly fighting against that sort. It was always an adreneline rush being on AC's PvP server, and to this day I wait for a game that can get my blood pumping like it did when I would see some red dot zooming towards me on the radar screen. I'm not saying all the servers need to be like this, just one would be fine, but sadly even this is too much to ask of most devs.
Forced grouping is a major turn off to me, as are large scale raids. The whole concept of needing to organize some 40 people to spend hour upon hour chugging through some dungeon gives me a headache just thinking about it! Yes, make some dungeons and such which offer tangible benefits to being grouped together, but I play MMO's at times when there might not be 6 other people my level range doing a quest, let alone 39 others to spend most of my day with.
Character customization seems like something which should be the simplest thing to give to the player base, but oddly many games seem almost obsessed with forcing everyone to look the same.
One more thing I think needs to be done in future games is make a real push for a truly living world, one which changes constantly in real time. I'm not talking about the servers go down for a patch and the devs list a new dungeon or something which everyone promptly farms, I'm talking about world changes which occur in real time and may not even be obvious or known to everyone. See, I'm thinking of something which encourages that old time explorer spirit, rekindles that sense of "what's over that hill?" that many of us used to have in our first MMO's.
Sorry if this is a bit rambling and long, but these are long held beefs which I just needed to get off my chest.
Thats exactly the point ;P
It should not be strcitly enforced, but should be blatently obvious your going to have to work significantly harder to do anything with out a group.
I got into the genre w/ Asheron's Call as well. When sure, there were preferred xp places, but you could go off by yourself and find things that maybe no one was talking about. Like trekking through Northern Osteth away from any sort of waypoint or town or dungeon or hill, finding a portal, ooo whats this? A simple little dungeon, you fight your way through it, maybe there's some interesting lore in there, some sort of backstory -- it was interesting. Rather than having every dungeon or landmark have a specific purpose and location for some sort of quest. You know what I mean ...places that exist. Not, some NPC says "Go here." And so you do. But places not on any of the task lists that you could go find. I've never played anything since that can match the depth of -content- that AC had ....just look at ACexplorer, the lists of lore, of places ...its crazy :P I miss that =/ In most games if you wander around where there's nothing on the map you just find more nothing, not a lovingly crafted world where over the next hill may be an unmapped dungeon, or castle, or fort, something interesting to see. Usually its just more of the terrain-generated land with more of the same mobs and same trees. Remember once it took HOURS to go all the way across the dires, carefully moving along, finding all sorts of abandoned little temples and things along the way, sometimes with clickies that you could learn about why it was there.
Seems like since then all the worlds have been smaller.
And yes ...Darktide ...^^ Was definitely a challenge. Oh the days of running through the arwic mines trying to get away from someone in the twists and turns. Don't misunderstand me here ....I like PvP, provided I am given it as an option. On Darktide you build your character differently than you do elsewhere ...as in any environment that is PvP hostile ...certain builds, certain classes are favored. You adjust accordingly. I am just tired of the ganking that goes on in games that have no separate ruleset, or zone, or circumstances for players who are just trying to complete their quest or level up and they have no option of safety. One of the reasons I have trouble getting friends of mine to play ;P
Gaming? That's not gaming!
That's just people sat 'round in costumes drinking...
Anyway, might as well go play consoles until 2009. Gogogo!
I got into the genre w/ Asheron's Call as well. When sure, there were preferred xp places, but you could go off by yourself and find things that maybe no one was talking about. Like trekking through Northern Osteth away from any sort of waypoint or town or dungeon or hill, finding a portal, ooo whats this? A simple little dungeon, you fight your way through it, maybe there's some interesting lore in there, some sort of backstory -- it was interesting. Rather than having every dungeon or landmark have a specific purpose and location for some sort of quest. You know what I mean ...places that exist. Not, some NPC says "Go here." And so you do. But places not on any of the task lists that you could go find. I've never played anything since that can match the depth of -content- that AC had ....just look at ACexplorer, the lists of lore, of places ...its crazy :P I miss that =/ In most games if you wander around where there's nothing on the map you just find more nothing, not a lovingly crafted world where over the next hill may be an unmapped dungeon, or castle, or fort, something interesting to see. Usually its just more of the terrain-generated land with more of the same mobs and same trees. Remember once it took HOURS to go all the way across the dires, carefully moving along, finding all sorts of abandoned little temples and things along the way, sometimes with clickies that you could learn about why it was there.
Seems like since then all the worlds have been smaller.
And yes ...Darktide ...^^ Was definitely a challenge. Oh the days of running through the arwic mines trying to get away from someone in the twists and turns. Don't misunderstand me here ....I like PvP, provided I am given it as an option. On Darktide you build your character differently than you do elsewhere ...as in any environment that is PvP hostile ...certain builds, certain classes are favored. You adjust accordingly. I am just tired of the ganking that goes on in games that have no separate ruleset, or zone, or circumstances for players who are just trying to complete their quest or level up and they have no option of safety. One of the reasons I have trouble getting friends of mine to play ;P
You pretty much hit the nail on the head. When I first started AC, I was literally blown away by how much there was to see and find. It's the only game where I felt like if I ran around for hours on end off the beaten path that I might find it rewarding and worthwhile. It was such an eye opening experience after spending all my previous gaming years playing in confined areas. I remember that on Darktide, my guild suffered some harsh defeats in the town we stayed at, so we relocated to some place out of the way. And on that server, finding a lifestone which your enemy didn't know about and couldn't camp was a vital asset, and I can recall just running around for hours trying to find some unknown lifestone which had portals to towns to sell things at. Eventually I did come across such a place, and I can remember the sense of pride I had at my discovery. Of course, I didnt prowl the database sites at the time, so I doubt it was truly "unknown", but it felt like a discovery to me.
And yes, a server like Darktide is harsh and obviously not for everyone, which is why I fully understand why games don't universally adopt that ruleset for all servers. Just one little server on the side would be fine by me though. I guess at heart I'm an Explorer/PvPer, and I'm waiting to see something which captures my imagination again.
LotD has been gaming since 1995, and we agree
Some folks over at corpnews.com and massive-magazine don't quite see things our way, so instead of seeing that we're trying to call for change they just write us off as "gaming is no longer for you".
The truth is most MMORPG's will not have the same massive success as WoW, and a good release of future MMORPG's is still going to remain in the 100k-300k subscriber numbers.
Supreme Leader Hades
The Imperial Aces
Discord: https://discord.gg/CjBP4dc
You've gotta love that. I was told the same thing after being critical of a certain MMORPG that I am currently beta-testing. My main complaint was, "This game is exactly like the other offerings currently on the market. It does nothing NEW." I was told that this complaint meant that "I don't like MMORPGs" and I had "no right to even be a beta tester."
Looking for a fresh, new, innovative game? That must mean you hate games! Yeah, right.
C
Just because I want something different doesn't mean I hate games, or I should be put out to pasture.
Supreme Leader Hades
The Imperial Aces
Discord: https://discord.gg/CjBP4dc
played a multitude of MMO games and have just gotten bored with all of
them. None of them can seem to keep my attention for a very long
time as they all turn in to doing the same things over and over and
over again. About 2 years ago I started to come up with ideas I
wanted to see in an MMO game personally cause I was tired of being
bored with these games. That is when the idea to create my own
game company and game that I wanted to play started. So I started
to jot down ideas as I got them and things started to come together
into a pretty well thought out game. About two months ago I
started to program a game engine and created a gaming company, with two
other friends I met on these MMO games, this month. Currently we
have a website that we just launched this week with some of our ideas
for the game on it and development of the game engine is about all I do
now heck I even work on it through remote desktop while I am at
work. If you would like to check out the website its www.crimsonrealms.com
Douglas Kasten
Crimson Realms Entertainment
"If A is success in life, then A = X + Y + Z. Where work is X; Y is play; and Z is knowing when to keep your mouth shut." --Albert Einstein
Looking for a fresh, new, innovative game? That must mean you hate games! Yeah, right.
C
Great post.
This ranks right up there with being told you are a "troll" and to "why waste your time here is it is so bad?" replies when you are a beta tester. Some companies and "fanbois" do not want to here what is wrong. You can constructively compliment the game all day long, but if you constructively point out faults to the game, people are calling for your head. Does that mean I was slamming the gaming? No, I was giving my open and honest opinions about the games and it didn't matter if it was good, bad, or out right ugly. The thing that I think hurts beta testing the most is the fanbois' who band together to keep "trolls" down. What is left is companies not get a real picture of how there beta is going. Over 12 years of experience has proven to me that a "troll" can be trusted a lot more than a "fanbois" when it comes to evaluating a game. At least a "trolls" beta copy of a game doesn't come with a pair of rose-colored glasses.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
If you asked me 2 years ago. I thought every game back then sucked except WoW which was OK. But the new games slated for 2007 have alot to look forward to by companies that just might be able to deliver on thier promises with mmo company veterans that made innovations in the gaming industry before. The budgets are higher (50+ million) and the development time is also longer (4+ years). So the upcoming next gen should offer something truly spectacular that try to capture even more of an audience then ever before.
When you look at what was released rescently you can tell why they were trainwrecks. Such as all the GameNGame games, Rappelz, Archlord, Auto Assault. They all simply thought they had a model down, spent less then 10 million. Some even less then 1 million on a game that was in production for less then a year. Ofcourse the games will be bad with inadaquete funding and a bad mmo model.