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Another year mmos fail to deliver
ThomasN7
87.18.7.148Member CommonPosts: 6,690
AOC - It was a total bust for the most part. The only pretty much polished part of the game was levels 1-20 in Tortage, after that you can pretty much pick your poison on what was wrong from poor performance, class imbalances and bugs. I myself thought the game was going to be something special but unfortunately that did not happen.
Warhammer Online - The game is definitely for the niche crowd who like RVR. Yes there is pve but for the most part you can breeze right through the content. Even the most casual pvers can advance pretty far in a short period of time. The game is fun (at the moment) and for the most part it is polished pretty well. After you reach level 40 this is where you decide what route you want to take next. Do I want to grind renown ranks just for better gear or do I roll another character and repeat the whole process again ? I never tell people what they should do with their money so it is pretty much their choice. The jury is still out on Warhammer. It is still a wait and see how people feel about the game for the long term.
WOW - WOTLK = more of the same just like TBC was. Though that does not seem to bother people because they buy it anyway because it is WOW and has Blizzard on the label.
Lotro - If Mines of Moria doesn't deliver then Turbine really needs to rethink their strategy. They won best mmo of 2007 but honesty folks, there was no competition at all.
Tabula Rasa - Anyone still playing the game ? The game is only surviving on the rep of Richard Garriot. If it was anyone else the game would be history a long time ago.
COV/COH - People still play but it is getting older and Champions Online is coming.
EVE Online - For the niche crowd but if you want to fork over a monthly fee because you have nothing better to do then by all means.
Guild Wars - Many still play but the veterans are dying for something new and Arenanet is not ready to unleash real solid info on Guild Wars 2 yet. Nothing to get exicted about here and people are getting bored fast.
SWG - SOE just totally abandoned their fanbase but not giving them what they want. Just a tip for SOE, when you make a mmo you make it for the players and you do for the players, not for yourselves.
So pretty much it has been yet another disappointing year for mmo gaming for the most part. Nothing majorly new or innovative from developers. Unfortunately mmos for the past 2 years have been all hype and pretty much failed in the eyes of the masses. Yes you have the diehards still playing their favorite game but for the majority of us searching for that next big time mmo, the search still lingers on painfully.
Comments
Look at the bright side...the year isn't over yet! So ya still have more time to be more disappointed!
Reading your post, I have to wonder if some of this is born out of a frustration that there are no sandbox titles, because if that's your bag, which is cool, then there's a lot fo dissapointment to be had.
That being said, I can't see how you can say that nothing innovative came out of the year. Just off the top of my head, I'm thinking about the combat in AoC (Whatever you think of the game itself, the combat ius like nothing we've seen before... you don't even have to like it, it's still innovative.), Public Quests in Warhammer Online make a great addition to the MMO realm. It encourages people to work together without the regular hassles of grouping. It encourages the growing trend of solo players to branch out and try something new, etc... and those are just quick answers I came up with because I don't have long to post.
Also, in response to what you've written about Warhammer. If you "just breeze through the content" you've pretty much missed the point of that game. The point of the game is to contribute to your side in the war. Battlefield objectives, keeps, scenarios... all of these are contested daily, with the balance shifting back and forth. It's ok to linger a little bit in a level range and accomplish more than just grinding out levels. I understand that there are players who do this, and I also understand that it's born out of the "rush-to-the-endgame" mentality that many other MMOs have fostered, but there's another WAR innovation and if people don't notice that on their first turn around... *shrug* not really the game's fault.
Anyway, I think I'm just trying to point out that while this may be your opinion, and you're perfectly free to have it, there is a lot more to almost all of the games that you mentioned than you give credit for.
Honestly, while there have been dissapointments... BIG dissapointments this year, What I have seen gives me hope that the genre is actually evolving. It won't happen in giant leaps, unfortunately, but it's happening and many of the games you mentioned are contributing in a big way (others, not so much).
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
www.youtube.com/watch
This depressed me.
It wasn't even a Rickroll.
@Stradden: I'm not sure about AoC combat being so innovative. Sure, it was something new, but innovative to me means new and GOOD. To me, the combat in AoC is a bit like inventing a boat with 2x the density of water. It would be a new way of thinking but would it be sound?
just do like the rest of us and wait for Grannies Knitting Sweaters Online. it's all the gang is talkin about down at the ice cream parlour!
Say what you want about AoC, but the combat in that game was the best I have ever seen in any MMO or RPG, ever. You had to think strategically about which side you were attacking based on how that mob was protecting himself. Every battle was like a mini-chess game.
And right now, anyone who complains about Warhammer is missing the point. That game is just plain great.
I am still happy I own AoC. Maybe someday I will pay $15 to play for a month if things turn around. It has so much potential.
I am happy I bought and currently play Warhammer. I have never seen a great mix of PvE and PvP integrated so well.
I am happy that Wraith of the Lich King comes out soon, even though Blizzard is dumping honor and forcing Arenas on us. I love their PvE content.
I am happy I discovered Lord of the Rings Online, which has the best community and graphics to performance ratio I have ever seen in a game.
I am happy that Ryzom made a nice comeback, and I play it for free from time to time and enjoy its sandbox world.
Darkfall and Spellborn are next. Then Bioware....etc, etc
I think this is a great time for MMOs, at least for me
This depressed me.
It wasn't even a Rickroll.
Truly depressing...
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Hit it right on the nail. Waiting for that next mmo to strike your fancy is becoming more and more a dream rather than a reality. Seems like ever since WoW came on the scene everything released has been compared to it not even giving it a chance to shine on it's own. But yet if it does even resemble WoW in the least bit everyone cries clone and still drags it through the dirt. I don't understand it anymore. Do you want something new or don't you?
bitter sandbox fan post number 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
I have to agree with that post really .. I mean really what is out there that is actually new and innovative? To be honest I think its time to start leaving the world of elves and dwarfs and orks behind and move onto some new genre themes . Fallout is a good example. How about some more sci-fi MMO and not ones where there elves and dwarfs and orks in them either. Some different and fresh I would like to see eventually down the road I got a dozen different type of MMOs that could be made without the magic and sword elements .. but sadly all we get is more clones.....
You can take every game I mentioned and break each one down to point out the small innovations each game has and it is still the masses would generally be disappointed. Those innovations are so small, noone even notices them to even make a difference. My first mmo ever wa FFXI Online, played it for 2 years and I thought it was an awesome game. Though that was like 4-5 years ago and from this day most mmos are copied from the same mold. The funny thing is that the least innovative game which would be WOW, still holds a large majority of their fanbase and people today still like the game alot. How ironic is that and I am far from a WOW fan here. Just about every game since WOW that has been released has either been a major bust or subpar at best.
The newest game we have is Warhammer. PQs are a fun thing and yes some small innovation here but they aren't that amazing. The RVR is fun to people who enever did it before and for people who played DAOC but for the most part RVR is no more than a pvp grind to renown rank 80.The rewards for getting that far is not all that generally appealling either. The one thing I will give Mythic credit for is that the game is pretty much polished and there is no game breaking bugs in the game. I think WAR is fun for the meantime but wether people will play it for the long term is definitely highly questionable at best.
Sure it is frustrating to see the majority of mmos to be average at best. Maybe 2009 will hold good things for us in the future and I sure do hope so! Though for now all we are left with is rehashed concepts from many moons ago.
I can look if there are major bugs in WAR as in exploits :P
I think you nailed it right on the head, but you forgot one. You forgot to mention how old, boring, and definately lacking graphics wise EQ2 is.
I feel your pain OP.
However, I've come to think that for me, salvation may not lie in a new game, but in the re-incarnation of an old one...too bad I can't mention it here due to there being a rule against it.
Aion will make 2009 a great year for MMOs
(Opinionated of course, don't jump down my throat for it)
Please... do tell! Or even a little hint for us?
I am not sure how warhammers party quests work but...
LOTRO has party-based quests,
WoW has guild raids,
Many players party up for hard quests in many other mmos as well.
It really isn't that new of a concept...
But, once again, I do not know how they implemented it so that may be innovative.
(If someone does know, by all means, spill it)
I am a skeptical supporter of DF. I am not a fanboi nor a troll. I seek the truth in every discussion, and I am truly sorry if I mistakenly state a fallacy.
Please... do tell! Or even a little hint for us?
cough maybe swg pre cu emulator maybe XD
You can say what game it is, just not talk about private servers. So just post on how you thought (insertgamehere) would be the answer to the OP's post. That way you're not gonna be breaking any rules (and any hopes of me ever wanting to be a mod have been dashed)
)
(Note: Not saying I wanted to be a mod, just saying helping people around the rules probably disqualifies me
just google "pre-cu swg".
whatever it is..it's really close to release, and very playable in it's current incarnation
To the OP:
I do not feel the need to diss a game b/c its not innovative. I look for a game that keeps me and my friends/family happy while logged on. I am not going to carry the game to my coffin, so when the lust or fun factor faded, I move on to another game, or another source of fun. Picnic is fun with a toddler.
Your comments on each game is fair and reflects your views well. Can't argue with your views, they are fully respected. Generally:
AoC, yes I shared your disappointment, the game stops at lvl 20, they need to revamp the post 20 world.
WoW, its a big bag with a mixture of a lot of things. One monthly sub and offering quite a lot of playstyle. Too bad many players are already bored and fence sitting or hybernate. Will the next expansion really kick things up, or just funnel the maxi-min guys to 80 and stop dead there? Who knows.
WAR, so far its fun. Its only 2 weeks old, and lots of content yet to be delivered. I do not feel the need to draw conclusions about it. Why not enjoy the game when the fun factor is there?
LOTRo is fun, but somehow it lacked the magic. MoM is a good chance to test the waters. I feel 50-50 on its chances of success. BUT just a chance to look at what the legendarys mines look like, is enough to keep bring some ppl back, even if it is just for a while.
Looking further ahead, there are new games coming, and oddly enough, I am looking forward to Champions online. Not as CoX2, but possibly as a change in style to orc-dwarf-elf trinity.
Although I see the OP's point in at least one case its more of a "nothing I like" has been released this year. He also badgers on a lot of old games that frankly have been old news and irrelevant for a while now. I mean who follows SWG?
Yes overall it was a disappointment for a year like most in the last 4 or 5.
As far as releases go PotBS, a game everyone pretty much forgot about BUT was extemely hyped here on this site by some of the posters here. I don't know how its doing these days but it was a disappointment. Fury crashed and burned. (was that this year?) Hellgate shut down or whatever and a few other minor games drifted off to sleep like Dreamlords, who relaunched the game because apparently no one noticed it launched.
There has been a lot of positive going on this year however.
Not only that but many others have come a long way. Now I'm not real familiar with AoC but the people who I actually know who have / are playing it, like lately. Dunno. Forum posters tend to whine about everything and like to be drama queens. I might give it a go later this year.
Things to look forward to in the near future
All is not doom and gloom. The genre is still young and changing and evolving (and unfortunately in a rut because idiots keep hooting about "WoW" killers rather then wanting to play a good game).
I'd say you're maybe a bit harsh, though I understand your pain.
Well this year we finally saw an ambitious AAA MMO release go well which is, amazingly, a rarity in this genre. You might not place WAR in direct competition but at least it is sharing the same playing field with WoW and LoTRO (heh) as a polished MMO with lots and lots of content and different stuff to do.
In addition there's plenty of innovation in 2008. Off the top of my head I'll list WAR's PQs, Tome of Knowledge and breaking away from the tedious forced 1v1 balancing... AoC did a brave experiment with their combat system and WoTLK will bring movable multi-user vehicles to MMOs... All of those are pushing up the standards for any future AAA MMOs that might come along and imo this is a very good thing.
However I can see your point (although it is somewhat obscured in the OP) that there was no new sandbox MMO in quite some time. Imo this is a bit disappointing and I hope those that are in development finally start coming out (Darkfall, Earthrise, Mortal) and that some high-profile developer decides to take a plunge and bring sandboxes to a new level of playability and appeal that I'm sure they are capable of because there is nothing inherently wrong with their basic principles.
Well MMORPGs have a certain limitation that keeps most of the games similar to each other. Being neverending, lore fans and those looking for a good story may dislike MMOs. Once you reach max level, mostly the game will revolve around item grinding, pvp and socializing.
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