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MMORPG - Massive Multi-player On-line Role Playing Game.
Massive - large world/universe
Multi-player - able to group with other players
On-line - public network
Role Playing - you assume an identity and act it out (hardly anyone really does this)
Game - supposed to be FUN
Where in that description does it say that the correct mechanic for an MMORPG is to base it upon a mechanic centerred around acquiring gear or obtaining new levels? The grand-daddy of all RPG's was Pen-and-paper Dungeons and Dragons and even that stopped at level 20. Today's MMORPG's use this mechanic as their "carrot-and-stick" or maybe "magic bullet" is a better term for it.
So I want to know, is that good enough for everyone else? What about a game with either no leveles or maybe limited levels controlled by character aging rather than a ridiculuos imaginary number? How about aquiring, training, and then using skills to increase the proficiency of your character in combat? How about finding enjoyment through having a permenant impact on your game environment through achievements, reputation, or building things.
How about this?
Perma-death. Sounds scary right? Was it scary in D&D? Not for me, half the fun was rolling a new character and moving on into new adventures. Would it be so scary if we weren't all playing games where you punch a clock every day to reach level 100, or renown 100, or to get our hands on the latest fuscia gear-because without it your a loser?
Maybe even perma-death through character aging and combat.... terrible idea you say? How about a couple of ladders to go with it? One to track the most PvP kills and one to track how much their bounties are worth?
How about sandbox where your real worth in game is your legacy and the legacy of your guild?
I have many other ideas for gameplay... but I will stop here so this thing doesn't get too long.
What do you guys/girls think?
Comments
i like the idea. its not for every1 tho.
perma death is cool. would make anysort of gear/raiding suck. (assuming no possible way to rezz) pvp would get really interesting. unless u suck at pvp. then you would be pissed becuz u lost ur 5th toon in a week.
Where in the description does it say it doesn't?
Massive = large world but that can be anything. It doesn't exclusively mean that it's a large open world. It can be 1000 instances at this point. Definitions change over time. Just because a phrase was coined at one point in time doesn't mean that it stands for all eternity.
Multiplayer = means that you can interact with many people. There is no reason why interating can't mean just selling to them or pking them or talking with them or anything you want
Online = online
Role playing game. It's true that most people don't do this but I wonder if the "geekier" demographic embraced this more than many of today's players just because of who they are. The average person who is attracted to this type of game might be more interested in the story or gameplay than adopting a persona.
And as you pointedd out, Dungeons and Dragons did go up to lvl 20 but it also went beyond that.
IT also didn't have to have permadeath if you didn't want it to. That was the beauty of those games, it could be anything you wanted them to be.
To that point there were plenty of items in the game, vorpal blades, elven cloaks, all sorts of enchantment levels.
My thought is that this topic and your points have been discussed so many times on these (and other forums) that I'm not sure if we are now just repeating ourselves.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
That's not what the RP aspect of an RPG means. The RP aspect of an RPG means that your character's abilities are determined almost entirely by their stats, which are in turn determined almost entirely by the amount of time the character has spent "leveling", for whatever system of leveling the game happens to use. So actual player skill isn't as important as time spent leveling the character so that it can meet the challenges of the world arrayed against it. Compare this with an arcade or FPS game where the twitch skills and dexterity of the human player are the defining aspect, or puzzle games where problem solving and intellect are at the forefront.
This doesn't mean that there is no skill at all in playing an RP game, but realistically most things that require skill are self-induced; as in, consciously taking on content that is "above level" for your character, knowing full well that if you just leveled up your character skills a little further (the RP component), it would no longer be a challenge at all for you, the human player.
Now of course RPGs stole this game mechanic from the D&D world for the same reason; so that everyone could play effectively while enjoying an immersive story-telling experience.
And while D&D stopped at level 20, getting 20 levels in D&D took a *long* time. And even at level 20, you didn't stop adventuring in order to acquire cool new treasure and gear for your character. There was lots of neat stuff out there to improve or specialize your D&D character, even once it had reached max level. More importantly, though, is that D&D was about the immersive story-telling environment, which is exactly what a quest-based MMORPG is trying to reproduce. One of the easiest ways to tell an immersive story is to progress through "levels of heroism" by increasing your RP character's skills and abilities through levels or gear, which is exactly what D&D and most MMORPGs tend to do.
The systems you describe; aging, training, etc. are simply replacements for the "ridiculous imaginary numbers" you mentioned. Or, in point of fact, the "ridiculous imaginary numbers" were actually simplified replacements for aging, training, etc. So yes, while it might make the game seem more realistic (which is not a bad thing), don't delude yourself into thinking that it's actually a new and different game mechanic. It's the same system simply cloaked in an illusion of realism. I'm not knocking that idea at all; every game is fundamentally a simple mechanic cloaked in the illusion of something else, so if realism is your preferred poison then, by all means, I hope you can find an MMORPG that takes that route. There is definitely a lack of those on the market right now.
As for perma-death, you have to understand exactly which audiences it does and doesn't appeal to. Perma-death is all about a risk vs. reward balance, and there will always be some people for whom the high risk (and potential high reward) is exactly what makes a game fun for them. In contrast (and acknowledging reality), there is a larger group of people who simply find that level of risk off-putting in a game, and it destroys all the fun there is to be had.
When discussing perma-death it's important to understand that these two groups are NOT RECONCILABLE. Taking the edge off perma-death to the point of appeasing the second group will by definition remove the risk involved and therefore alienate the first group. Perma-death itself is meaningless as a concept because it can be implemented in a form appealing to either of those two groups. However, in general, mentioning perma-death is a codeword to mean that you want a game that has a high risk vs. high reward structure, which is fine, but again, understand that this fundamentally appeals to a smaller, niche audience, and nothing will ever change that simple fact.
That's not even to say that you can't make a game that caters to both audiences in different ways, but you can NEVER have a single unified mechanism that will appeal to both; it becomes more of an issue of fitting two (or more) different game mechanisms appealing to different populations within one game world, which is definitely doable but only if you understand what you are trying to accomplish.
As for a sandbox world, that ties in directly to most of the previous points. The part of an RP game that is fun is the story; without a story, most of the traditional RPG mechanisms become transparently boring very quickly without the story world to go with it. Even D&D was not a sandbox; your GM directed a story to keep it interesting; if they didn't, you would not have played. Now it was certainly open-ended in terms of what your character could do in response to the story unfolding, and of course your choices had a deep impact on the story and it was much more dynamic and interactive than in a modern RPG, but that's still not a sandbox. That's an interactive story experience.
A sandbox, where you simply get to play around in the world and there basically is no story, can certainly make for a fun game. No one denies that GTA is amazing fun to play around in, whether you follow the story or not. But again, you have to remember that traditional RPG mechanics are specifically designed to work with story environments, so trying to integrate those mechanics into a sandbox-only world are doomed to failure. As before, it's not that you can't make a game that combines some of these mechanics in various ways to appeal to different people, but you have to be fully aware of what you are trying to accomplish and recognize the fact that you are basically interleaving two or more games into the same game world, not unifying inherently un-unifyable game mechanics.
Note that, when I say story vs. sandbox, I don't just mean the quest text. Lots of people don't read the details of the story in an RPG, but they still get enjoyment from progressing through the different environments and areas, exploring the progress of the game world from one place to the next, and generally experiencing the overall shape of the story as their character levels and goes to new areas without ever exploring the story details. The very essence of leveling up and confronting bigger and badder enemies is inherently invoking the "progression of heroism" aspect I mentioned earlier, which is entirely about the idea of a story moving forward. Contrast this with a true sandbox like Oblivion or GTA, where you can basically do anything or go anywhere at any time, without restriction, without facing enemies that are any more or less difficult than where you came from (i.e Oblivion creature scaling), but the joy is in just playing with and interacting with the world itself, and/or growing your character organically in response to the environment.
You've got one of the definitions confused. Roleplaying. There are TWO different definitions for "Roleplaying" when it comes to Games, one for Paper and Pencil Games, adn one for Computer games.
You have applied the paper and pencil definition of roleplaying to Computer games, which doesn't work.
Think about single player roleplaying games, starting with the ones that were designed before people even had internet connections, all the way up to today with Computer Role Playing Games (CRPGs), like KOTOR, and Fallout 3.
Were you playing a role in those single player games, and acting it out? Of course not, unless you were playing a role and acting it out all by your self, which would be kinda wierd.
So why then are these single player computer games called "roleplaying games" instead of First Person Shooters, or Real Time Strategy games?
When it comes to Computer games, it goes like this:
First person shooter: mouse and keyboard controls, shoot things.
Real Time Strategy: Gather resources, build units, send units to destroy the enemy.
Role Playing Game: Build a character as you complete quests and read a story.
Nothing to do with playing a role in computer role playing games, it's all about character advancement. Thats' what you do in Oblivion and games ilke that, advance a character. NOt playing a role and acting it out. You do the same thing in Multi player computer roleplaying games. You advance a character while you do quests and read a story.
So the answer is YES, we must have a gear/level grind in a computer roleplaying game, but not in a paper and pencil roleplaying game where you act out a character.
I'd rather have the customization and character skill over gear of UO back. Perma death no thx.
I'll chime in with the others above;
The RP in "MMORPG" is not there to indicate roleplaying (as in "player making choices based on a fictional personality").
It is part of "RPG", which refers to a game system where (the) two core elements are 1. character advancement, and 2. leaving the success of actions to a combination of chance and the character's abilities.
So yes, we must have the grind, as that's what advances the character (as opposed to advancing the story).
But levels are not needed. Then again, how is grinding to increase your skill any different from grinding to gain XP to level to increase your skill? It's more direct, but hardly less repetitive. And gaining a level gives you more of a feeling of achievement than gaining another skill point.
Perma-death might be an option, but relatively very few players enjoy severe punishment for mistakes. I'd play a perma-death game, for sure, with the other 12000 or so.
Ideas are always great, but one has to apply realism too. I have plenty of ideas for how to make my perfect MMOG, but I have no illusion more than 30000 tops will play it with me. ;-)
The first M in MMO stands for Massively, as in
a massive number of players
playing in the same world at the same time
The first M in MMO stands for Massively, as in
a massive number of players
playing in the same world at the same time
Generally more than what a first person online shooter or co-op game can handle at the same time, over 64 or 128 players means it is "massive".
Perma-death would be really cool i think. now, really i think it would be dumb in a game like WoW where you die a crap load. But maybe in a game that has like 10 basic levels, but a bunch of skill levels, trees, and stuff like that. And i also think you should be able to keep like a few skills from that character that dies, like ones you earned for a while. The bounties would be awesome. 1 mil for killing someone. awesome
The first M in MMO stands for Massively, as in
a massive number of players
playing in the same world at the same time
Good point. Just like RP can't be taken out of RPG, I guess the two Ms have to stay together.
It's not that the first one says the game is Massive, and the second says it's Multiplayer. It's that they together say it's "Massively Miltiplayer" (hundreds or thousands of people in the same game world), as opposed to just plain regular Multiplayer (16, 32, 64, maybe 128 people in the same game world). :-)
So the "correct" breakdown would thus be...
MM: Massively Multiplayer (amount of players in the game world)
O: Online (internet play required)
RPG: RolePlaying Game (character advancement and character dependant game system)
...or we can just start calling them Persistant Worlds, which some are very fond of. But that opens up another huge discussion about the correct definition of "persistant". ;-)
hmm there are games out there that don't totally center around gear.
You should look around and stop playing WoW.
Edit: I think most of the WoW players that play and actually hate the game don't realize other Games exist.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
Eh personally I enjoy having one character that I continue to make "better", and I hate the idea of perma-death. It sort of reminds me of back in the days when the games you played you had to start over every time you died or whatnot. It wasn't fun- it was just annoying, and even while there can be more variety in starting over with an MMO I don't want to lose something that I've invested time into.
I've mulled the concept of an MMORPG with no levels in my mind over and over again, but in the end I'm not sure if it would matter since they would have you level up something else (like skills or professions), and if there was nothing to level up and there was no better gear to get then what would be the motive for most people to keep playing? Well I imagine it could work for me since there is usually a bit of variety to MMORPGs, but I'm not sure if it would be enough for a mass audience.
--------------------------
Playing:
FFXIV, TERA, LoL, and HoTS
My Rig:
GPU: GeForce GTX 770, CPU: i7-4790K, Memory: 16 GB RAM
Lol, that's just ignorant. People check out other games, they just pale in comparison to wow. I have played many MMOs, but I always seem to end up in wow again. There just is nothing that beats it.
And yes, we need gear and levels. A game needs to always set new goals for you to strive after. People won't bother setting goals for themselves. We are too lazy for that.
I feel as if the push towards linear play is what is ruining current (and future) MMOs, and gear and leveling is apart of this. I don't like to be able to use this armor at level 20, have this axe be the best axe for a level 50, have to go to this zone at level 57, etc.
What ever happened to people just playing the game. People are so worked up over getting the next level, getting a peice of equiptment, etc, that none of them are actually playing the game anymore.
A sandbox sounds about right to me. I want to log in every day for a year and have 365 different experiences. I don't want to be herded through a maze of zones and gear like a sheep, killing mindless MOBs who are programmed to die and interacting only with those who are at a similar stage in the maze.
Lol, that's just ignorant. People check out other games, they just pale in comparison to wow. I have played many MMOs, but I always seem to end up in wow again. There just is nothing that beats it.
And yes, we need gear and levels. A game needs to always set new goals for you to strive after. People won't bother setting goals for themselves. We are too lazy for that.
Naw he's right. Most WoW players never leave WoW and when they finally do- they quit MMORPGs altogether.
I've seen my WoW buddies try other MMOs sure. But they didnt really give them a chance. They call themselves trying out a new game for 1-3 hours giving it a fair shot before they pack their bags and run back to WoW
Lol, that's just ignorant. People check out other games, they just pale in comparison to wow. I have played many MMOs, but I always seem to end up in wow again. There just is nothing that beats it.
And yes, we need gear and levels. A game needs to always set new goals for you to strive after. People won't bother setting goals for themselves. We are too lazy for that.
I don't think a game (even an RPG) needs focus on levels and better gear, but that has been the model for a long time, so it would probably be difficult (and expensive) to pull off.
I think a game without levels, but focus on story, gear, and professions would work out fine. Not sure how a game without even importance of gear would play out long term.
--------------------------
Playing:
FFXIV, TERA, LoL, and HoTS
My Rig:
GPU: GeForce GTX 770, CPU: i7-4790K, Memory: 16 GB RAM
Lol, that's just ignorant. People check out other games, they just pale in comparison to wow. I have played many MMOs, but I always seem to end up in wow again. There just is nothing that beats it.
And yes, we need gear and levels. A game needs to always set new goals for you to strive after. People won't bother setting goals for themselves. We are too lazy for that.
I don't think a game (even an RPG) needs focus on levels and better gear, but that has been the model for a long time, so it would probably be difficult (and expensive) to pull off.
I think a game without levels, but focus on story, gear, and professions would work out fine. Not sure how a game without even importance of gear would play out long term.
but players want to be able to make their characters "better". I know I do. I like the idea of working toward something and achieving it.
I know some would say "skill based! skill based!" But is that really different? You are still working toward raising your skills, they are just a different type of "level".
Of course I imagine you could just do quests but now I see people who don't like quests.
So what are you going to do? Just explore and chat? Well, myst online didn't really do so well. That IS a shame but I do think it shows that there is a small group who wants to do that type of content. Sims online didn't do much better either.
What I think this chalks up to is that you can't please all the people all the time.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Its hard to guess what the OP is after.
On one hand you seem to prefer D&D style. Well you can play and enjoy that style in Neverwinter Nights / NWN 2 persistant servers. Small level caps, permadeath, roleplaying enforced, DMs can create content / events, etc. Not quite as flexible as pen and paper of course- but next best thing
On the other hand I agree that surely there are other alternatives to the level/gear thing. I think a skill-based game well put together can present interesting gameplay. Unfortunately! Unfortunately, chances are high even a skill-based game will most likely be strongly gear centric.
Developers are so entrenched in Everquest design philosophy its hard to see past keeping gamers around without dangling loot. These games cater firmly to extreme achiever mindsets
The only game that truly broke that mold was Guild Wars however many debate if its really an mmorpg and the payment model most surely isnt MMORPG anyway....
EVE Online also comes close. However, they sort of also present carrots along the way through time based progression and it can take a LOT of ISK to get into the endgame ships (Titan, Jump frieghters) and these ships are nearly uninsurable so you'll always find yourself chasing ISK
[edit] However, at least in EVE there is no BEST ship. For instance, Battleships can be destroyed by nimble frigates. So this is why a skill-based game is the way to go whereas 'all equipment is viable'. Guild Wars method is also nice- whereas uber gear merely looks better. I'd prefer GW approach myself
Lol, that's just ignorant. People check out other games, they just pale in comparison to wow. I have played many MMOs, but I always seem to end up in wow again. There just is nothing that beats it.
And yes, we need gear and levels. A game needs to always set new goals for you to strive after. People won't bother setting goals for themselves. We are too lazy for that.
I don't think a game (even an RPG) needs focus on levels and better gear, but that has been the model for a long time, so it would probably be difficult (and expensive) to pull off.
I think a game without levels, but focus on story, gear, and professions would work out fine. Not sure how a game without even importance of gear would play out long term.
but players want to be able to make their characters "better". I know I do. I like the idea of working toward something and achieving it.
I know some would say "skill based! skill based!" But is that really different? You are still working toward raising your skills, they are just a different type of "level".
Of course I imagine you could just do quests but now I see people who don't like quests.
So what are you going to do? Just explore and chat? Well, myst online didn't really do so well. That IS a shame but I do think it shows that there is a small group who wants to do that type of content. Sims online didn't do much better either.
What I think this chalks up to is that you can't please all the people all the time.
That's why I can imagine a game that has a scale of gear, and skills to level up would work for a long time and appeal to a large audience. I'm not sure if a game where there is no importance on gear, no importance on levels, etc. would work out that well.
In beta for WoTLK there was a server where we were pretty much given all of the end game tools (full sets of gear, epic flying mount, full rep, free honor/arena points, etc.) and I did really enjoy raiding, pvp, etc. without having to chase for any carrots, but at the same time I didn't feel very connected with my character (not sure how to explain it). Although I think I would have felt closer to my character and the story itself if I had to progress via professions, money/ other currency gains, obtaining gear, gaining rep, etc.
--------------------------
Playing:
FFXIV, TERA, LoL, and HoTS
My Rig:
GPU: GeForce GTX 770, CPU: i7-4790K, Memory: 16 GB RAM
Lol, that's just ignorant. People check out other games, they just pale in comparison to wow. I have played many MMOs, but I always seem to end up in wow again. There just is nothing that beats it.
And yes, we need gear and levels. A game needs to always set new goals for you to strive after. People won't bother setting goals for themselves. We are too lazy for that.
I don't think a game (even an RPG) needs focus on levels and better gear, but that has been the model for a long time, so it would probably be difficult (and expensive) to pull off.
I think a game without levels, but focus on story, gear, and professions would work out fine. Not sure how a game without even importance of gear would play out long term.
but players want to be able to make their characters "better". I know I do. I like the idea of working toward something and achieving it.
I know some would say "skill based! skill based!" But is that really different? You are still working toward raising your skills, they are just a different type of "level".
Of course I imagine you could just do quests but now I see people who don't like quests.
So what are you going to do? Just explore and chat? Well, myst online didn't really do so well. That IS a shame but I do think it shows that there is a small group who wants to do that type of content. Sims online didn't do much better either.
What I think this chalks up to is that you can't please all the people all the time.
That's why I can imagine a game that has a scale of gear, and skills to level up would work for a long time and appeal to a large audience. I'm not sure if a game where there is no importance on gear, no importance on levels, etc. would work out that well.
In beta for WoTLK there was a server where we were pretty much given all of the end game tools (full sets of gear, epic flying mount, full rep, free honor/arena points, etc.) and I did really enjoy raiding, pvp, etc. without having to chase for any carrots, but at the same time I didn't feel very connected with my character (not sure how to explain it). Although I think I would have felt closer to my character and the story itself if I had to progress via professions, money/ other currency gains, obtaining gear, gaining rep, etc.
City of heroes had a Test Server once where you could make a max leveled character and PVP. Those were some of the most amazing titmes I've ever had in the game
And I felt connected to my character because in CoX everyone looks unique
I dont see how players could ever feel unique in WoW w/o during some incredible grind for rare gear no one else has on
Lol, that's just ignorant. People check out other games, they just pale in comparison to wow. I have played many MMOs, but I always seem to end up in wow again. There just is nothing that beats it.
And yes, we need gear and levels. A game needs to always set new goals for you to strive after. People won't bother setting goals for themselves. We are too lazy for that.
I don't think a game (even an RPG) needs focus on levels and better gear, but that has been the model for a long time, so it would probably be difficult (and expensive) to pull off.
I think a game without levels, but focus on story, gear, and professions would work out fine. Not sure how a game without even importance of gear would play out long term.
but players want to be able to make their characters "better". I know I do. I like the idea of working toward something and achieving it.
I know some would say "skill based! skill based!" But is that really different? You are still working toward raising your skills, they are just a different type of "level".
Of course I imagine you could just do quests but now I see people who don't like quests.
So what are you going to do? Just explore and chat? Well, myst online didn't really do so well. That IS a shame but I do think it shows that there is a small group who wants to do that type of content. Sims online didn't do much better either.
What I think this chalks up to is that you can't please all the people all the time.
That's why I can imagine a game that has a scale of gear, and skills to level up would work for a long time and appeal to a large audience. I'm not sure if a game where there is no importance on gear, no importance on levels, etc. would work out that well.
In beta for WoTLK there was a server where we were pretty much given all of the end game tools (full sets of gear, epic flying mount, full rep, free honor/arena points, etc.) and I did really enjoy raiding, pvp, etc. without having to chase for any carrots, but at the same time I didn't feel very connected with my character (not sure how to explain it). Although I think I would have felt closer to my character and the story itself if I had to progress via professions, money/ other currency gains, obtaining gear, gaining rep, etc.
City of heroes had a Test Server once where you could make a max leveled character and PVP. Those were some of the most amazing titmes I've ever had in the game
And I felt connected to my character because in CoX everyone looks unique
I dont see how players could ever feel unique in WoW w/o during some incredible grind for rare gear no one else has on
I didn't say that I didn't feel unique I said that I didn't feel connected. I'll admit it was nice to have a level playing field where we were all at "end game", but if everyone just received that then they would miss out on most of the story and such (unless they went back and did old quests, but there wouldn't really be a reason to unless they changed a lot of things).
--------------------------
Playing:
FFXIV, TERA, LoL, and HoTS
My Rig:
GPU: GeForce GTX 770, CPU: i7-4790K, Memory: 16 GB RAM
Perma-death is an awesome concept for pen-and-paper role-playing where everyone is face-to-face and making sure that no one is using a fixed dice. The reason why it has failed in the online market is because of hacks and cheats which are intentionally built into the game for developer and privileged-user utilization. Which is why the games fail due to unfair utilization by gms who want to play God. What is the worst thing that a corrupt gm can do to someone in a game without perma-death? Log-in their alt and send the person to the nearest shrine where the slain player needs to wait 3 minutes to regenerate to full; essentially, no long term consequence.
Lol, that's just ignorant. People check out other games, they just pale in comparison to wow. I have played many MMOs, but I always seem to end up in wow again. There just is nothing that beats it.
And yes, we need gear and levels. A game needs to always set new goals for you to strive after. People won't bother setting goals for themselves. We are too lazy for that.
I don't think a game (even an RPG) needs focus on levels and better gear, but that has been the model for a long time, so it would probably be difficult (and expensive) to pull off.
I think a game without levels, but focus on story, gear, and professions would work out fine. Not sure how a game without even importance of gear would play out long term.
but players want to be able to make their characters "better". I know I do. I like the idea of working toward something and achieving it.
I know some would say "skill based! skill based!" But is that really different? You are still working toward raising your skills, they are just a different type of "level".
Of course I imagine you could just do quests but now I see people who don't like quests.
So what are you going to do? Just explore and chat? Well, myst online didn't really do so well. That IS a shame but I do think it shows that there is a small group who wants to do that type of content. Sims online didn't do much better either.
What I think this chalks up to is that you can't please all the people all the time.
That's why I can imagine a game that has a scale of gear, and skills to level up would work for a long time and appeal to a large audience. I'm not sure if a game where there is no importance on gear, no importance on levels, etc. would work out that well.
In beta for WoTLK there was a server where we were pretty much given all of the end game tools (full sets of gear, epic flying mount, full rep, free honor/arena points, etc.) and I did really enjoy raiding, pvp, etc. without having to chase for any carrots, but at the same time I didn't feel very connected with my character (not sure how to explain it). Although I think I would have felt closer to my character and the story itself if I had to progress via professions, money/ other currency gains, obtaining gear, gaining rep, etc.
City of heroes had a Test Server once where you could make a max leveled character and PVP. Those were some of the most amazing titmes I've ever had in the game
And I felt connected to my character because in CoX everyone looks unique
I dont see how players could ever feel unique in WoW w/o during some incredible grind for rare gear no one else has on
I didn't say that I didn't feel unique I said that I didn't feel connected. I'll admit it was nice to have a level playing field where we were all at "end game", but if everyone just received that then they would miss out on most of the story and such (unless they went back and did old quests, but there wouldn't really be a reason to unless they changed a lot of things).
Connection huh? Yes I suppose I agree. I did hit max level in WoW pre-BC and I felt really connected to my character. I misread; guess I only read what I wanted to read haha