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What do we want?
metalhead980
Member Posts: 2,658
After all this time playing games in the mmo genre I still have no clue what I want.
I thought I did, but now after so many games have been average at best I have no clue anymore.
I'm a big fan of sandbox games or atleast I think I am. When I fire up sandbox titles today I find myself wishing I actually had more optional content or tools to mess with.
I like story driven mmos also but when i fire something like WoW or Lotro up I feel like the devs have me on a tight leash and this makes me wish I had more freedom to do whatever.
I find myself being overly judgemental of every damn feature in a game these days (something I didn't do during my UO/EQ days).
Maybe I want a game that blends Linear with sandbox, RVR with territorial control FFA, instanced with non instanced, classes with custom skill sets, awesome crafted items with powerful world drops.
I don't know anymore.
What do you guys want? I guess over the years i've become too picky.
Maybe I should just play these games for what they are GAMES that are supposed to be fun.
Maybe I shouldn't load a new game in and be so critical of the Games UI or how fluid my avatars running animation is?
Am i too picky? is the mmo community as a whole too picky? will we ever know what the hell we want?
What do you guys want? cause I have no clue
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
Comments
A game where I'm part of the world. Where I roleplay naturally, not because I force myself to, but because it feels right to do so.
A world where I make my own destiny, open, meaningfull. No pointers telling me where to go, no directions telling me how to level, no statistics telling me what the best way to advance is.
Where I can be in a guild because the people there are nice and they are a community to me, not because of the fact that they raid or are uber in any way. A server I don't want to leave, a character I get attached to.
Where items don't mean loot, but they have a story behind them. I got them a certain way and when I look at someone else I know they haven't just bought them, but they have experienced what I have.
A world where I don't feel pressured to raid, but where I want to raid because it's fun while still having a RL.
The world shouldn't tell me where to go, I will find it out for myself and I will ask others in this world where to go, instead of looking up guides online, building a community instead of a race for loot. I do not want pointers or grind quest. I want to do quests if they help tell a story, but I want to explore mostly.
Drop me in the barren world and I will find a city and call it my home. Don't tell me or show me how to play, we'll find our way.
I think Waterlily got the gist of the entire thread
I want a niche MMO that doesnt dumb anything down or hold my hand and take me to the fountain of youth. I'm sick of the same old fantasy settings, Warriors, Rogues, Wizards..give me a break...it cant be that simple.
Lore that means something and makes me want to finish a certain quest so i can see where the lore leads me to.
A game that cannot be won by powerlevelling or grinding umpteen hours a day.
A game where PVP actually means something and is not just another way to fall asleep while drooling on your expensive keyboard.
Unscripted boss fights in non-instanced dungeons.
Moderately harsh death penalty, greifing penalty and loot-stealing penalty. Dieng is tough stuff. I want to be scared of going afk for even 1 minute the same way i am scared of afk'ing in EVE when in space, safe or not.
and to top it all...i want a Chicken Sandwich with extra chicken
My Brute - Dare to challenge?
I want something that is so close to pen and paper RPGs as possible.
In pen and paper games, combat is just a small part of the game but in MMOs it is almost the only thing.
I want a game in which my character differs from the others around him. I want choices, not just do a quest or not.
A true crafting and trading MMO (and none of this farming mobs and unloading junk on the broker crap).
The goal is to be the next Warren Buffet or Bill Gates of the MMO universe, especially in a way that gold sellers/farmers can't exploit it -- as folks have to work for the best trading routes and fortune goals (even if they buy accounts) to keep their share of the market, as it's fluid as the weather.
Game has no use for levels, as the goal isn't to get to level 80 seller, but to gain billions of plat and own most of the market.
Real traders, not some broker out of thin air. They buy stuff from players, who in return sell items on the market (this distinguishes the crafters from the traders). Players can be both, but with a penalty for multi-classing.
No more just buying cheaper goods and selling them high for profit to influence the prices.
No more polluting the market with 1001 worthless gear, in an effort to grind a level.
Crafters make gear that takes a while to craft, like finely crafted goods do in RL. The rarity, makes the mastercrafters much sought.
Crafted gear is superior to anything else in the game, and "mythical" stats can differ by chance+skill of the crafter, with the variation comes a price break and increase.
Real player ran stores -- brokers are a lazy way to sell goods, and encourages flooding he market with trash gear for 2 extra coppers.
In short, a TRUE crafter and trader MMO (maybe something to be studied by economists even, since it'll mimic worldwide trade in RL).
And no RMT. Either the crafter and trader can do it, or like in RL they go bankrupt.
.:| Kevyne@Shandris - Armory |:. - When WoW was #1 - .:| I AM A HOLY PALADIN - Guild Theme |:.
Do you remember the feeling you had the first time you entered an MMO world?
That's what we want and unfortunately we will never have that feeling again.
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Guys! I'm hopelessly lost in a mountain of mole hills! Them damn moles!
Nah, EQ 1 sucked to me. I just want Pre-CU SWG back.
--My first MMORPG was EQ.
--When you resubscribe to SWG, an 18 yearold Stripper finds Jesus, gives up stripping, and moves with a rolex reverend to Hawaii.
--In MMORPG's l007 is the opiate of the masses.
--The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence!
--CCP could cut off an Eve player's fun bits, and that player would say that it was good CCP did that.
You know what, a chick fil a chicken sandwich sound like goodness right now..
Anyways, there will always be a grind of some sort in mmorpgs. I have tried to come up with something that is not a grind, and everything is. It's the fact of how do you disgiuse the grind and not make it soo tedious to remind you its a grind. I think thats the key for now, untill someone comes up with that new aspect.
For the fact of differen classes with the warrior, rogues and wizards, I think we still see the same cookie cutter classes because its what people know and they put in some new classes for flavor. I think the reason why people are board with the cookie cutter classes is simply because the class system is not indepth at all. I believe you also need to have another system to complement the classes as well so you can have many different avenues to seek for a different play style but keep the same class with out limiting them. (Not so overwhelming). IMO classes are not done "correctly" to make them fun so you can have an immersive experience as if you were that class even if you do not role play.
Yes I think what you stated here about lore is very important. My idea is to set the player in a time and let the players burn history on that timeline with different events, quests and other things. I think a good storyline with lots of twists where players can actually interat with it would be intriguing as well.
As for PVP, there is no meaning. I think a great idea to impose meaning for pvp is this...say your a beast at pvp and your a barbarian warrior. Your a good player, (not because of gear), and you shoud be rewarded. Say you can kill people with a swagger, you go undeafeted in real world 1v1 or 2v1 battles with no other player interference you shall get a reward. One of those reward should be a statue of your character in every major city. On the plaque, it shall read your stats, and a possible reward to take this beast of a player down. I think people would respect that and noobs in the town would look and say "Damn I'd like to achieve that" or even look up at that player. (Hopefully he shall not be an asshat. lol). Something like that.
My best experiences werent in my first MMO, it was my third.......My first was UO and I hated it......So much so that I thought the whole genre wasnt for me........My second, though mroe of a multiplayer game not an MMO, was Diablo 2.......Between those 2 games I thought the whole genre was just a bunch of jerks whose only enjoyment in life was killing other players........My third was EQ and I havent found a better game since....Heres what I have learned since 2000.....
1. Death penalty- I think games need a solid death penalty....Not one that will set you back for months but one that will make you go, OK Im not making that mistake again.......
2. A sense of being needed- I dont mean needed as in "we need a tank for the raid" but needed as in my character has abilities that not every class has and players are willing to buy those services.......Of course these abilities need to be fairly difficult to attain or everyone on the server will have them.......
3. A distinct role that I can play- Another thing that I thought EQ classic did well was give classes roles to play.......Your group often needed various roles to be done from puller to tank to healer to crowd control to offtank to DPS........There were usually 3-4 classes that could perform each role and of course most could perform more than one role........Once the game gets too gear oriented though these roles kind of disappear......WHo cares if the tank pulls 4 mobs if he is so strong that they can barely hurt him.....
4. Make me work for my stuff......Really this ideal is almost completely gone in every game I have played since EQ, andWOW was probably the worst offender.......Dont just hand me my spells make me earn them......Whether they have to be made or dropped or some way dont just let me waltz to the trainer and buy every spell.......Give me a sense of pride in my character......
In conclusion, the thing I havent liked about most MMOs the past 4-5 years is that it feels like all i have to do is kill stuff......It feels like any strategy is gone by the wayside....I think that is why games like LoTRO, WoW, EQ2, etc etc all feel the same.......They all feel like the whack a mole game and eventually everyone wins.
Give me Hassenpfeffer!
Sorry, but my first mmoRPG was UO, then AO, until I fell in love with SWG.....
Oh and in between there, before SWG,I also played WW2OL and Planetside.
So if you for a second believe that "Everyone fell in love with their first mmoRPG, and wants that feeling", you're wrong. I want the freedom and characterconnection that SWG gave me back, not UO's PK massacres or AO's threadmill... or Planetside's "dun matter what you do"....
Ain't got nothing bad to say bout WW2OL tho, just wish that the devs could get the funding they need to complete the game that they planned back then.
Edit:
As for what I want in a MMO...
The freedom to be and do whatever you want.
A huge world that puts exploring back in the game, and traveling isnt something trivial, leaving a town is risky.
To build the character I feel would fit into the HUGE world.
A game where combat isnt end be all, but one where people of all playstyles had a role and depended on eachother. Combatants, Crafters, socializers, etc.
A world where "quests" weren't the end be all threadmill.
A world where what I do shape me or doom me...Actions has consequenses.
A world where death means something, not just a quick ride.
A world where the game don't try to tell you that "YOU are the ONE GREAT HERO"..just like the 10463 people before you..
Simply put, I want to have a world, where I'm free to be what I want to be, to do what I want to do, where my actions has consequenses, where I must depend on crafters to have done a good job, for doctors to heal me when I stumble back into town, where it ain't farting rainbows outta your derriere, with bling bling effects.
All I want is pre CU SWG.
I think asking for immersion is a tall order for an MMO. Role players seem to make up a very small minority of the people that play online games. Even when people are given the opportunity to they tend to talk about RL stuff rather than play the role of their character. As much as I like to role play it usually isn't worth the effort. People rarely are in the mood to say "Hello good sir, might you direct me to the portal?" More often they'll stick to "Hey wherez duh port?".
I've been trying to think of ways to implement role playing into MMOs for a while, me and a few of my friends have been working on designing one. But to this day I can't find anyway to make people want to act like someone they're not.
Hmm, what do I want from an MMO world.
I want the ephemeral enjoyment of playing a game that is enjoyable to play.
Whether it's 3am and I can't sleep, or it's a grumpy Sunday evening when I've got that "back to work on Monday" feeling, or even if it's just a half-hour gaming session on a Tuesday afternoon before Stargate is on.. I want immersion, I want immediacy, I want to know that the game world exists for me rather than me existing for it.
I want a game that wants me. I want a game that needs me. I want a game that LOVES me.
To put it in simple terms (without the Elvis references):
I want a game that I can log on whenever I feel like it and do something that is actually fun.
I've had that new feeling three times for UO, EQ then EvE.
SWG didn't give me that new feeling but it was a great game.
I've found after taking a year or so off from playing mmos I get that new feeling if a game is put together well.
problem is finding a game that's put together well.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
Heh, I don't get the exact feeling anymore, it is kinda like your first girlfriend but sometimes you really get a "this is great and very different" kinda feeling.
It is not that common, or I sometimes get it for a week but then it goes away fast.
I know what your talking about when you talk about avatar animation, I hate it when my avatar feels blocky due to poor animation or when they are total statues when im standing still.
I think the only time I've felt like I should roleplay didn't feel forced was in EverQuest with my halfling Paladin. It was quite funny, especially considering I had my epic and my AA mount*shiny white pony*. I've always wanted a place I could RP and it feel natural. However even in EQ it just isn't there.
I would love to see the return of "epic" quests in games. While not having the horrible camping for EverQuests epics, just a LONG series of quests that eventually ends in an unique item that is both awesome and a status symbol of someone that accomplished something truly difficult. Or maybe that's what I want.
The sense of accomplishment.
If you're not using feint, you're not doing enough damage.
Author of http://themmoexperience.blogspot.com and writer for http://www.negativegamer.com
I know what your talking about when you talk about avatar animation, I hate it when my avatar feels blocky due to poor animation or when they are total statues when im standing still.
Atleast someone feels the way I do.
Character animations while running or doing anything really have to be well done imo.
The games UI has to be functional even in a sandbox game.
Ever just rotate the camera around your avatar? checking out his/her armor? I do that a lot, If a game I'm playing doesn't have cool looking avatars I can't play the game. the immersion factor gets thrown right out the window and I usually spend less then a week in the game.
PLaying: EvE, Ryzom
Waiting For: Earthrise, Perpetuum
I want a living, breathing WORLD, not a plastic, sterile theme park.
Unfortunately, that's the one thing that developers seem unwilling to deliver.
Yes, yes, yes.
A thousand times, yes.
"There are two great powers, and they've been fighting since time began. Every advance in human life, every scrap of knowledge and wisdom and decency we have has been torn by one side from the teeth of the other. Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit."
John Parry, to his son Will; "The Subtle Knife," by Phillip Pullman