Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Skill or Grind?
Ok so I have gotten a bit confused lately. Normally everybody complains about having to grind to be able to do anything in MMOs and that skill provides no real advantage - or atleast a smaller one than farming non stop for 4 months for a uber rare item provides.
However recenty I have found people complaining about skill providing an advantage - because that's apparently unfair too. So - what would you like to see in Aion / Future mmos?
Long Grind, No Skill - ie the only way to set yourself apart - to reach the max level - get the best stuff is through a long grind - your skill makes little or no difference.
Short Grind - Same as above, but shorter.
All Skill, No Grind - Like a fps game with no unlocks.
All Skill, Lots of Grind - Like a fps game, but with mmo style character progression.
Equal Balance - Both time investment and skill is needed.
My vote goes for an equal balance. MMOs will always have a grind factor - just like in real life you can't expect to progress without doing anything. However, I hate the idea too that someone else can be considered better than me simply because they spend much longer grinding than I do. If they are better - I'd like it to be becaus they are more skilled than I - not because they have a uber rare sword they got from 4 months non-stop farming.
I do see the abyss rank system in Aion as a balance. You both need to spend time to get to Hero rank - but just time alone won't get you anywhere - as the most skilled player (with the best k/d ratio) with enough points gets the rank. The way I see it - if someone else is the Hero instead of me it is because they probably deserve to be.
------------------------------
Comments
I voted for equal. (but more skill would be ok too)
pain
When the war of the beasts brings about the worlds end,
the goddess descends from the sky, wings of light and dark spread afar.
In a perfect world balance wold be nice but if there is more focus on one or the other aspect that's ok too.
I've always played any type of game with the mentality that if I'm no good then I practice and try harder next time. And if I need to spend more time on something then I'll do that. This is why it's a game, I really wish people would bitch more productively. First they whine there's too much grind, then when you take it away, you gave them and I Win button, then if you say heh now you need skill, well that's bad too because skill wasn't needed before ect...
The moral being people will whine about anything given a message board and an online connection, myself included.
I got back into FFXI because after playing some Ryzom I ironically craved more grind in a world where I felt like I belonged more. And that game is great because it's all about grind AND skill, and I solo 90% of the time right now so skill and proper gear is important. This is where I go when I want a challenge. Or AoC to get my ass handed to me, that's another kind of challenge :P
I'm also playing Runes of Magic and that game is fuuuunn! It's WoW, but cuter and probably more fun too. The leveling is easy and that is not something you concentrate about at all, you just go out and kill stuff. Very simple but also a good time. What's my point? There are many games and ways to play, there are ways that are more suited or more enjoyable for some but none of them are crap.
Skill or grind? If Aion is more skill oriented, whatever that means because in FFXI and in a shooter for example those 'skills' aren't the same, that's allright because if the game is as good as we are being told, then those who really want to play will learn and improve.
(,,,)=^__^=(,,,)
Meh I like to solo too - I find it more of a challenge and tbh whenever I have relied on other people in the past they have let me down.
------------------------------
the beta reports i have read all seem to say the same thing: pretty graphics, repetitive grind-type gameplay. unfortunately.
Hmm equal balance sounds good, but I think medium grind with high skill would be cool too.
O_o o_O
i dont really like solo ganking and stuff like that, im more an grp V grp kinda guy... i hope this game will give me an little of the feeling i got in DAOC, when i was roaming with my guild and meeting other pugs or guild grps
Personally equal balance. Nothing is worse than a long grind, that just leads to a completely boring game! Same as short, getting something over with quickly but having to do a tedious grind isn't. Completely skill....well.....it's OK but there's nothing fun about having someone 100x better than you and you getting your a** handed to you every time, in all honesty. I think you can all ways be out performed.
A good mix of skill and a little bit of grind makes the game less tedious. At least that way it keeps you involved instead of mashing some buttons staring at the screen
I like cookies.
Once the rank system is Aion is balanced properly, then Aion won't have the issues of time>gear>skill, but who knows that may be what they are actually going for. A fesh person to end game should have a decent chance of killing the top ranked player with the top ranked player having only a 10% edge over the new guy. In games where time>gear>skill the new guy will get owned repeatedly until he gets the best gear and only then will he have a shot against the person of the highest rank.
Games:
Currently playing:Nothing
Will play: Darkfall: Unholy Wars
Past games:
Guild Wars 2 - Xpiher Duminous
Xpiher's GW2
GW 1 - Xpiher Duminous
Darkfall - Xpiher Duminous (NA) retired
AoC - Xpiher (Tyranny) retired
Warhammer - Xpiher
(feigns shocked look)
Imho in any MMORPG time and group organization allways > any other thing including a very demanding hand-eye coordination (lately called "THE SKILL"). It will take more or less time
to notice it depending on each game but at the end these two things rule.
MMORPGs are allways about time.
Voted for equal, I will be glad to see a Hero character played by a skillfull player that worked hard for it... rather then some clueless person that people suspect to have brought his rank off goldsellers and ofc, a few top rank/geared players and the rest normal is more preferable then seeing everyone epicced out just because they played longer then you, reason why I stopped playing WoW
Yea I like the idea of being rewarded for skill and grinding so balance is where its at for me.
You talk about them like there is a difference.
Whether skill based or it takes actual skill to play (fps, twitch...) people will be doing killing the exact same monster/enemy swinging the exact same sword the exact same number of times which if it is repetitive and you find it monotonous is a grind by definition.
Therefore it's the same.
Venge Sunsoar
No it isn't. I used to play fps games a lot (not so much now - terrible PC) and you firstly need the skill to aim well. Then you need to learn all the different tactics with all the weapons. Then you need to be able to react instantly to anything. Then you learn to predict what the enemy is about to do. And something I learned to do about three years ago is how to control what your enemy does.
MMO grind with no skill = left click on mob every ten seconds for five weeks.
------------------------------
But you are still doing the same thing. The way you progress and get better is the same, you still need to swing the sword the same number of times for the same mob. Twitch might be physically harder but it makes no difference to grind. It is still repetitive and if it is repetitive enough it becomes monotonous. Just with your way I need to click the button faster or more times. I still kill the same number of mobs, taking the same amount of time... you get the idea.
Twitch you need to aim, fine thats a tad harder. All MMO's use different tactics with different weapons and skill sets. All MMO's you need to react, with all of them faster reaction means a greater probability of survival, with twitch this is even more so. But again I still need to press that same button, target that same mob, swing that sword, the same number of times. No difference in grind.
Grind is partially real (repetitive) and partially subjective (monotonous). No game mechanic can ever get rid of the second, only the individual can.
Venge Sunsoar