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MMORPG - small instanced zones or huge and seamless world
kakarotrage
Member Posts: 280
Something that hit me when I got to try Aion , a game I was looking for , was the annoying feeling of instanced small zones, I realized I can't go back to that and the next mmo I'll be playing must have a huge amazing world to explore as a minimum like WoW and Lineage 2,
what do you think?
World of Warcraft is a proof that MMORPG quality should affect schedule/budget and not the other way around.
Comments
Ah Aion is zoned? Cross that one off my to try list.
Huge seamless world, no doubt. I hate instancing in MMORPGs, defeats the whole purpose of playing in a virtual, persistent world.
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Do you seriously need to ask this? I bet 99 out of 100 people would prefer a big seamless world if it was possible.
I like a huge seamless world...definitely better for immersion. I do for the most part like dungeons to be instanced just to avoid kill-stealing and what not, but I'd rather the world itself be seemless.
I really don't know that... otherwise I can't understand why they make Aion not only instanced and small but also have channels, which is the worst thing you can do to an mmo imo.
World of Warcraft is a proof that MMORPG quality should affect schedule/budget and not the other way around.
In a linear MMO instanced small zones, or just instances. Linear style is basically a singleplayer/co-op game with a chat room to me anyways.
In a sandbox style MMO, huge seamless world, no instances, maybe for major cities depending on the game. After all it's a sandbox MMO.
Huge seamless world.
I don't mind zoning either, I think it actually adds more variety. But I hate instances. Why call your game an MMO if you have all the most important encounters instanced? I don't touch MMOs with a fucking barge pole that have instancing in them anymore. Don't go near 'em.
Give me a persistant, open PK world. Everything uninstanced, PKing breaking out at boss rooms. I love it.
_________
Currently playing: Black Desert Korea (Waiting for EU)
Always hating on instances in MMOs! Open worlds, open PvP, territory control and housing please. More persistence, more fun.
I think everyone prefers a huge seemless world. Capable of handeling tens of thousands of people.
Alas due to technology restraints, people will often avoid this.
PS> yea AION is small really. I do not see myself being able to play it for that reason.
Is that a catch question? Does ANYONE prefer instanced zones over an open world, when there would be a choice???
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Sounds like going backwards instead of forward. One of the things i hated about AOC was it felt like a lobby with rooms off to the side .....It felt very small to me
Instances can serve a purpose as far as server load but not an entire game of instances blah.... Thanks op for airing your frustrations. So how many zone walls did you count first few hours of play???
Tho the starting areas in Aion are a little small, it didn't feel zoned off to me.
Anyway I perfer, large mostly seemless worlds. And I'm all from Instance dungeons.. I don't like the idea of fighting for spawns.
I remember hearing of a RvR game where the world would be seemless... but dungeons were instanced, like WoW...
But the catch was a group from the other faction could join your instance and fight your group for control of it.
I just can't remember the name of the game... I think I could deal with some like that, tho.
I prefer seamless open world. IF it can be done without a huge impact on performance. If it turns out like Vanguards "seamlessness" then Id rather have instances.
What he said.
I'm going to say instanced, because I'd rather have an instanced world that works, than a seamless one that runs like Vanguard. At the end of the day it simply isn't the most important issue.
Sure, it's immersive to run around in a huge open world, but how immersive is it to stand in line to kill a rapidly respawning boss in that open world? And how immersive is it when the whole of creation grinds to a halt because of lag? If you can suspend disbelief for that and the other problems with a seamless world, then you should be able to handle some instancing as well.
I like large seamless worlds.
I also like unique experiences that are varied and diverse.
I don't mind instances.
I'm not at all opposed to a game that mixes mechanics to give me what I'm looking for. I don't feel that instances are inherently flawed, but I do feel that a game that sacrifices open worlds for diversity, or sacrifices diversity for an open world, is fundamentally flawed.
If the compromise cannot be made to balance then the I feel the developer took a shortcut to a problem. In that, I am dissatisfied.
Vanguard SOH
the best pve game mmoprg medieval, wolrd NO instance, world very very big, NO zone loading, NO door loading, NO dungeon loading
world vanguard is big = wow + lotro x2 or x3, with all expansion or books
download this video in mp4
the future is world no instance, NO loading, as The Vanguard
I very much prefer private instanced content, but if we're talking about how the outer Game World is constructed then obviously everyone would want a seamless world. Seems like a pretty serious technical hurdle for companies to do it who haven't done it before though, and it's not a huge deal to me if I have to load/zone to go places.
I'm basically all about playing the game, which to me means having interesting combat with a group of teammates all playing characters with unique strengths/weaknesses. Guild Wars' structure therefore appealed to me, as it distills out what I consider flaws (I'd probably swear off MMORPGs entirely if I ever added up how much time I wasted just traveling places in the typical game,) and you're left with a platform for gameplay. And if I could unmake WOW's open world and spend those man-hours on dungeons instead, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
It's really too bad my preferences are divergent from most people. Most want open worlds, so that's predominantly what the major MMOs are offering. Open worlds are plagued with gameplay flaws, and I just don't get enough enjoyment out of the whole "exploring", "travel time", and "watching a quest boss die to another player right as I reach him so I have to wait 2 minutes doing nothing instead of playing."
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
hehehe...never thought of it that way. You've got a good point. I do, however, like most, preferr seamless mmos.
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
Yes I prefer instanced zones if the alternative means dumbed down graphics or combat.
Edit: should probably add dumbed down quests
QFT
I find respawning bosses and camping or queueing for them a lot more immersion breaking than a loading screen.
Yes I prefer instanced zones if the alternative means dumbed down graphics or combat.
Ye for me it's exactly the opposite I'll gladly go with an mmo which has "shitty gfx" like WoW (even though I like wow cartoony graphics but years passed since it was released) as long as the world is that big and has so much content to be discovered in the world itself (not talkign about dungeon ofc which should be instanced imo).
World of Warcraft is a proof that MMORPG quality should affect schedule/budget and not the other way around.
I agree 100%. It is really ridiculous how loading screen might ruin one's immersion but respawning is alright. Kill stealing and other things involving somebody behaving like a dick is an unnecessary nuisance. Exploitation of AI stupidity is also on my list of unimmersive things in a game.
In my opinion every single, even slightly meaningful dungeon should be instanced.
I have usually enjoyed instance-heavy games more than persistent world ones. Even if I play a game that has a persistent world, the instances strike me as the best content in the game. I have no agenda or anything but these are my experiences so far.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
A seamless MMO should be approached differently to avoid this issue
Instances have a lot of myths amongst playerbase---->
1. Players think Instances save Server CPU
This is false. Instances actually are more expensive server-side because of increased memory consumption. So, the only way to leverage against this costs they add on more servers to handle the instances. So true, they can obviously split the playerbase and spread the bandwidth around but it means paying more for additional Server hardware
2. Players think they need instances to avoid 'kill steals' etc
This is pretty much false. Games like EVE will have HUGE worlds and have it setup so you can talk to an Agent, get a mission, and have the dynamic activities spawned in the world itself. Now, EVE still has resources you still might squabble over with other players true elsewhere- but this was intentional
3. Players think Instances make it so their clients 'magically' run better
This is false. The client is indifferent to whether the server is Instanced / Seamless. Now, the only issue you might have in a seamless world perhaps you'd see way more players in a concentrated area for events and so forth. This is the only additional clientside load you can possibly have
4. Often, Players ask how their Raids and such will work
Too me, it is not special for me to kill a Boss like Onyxia over and over. Instead, I'd prefer to defend a town or something from NPCs. You know, actually help my community. When players go into Instances, they are not helping anyone but themselves. I'm paying for a Virtual world here- not for a portal into an FPS. I want a huge immersive world! Not some game that has muyltiple parallel universes where my actions have no impact on the 'real world'
Stand in line? Who stands in line! Kill them and take the boss for yourself.
Also, in a seamless world, a boss shouldn't always spawn in the same place. It should spawn randomly, around a certain area. Say he's the boss of an area called "TheSwamp", he should be set to spawn randomly, anywhere around that swamp.
Mobs should also not run back to the spot they spawned to. If someone pulled the mob a bit, and moved it. Then that's it. It should stay there. This adds fun and diversion to the game, you get parties of players killing their way through the area (gaining XP) whilst searching for the boss. Then when you finally find the boss, killing the boss is quite often the easy part.
As for dungeons though, their should be a boss room. Where the boss spawns along with a handful of pretty tough sub-bosses. Guilds, and large groups of friends go here to take down hopefully the boss, if not a sub-boss or two. But obviously prepared to fight (or heck, maybe agree not to fight and negotiate with eachother, who takes down what) another party of players out to do the same thing. Outside the boss room, a sub-boss should spawn randomly now and then, this is for soloers / small XP parties to kill.
God, this is the reason that I still play Legend of Mir, in this day and age. For me, they've got the right idea, it's perfect for me. PvP actually has a damn meaning to it. You're fighting FOR something, and you really do hate the people you're fighting.
I could say more, but I want to keep it readable, so I'll stop here.
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Currently playing: Black Desert Korea (Waiting for EU)
Always hating on instances in MMOs! Open worlds, open PvP, territory control and housing please. More persistence, more fun.