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Does This Trouble You In An MMORPG?
JoeyNipps
Member Posts: 186
What I am about to discuss is just one small feature of an MMORPG, but one that continually bothers me. This is an element of most if not all MMORPGs, so I am not attempting to point to one specif game. I want your feelings and thoughts.
The scenarion (applies to virtually all MMORPGs) is this. You (regardless of what "level" your character is) are going out to kill creatures (NPCs or whatever). Let's say that you are going out to kill bears (some games actually have bears) or the bear equivalent. In most cases there is little or no motivation for your character to kill those bears EXCEPT to gain experience to "level". This bothers me - in the extreme. I keep asking myself why I would be killing these bears? In a few games there might be a chance to gain some "loot" of some sort - but that is a poor excuse since a bear would never carry anything at all - much less something you might want (well maybe a comb of honey).
So, the question then. In playing an MMORPG, does this bother you? Would you rather see there be real reasons to go kill these bears (particularly in mass as we tend to do)? Or are you quite happy with this lack of motivation?
If all else in life fails you, buy a vowel.
If all else in life fails you, buy a vowel.
Comments
Well, in general yes that does bother me, but in game concept, training might be the motivation at hand, except it does get old and boring at higher levels.
Banned from Blizzard cause I was too GOOD!!!
Banned from Blizzard cause I was too GOOD!!!
What is with the bug where you go to post your message and it screws up so you have to write the whole post over again?! Its getting really annoying!
Anyways... UO is one of the very few MMORPGs which gives you a concievable reason for killing wildlife, which is for their "natural resource" if thats what you want to call it. Such as hides from a bear, meat and feathers from a bird, skin and meat from a rabbit etc. I find the only reason for killing wildlife in level grinders, mainly EQ, is to level, since I personally find that crafting takes a bit more of a back seat in most other MMORPGs.
In Lineage I really had the feeling that I was just fighting an uphill battle (killing mop that you KNOW will respawn.. so why bother?) or that I was participating in a genocide against a defenseless race.
This didn't add to my "feel good" feeling.
In WoW though I've had quests from level 1 and up, and was questing up to level 19.. all the way. So each and every kill that I made actually had a "purpose" .. if I may put it that way.
Mostly though, these quests are extremely simple. "I need to make a potion for bla bla bla, get me 10 of something rather for ingredients". Aight, off we go to slaughter some whatevernots to get them something rathers.
So, my point? When you have a 'reason' to kill, it is more interesting. At some times in WoW I actually felt like I was helping these NPCs escape from their doom. Although in realilty they are just a few bytes in memory on some greenish plastic stick in a metal box
Well, anyway.. Yeah, the killing sometimes seems pointless and that is when the grind really starts for me.
But, in contrast to what I thought it would turn into, we had slaughtered 120 of them before we knew! We were counting tusks the whole time, so its not like we weren't paying attention. But because we were after certain items this didn't seem like a grind but like a fun slaughter fest 
In WoW though I had shared a quest with a friend of mine.. I had to get 60 Quillboar tusks in The Barrens. I figured.. killing 60 quillboars, must be boring! Since I shared the quest, we had to kill 120
There should be a point to the killing. I don't like mindless killing... My advise; stick to the game story line.. it'll tell you why you do the things you do (or why you should do them anyway.)
If there's no story, its not a real RPG.
Cheers,
Nash
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Doesn't bother me in the slightest. It's a persistent universe, with respawning resources and NPCs...there is nothing "realistic" about it.
It's a mechanical process disguised as a natural system. Trying to force it into a simulation with permanent death, true motives, and a real economy would likely impact the fun factor dramatically in the negative. In the end, this is a game and should be treated as such.
Come on, don't you go out and kill bears on your free time? Am I the only one?
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Killer 100%
Achiever 53%
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No.
A reason is always welcome however as long as optional and not feeling like I need it. (awesome XP for getting a quest and a reason to do it make it an obligation as opposed to an option)
Personnally I am a ''hack and slash'' player type, solo and grouping exclusively. I really hate to waste time to complete the quests when I just want to fight and maybe find it challenging(depend on the mood and the day). Maybe, after someone mass murder some mobs, a NPC could come and ask the player to do a related quest or something...see, if you see someone killing 30 bears and you have issues with the lions in the valley just beside, would it not be normal to go talk to the guy who is killing bears? I understand conventional RPG and I appreciate the ways they work, but they where not design in mind with the fact I would play them for 6 months at 80 hours a week and would only solo or group, spamming me with quests offer would annoy me less then standing idly and waiting in their corners, but offering a quest here and there rather then wait in their corner of the map for the quest...It really depend what type of players you try to reach and please, I dont like doing Fedex, but I do it, I dont like trying to find a quest or a job, but I do it when the reward is there, even if I dont really like it. I find it dumb that the Hero need to go talk with the NPCs all the time for a job or a quest, I mean, it is a hero, shouldnt the hero be partly harassed, maybe you can put some NPCs on ignore? A NPC that talk to you dont slow you, you dont jam in anyway, so it need to be dinamic, voice is perfect, text in a secondary window is a possible solution. NPCs should SEEK the heros sometimes, especially if the quest is really good for the hero(class armor or whatever), they expect a yes answer, so they should seek them more. But again, this is not about realistic, the realistic part can be a nice side effect however...Heck, you can even have a NPC exception somewhere that harass the hero, jamn them for an answer, cant be put on ignore and so on...dont make many of them, but 1 or 2 can be humoristic, especially if the player can get rid of it in a way or another(I can see myself do a quest from another NPC to get rid of the annoying bastard, dont make to much such stuff, and not at level noob, but as soon as you reach the highest level range, would be a nice feature IMO).
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I have to agree. I have more fun slaughtering the native wildlife when there is a reason besides the standard xp grind. Resources are a good reason, so is killing for food. (not that many games actually deal with food). But when you are out slaughtering the entire population of ... elephants or whatever... for no good reason, boredom sets in real quick.
Though I do generally choose one race/creature/or alignment that my character hates above all else. This one thing, will be slaughtered to the exclusion of everything else, including my quest if need be. Tends to make things interesting lol.
Its true that most MMORPG's encourage pointless killing of wildlife but usually creatures such as bears and chickens and others that run around in the game are for low-level characters to kill off, i remember the first time i played UO my friend died from a chicken and a dog got me ~sigh~
Generally there is a good vs evil, dark vs light concept which encourages you to kill monsters for a purpose so killing the wildlife is only a small part of most MMORPG's. And some games obviously share your view that there should be a point to killing them so animals drop hides, feathers and meat even in free MMORPG's like runescape.
I fully agree. Old MMORPGs cannot really do anything about this because it is too late. Or they are making sequels. (EQ for example.) I even have a screenshot showing exactly what you mention. In it my character is getting pants from killing a Lion... heheh.
SWG on purpose attacked this "trouble" you bring up. SWG game DEVs on purpose posted how much they disliked this feature and did something about it while making their game. In SWG you do not have to kill monsters aka the equivilant of bears. You can kill NPCs. But if you do decide to kill monsters there is more of a reason:
- You will NOT get loot from monsters like money, PANTS, shirts, armor, gold, guns, etc...
- You can skin EVERY monster for bones, meat, and hides. Which just like in REAL LIFE you can use to make medicines, clothing, armor, food, and more. Different monsters have different grades, types, of bones, meat, and hides. Just like in real life.
As far as I know, Star Wars Galaxies is the only MMORPG that has done something about the point you bring up.
Also SWG has the most ways to play that are non-combat related, out of every MMORPG ever made.
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AO gets special metion. In it one can craft and gain experience. AO used to players to go from level 1 to 200 just by crafting (if they choose.) But now AO has it that players still gain experience crafting, but in order to ding aka reach the next level, they must kill at least 1 monster/NPC.
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In WOW virtually every animal is skinnable and has a point to it. At least I've had to do quests that involved every type of wildlife I've come across so far. But I do get what he means because there is alot of games that are so pointless to the point where it's a grind to kill and just loot whatever the monster drops. Personally it does not bother me going on hunting sessions or just good ol fashion xp hunting!
-P
"",,Whom-ever said a signature is a good way to leave your mark. I for one think a signature is useless or boring.....bah forget it,,""
it bothers me so much that I'm no longer playing any mmorpg and I doubt that I will play one in the near future.
I do find it pointless to kill just for XP, since it's game mechanics thing (i.e. something your chara wouldn't think about). If there are resources to be gathered, though, or some RP benefit (renown or something like that), or it is worked into some kind of mission (like Lineage's bring me X from monster Y to prove you're worhty of receiving item Z) then it bothers me far less.
What bothers me most from this, though, it's that in many games you HAVE to do it right at the outset to get some decent levels and get strong enough to do the game's quests.
We are the Pagan Gods. Sure, Yahve beat the crap out of us, but we got the Internet licked.
We are the Pagan Gods. Sure, Yahve beat the crap out of us, but we got the Internet licked.
I dont have this problem.Ive played quite a few mmo's and have found that i dont like killing to "level"up.
Now i play EvE.Off line skill training is a wonderful thing.When i log in i actually play the game instead of feeling like im working for some level.Im approaching 1 million skill points and im having a blast with this.
The only other game i can think of that was this much fun was CoH.But i got bored.
Want to ENJOY an mmo?
Dont start a guild and dont be a leader or volunteer to be coleader or captain.
Just play the damn game:)
very much so, especially on lineage2. thats why i ended up scamming over 20 people for 1-2 mil adena worth of items and got banned
I've read that a few well designed MMORPGs are trying to make hunting more realistic and meaningful. Killing creatures should reap what actually exists and comes from the target creature. Another good reason, is to keep them at bay from peaceful commune. For instance, hunting wild creatures in close proximity to towns where women and children reside. As soon as they're gone, they're gone for good, until more migrate to the area.
I chucked :P
Grind games - I kill the bear because all experience matters.
EQ2 - I kill the beat 10x because Uber trainer told me to.
WoW - I kill dinosaurs.
fire ze missilez!1111
fire ze missilez!1111
You can apply OP's post to a lot of games out there not just MMORPG's like Manhunt
It's probably because we are brought up in a sanitised world where chicken is covered with breadcumbs and comes with a plate of fries. How would you feel if you were shown a video of how that chicken got into that state before you eat it? At least killing people or animals virtually isn't illegal, but is it immoral? Nah it's just harmless fun
