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Player Housing + PVE
Hi everyone,
Let me first off apologize if a similar request was recently posted. I tried to use the search function but came up pretty empty. Anyway I was been getting the itch to get back into MMO's as the monthly fee is less then 2 games a month like Im spending now on console games. Anyway I am pretty open to suggestions, even if the game isn't released yet but the key features I am interested in please feel free to list it. I'm going to give you a brief list of games played, features Im interested in, and features I dislike.
Games Played
UO - Loved it but outdated
FFXI - Loved it but out dated
WoW - Loved it but it's all the same at this point
SWG - Post NGE, need I say more?
Vanguard - Great potential. Played at lauch, which was horrid, waited a year and the preformance was still bad, plus the population being so low was a turn off
CoH/CoV - Absolutely wasnt for me. Outdated when I picked it up, buggy, and very laggy.
LOTR - Felt like WoW and really only went to it for Player housing and I hated it.
Age of Conan - Somewhat interesting but housing was bland.
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So I feel I've tried a good amount of games but I just am left feeling like "Man I wish I played UO in it's prime". Which Leads me to my list of wants:
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Wants
- Above all else, non instanced player housing. This seems like a pipe dream for me. I feel like Ive missed the boat on this (see UO and pre NGE SWG). Ive played games with instanced Player houseing but that immediately takes away the appeal for me. I understand that with non instanced player housing comes vast landscapes that generally bore many played but I am absolutely okay with it. I love discovering player towns and hell even PK villages that you want to avoid. If the player towns have the abilty to set up Bazaars then even better!
- Single player questing/gameplay. I loved FFXI but even though it's an MMO I absolutely need the abilty to level and quest solo. Call it wowfan, call it "non hardcore" but M-F I can only play 2 hours or so and then weekends I'm completely open, I lose interest if Im limited to playing on weekends.
-Healthy playerbase - All this means is an active playerbase to keep the game enjoyable and populated. Even if there are only a few servers, so long as those servers are populated I am happy.
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Dont Want
- PVP centric. I know tons of people love PVP but I dont. I'm okay with open world PVP but I dont want it to be my focus. I enjoy FPS games on occasion and for the most part I get my pvp "fix" playing those. I dont want my house or town to be "destroyed" by other players when Im offline. Like I said I am totally open to open world PVP, but I just dont want it to be the focus.
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So as you can see there are not a ton of absolutes in my list but it feels like it's impossible to find a game that fits my needs. I'm okay with subscriptions, graphics don't have to be top of the line, but at least somewaht appealing, and I just want more immersion. For me that is player housing. It may be an MMOtend that is dead but it's deffinatelty a selling point for me.
Thanks for reading this long post. If you know of any games that are out or in developement that have these traits I would be happy to hear about it. Also if there is a recent post with similar info please feel free to post it and I'll let this post burn out quietly.
Signed
A very drunk omunto
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Current: FFXIV, Wildstar
Retired: UO, FFXI, WoW, LOTRO, VG, AoC.
Comments
Well, instanced player housing is easy to find. EQ2 has a great system for housing and Guildhalls.
Non instanced is worse. Vanguard is probably the best choice there now if you want PvE. They do have optimized the game a lot so it is worth a new look but the number of players is still really low.
You should wait for FFXIV since you seemed to enjoy FFXI but didn't like force grouping. FFXIV will be solo friendly and pure PvE.
Yeah FFXIV is on my watch list but FFXI player housing was the worst. There was no point o it and that was a turn off. I know regardless I will try it out but since they havent talked much about Plaer housing I assume it will be the same as FFXI or removed all together.
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Current: FFXIV, Wildstar
Retired: UO, FFXI, WoW, LOTRO, VG, AoC.
i didnt much like ffxi's housing either since it served no purpose over storage
and no one could visit it so what was the point of decorating it ?
if they do have it in ffxiv i hope it has more to it
it defiantly looks like they improved there crafting system though
im greatly looking forward to ffxiv
and to the op
if the comunity is anything like ffxi's it should be a fairly healthy comunity
and on pvp i agree entirely it should be purely optional not something one person can force another into
Where to start...
Player Housing
I am not big on player housing,but i dont dislike it either,thing for me i woudl want it to be more than just a sims idea to decorate it,basically i'm not into playing house lol.Definitely would need at minimum soemthing like FFXI had where your furniture matters apart from rent reduction.Even in EQ2 the crafting of furniture is quite meaningless,the status of rent reduction is ho hum.Anyhow developers are not big on it ,probably for the same reason i am not,but devs are aware many are asking for it,as FFXIV is also aware of it,maybe down the road they will introduce it.
Solo Questing
I am not big on anything solo in MMORPG's except crafting.However i would be willing to find a happy medium ,example a little of both.I can't stand anything that relates to RAID,massive time sinks to incorporate 24+ man groups.You can ANYTHING in a 6 man group that you can do wit ha RAID so it is totally uneccessary.Where i would be willing to accept solo is if the quests are like FFXI,more for fame,or some other non overpowering quest.Quests that involve top notch rewards,or as in FFXI your best of game weapon skill,they SHOULD require teamwork in a group oriented genre.
Healthy Player Base
Yes i think this is the only common ground all players agre with.Of course we need to remeber total subscriptions mean NOTHING,all that matters is if you have enough players per server,per zone.What usually ruins it for everyone is when games make leveling areas wander further and further away.I see no reason what so ever why games can't mix mob levels within the same zones.FFXI did this on several occasions ,albeit within reason ,you won't find a level 80 in a level 1 zone.Thing is if yo uhave players come back to what we consider noob zones then it keeps a game looking busy ,i think players could accept that.It also gives a MUCH easier chance for players that are looking to group to have more choice,because the yare standing in a zone that caters to several leveling choices.
PVP Centric
Yes i agree pvp,will never belong in mmorpg's.It is a nice cheap gimmick to keep players coming back to chase end game loot that can vault a PVP player over the top,rather than the player skills doing it.Other than PVP why on earth do people chase loot after they are already done leveling?
The other major fact about PVP is that it deters from the REAL game.Everyoen wants PVP to mean something,well if it means too much,then players would be forced to PVP 24/7 and not play the real game ever,and PVE woud also be on the backburner.
The ONLY way i could accept PVP is exactly the way FFXi does it,and it was not instanced,others could actually watch.Both teams need to be equal levels and equal amount of players and setup prior to actually entering the battle.This allows teams to setup strategy and work coherently as a group SHOULD,no unprecedented 5 on 1 battles,although there could be ,if your team strategy was crap.I also belive that in PVP be it 4/8/24,the gaming rules should change,you die you are out of the battle,no spawning,this makes strategy even more relevant,and that is waht PVP SHOULD be ,all about strategy/skills,not who has the best gear or the highest level.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Try Fallen Earth.
Sure it doesn't have player housing, YET. It's already being told by the developers, that its not too far in the future.
You can already make camps from Construction crafting skill.
EverQuest 2 has instanced housing, but one of the best housing systems in any MMO. It has good solo content, and a healthy playerbase. It has more content than most MMO's too.
Playing - EVE, Wurm
Retired - Final Fantasy XI, Anarchy Online, Mabinogi
Waiting - ArcheAge, Salem
I'm rather suprised you didn't like Lotro; appears to be exactly what you are looking for.
Anyways, besides Lotro, the only non pvp based game I can think of is EQ2, but that has instanced housing (Although I think it's probably the best housing system out there next to maybe UO).
Make it so...
I haven't seen DAOC mentioned as yet. I'm a housing fanatic as well. Unfortunately though the housing zone is instanced, but it's huge. It isn't a series of mini zones as in LotRO but rather very large zone ,and you don't have the decorating options as you do in EQ2. You can change the exterior material and decorate the yard as well as interior. And many named mobs drop trophies which can be displayed. It is also how you sell your items as you hire a merchant to stand outside your home, so there is a reason for people to come visit. And there's some neat little features such as if you're outside a home and see the lights are on through the windows, then you know someone is inside. And you can also knock on the door.
Your other criteria was non-pvp. I also don't pvp so I play on the Gaheris server in DAOC. This opens up all three realms to you giving you three times as many quest options as well as three different realm housing zones to choose from. And unlike the RvR servers where you can only own one home, you can own three on Gaheris.
Regarding solo play, the choices are tremendous but you won't be hand held on where to go. You will need to do a bit of exploring. There are solo task dungeons, outdoor quests, indoor quests in the catacombs, overland dungeons, etc. And most all of it can be soloed. You can level up several alts, each of them leveling in entirely different areas so you're not doing the same thing over and over.
The down side is not a huge population. The best bet would be to join a guild that's in an alliance. The alliance I'm in has pretty active chat as well as activities. It's an older game, but I still think it's very pretty even by today's standards and stlil has a lot to offer.
Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Cherise I think we have very similar outlooks on housing. The mini zones for housing in LotR were the reason I was so turned off by their housing system. The shop aspect sounds great. I will deffinately check it out and see if it suits me.
Thanks everyone.
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Current: FFXIV, Wildstar
Retired: UO, FFXI, WoW, LOTRO, VG, AoC.