3 races, humans, dwarf, and elf. here is the video link saying that.
The race choices sound cool. The "heroic quests/tasks" and hero status sound contrived.
Why can't they just make a world, throw players in it, and let them find (and earn) their own destinies? How many MMO's are going to impale themselves upon the Spear of Failure by force-feeding players linear or contrived storyline gameplay? This is working towards defeat; adding elements to drive away players.
Ex. the video mentioned a "rescue person from burning building" quest. How lame. Now if the building was burning by itself and not set up on cue for the character, then it might be spontaneous and more meaningful. But feeding the gameplayers a stream of contrived storyline scenes to act out is just lame and says "STORYLINE" instead of "WORLD."
Once again I find myself in total agreement with one of your posts. Games developers do seem to be stuck on this rather daft approach to making mmos. It would be great to actually see someone make an mmo where the players can participate in a "world" rather than just go through motions pre-planned by developers in someone elses "story". As these are supposed to be roleplaying games it would be nice if one of these mmos actually was one, where I could roleplay a character and make my own choices. Its just easier for developers to keep plonking single player games on a server and passing them off as mmos.
Having said that I think you are perhaps judging HoT too harshly. These guys seem to be trying to introduce more dynamic events that may or may not happen depending on what the players do. In this article......
......the saving of a town from a horde of imps and demons seems quite interesting. In other mmos the town would never be destroyed and all the npcs just stand there locked in an endless pretend war where nothing the players do matters in the slightest. At least HoT are trying to get away from pointless crap like that.
So in this sense this game has the potential be more like a "world" than any of the other stupid mmos that have been made in recent years. In fact from what I have read so far about this game I am actually finding myself feeling hopeful that finally mmos might actually be moving forward and away from the crap that is currently on offer. An mmo that is actually worth playing? Could it be true? The ability for players to swap classes in certain locations on the other hand sounds quite retarded to me. Two steps forward, two steps back.
"Why can't they just make a world, throw players in it, and let them find (and earn) their own destinies? How many MMO's are going to impale themselves upon the Spear of Failure by force-feeding players linear or contrived storyline gameplay? This is working towards defeat; adding elements to drive away players."
I actually like the epic storylines in MMOs and it is one of the features I look for in a game. Don't assume everyone is looking for the same thing as you. If you don't like it, move on. With that said, just because the story line is available in-game doesn't mean that the game will require you to take part in it.
At no point did he say he expected everyone to like the same thing as him, any more than you expect everyone to like the same story content as you do. This is a forum where people are free to post their opinions and thats precisely what he was doing. If you dont like that then maybe you should be the one that moves on
Are you truthfully a woman? I was quite certain that there were no women as cool as you. I guess I might be mistaken on that one.
I've read many of your posts and you are a man's dream; the coolest person you could possibly hang out with, that shares a lot of the same interests and ideals, and has woman bits to boot
Do me a favor and remind your boyfriend/fiancé/husband how lucky he is.
I was just browsing the games in development list where I came across HoT.. After reading the overview I was intrigued to check out the screenshots. After browsing through the screenies, I can honestly say right now this game sounds and looks like it has potential.. I'll be keeping an eye on HoT over the next few months to get an update on when beta will start..
I hope there will be more than just 3 playable races. I'd like to see at least 8, perhaps add orcs, goblins, gnomes, Gnolls, Half Breeds like Half Elf, Half Orc, Half Ogre, Half Giant, Trolls, etc.. More races equals more diversity..
Anyway, this is one title I'll be keeping an eye on the months ahead..
I really like the look of the game too. It has certainly caught my interest. However I really hope they DONT add all the races that you listed as being playable because it ends up making the game world look messy and silly. Orcs, goblins, trolls & ogres in an adventuring party with humans, elves, dwarves & gnomes is just ridiculous and doesnt make any sense at all. Its one of the reasons why I despise EQ2 and Vanguard. I would rather play in a more believable gameworld, so hopefully Trion will stay true to their own world design and not cave in to the masses who care nothing for it. Besides this is "Heroes" of Telara, not "Heroes and Monsters" of Telara.
Well, like I say, 3 seems stingy, but I dont think it would be suicide or anything if those 3 races are highly customisable and have a rich flavour and feel.
Sigh.. I wish more was released about this game. From what there is I figure we have to be looking at at least 2 more years in dev before anything happens and I need a dev to get it right so badly right now.
Even playing single player games, i still miss MMOs, but it's been so long since I played one that I could believe in.
Having only 3 races to choose from might seem stingy to most people but really the choice of race is nothing but a shallow gimic. Its the amount of depth in the character creation process that really matters, which is what you seem to be hinting at and what I agree with. A players "character" should be what makes them interesting, not the type of race they clicked on in the creation process. Thats why real life is interesting. We only have one sentient race on this planet but we're all quite different from each other. I want an mmo which I can get immersed in too, which is why I am happy at the limited number of races.
I'd like to see an insectoid type of playable race implemented in HOT.. Something like a Humanoidish grasshopper, beetle, lobster, cockroach, Ant, etc type of race..
Of course I still want to see your typical classic D&Dish fantasy races like Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, Barbarians, Gnomes, animal furballs, etc.
So basicly you want to see an insect race and others want to see blob races and dragons regardless of whether it has anything to do with the game world. Hmmm lets not stop there shall we. Lets just throw in EVERYTHING and transform the gameworld into a giant comedy themepark of crap. Lets have broomstick-men, giant apple-men, Refuse-men, every-animal-hybrid-under-the-sun-men, rotten-banana-men, rockmen, waterlizards, scarecrow-men, dogturd-men, mud-men. How about having furniture as a playable race too? Yeah that would be good wouldnt it!
Yep screw the lore of the gameworld and whatever vision Trion might have for it, as long as they cater to the masses thats all that matters right? It doesnt matter what the game is. Just bung it all in!
When a game isnt particularly interesting, bombarding players with loads of races to choose from must be a great way to distract them. Its also a great way to cover up a really shallow character creation system. Another reason why I actually feel hopefull for HoT.
I'd like to see an insectoid type of playable race implemented in HOT.. Something like a Humanoidish grasshopper, beetle, lobster, cockroach, Ant, etc type of race..
Of course I still want to see your typical classic D&Dish fantasy races like Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, Barbarians, Gnomes, animal furballs, etc.
So basicly you want to see an insect race and others want to see blob races and dragons regardless of whether it has anything to do with the game world. Hmmm lets not stop there shall we. Lets just throw in EVERYTHING and transform the gameworld into a giant comedy themepark of crap. Lets have broomstick-men, giant apple-men, Refuse-men, every-animal-hybrid-under-the-sun-men, rotten-banana-men, rockmen, waterlizards, scarecrow-men, dogturd-men, mud-men. How about having furniture as a playable race too? Yeah that would be good wouldnt it!
Yep screw the lore of the gameworld and whatever vision Trion might have for it, as long as they cater to the masses thats all that matters right? It doesnt matter what the game is. Just bung it all in!
When a game isnt particularly interesting, bombarding players with loads of races to choose from must be a great way to distract them. Its also a great way to cover up a really shallow character creation system. Another reason why I actually feel hopefull for HoT.
Lol, I completely agree with you.
Although most of the kiddies at this site will have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, your comment about "rotten-banana-men" brought back memories of a cartoon called Bananaman, from my youth. Ah, good times.
I'd like to see an insectoid type of playable race implemented in HOT.. Something like a Humanoidish grasshopper, beetle, lobster, cockroach, Ant, etc type of race..
Of course I still want to see your typical classic D&Dish fantasy races like Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, Barbarians, Gnomes, animal furballs, etc.
So basicly you want to see an insect race and others want to see blob races and dragons regardless of whether it has anything to do with the game world. Hmmm lets not stop there shall we. Lets just throw in EVERYTHING and transform the gameworld into a giant comedy themepark of crap. Lets have broomstick-men, giant apple-men, Refuse-men, every-animal-hybrid-under-the-sun-men, rotten-banana-men, rockmen, waterlizards, scarecrow-men, dogturd-men, mud-men. How about having furniture as a playable race too? Yeah that would be good wouldnt it!
Yep screw the lore of the gameworld and whatever vision Trion might have for it, as long as they cater to the masses thats all that matters right? It doesnt matter what the game is. Just bung it all in!
When a game isnt particularly interesting, bombarding players with loads of races to choose from must be a great way to distract them. Its also a great way to cover up a really shallow character creation system. Another reason why I actually feel hopefull for HoT.
Lol, I completely agree with you.
Although most of the kiddies at this site will have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, your comment about "rotten-banana-men" brought back memories of a cartoon called Bananaman, from my youth. Ah, good times.
For when Eric eats a banana, an amazing transformation occurs........
Oh yes I remember coming home from school and watching that. Good times indeed.......even if the cartoon was actually terrible lol. I enjoyed it all the same
I was just coming up with some possible playable race ideas.. Notice the word, "ideas" thrown in there. I didn't say to implement every idea I had now did I?
Forgive me for wanting and hoping HoT will be as great and legendary as EQ,,,, for true fans of fantasy and the MMORPG genre.. More races = more lore, a larger fantasy world, and more diversity, and an even better epic storyline.. See, I'm thinking on a larger scale whereas you are thinking on a small and easy scale..
I like the idea of HoT but I personally don't like having just 3 playable races. TO ME, that sounds a bit small and incomplete.. With more races and cities to choose from, the bigger the game could become.. If the game caters to those who enjoy a cookie cutting EEEEEZZZZZZ mode rollercoaster ride to the top, then it will most definitely not be for me..
By the way, it seems you somehow want a realistic gaming experience.. So I'd like to know why are you even interested in "FANTASY" MMORPG's then? Tell ya what, look up the word, "FANTASY" make sure you read the definition carrrrrrefully, and then come back here...
You may think orcs and goblins grouping with humans and elves may sound ridiculous and dumb, but not to those who are true fans of the massively multiplayer fantasy role playing game genre...
Also, I own like i dunno,,, 250 fantasy novels and many of them feature a party consisting of all kinds of humanoid creatures... Why you ask? BECAUSE ITS FANTASY!
Rallithon Oakthornn (Retired Heirophant of the 60th season)
More doesn't always mean better. I hope they have something a little different from the usual human/elf/dwarf, but a ton of stupid-looking ones that look human with a wolf head, etc., seems a waste. A 'few' races with a rich history and copious customisation options = win (at least for me!).
I was just coming up with some possible playable race ideas.. Notice the word, "ideas" thrown in there. I didn't say to implement every idea I had now did I?
Forgive me for wanting and hoping HoT will be as great and legendary as EQ,,,, for true fans of fantasy and the MMORPG genre.. More races = more lore, a larger fantasy world, and more diversity, and an even better epic storyline.. See, I'm thinking on a larger scale whereas you are thinking on a small and easy scale..
I like the idea of HoT but I personally don't like having just 3 playable races. TO ME, that sounds a bit small and incomplete.. With more races and cities to choose from, the bigger the game could become.. If the game caters to those who enjoy a cookie cutting EEEEEZZZZZZ mode rollercoaster ride to the top, then it will most definitely not be for me..
By the way, it seems you somehow want a realistic gaming experience.. So I'd like to know why are you even interested in "FANTASY" MMORPG's then? Tell ya what, look up the word, "FANTASY" make sure you read the definition carrrrrrefully, and then come back here...
You may think orcs and goblins grouping with humans and elves may sound ridiculous and dumb, but not to those who are true fans of the massively multiplayer fantasy role playing game genre...
Also, I own like i dunno,,, 250 fantasy novels and many of them feature a party consisting of all kinds of humanoid creatures... Why you ask? BECAUSE ITS FANTASY!
Thankyou Mr Oakthorn for addressing your post to me. I feel honoured.......and for once I'm not being sarcastic. Apologies for my previous caustic post but like many on this forum I do like to have a good old rant from time to time. Of course you are correct that you did not mean to implement all of your ideas. My rant meter was charged up though so I was only able to use area effect weapons at that time. I will attempt to be more diligent and attentive in this post.
You defend your case well. However I see a number of holes in your logic......obviously only from my viewpoint of course and I'm sure others will disagree. Anyway here goes with my thoughts on the matter.
EQ was indeed a very good game and the variety of races helped a lot with that. However perhaps I have a fuzzy memory of it but I do seem to recall certain aspects of the lore being adhered to in the game. At least that was my experience of it anyway. I dont remember races that hated each other being able to team up. Maybe I'm wrong there but that was my experience of it anyway. However it does seem to me as though these games designers can so easily use "race diversity" as a means of ditching complexity from their games. I would much rather have a very wide selection of character details to choose from to create a well fleshed out character with a small selection of races that naturally compliment each other, as opposed to very limited character details and lots of races that dont really fit well with each other. Even if players could only be humans (such as in AoC for example) there can still be a large amount of diversity in a game.
As others above me have said, more races does not = more lore. Where on earth did you get that idea from? Our own planet is incredibly rich with fantastic and varied lore and yet we only have one race to choose from......and no that doesnt mean I want all fantasy games to be like our world. Yes these are fantasy games. This doesnt mean that everything has to be blown out of proportion. Fantasy does not have to = daft.
You are correct though. I do indeed prefer a level of realism in games. I feel that some of the best fantasy is actually grounded in realism. When I am using the word "realism" I dont mean "like our planet" by the way, but there should be natural laws of nature for that setting that should be adhered to. If a load of background lore is created for a world and then the players are given free reign to go against it all then it generally serves to trash the original vision of that world. So in EQ2 and Vanguard for example there was a load of lore about the world created and yet the developers effectively said "Ahh screw it. Do what you like. Did we say the Trolls love to eat Halflings? Dont worry about that. Just ignore it and team up with each other. Its just a game". They are right in a way. It is just a game but it's supposed to be a ROLEPLAYING game. If the lore doesnt matter and can be abused then why bother with it in the first place? Good races? Evil races? Forget it. They're all buddies. Sorry but I dont like that. I do like a certain level of believability (is that even a word? lol) in some games.......even fantasy ones.
I did as you asked and I looked up the word "fantasy" on the wikipedia website. I didnt see anything in there that states that all fantasy MUST have a massive variety of sentient races. However I did like the line "That is, the events in the story are impossible, but follow "laws" of magic, and have a setting that is internally consistent." which seems to coincide with my view of having a believable world.
I disagree with your comment that you are thinking on a bigger scale while I am thinking on a smaller one. As has already been stated, more races does not neccessarily mean that a game is going to be on a larger scale. Life forms are life forms. Scale has little to do with race diversity. Besides a fantasy world can be teaming with loads of interesting creatures.......for the players to meet. It doesnt mean we have to be all of them. Having said that a game which allows players to play as everyone could certainly have the potential to be interesting.......as long as the laws of the gameworld are adhered to. Players could choose to be heroes or monsters and that could indeed be fun. It depends entirely on the game of course. This particular game however is called "Heroes of Telara" as opposed to "Heroes & Monsters of Telara". The general idea of the games creators is that we will be fighting monsters, not playing as them.
As for an "epic storyline" well that is of course open to debate as well. With a small selection of playable races, it will be easier for the developers to tailor the storyline to the players. They can focus it and make it more suited to what my character would genuinely want to do. If we start introducing playable insect men and dragons and what have you, then a lot of that story may well seem less applicable to some of those races........which means that more suitable content has to be created. Otherwise we get odd immersion breaking stuff happening such as "The Dragon is attacking the human village! Please help us!". But....ermm....I AM a dragon. I actually want to eat you but....oh......the quest says I have to save you and kill my kinsmen. Oh well may as well do what it says cos thats how the game wants me to progress. I dont want that in a fantasy game. I like to feel immersed in the games I play. If something screams "silly!" at me then I simply lose respect and interest for that world.
Also EEEEZZZZZ mode has again got nothing to do with race diversity. That doesnt make much sense. I agree though that I dont want a game to be easy. It would be nice to have a challenging fantasy mmo for once. We will have to wait and see on that one.
Oh and "true fans" of the massively multiplayer fantasy roleplaying genre want races that should not coexist with each other to be able to work together fine regardless of lore? Really?!! That sounds extremely odd. Dont you mean "true fans of very badly thought out games" would want that? Sorry but I would like to play in a well thought out game thanks. I dont really want to play in a carnival of disjointed madness. I would rather have a cool and immersive fantasy world that actually makes sense........and yeah that can include fireball lobbing wizards, levitating shaman and any other number of weird and wonderful things that would break the natural laws of our own world. Human, Elf, Dwarf. Thats fine with me, as long as my character has lots of details that that make it interesting and encourage good roleplaying and the gameworld is interesting and engrossing with enjoyable gameplay, then I wont need to set myself apart from others by completely changing my race. My character will be interesting enough already.
Those race descriptions and the screenshots look really good! One of them is a type of elf and the other two seem to be subgroups of humans. I suspect they will still be sticking to the three main race choices of human, elf and dwarf for the rest of them as well which would make sense and keep the world looking cohesive, interesting and believable. So far their playable races look like people that would naturally coexist with each other. Hopefully they wont feel the need to go all silly and include monster races to appease the mainstream peeps. Please no daft looking humanoids with dog heads and cat heads lol.
Comments
Lobster, LOL. I agree !! It would be really cool.
Once again I find myself in total agreement with one of your posts. Games developers do seem to be stuck on this rather daft approach to making mmos. It would be great to actually see someone make an mmo where the players can participate in a "world" rather than just go through motions pre-planned by developers in someone elses "story". As these are supposed to be roleplaying games it would be nice if one of these mmos actually was one, where I could roleplay a character and make my own choices. Its just easier for developers to keep plonking single player games on a server and passing them off as mmos.
Having said that I think you are perhaps judging HoT too harshly. These guys seem to be trying to introduce more dynamic events that may or may not happen depending on what the players do. In this article......
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/431/feature/3112/Heroes-of-Talara-Revealed-at-E3.html
......the saving of a town from a horde of imps and demons seems quite interesting. In other mmos the town would never be destroyed and all the npcs just stand there locked in an endless pretend war where nothing the players do matters in the slightest. At least HoT are trying to get away from pointless crap like that.
So in this sense this game has the potential be more like a "world" than any of the other stupid mmos that have been made in recent years. In fact from what I have read so far about this game I am actually finding myself feeling hopeful that finally mmos might actually be moving forward and away from the crap that is currently on offer. An mmo that is actually worth playing? Could it be true? The ability for players to swap classes in certain locations on the other hand sounds quite retarded to me. Two steps forward, two steps back.
At no point did he say he expected everyone to like the same thing as him, any more than you expect everyone to like the same story content as you do. This is a forum where people are free to post their opinions and thats precisely what he was doing. If you dont like that then maybe you should be the one that moves on
Are you truthfully a woman? I was quite certain that there were no women as cool as you. I guess I might be mistaken on that one.
I've read many of your posts and you are a man's dream; the coolest person you could possibly hang out with, that shares a lot of the same interests and ideals, and has woman bits to boot
Do me a favor and remind your boyfriend/fiancé/husband how lucky he is.
Your fail comment, failed.
I really like the look of the game too. It has certainly caught my interest. However I really hope they DONT add all the races that you listed as being playable because it ends up making the game world look messy and silly. Orcs, goblins, trolls & ogres in an adventuring party with humans, elves, dwarves & gnomes is just ridiculous and doesnt make any sense at all. Its one of the reasons why I despise EQ2 and Vanguard. I would rather play in a more believable gameworld, so hopefully Trion will stay true to their own world design and not cave in to the masses who care nothing for it. Besides this is "Heroes" of Telara, not "Heroes and Monsters" of Telara.
Having only 3 races to choose from might seem stingy to most people but really the choice of race is nothing but a shallow gimic. Its the amount of depth in the character creation process that really matters, which is what you seem to be hinting at and what I agree with. A players "character" should be what makes them interesting, not the type of race they clicked on in the creation process. Thats why real life is interesting. We only have one sentient race on this planet but we're all quite different from each other. I want an mmo which I can get immersed in too, which is why I am happy at the limited number of races.
So basicly you want to see an insect race and others want to see blob races and dragons regardless of whether it has anything to do with the game world. Hmmm lets not stop there shall we. Lets just throw in EVERYTHING and transform the gameworld into a giant comedy themepark of crap. Lets have broomstick-men, giant apple-men, Refuse-men, every-animal-hybrid-under-the-sun-men, rotten-banana-men, rockmen, waterlizards, scarecrow-men, dogturd-men, mud-men. How about having furniture as a playable race too? Yeah that would be good wouldnt it!
Yep screw the lore of the gameworld and whatever vision Trion might have for it, as long as they cater to the masses thats all that matters right? It doesnt matter what the game is. Just bung it all in!
When a game isnt particularly interesting, bombarding players with loads of races to choose from must be a great way to distract them. Its also a great way to cover up a really shallow character creation system. Another reason why I actually feel hopefull for HoT.
Lol, I completely agree with you.
Although most of the kiddies at this site will have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, your comment about "rotten-banana-men" brought back memories of a cartoon called Bananaman, from my youth. Ah, good times.
Your fail comment, failed.
Put in races that makes sense...is all I am going to say.
For when Eric eats a banana, an amazing transformation occurs........
Oh yes I remember coming home from school and watching that. Good times indeed.......even if the cartoon was actually terrible lol. I enjoyed it all the same
To Mr Neonwire
I was just coming up with some possible playable race ideas.. Notice the word, "ideas" thrown in there. I didn't say to implement every idea I had now did I?
Forgive me for wanting and hoping HoT will be as great and legendary as EQ,,,, for true fans of fantasy and the MMORPG genre.. More races = more lore, a larger fantasy world, and more diversity, and an even better epic storyline.. See, I'm thinking on a larger scale whereas you are thinking on a small and easy scale..
I like the idea of HoT but I personally don't like having just 3 playable races. TO ME, that sounds a bit small and incomplete.. With more races and cities to choose from, the bigger the game could become.. If the game caters to those who enjoy a cookie cutting EEEEEZZZZZZ mode rollercoaster ride to the top, then it will most definitely not be for me..
By the way, it seems you somehow want a realistic gaming experience.. So I'd like to know why are you even interested in "FANTASY" MMORPG's then? Tell ya what, look up the word, "FANTASY" make sure you read the definition carrrrrrefully, and then come back here...
You may think orcs and goblins grouping with humans and elves may sound ridiculous and dumb, but not to those who are true fans of the massively multiplayer fantasy role playing game genre...
Also, I own like i dunno,,, 250 fantasy novels and many of them feature a party consisting of all kinds of humanoid creatures... Why you ask? BECAUSE ITS FANTASY!
Rallithon Oakthornn
(Retired Heirophant of the 60th season)
You can put in a thousand races without any lore attached though. Or only one race and tons and tons of lore. It does not equate at all.
--
Delanor
More doesn't always mean better. I hope they have something a little different from the usual human/elf/dwarf, but a ton of stupid-looking ones that look human with a wolf head, etc., seems a waste. A 'few' races with a rich history and copious customisation options = win (at least for me!).
Ningen wa ningen da.
----
http://twitter.com/Ciovala
Thankyou Mr Oakthorn for addressing your post to me. I feel honoured.......and for once I'm not being sarcastic. Apologies for my previous caustic post but like many on this forum I do like to have a good old rant from time to time. Of course you are correct that you did not mean to implement all of your ideas. My rant meter was charged up though so I was only able to use area effect weapons at that time. I will attempt to be more diligent and attentive in this post.
You defend your case well. However I see a number of holes in your logic......obviously only from my viewpoint of course and I'm sure others will disagree. Anyway here goes with my thoughts on the matter.
EQ was indeed a very good game and the variety of races helped a lot with that. However perhaps I have a fuzzy memory of it but I do seem to recall certain aspects of the lore being adhered to in the game. At least that was my experience of it anyway. I dont remember races that hated each other being able to team up. Maybe I'm wrong there but that was my experience of it anyway. However it does seem to me as though these games designers can so easily use "race diversity" as a means of ditching complexity from their games. I would much rather have a very wide selection of character details to choose from to create a well fleshed out character with a small selection of races that naturally compliment each other, as opposed to very limited character details and lots of races that dont really fit well with each other. Even if players could only be humans (such as in AoC for example) there can still be a large amount of diversity in a game.
As others above me have said, more races does not = more lore. Where on earth did you get that idea from? Our own planet is incredibly rich with fantastic and varied lore and yet we only have one race to choose from......and no that doesnt mean I want all fantasy games to be like our world. Yes these are fantasy games. This doesnt mean that everything has to be blown out of proportion. Fantasy does not have to = daft.
You are correct though. I do indeed prefer a level of realism in games. I feel that some of the best fantasy is actually grounded in realism. When I am using the word "realism" I dont mean "like our planet" by the way, but there should be natural laws of nature for that setting that should be adhered to. If a load of background lore is created for a world and then the players are given free reign to go against it all then it generally serves to trash the original vision of that world. So in EQ2 and Vanguard for example there was a load of lore about the world created and yet the developers effectively said "Ahh screw it. Do what you like. Did we say the Trolls love to eat Halflings? Dont worry about that. Just ignore it and team up with each other. Its just a game". They are right in a way. It is just a game but it's supposed to be a ROLEPLAYING game. If the lore doesnt matter and can be abused then why bother with it in the first place? Good races? Evil races? Forget it. They're all buddies. Sorry but I dont like that. I do like a certain level of believability (is that even a word? lol) in some games.......even fantasy ones.
I did as you asked and I looked up the word "fantasy" on the wikipedia website. I didnt see anything in there that states that all fantasy MUST have a massive variety of sentient races. However I did like the line "That is, the events in the story are impossible, but follow "laws" of magic, and have a setting that is internally consistent." which seems to coincide with my view of having a believable world.
I disagree with your comment that you are thinking on a bigger scale while I am thinking on a smaller one. As has already been stated, more races does not neccessarily mean that a game is going to be on a larger scale. Life forms are life forms. Scale has little to do with race diversity. Besides a fantasy world can be teaming with loads of interesting creatures.......for the players to meet. It doesnt mean we have to be all of them. Having said that a game which allows players to play as everyone could certainly have the potential to be interesting.......as long as the laws of the gameworld are adhered to. Players could choose to be heroes or monsters and that could indeed be fun. It depends entirely on the game of course. This particular game however is called "Heroes of Telara" as opposed to "Heroes & Monsters of Telara". The general idea of the games creators is that we will be fighting monsters, not playing as them.
As for an "epic storyline" well that is of course open to debate as well. With a small selection of playable races, it will be easier for the developers to tailor the storyline to the players. They can focus it and make it more suited to what my character would genuinely want to do. If we start introducing playable insect men and dragons and what have you, then a lot of that story may well seem less applicable to some of those races........which means that more suitable content has to be created. Otherwise we get odd immersion breaking stuff happening such as "The Dragon is attacking the human village! Please help us!". But....ermm....I AM a dragon. I actually want to eat you but....oh......the quest says I have to save you and kill my kinsmen. Oh well may as well do what it says cos thats how the game wants me to progress. I dont want that in a fantasy game. I like to feel immersed in the games I play. If something screams "silly!" at me then I simply lose respect and interest for that world.
Also EEEEZZZZZ mode has again got nothing to do with race diversity. That doesnt make much sense. I agree though that I dont want a game to be easy. It would be nice to have a challenging fantasy mmo for once. We will have to wait and see on that one.
Oh and "true fans" of the massively multiplayer fantasy roleplaying genre want races that should not coexist with each other to be able to work together fine regardless of lore? Really?!! That sounds extremely odd. Dont you mean "true fans of very badly thought out games" would want that? Sorry but I would like to play in a well thought out game thanks. I dont really want to play in a carnival of disjointed madness. I would rather have a cool and immersive fantasy world that actually makes sense........and yeah that can include fireball lobbing wizards, levitating shaman and any other number of weird and wonderful things that would break the natural laws of our own world. Human, Elf, Dwarf. Thats fine with me, as long as my character has lots of details that that make it interesting and encourage good roleplaying and the gameworld is interesting and engrossing with enjoyable gameplay, then I wont need to set myself apart from others by completely changing my race. My character will be interesting enough already.
shows right here eight race spots and said in another interview that there would be eight.
http://www.riftgame.com/en/races/index.php
Those race descriptions and the screenshots look really good! One of them is a type of elf and the other two seem to be subgroups of humans. I suspect they will still be sticking to the three main race choices of human, elf and dwarf for the rest of them as well which would make sense and keep the world looking cohesive, interesting and believable. So far their playable races look like people that would naturally coexist with each other. Hopefully they wont feel the need to go all silly and include monster races to appease the mainstream peeps. Please no daft looking humanoids with dog heads and cat heads lol.