This is one of only two items on my list that deal with actual gameplay, but it's major enough that I felt the need to say thanks anyway. When I began playing MMOs, and I know this is a common sentiment these days, I had all the time in the world and I didn't care that I had to spend half of my day running from one corner of the map to another. It was part of "The Adventure". I miss that, but I also appreciate that life has become delightfully more complex as I age. Therefore I am infinitely thankful for the way in which games have become a little simpler (at least in terms of travel).
After reading this I would have to disagree, because that if a game becomes to simple then what fun would it be if everyone are on equal grounds with equal DPS to boot equal stats to kill bosses on a faster lvl? were does it end?
Travel options make the game too simple? That's where that choice thing comes in; you can choose whether or not to use the travel options. You also seemed to have failed at reading comprehension; at no time did the author mention everyone should have the same equipment or DPS, he merely was thankful for having a wider selection of travel options as opposed to spending an hour or so just to get from one spot to the other.
It is foolish to suggest one can simply ignore fast travel in an MMO if one wants to group up. What group will now wait while you run or ride to a summoning stone, instead of porting directly inside a dungeon? It's very veryveryvery silly to suggest otherwise. Once direct porting and fast travel is added, it cannot be ignored by anyone but the solo player, and if one only ever solos what point is there to being in an MMO?
That being the blindingly obvious case, I'm left wondering why people keep trotting this silliness out time after time... *shakes head*
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
I remember the first time I took the boat in EQ, didnt know you could fall off them, and walked off the boat, took me a long time to find land again, but when I did man was I happy to see land again. I even remember being affraid that I may drown in OOT.
Of course as with most things in old EQ, the land I found had big baddies on it that killed me lol. But it was still a great experience for me.
Vanilla WoW, one took a long time to travel, but you could encounter anything random on the way there. That immersive gameplay. More travel options (or faster) removes that randomness that makes games unique.
If the travel option adds to the game... why not? But if it is added to remove player interaction, e.g. flying mounts. Then it is a plague for the game. Flying mounts was one reason why WoW went downhill.
4.) Cross-Server Interaction
No.
Obviously the writer has no sense of community. Something that is core to the MMORPG.
3.) New Subscription Models
Like no.5, depends on the situation. I have yet to see many new subscription styles that are well designed and effective.
2.) Investors
Going to start thanking Sony and Philips for making the computer screens you use to play MMORPGs on soon?
1.) The Players
See above, you have obviously run out of ideas for your list.
IMMERSION!!!! thats what will bring me back to MMO gaming. A game that is CHALLENGING which will cultivate a strong sense of brotherhood(sisterhood too) a true community of players working together. ahh, i know i long for the good old days where you felt proud to be a player in a game, and you were surrounded by others that felt the same way. it wasnt just about gathering STUFF, but the PROCESS of how you had to work together to achieve STUFF. OH well, i digress a little off topic but all the things discussed in this article is the exact opposite of what i think is important.
I have to agree. I disagree with the author of the original topic 100%.
And so it goes. It is the way of things.
I also agree, this why i don't have and havn't had a sub in nearly a year now.
Though with these shallow MMOs going free I get to play them for a week or two when I get bored... to be reminded just how bored I could be.
My points though.
5) There is a line between expanded travel options and selecting city X and going to get a beer, which most mmos these day cross.
4) Cross-Server for pvp is okay... in fact RVR was great, but one servers are the plague of communities. If you want to see why go play Guild Wars or STO.
3) New Subscription Models.... You mean MT with "free to play"? Because there stupid and aim for the dumbest, laziest people around.
2) Yeah lets thank the investors that won't take chances and only support WoWess clones and free to nickle and dime you grind fests.
1) Really? You thank the Players over the Devs or Highspeed internet?
I will not play a game with a cash shop ever again. A dev job should be to make the game better not make me pay so it sucks less.
By itself, Instant teleport to instances makes grouping harder, not easier.
Well I don't think that's true. I just think it makes grouping less likely to result in a group of people dedicated to seeing it through to the end, helping one another, and maybe even running other instances together or forming friendships.
When you can insta-group cross realm you don't have any impetuous to stick together since it's mere moments to replace anyone or join a different group. And since you're grouping with people you can't socialise with in your realm (unless you're very lucky and you're in the same one), you don't care as much about what they think of your performance or behaviour.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
I only post when there is a topic that really gets me going, and this is obviously one of those!
It is one thing to have an opinion; they are great, everyone has one, right? This article is a common theme among people who like "casual MMO's." Now, there is nothing wrong with that view, but when reading an article on gaming, I like to see the authors express some critical thinking skills and I do not see that here.
I am glad to see the reply's here are all questioning the article, which is a good thing! This article was written for one of two reasons: To rile up the community(which it did with me); or express a lack of critical thinking, and thus, rile up the community.
Now, getting the community to respond (like I am) is a good thing, but I enjoy (and I can speak for the readers) reading articles that are well laid out, and well thought out. This is lacking the latter and after reading it, I have the look on my face of someone who just drank sour milk.
Now that's said, I have a suggestion. William, when writing an article, attempt to at least pretend to present the other side of the argument. Then, list reasons why you believe the way you do. This will make you seem credible because you are at least considering another opinion, other than yours. This will have a two effects: one, you will seem more credible in the eyes of your readers; two, you will gain respect from your readers. These two attributes seem the same, but you can have credibility, but no respect, and I would like you to have both.
Another thing, why are you thanking the investors? Everything else aside in this article, that comment is completely misplaced and shouldn't be here, period.
That is about all, I would comment more, but I think the readers are doing a great job of listing my concerns on the community aspect. Reasons 5, 4 and 3 are all valid reasons if you wish to play a mutli player game, but have a horrible gaming community.
This is one of only two items on my list that deal with actual gameplay, but it's major enough that I felt the need to say thanks anyway. When I began playing MMOs, and I know this is a common sentiment these days, I had all the time in the world and I didn't care that I had to spend half of my day running from one corner of the map to another. It was part of "The Adventure". I miss that, but I also appreciate that life has become delightfully more complex as I age. Therefore I am infinitely thankful for the way in which games have become a little simpler (at least in terms of travel).
After reading this I would have to disagree, because that if a game becomes to simple then what fun would it be if everyone are on equal grounds with equal DPS to boot equal stats to kill bosses on a faster lvl? were does it end?
Yes, because taking an hour to travel from one place to another is awesome fun. You remember fun, right? The reason we're supposed to be playing video games? If anyone finds walking great distances that takes up a great amount of your time fun, well....different strokes I guess.
And LOL at all the neckbeards talking about how much better it was in "the old days".
if you go above one post you see what I meant by my comment. Or better yet since you are not a Neckbeard I will re quote myself so maybe you understand what I meant.
I quote "I read and comprehend it just fine. OP eluded to the fact that because of this the game and I quote "became a little simpler (at least terms of travel.) I just gave a little extra thought to how much more simple certain games (WOW) have become and to what end will (WoW) get?"
Get it got it good. ty
Oh by the way having a REAL neckbeard gets the ladies dont you know? oh you don't oh well to bad for you.
So your point is that faster travel makes things too simple??? Faster travel makes a game suck less. I know. I played swg before any kind of personal travel and 10 minute waits for shuttles. Not only did that suck but it was most definately unfun (unless you thing was sitting around shuttle ports all day socializing).
FYI the OP was talking about how faster travel increased his enjoyment of an mmo. How you got off on a tangent about boosting dps and killing bosses from that I have no idea.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
Ginaz - being forced to socialise a little is not a bad thing. The trouble with most players is they have no idea what makes a game fun for themselves, let alone anyone else. They'll cry and cry that something is too hard, or takes too long. But it's not till it's been nerfed that they realise what they've lost.
Worse are players who have never even experienced a game that encouraged grouping and socialising to advance - they often seem to think WoW (for example) is as good as it gets. Sorry, but I see _far less_ socialising and co-operation happening in modern casual-driven MMOs than there was in EQ1, AC, or DAoC back in the day. WoW, EQ2 and the like are NOT as good as it gets. You can call me an old fogie if you like, or try to say I'm seeing the past through rose coloured glasses. But I'm not the only one who remembers MMOs before they were made into massively solo games or multiplayer with random strangers in short ultra-casual friendly chunks.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Isn't WoW a lobby game by now? And not just WoW, but everything else that follows its example. This is not what an mmorpg should aim to be in my opinion, but it's exactly what is happening and it's exactly what people think is "better". If you really really really think about it, I don't see how many of these things are good changes. It makes it so that people can get more done in less time, perhaps, but why should that really be the deciding factor of fun?
I think the problem here is the line to draw between immersion/believability vs gaming/fun. I can get a just-for-fun game anywhere. I can even get that for free, so why aim for that? The games could be so much more than just a game (although it is just a game :P). Pretty much every new thing nowadays is just a game with no other substance. No flav0r.
Now saying all of this, I don't have time to be playing mmos and running for hours in a day, but even if I were given a choice between one where you can just click and arrive at a dungeon and one that you have to travel to get there, I'd still choose the latter.... even if I only had enough time to run to the next city. The reason is because time is irrelevant. It's the process of amelioration that's important. Some games screwed this process up, but some didn't.
I actually was ok with the 20 minute SWG shuttles because I'd just hop in a cantina for a little while and just chill-out with a bunch of the people around. This made entertainers and healers actually have fun doing their job instead of making a macro do it for them when cantinas became empty. It felt real, but not too real. But that's because SWG was well done. There wasn't a rush to do anything... leveling was quick unless you wanted to become a Jedi. It all made a lot of sense...
5) Expanded travel: Quick porting to locations was a solid invention but mounts and travel powers just make the world whiz past you see a blur not the beauty. You can’t stop to smell the gravebloom when you didn’t even notice it was there.
4) Cross Server Interaction: A wonderful idea, next stop will be cross game interaction. I can’t wait till Wii Singstar players are playing on my WoW server. Oh the joy.
3) New subscription models: maybe if you played a MMO rather than trying to play six at the same time you would not need to worry about subscription models. For that matter – “I miss that, but I also appreciate that life has become delightfully more complex as I age” perhaps you would not need to use the excuse that you are getting older so can’t devote as much time as you used to if you only played one MMO?
2) Investors: You Have Got To Be Kidding. I know its Thanksgiving but you can go too far, the lets get rich quick like WoW mentality has put our genre into a corner. One it may not escape from and if it does not evolve it will die. Look at adventure games, don’t evolve you die no matter how good you once were.
1) The Players: The Pug’s, the kill steals, the spammed chat channels, you do play MMO’s right?
You guys know you can have your own thanks. You don't really have to justify the thanks that were given in the following list. Oh, forgot it was the internet... everyone has to have an input to someone elses oppinions.
I agree about the sub models. I too would be playing more MMO's if there were more free hours in the month for me to do so. I just can't pay for all the different games out there that I'd like to play only to be able to log on once in a while.
And the cross server LFG tools I think are great. Queue up and go off and do whatever you want while you wait for a group to get put together. One of the thing I hated most about dungeons was the spamming for more and waiting, only to get the group together and someone has to leave becasue it took too long to get going, so back to square one spamming for more.
I'm thankful for those things and I'd like to see more of that in other games.
This is one of only two items on my list that deal with actual gameplay, but it's major enough that I felt the need to say thanks anyway. When I began playing MMOs, and I know this is a common sentiment these days, I had all the time in the world and I didn't care that I had to spend half of my day running from one corner of the map to another. It was part of "The Adventure". I miss that, but I also appreciate that life has become delightfully more complex as I age. Therefore I am infinitely thankful for the way in which games have become a little simpler (at least in terms of travel).
After reading this I would have to disagree, because that if a game becomes to simple then what fun would it be if everyone are on equal grounds with equal DPS to boot equal stats to kill bosses on a faster lvl? were does it end?
Yes, because taking an hour to travel from one place to another is awesome fun. You remember fun, right? The reason we're supposed to be playing video games? If anyone finds walking great distances that takes up a great amount of your time fun, well....different strokes I guess.
And LOL at all the neckbeards talking about how much better it was in "the old days".
I remember taking the boat from Freeport east. Took a half hour or so. I remember the first time I made this trip, with the aim of getting bow materials from Kelethin. A friend came along strictly to do a little exploring, since we had neither been to Faydwer before. And the same thing happened that occurred so often during the horrible "downtimes" ridiculed above. We talked about our plan to cross the Butcherblock Mtns, about what our options were after the "explore", and then chatted about how we were doing on blacksmithing and on getting certain pieces of gear, and then many things not game related.
That's what doesn't happen when there is no built-in downtime. Human interaction that builds community. Which is why the POK was not a good thing for EQ. (Not to mention demeaning the value of Wizards and Druids). For all the bad things about EQ that are criticized now, the community was the best it has ever been in an MMO, IMHO.
PS what's a neckbeard? I suppose I am quite guilty. I enjoy current MMOs, but I miss a real community.
Travel getting better? UO was one of the first MMO's (if not the first) and it had the fastest travel, with mounts (MANY types of mounts).
Servers are a good one, but we are not really seeing games coming out like EVE where everyone plays on 1 server.
New Sub models I think make it most confusing and water down the game play. Every potion you use now, you think "hmm is that 25cents I just used?" because of how they are doing cash shop items.
Yes lets thank the people that have been a drain on the MMO's since day one. These investors that tell the MMO company's how to make the game, they wont back them unless they have XZY in them. I would like to see investors invest in games because the game maker had a good idea or plan on making the game instead of getting into being a dev basicly forcing coders to do what they think works for a game.
Last the players? Uhm Ok.
Where are the things like Raid bosses, and graphics, and EPIC battles of 1000svs1000s, or storylines whatever. This list is pretty bad.
This is one of only two items on my list that deal with actual gameplay, but it's major enough that I felt the need to say thanks anyway. When I began playing MMOs, and I know this is a common sentiment these days, I had all the time in the world and I didn't care that I had to spend half of my day running from one corner of the map to another. It was part of "The Adventure". I miss that, but I also appreciate that life has become delightfully more complex as I age. Therefore I am infinitely thankful for the way in which games have become a little simpler (at least in terms of travel).
After reading this I would have to disagree, because that if a game becomes to simple then what fun would it be if everyone are on equal grounds with equal DPS to boot equal stats to kill bosses on a faster lvl? were does it end?
Travel options make the game too simple? That's where that choice thing comes in; you can choose whether or not to use the travel options. You also seemed to have failed at reading comprehension; at no time did the author mention everyone should have the same equipment or DPS, he merely was thankful for having a wider selection of travel options as opposed to spending an hour or so just to get from one spot to the other.
It is foolish to suggest one can simply ignore fast travel in an MMO if one wants to group up. What group will now wait while you run or ride to a summoning stone, instead of porting directly inside a dungeon? It's very veryveryvery silly to suggest otherwise. Once direct porting and fast travel is added, it cannot be ignored by anyone but the solo player, and if one only ever solos what point is there to being in an MMO?
That being the blindingly obvious case, I'm left wondering why people keep trotting this silliness out time after time... *shakes head*
QFT
Originally posted by Wizardling6
Ginaz - being forced to socialise a little is not a bad thing. The trouble with most players is they have no idea what makes a game fun for themselves, let alone anyone else. They'll cry and cry that something is too hard, or takes too long. But it's not till it's been nerfed that they realise what they've lost. Worse are players who have never even experienced a game that encouraged grouping and socialising to advance - they often seem to think WoW (for example) is as good as it gets. Sorry, but I see _far less_ socialising and co-operation happening in modern casual-driven MMOs than there was in EQ1, AC, or DAoC back in the day. WoW, EQ2 and the like are NOT as good as it gets. You can call me an old fogie if you like, or try to say I'm seeing the past through rose coloured glasses. But I'm not the only one who remembers MMOs before they were made into massively solo games or multiplayer with random strangers in short ultra-casual friendly chunks.
Completely agree.
The fact is that expanded travel options are not "options" at all. Unless you like playing alone, the community will force you to use the fast travel "options". Things were much much better when MMO's built in features which encouraged grouping, participation, and interaction through forced downtime and shared exploration and the need to work together in order to succeed.
MMO communities are not only worse for it, but even game balance has been affected in games where specific classes were designed with fast travel abilities for groups to rely on. Those classes lose relevance as the community are given the "option" to ignore them.
I'm thankful for the advances in technology so you can find now MMORPGs with great graphic: real shadows, dynamic lights, expectacular weather effects, etc. And I'm thankful for the increasing interest in MMORPGs, specifically in the art of the games. Now you can see MMORPGs with incredible arts, not only in graphics, music and sounds too. These things make MMORPGs a really immersive experiencie.
I read and comprehend it just fine. OP eluded to the fact that because of this the game and I quote "became a little simpler (at least terms of travel.) I just gave a little extra thought to how much more simple certain games (WOW) have become and to what end will (WoW) get?
The discussion here is travel. That's all. Going on about simpler games having all the same dps or gear is like comparing apples and oranges; one really doesn't lead into another. Once again, the OP wasn't talking about anything other than travel. he wasn't talking about making the raids/dungeons/quests so simple that everyone ended up with the same items, nor did he state that every class should (or even would) have the same dps. Heck, even other 'simpler' MMOs (WoW) don't have that. Trying to use the OPs thankfulness for having more travel options as some kind of theoretical proof that everyone is going to end up the same is just silly.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
It is foolish to suggest one can simply ignore fast travel in an MMO if one wants to group up. What group will now wait while you run or ride to a summoning stone, instead of porting directly inside a dungeon? It's very veryveryvery silly to suggest otherwise. Once direct porting and fast travel is added, it cannot be ignored by anyone but the solo player, and if one only ever solos what point is there to being in an MMO?
That being the blindingly obvious case, I'm left wondering why people keep trotting this silliness out time after time... *shakes head*
It's also foolish to suggest that travel options are going to lead to a simpler game, where everyone ends up with the same equipment and dps. Personally I always use the fastest travel means available, and I always will, but the poster I was replying to seems to have some problem with travel being easier. That is why I reminded them the option not to use it was there, but I never once said that it was a desireable option.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Comments
Cross server dungeons make sure I will never go back to WoW. Completely destoryed any sense of community.
It is foolish to suggest one can simply ignore fast travel in an MMO if one wants to group up. What group will now wait while you run or ride to a summoning stone, instead of porting directly inside a dungeon? It's very very very very silly to suggest otherwise. Once direct porting and fast travel is added, it cannot be ignored by anyone but the solo player, and if one only ever solos what point is there to being in an MMO?
That being the blindingly obvious case, I'm left wondering why people keep trotting this silliness out time after time... *shakes head*
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
I remember the first time I took the boat in EQ, didnt know you could fall off them, and walked off the boat, took me a long time to find land again, but when I did man was I happy to see land again. I even remember being affraid that I may drown in OOT.
Of course as with most things in old EQ, the land I found had big baddies on it that killed me lol. But it was still a great experience for me.
5)Expanded Travel Options
Depends completely on the game.
Vanilla WoW, one took a long time to travel, but you could encounter anything random on the way there. That immersive gameplay. More travel options (or faster) removes that randomness that makes games unique.
If the travel option adds to the game... why not? But if it is added to remove player interaction, e.g. flying mounts. Then it is a plague for the game. Flying mounts was one reason why WoW went downhill.
4.) Cross-Server Interaction
No.
Obviously the writer has no sense of community. Something that is core to the MMORPG.
3.) New Subscription Models
Like no.5, depends on the situation. I have yet to see many new subscription styles that are well designed and effective.
2.) Investors
Going to start thanking Sony and Philips for making the computer screens you use to play MMORPGs on soon?
1.) The Players
See above, you have obviously run out of ideas for your list.
Horrible article.
I also agree, this why i don't have and havn't had a sub in nearly a year now.
Though with these shallow MMOs going free I get to play them for a week or two when I get bored... to be reminded just how bored I could be.
My points though.
5) There is a line between expanded travel options and selecting city X and going to get a beer, which most mmos these day cross.
4) Cross-Server for pvp is okay... in fact RVR was great, but one servers are the plague of communities. If you want to see why go play Guild Wars or STO.
3) New Subscription Models.... You mean MT with "free to play"? Because there stupid and aim for the dumbest, laziest people around.
2) Yeah lets thank the investors that won't take chances and only support WoWess clones and free to nickle and dime you grind fests.
1) Really? You thank the Players over the Devs or Highspeed internet?
I will not play a game with a cash shop ever again. A dev job should be to make the game better not make me pay so it sucks less.
By itself, Instant teleport to instances makes grouping harder, not easier.
Well I don't think that's true. I just think it makes grouping less likely to result in a group of people dedicated to seeing it through to the end, helping one another, and maybe even running other instances together or forming friendships.
When you can insta-group cross realm you don't have any impetuous to stick together since it's mere moments to replace anyone or join a different group. And since you're grouping with people you can't socialise with in your realm (unless you're very lucky and you're in the same one), you don't care as much about what they think of your performance or behaviour.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
I only post when there is a topic that really gets me going, and this is obviously one of those!
It is one thing to have an opinion; they are great, everyone has one, right? This article is a common theme among people who like "casual MMO's." Now, there is nothing wrong with that view, but when reading an article on gaming, I like to see the authors express some critical thinking skills and I do not see that here.
I am glad to see the reply's here are all questioning the article, which is a good thing! This article was written for one of two reasons: To rile up the community(which it did with me); or express a lack of critical thinking, and thus, rile up the community.
Now, getting the community to respond (like I am) is a good thing, but I enjoy (and I can speak for the readers) reading articles that are well laid out, and well thought out. This is lacking the latter and after reading it, I have the look on my face of someone who just drank sour milk.
Now that's said, I have a suggestion. William, when writing an article, attempt to at least pretend to present the other side of the argument. Then, list reasons why you believe the way you do. This will make you seem credible because you are at least considering another opinion, other than yours. This will have a two effects: one, you will seem more credible in the eyes of your readers; two, you will gain respect from your readers. These two attributes seem the same, but you can have credibility, but no respect, and I would like you to have both.
Another thing, why are you thanking the investors? Everything else aside in this article, that comment is completely misplaced and shouldn't be here, period.
That is about all, I would comment more, but I think the readers are doing a great job of listing my concerns on the community aspect. Reasons 5, 4 and 3 are all valid reasons if you wish to play a mutli player game, but have a horrible gaming community.
I should have added this to my above post.
Every article written here should make the reader think one of the following thoughts after reading the article:
"Hmm, that was an interesting article and gave me a new perspective on this topic"
"You know, I dont agree with the author, but he did provide some good arguments"
"I never thought of it that way"
"The author is right, the points listed give backing to the claims"
Thoughts along those lines will ensure that people continue to read your articles, that is, unless your target audience is the ignorant.
So your point is that faster travel makes things too simple??? Faster travel makes a game suck less. I know. I played swg before any kind of personal travel and 10 minute waits for shuttles. Not only did that suck but it was most definately unfun (unless you thing was sitting around shuttle ports all day socializing).
FYI the OP was talking about how faster travel increased his enjoyment of an mmo. How you got off on a tangent about boosting dps and killing bosses from that I have no idea.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
Worse are players who have never even experienced a game that encouraged grouping and socialising to advance - they often seem to think WoW (for example) is as good as it gets. Sorry, but I see _far less_ socialising and co-operation happening in modern casual-driven MMOs than there was in EQ1, AC, or DAoC back in the day. WoW, EQ2 and the like are NOT as good as it gets. You can call me an old fogie if you like, or try to say I'm seeing the past through rose coloured glasses. But I'm not the only one who remembers MMOs before they were made into massively solo games or multiplayer with random strangers in short ultra-casual friendly chunks.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Isn't WoW a lobby game by now? And not just WoW, but everything else that follows its example. This is not what an mmorpg should aim to be in my opinion, but it's exactly what is happening and it's exactly what people think is "better". If you really really really think about it, I don't see how many of these things are good changes. It makes it so that people can get more done in less time, perhaps, but why should that really be the deciding factor of fun?
I think the problem here is the line to draw between immersion/believability vs gaming/fun. I can get a just-for-fun game anywhere. I can even get that for free, so why aim for that? The games could be so much more than just a game (although it is just a game :P). Pretty much every new thing nowadays is just a game with no other substance. No flav0r.
Now saying all of this, I don't have time to be playing mmos and running for hours in a day, but even if I were given a choice between one where you can just click and arrive at a dungeon and one that you have to travel to get there, I'd still choose the latter.... even if I only had enough time to run to the next city. The reason is because time is irrelevant. It's the process of amelioration that's important. Some games screwed this process up, but some didn't.
I actually was ok with the 20 minute SWG shuttles because I'd just hop in a cantina for a little while and just chill-out with a bunch of the people around. This made entertainers and healers actually have fun doing their job instead of making a macro do it for them when cantinas became empty. It felt real, but not too real. But that's because SWG was well done. There wasn't a rush to do anything... leveling was quick unless you wanted to become a Jedi. It all made a lot of sense...
Bah Humbug!:
5) Expanded travel: Quick porting to locations was a solid invention but mounts and travel powers just make the world whiz past you see a blur not the beauty. You can’t stop to smell the gravebloom when you didn’t even notice it was there.
4) Cross Server Interaction: A wonderful idea, next stop will be cross game interaction. I can’t wait till Wii Singstar players are playing on my WoW server. Oh the joy.
3) New subscription models: maybe if you played a MMO rather than trying to play six at the same time you would not need to worry about subscription models. For that matter – “I miss that, but I also appreciate that life has become delightfully more complex as I age” perhaps you would not need to use the excuse that you are getting older so can’t devote as much time as you used to if you only played one MMO?
2) Investors: You Have Got To Be Kidding. I know its Thanksgiving but you can go too far, the lets get rich quick like WoW mentality has put our genre into a corner. One it may not escape from and if it does not evolve it will die. Look at adventure games, don’t evolve you die no matter how good you once were.
1) The Players: The Pug’s, the kill steals, the spammed chat channels, you do play MMO’s right?
Oh and happy Thanksgiving!
You guys know you can have your own thanks. You don't really have to justify the thanks that were given in the following list. Oh, forgot it was the internet... everyone has to have an input to someone elses oppinions.
I agree about the sub models. I too would be playing more MMO's if there were more free hours in the month for me to do so. I just can't pay for all the different games out there that I'd like to play only to be able to log on once in a while.
And the cross server LFG tools I think are great. Queue up and go off and do whatever you want while you wait for a group to get put together. One of the thing I hated most about dungeons was the spamming for more and waiting, only to get the group together and someone has to leave becasue it took too long to get going, so back to square one spamming for more.
I'm thankful for those things and I'd like to see more of that in other games.
I remember taking the boat from Freeport east. Took a half hour or so. I remember the first time I made this trip, with the aim of getting bow materials from Kelethin. A friend came along strictly to do a little exploring, since we had neither been to Faydwer before. And the same thing happened that occurred so often during the horrible "downtimes" ridiculed above. We talked about our plan to cross the Butcherblock Mtns, about what our options were after the "explore", and then chatted about how we were doing on blacksmithing and on getting certain pieces of gear, and then many things not game related.
That's what doesn't happen when there is no built-in downtime. Human interaction that builds community. Which is why the POK was not a good thing for EQ. (Not to mention demeaning the value of Wizards and Druids). For all the bad things about EQ that are criticized now, the community was the best it has ever been in an MMO, IMHO.
PS what's a neckbeard? I suppose I am quite guilty. I enjoy current MMOs, but I miss a real community.
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Rose-lipped maidens,
Light-foot lads...
Your Welcome
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Worst top 5 list ever.
Travel getting better? UO was one of the first MMO's (if not the first) and it had the fastest travel, with mounts (MANY types of mounts).
Servers are a good one, but we are not really seeing games coming out like EVE where everyone plays on 1 server.
New Sub models I think make it most confusing and water down the game play. Every potion you use now, you think "hmm is that 25cents I just used?" because of how they are doing cash shop items.
Yes lets thank the people that have been a drain on the MMO's since day one. These investors that tell the MMO company's how to make the game, they wont back them unless they have XZY in them. I would like to see investors invest in games because the game maker had a good idea or plan on making the game instead of getting into being a dev basicly forcing coders to do what they think works for a game.
Last the players? Uhm Ok.
Where are the things like Raid bosses, and graphics, and EPIC battles of 1000svs1000s, or storylines whatever. This list is pretty bad.
-MrDDT
Nice article, but I think you got the title wrong.
As far as I'm concerned you pretty much listed my top five reasons why I'm not subscribed to any MMORPG at the moment.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
QFT
Completely agree.
The fact is that expanded travel options are not "options" at all. Unless you like playing alone, the community will force you to use the fast travel "options". Things were much much better when MMO's built in features which encouraged grouping, participation, and interaction through forced downtime and shared exploration and the need to work together in order to succeed.
MMO communities are not only worse for it, but even game balance has been affected in games where specific classes were designed with fast travel abilities for groups to rely on. Those classes lose relevance as the community are given the "option" to ignore them.
I'm thankful for the advances in technology so you can find now MMORPGs with great graphic: real shadows, dynamic lights, expectacular weather effects, etc. And I'm thankful for the increasing interest in MMORPGs, specifically in the art of the games. Now you can see MMORPGs with incredible arts, not only in graphics, music and sounds too. These things make MMORPGs a really immersive experiencie.
Carpe Diem
Well I'm thankful that mmos in general have not gotten alot worse since 2005 . Wait a min, on second thought...
The discussion here is travel. That's all. Going on about simpler games having all the same dps or gear is like comparing apples and oranges; one really doesn't lead into another. Once again, the OP wasn't talking about anything other than travel. he wasn't talking about making the raids/dungeons/quests so simple that everyone ended up with the same items, nor did he state that every class should (or even would) have the same dps. Heck, even other 'simpler' MMOs (WoW) don't have that. Trying to use the OPs thankfulness for having more travel options as some kind of theoretical proof that everyone is going to end up the same is just silly.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
It's also foolish to suggest that travel options are going to lead to a simpler game, where everyone ends up with the same equipment and dps. Personally I always use the fastest travel means available, and I always will, but the poster I was replying to seems to have some problem with travel being easier. That is why I reminded them the option not to use it was there, but I never once said that it was a desireable option.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan