I'm curious if "Black Opal" the new Community Manager who posted this is now a paid employee of Starvault or a volunteer CM.
There's 3 possible scenarios:
1. Maerlyn just had his name changed to Black Opal, similar how CM St.Judas got "fired" but it turned out he was moved to Lead GM Pompeii.
2. Maerlyn got fired, and they promoted one of the senior volunteers Kootenay aka Landor or Talwin aka Sindas to take that role on as CM volunteers.
3. They hired someone new, but that makes little sense if they fired him to cut costs.
So, how do you know about the St. Judas == Pompeii bit? You didn't answer when Toferio asked. Also, didn't Maerlyn "step down"? it's an awful big leap to go from "step down" to "fired", to "fired for this specific reason".
EDIT:
Originally posted by cirsyndic
Its the natural continuation of the "viral marketing" aka "let volunteers do the work for us so we save money" that SV has been employing since... well, forever.
SV would be stupid not to employ referral programs. It's quite possibly the oldest and best marketting strategy ever... I say "best", because unlike other ad campaigns, this one is contigent on the services being good, therefore ensuring that people will refer others. Frankly, I'd be leary of any company that didn't consider referalls to be an integral part of their business strategy.
With Dawn we are starting to introduce better trade tools, for instance for handling offline transactions between players. We are also taking the first steps with transport service tools.
With the initial Dawn release, players will have access to a new mail system. This will allow players to trade items and messages with others whether they're currently online or offline. As expected in Mortal Online, there is a large twist when compared to traditional MMORPG mail systems. While you can send and receive mail in any major town, packages are not automatically delivered across the world. It will be up to players to deliver the mail and parcels to the recipient's home town or address.
I just don't see this as being successful at all. Maybe when it first comes out you will get people doing these errands. But a few months down the road nobody is going to bother with the boring task of carrying strangers packages across the world for a meager amount of cash.
Too much realism is a bad thing, and SV doesn't seem to understand when enough is enough.
With Dawn we are starting to introduce better trade tools, for instance for handling offline transactions between players. We are also taking the first steps with transport service tools.
With the initial Dawn release, players will have access to a new mail system. This will allow players to trade items and messages with others whether they're currently online or offline. As expected in Mortal Online, there is a large twist when compared to traditional MMORPG mail systems. While you can send and receive mail in any major town, packages are not automatically delivered across the world. It will be up to players to deliver the mail and parcels to the recipient's home town or address.
I just don't see this as being successful at all. Maybe when it first comes out you will get people doing these errands. But a few months down the road nobody is going to bother with the boring task of carrying strangers packages across the world for a meager amount of cash.
Too much realism is a bad thing, and SV doesn't seem to understand when enough is enough.
Sounds like good noob income. Nothing wrong with noob-only content.... Though we probably shouldn't be projecting the longevity of features we know nothing about...
While we can call this an "expansion", it's kind of just a matter of diction. The reality is that it's just a new set of features they are trying to implement into the game world.
And given their past success at doing this without a problem, I can only wonder how many bugs will come out of this "expansion" and break existing functionality. Either way, with the amount of programmers on staff, it seems like they basically put these features together in a last ditch effort to get subscribers. Time will tell if it works, but we know what happens if it doesn't.
This is not an expansion. Hell these should just be normal core features. This is just MO trying to get people to re-sub to a game that is currently failing. Nothing has changed other than adding more complex features that is more irritating than fun.
Arguing over whether it can be called an expansion or a patch seems pretty pointless when it's free.
If you think these are"normal core features" you really should reread the plans http://www.mortalonline.com/expansions. Personally I can't think of any game that has genetic variability and breeding in mounts, much less as a "core feature".
P.S. From your post I take it that you don't subscribe. How do you know how irritating /fun any features are,
I think the idea here is that server stability should be a core-feature. It almost seems like they are up in arms about the fact that they were finally able to get the server to stay up for longer than 2 days. I think a finished UI should be a core feature. The ability to attack something/someone and actually hit them (because they are actually where you see them). New player tutorials should be core features.
Starvault is too busy trying to do these super calculations with their weather system, horse breeding, incredibly complex crafting systems and the like. If they put as much effort into system and server stability/performance, network coding, animations, game world/UI design, marketing, and communication with their community... They would have a hit on their hands. Instead, they focus on things that no one really cares about. Mount breeding? All fluff. Hunger system? Great. Should have been in at launch like Ultima Online.
And for gods sake, what's with the 1st person perspective? Even Darkfall got the memo when their players were screaming for a 3rd person view. These companies must like a bloody forehead, because all I see is a bunch of amatuers smashing their head against brick walls when it comes to sandbox.
Just my opinion. And yes, I subscribed. And yes, I follow the game. And yes, I really do hope it succeeds.
With Dawn we are starting to introduce better trade tools, for instance for handling offline transactions between players. We are also taking the first steps with transport service tools.
With the initial Dawn release, players will have access to a new mail system. This will allow players to trade items and messages with others whether they're currently online or offline. As expected in Mortal Online, there is a large twist when compared to traditional MMORPG mail systems. While you can send and receive mail in any major town, packages are not automatically delivered across the world. It will be up to players to deliver the mail and parcels to the recipient's home town or address.
I just don't see this as being successful at all. Maybe when it first comes out you will get people doing these errands. But a few months down the road nobody is going to bother with the boring task of carrying strangers packages across the world for a meager amount of cash.
Too much realism is a bad thing, and SV doesn't seem to understand when enough is enough.
Sounds like good noob income. Nothing wrong with noob-only content.... Though we probably shouldn't be projecting the longevity of features we know nothing about...
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for noobs being able to contribute to the global economy and goal. But for a game that claims to break the "simplicity" and "grind" of the WoW model, this sure is an anticlimatic feature. I would say this is leagues more simple and monotonous than most themepark implementations of content or progression.
Personally I can't think of any game that has genetic variability and breeding in mounts, much less as a "core feature".
I can think of one-Kingdom Heroes a free to play asian grinder, you go to the horse breeder npc with 2 horses he mixes them you get another with differents stats.Nothing really new.
Sounds like good noob income. Nothing wrong with noob-only content.... Though we probably shouldn't be projecting the longevity of features we know nothing about...
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for noobs being able to contribute to the global economy and goal. But for a game that claims to break the "simplicity" and "grind" of the WoW model, this sure is an anticlimatic feature. I would say this is leagues more simple and monotonous than most themepark implementations of content or progression.
Actually, worst case scenario, the whole "get paid to move an item from one location to another" is just as simple and monotonous as themepark quests, not leagues worse. However, you hit the nail on the head as to why this feature (which we still have no idea about) could serve to be better than even well-written quests in themeparks... it contributes to the global economy / societal structure (by being a part of the communication network). That alone, no matter how dull the implementation, is what seperates games like this from games like WoW (to use your example).
That being said, it's not really fair to fixate on one feature, than say that feature alone isn't enough to seperate MO from the rest... that'd be like me staring at a square inch of a painting, than saying that the painting isn't that great... "I mean it's just a streak of tinted oil on a canvas, this is supposed to be art?"
The artist then says "well yeah, but all those brush strokes make something more..."... I grunt, than move on to the next square inch, and criticize that single brush stroke for another few days.
Sounds like good noob income. Nothing wrong with noob-only content.... Though we probably shouldn't be projecting the longevity of features we know nothing about...
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for noobs being able to contribute to the global economy and goal. But for a game that claims to break the "simplicity" and "grind" of the WoW model, this sure is an anticlimatic feature. I would say this is leagues more simple and monotonous than most themepark implementations of content or progression.
Actually, worst case scenario, the whole "get paid to move an item from one location to another" is just as simple and monotonous as themepark quests, not leagues worse. However, you hit the nail on the head as to why this feature (which we still have no idea about) could serve to be better than even well-written quests in themeparks... it contributes to the global economy / societal structure (by being a part of the communication network). That alone, no matter how dull the implementation, is what seperates games like this from games like WoW (to use your example).
That being said, it's not really fair to fixate on one feature, than say that feature alone isn't enough to seperate MO from the rest... that'd be like me staring at a square inch of a painting, than saying that the painting isn't that great... "I mean it's just a streak of tinted oil on a canvas, this is supposed to be art?"
The artist then says "well yeah, but all those brush strokes make something more..."... I grunt, than move on to the next square inch, and criticize that single brush stroke for another few days.
Heres the thing...
The game is bundled as the game that "doesn't have quests". All SV has done is remove the yellow exclamation point and the quest text from the NPCs, but the actual quest is still there, and the same monotonous task is still there.
While World of Warcraft is removing these types of quests and replacing them with intriguing dialogues, cut scenes, and dynamic worlds, Mortal Online is putting the monotony back into their game and trying to sell that as "sandbox".
Actually, worst case scenario, the whole "get paid to move an item from one location to another" is just as simple and monotonous as themepark quests, not leagues worse. However, you hit the nail on the head as to why this feature (which we still have no idea about) could serve to be better than even well-written quests in themeparks... it contributes to the global economy / societal structure (by being a part of the communication network). That alone, no matter how dull the implementation, is what seperates games like this from games like WoW (to use your example).
That being said, it's not really fair to fixate on one feature, than say that feature alone isn't enough to seperate MO from the rest... that'd be like me staring at a square inch of a painting, than saying that the painting isn't that great... "I mean it's just a streak of tinted oil on a canvas, this is supposed to be art?"
The artist then says "well yeah, but all those brush strokes make something more..."... I grunt, than move on to the next square inch, and criticize that single brush stroke for another few days.
Heres the thing...
The game is bundled as the game that "doesn't have quests". All SV has done is remove the yellow exclamation point and the quest text from the NPCs, but the actual quest is still there, and the same monotonous task is still there.
While World of Warcraft is removing these types of quests and replacing them with intriguing dialogues, cut scenes, and dynamic worlds, Mortal Online is putting the monotony back into their game and trying to sell that as "sandbox".
You're basing this on the handful of starter quests MO currently has, coupled with the mention of a system whereby players employ players to deliver packages...
Actually, worst case scenario, the whole "get paid to move an item from one location to another" is just as simple and monotonous as themepark quests, not leagues worse. However, you hit the nail on the head as to why this feature (which we still have no idea about) could serve to be better than even well-written quests in themeparks... it contributes to the global economy / societal structure (by being a part of the communication network). That alone, no matter how dull the implementation, is what seperates games like this from games like WoW (to use your example).
That being said, it's not really fair to fixate on one feature, than say that feature alone isn't enough to seperate MO from the rest... that'd be like me staring at a square inch of a painting, than saying that the painting isn't that great... "I mean it's just a streak of tinted oil on a canvas, this is supposed to be art?"
The artist then says "well yeah, but all those brush strokes make something more..."... I grunt, than move on to the next square inch, and criticize that single brush stroke for another few days.
Heres the thing...
The game is bundled as the game that "doesn't have quests". All SV has done is remove the yellow exclamation point and the quest text from the NPCs, but the actual quest is still there, and the same monotonous task is still there.
While World of Warcraft is removing these types of quests and replacing them with intriguing dialogues, cut scenes, and dynamic worlds, Mortal Online is putting the monotony back into their game and trying to sell that as "sandbox".
You're basing this on the handful of starter quests MO currently has, coupled with the mention of a system whereby players employ players to deliver packages...
What should I base it on? The content that they have never mentioned and/or is years away from implementation?
I won't knock this game because I support all sandbox development, ut I knew I could never play when they limited the view to first person. I know it is more realistic, and technically that should fall in line with the sandbox/realistic philosophy, but it's still a fantasy setting and an rpg game. Therefore, I want to see my toon and his armor, etc. It helps me with the immersion factor. Hell, I could even deal with the UO 3/4 bird's eye view. Just let me see more than my paper doll. Anyway, don't want this to seem like a rant. I wish MO nothing but success and I hope all the players love it. Just not for me without a 3rd person view.
Trammies need to stop polluting the MMORPG landscape. They already have enough games in which to emote hugs and sell garbage by the banks.
You're basing this on the handful of starter quests MO currently has, coupled with the mention of a system whereby players employ players to deliver packages...
There is nothing else to base it on, due to the lack of content.. I was really disapointed when I was asked to go collect mushrooms and whack wood, upon entering this "sandbox" and "immersive" world.. Yeah, a 25 years old who doesn't now how to rest..
sounds good for me. They ampliate the original patch with new content like grabeyards, trade tools and houses. Isnt the bigger expansion but not bad. lets see how it work
What should I base it on? The content that they have never mentioned and/or is years away from implementation?
Heh, you're claiming that SV is doing more and more things to turn MO into a themepark. I ask what content we see that is indicitive of that trend. You say there isn't any.
If you find that you can't find facts to base your claim on (such as, MO is a theme park), the logical thing to do is abandon your claim, not criticize SV for not adding enough themepark features so that you can mock them for being a themepark.
What should I base it on? The content that they have never mentioned and/or is years away from implementation?
Heh, you're claiming that SV is doing more and more things to turn MO into a themepark. I ask what content we see that is indicitive of that trend. You say there isn't any.
Boring "tutorial". Boring "go pick 10 mushrooms" "quest". Boring skill grind by tree whacking. Flavour of the month race/spec, rendering other combos less useful.
Those above are not something I would expect from a "sandbox".
I wouldn't get too excited about their "revolutionary breeding horse gene pool" schenanigans. They have a 14 million combination crafting system for weapons/armor, yet somehow its always the 1-2 FOTM weapons/armor being used. Same thing will happen with horses, someone will figure out the best combination for what they want to do, everyone else will copy/paste, and back to square 1.
What should I base it on? The content that they have never mentioned and/or is years away from implementation?
Heh, you're claiming that SV is doing more and more things to turn MO into a themepark. I ask what content we see that is indicitive of that trend. You say there isn't any.
Boring "tutorial". Boring "go pick 10 mushrooms" "quest". Boring skill grind by tree whacking. Flavour of the month race/spec, rendering other combos less useful.
Those above are not something I would expect from a "sandbox".
Tutorials are always linear and dull, that's the nature of the beast. I'd rather not have SV spend any more time than necessary on telling the player how to equip an item and cast a spell, ya know? Especially since there's a vocal group who see so many other areas that require more attention.
A sandbox doesn't guarentee that resource gathering won't be dull. Hell, it's much more exciting to whack a tree or rock in MO than mine in EVE's high-sec, because there's not a whole lot of trees or rocks in MO's very limitted 'hi-sec'. It's pretty exciting, and a lot of people seem to spent a lot of time doing it, it's kind of presumptious to assume you know better than them how they should choose to play the game. Hell, I don't tree-whack much at all (tried it out for a bit when I was a crafter), and I've never once found myself going "damn, I gotta whack a tree now."
The people who complain that they have to grind skills by whacking trees are just taking it for granted that they have to grind stats. It's MO; you can pretty much max out in a week or two WITHOUT TRYING, if you're actively playing. Of course Min-Maxers do a lot of grinding; that's what they choose to do.
Oh, and in a game with near unlimitted possibilities of combinations (referring to race mix, weapon crafting, skill distribution, etc), of course a few are gonna be better combinations. That's the point. And, of course, there's FOTM builds. MO is, after all, an MMO.
What should I base it on? The content that they have never mentioned and/or is years away from implementation?
Heh, you're claiming that SV is doing more and more things to turn MO into a themepark. I ask what content we see that is indicitive of that trend. You say there isn't any.
If you find that you can't find facts to base your claim on (such as, MO is a theme park), the logical thing to do is abandon your claim, not criticize SV for not adding enough themepark features so that you can mock them for being a themepark.
What do you mean if I can't find evidence? The evidence is right there.
SV has the typical collect x quests, they just don't have yellow exclamation points and quest dialogue. Now they are implementing a "Take this package and deliver it" quest but they won't add the yellow exclamation point or quest dialogue because for some reason that would make it boring and a grind.
SV boldly claimed that they were removing linear progression, and then forgot that having no system of progression at all isn't a non-linear progression model. You grind mobs, that's it. That's how you "level up" in MO. That kind of style is old hat and boring.
So overall SV took quests and removed the yellow exclamation point and the dialogue, bundled it up and called it a "Sandbox feature". They then took away levels, called them skills instead, and said "Look, no leveling means no grind!!!", and added it onto their list of "Sandbox features".
What should I base it on? The content that they have never mentioned and/or is years away from implementation?
Heh, you're claiming that SV is doing more and more things to turn MO into a themepark. I ask what content we see that is indicitive of that trend. You say there isn't any.
If you find that you can't find facts to base your claim on (such as, MO is a theme park), the logical thing to do is abandon your claim, not criticize SV for not adding enough themepark features so that you can mock them for being a themepark.
What do you mean if I can't find evidence? The evidence is right there.
SV has the typical collect x quests, they just don't have yellow exclamation points and quest dialogue. Now they are implementing a "Take this package and deliver it" quest but they won't add the yellow exclamation point or quest dialogue because for some reason that would make it boring and a grind.
SV boldly claimed that they were removing linear progression, and then forgot that having no system of progression at all isn't a non-linear progression model. You grind mobs, that's it. That's how you "level up" in MO. That kind of style is old hat and boring.
So overall SV took quests and removed the yellow exclamation point and the dialogue, bundled it up and called it a "Sandbox feature". They then took away levels, called them skills instead, and said "Look, no leveling means no grind!!!".
Point me to where SV called the tutorial quests a 'sandbox feature'. If you're referring to the system whereby players employ players to deliver items, please tell me what secret details you know that I don't that will somehow turn that into a wow quest. Is it because the server is playing a middle man between players?
What should I base it on? The content that they have never mentioned and/or is years away from implementation?
Heh, you're claiming that SV is doing more and more things to turn MO into a themepark. I ask what content we see that is indicitive of that trend. You say there isn't any.
If you find that you can't find facts to base your claim on (such as, MO is a theme park), the logical thing to do is abandon your claim, not criticize SV for not adding enough themepark features so that you can mock them for being a themepark.
What do you mean if I can't find evidence? The evidence is right there.
SV has the typical collect x quests, they just don't have yellow exclamation points and quest dialogue. Now they are implementing a "Take this package and deliver it" quest but they won't add the yellow exclamation point or quest dialogue because for some reason that would make it boring and a grind.
SV boldly claimed that they were removing linear progression, and then forgot that having no system of progression at all isn't a non-linear progression model. You grind mobs, that's it. That's how you "level up" in MO. That kind of style is old hat and boring.
So overall SV took quests and removed the yellow exclamation point and the dialogue, bundled it up and called it a "Sandbox feature". They then took away levels, called them skills instead, and said "Look, no leveling means no grind!!!".
Point me to where SV called the tutorial quests a 'sandbox feature'. If you're referring to the system whereby players employ players to deliver items, please tell me what secret details you know that I don't that will somehow turn that into a wow quest. Is it because the server is playing a middle man between players?
The web page specifically says "It will be up to players to deliver the mail and parcels to the recipient's home town or address."
How is this not a generic "Take this package to x in y town"? WoW used to have tons of them. They took them out because they are stupid.
In regards to collect x quests in MO, It's a Sandbox game that's supposed to have sandbox features, right?
From their website... "Mortal Online is a true sandbox. You are free to do whatever you want, whenever you want. The path your character goes is only chosen by you, not by quest NPCs with shiny question marks over their head."
So they remove the shiny question marks but keep the same quests. What a "true" sandbox that is!
What should I base it on? The content that they have never mentioned and/or is years away from implementation?
Heh, you're claiming that SV is doing more and more things to turn MO into a themepark. I ask what content we see that is indicitive of that trend. You say there isn't any.
If you find that you can't find facts to base your claim on (such as, MO is a theme park), the logical thing to do is abandon your claim, not criticize SV for not adding enough themepark features so that you can mock them for being a themepark.
What do you mean if I can't find evidence? The evidence is right there.
SV has the typical collect x quests, they just don't have yellow exclamation points and quest dialogue. Now they are implementing a "Take this package and deliver it" quest but they won't add the yellow exclamation point or quest dialogue because for some reason that would make it boring and a grind.
SV boldly claimed that they were removing linear progression, and then forgot that having no system of progression at all isn't a non-linear progression model. You grind mobs, that's it. That's how you "level up" in MO. That kind of style is old hat and boring.
So overall SV took quests and removed the yellow exclamation point and the dialogue, bundled it up and called it a "Sandbox feature". They then took away levels, called them skills instead, and said "Look, no leveling means no grind!!!".
Point me to where SV called the tutorial quests a 'sandbox feature'. If you're referring to the system whereby players employ players to deliver items, please tell me what secret details you know that I don't that will somehow turn that into a wow quest. Is it because the server is playing a middle man between players?
The web page specifically says "It will be up to players to deliver the mail and parcels to the recipient's home town or address."
How is this not a generic "Take this package to x in y town"? WoW used to have tons of them. They took them out because they are stupid.
In regards to collect x quests in MO, It's a Sandbox game that's supposed to have sandbox features, right?
From their website... "Mortal Online is a true sandbox. You are free to do whatever you want, whenever you want. The path your character goes is only chosen by you, not by quest NPCs with shiny question marks over their head."
So they remove the shiny question marks but keep the same quests. What a "true" sandbox that is!
WoW's fedex quests were dumb because the items that were being delivered were generated out of thin air to serve no purpose but to give players something to drop off. These packages are obviously not gonna be generated out of thin air, they will be dropped off by players who have their own reasons to have that item and have it delivered...
It sounds a lot like you're reaching for something to complain about, tbh. You can keep trying to actively redefine "sandbox" for the sole purpose of attempting to exclude MO, but if you could do me a favor and post examples of extant MMOs that ARE a sandbox according to all your definitions, it might help me understand your perspective.
WoW's fedex quests were dumb because the items that were being delivered were generated out of thin air to serve no purpose but to give players something to drop off. These packages are obviously not gonna be generated out of thin air, they will be dropped off by players who have their own reasons to have that item and have it delivered...
I am interested in seeing how this is implemented. If the players are actually delivering packages... wouldn't this just be ripe for exploitation? There are so many ways that pop into my mind to exploit such a system I don't even know where to start.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
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Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
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Comments
So, how do you know about the St. Judas == Pompeii bit? You didn't answer when Toferio asked. Also, didn't Maerlyn "step down"? it's an awful big leap to go from "step down" to "fired", to "fired for this specific reason".
EDIT:
SV would be stupid not to employ referral programs. It's quite possibly the oldest and best marketting strategy ever... I say "best", because unlike other ad campaigns, this one is contigent on the services being good, therefore ensuring that people will refer others. Frankly, I'd be leary of any company that didn't consider referalls to be an integral part of their business strategy.
With Dawn we are starting to introduce better trade tools, for instance for handling offline transactions between players. We are also taking the first steps with transport service tools.
With the initial Dawn release, players will have access to a new mail system. This will allow players to trade items and messages with others whether they're currently online or offline. As expected in Mortal Online, there is a large twist when compared to traditional MMORPG mail systems. While you can send and receive mail in any major town, packages are not automatically delivered across the world. It will be up to players to deliver the mail and parcels to the recipient's home town or address.
I just don't see this as being successful at all. Maybe when it first comes out you will get people doing these errands. But a few months down the road nobody is going to bother with the boring task of carrying strangers packages across the world for a meager amount of cash.
Too much realism is a bad thing, and SV doesn't seem to understand when enough is enough.
Sounds like good noob income. Nothing wrong with noob-only content.... Though we probably shouldn't be projecting the longevity of features we know nothing about...
While we can call this an "expansion", it's kind of just a matter of diction. The reality is that it's just a new set of features they are trying to implement into the game world.
And given their past success at doing this without a problem, I can only wonder how many bugs will come out of this "expansion" and break existing functionality. Either way, with the amount of programmers on staff, it seems like they basically put these features together in a last ditch effort to get subscribers. Time will tell if it works, but we know what happens if it doesn't.
I think the idea here is that server stability should be a core-feature. It almost seems like they are up in arms about the fact that they were finally able to get the server to stay up for longer than 2 days. I think a finished UI should be a core feature. The ability to attack something/someone and actually hit them (because they are actually where you see them). New player tutorials should be core features.
Starvault is too busy trying to do these super calculations with their weather system, horse breeding, incredibly complex crafting systems and the like. If they put as much effort into system and server stability/performance, network coding, animations, game world/UI design, marketing, and communication with their community... They would have a hit on their hands. Instead, they focus on things that no one really cares about. Mount breeding? All fluff. Hunger system? Great. Should have been in at launch like Ultima Online.
And for gods sake, what's with the 1st person perspective? Even Darkfall got the memo when their players were screaming for a 3rd person view. These companies must like a bloody forehead, because all I see is a bunch of amatuers smashing their head against brick walls when it comes to sandbox.
Just my opinion. And yes, I subscribed. And yes, I follow the game. And yes, I really do hope it succeeds.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for noobs being able to contribute to the global economy and goal. But for a game that claims to break the "simplicity" and "grind" of the WoW model, this sure is an anticlimatic feature. I would say this is leagues more simple and monotonous than most themepark implementations of content or progression.
I can think of one-Kingdom Heroes a free to play asian grinder, you go to the horse breeder npc with 2 horses he mixes them you get another with differents stats.Nothing really new.
Actually, worst case scenario, the whole "get paid to move an item from one location to another" is just as simple and monotonous as themepark quests, not leagues worse. However, you hit the nail on the head as to why this feature (which we still have no idea about) could serve to be better than even well-written quests in themeparks... it contributes to the global economy / societal structure (by being a part of the communication network). That alone, no matter how dull the implementation, is what seperates games like this from games like WoW (to use your example).
That being said, it's not really fair to fixate on one feature, than say that feature alone isn't enough to seperate MO from the rest... that'd be like me staring at a square inch of a painting, than saying that the painting isn't that great... "I mean it's just a streak of tinted oil on a canvas, this is supposed to be art?"
The artist then says "well yeah, but all those brush strokes make something more..."... I grunt, than move on to the next square inch, and criticize that single brush stroke for another few days.
Heres the thing...
The game is bundled as the game that "doesn't have quests". All SV has done is remove the yellow exclamation point and the quest text from the NPCs, but the actual quest is still there, and the same monotonous task is still there.
While World of Warcraft is removing these types of quests and replacing them with intriguing dialogues, cut scenes, and dynamic worlds, Mortal Online is putting the monotony back into their game and trying to sell that as "sandbox".
You're basing this on the handful of starter quests MO currently has, coupled with the mention of a system whereby players employ players to deliver packages...
What should I base it on? The content that they have never mentioned and/or is years away from implementation?
Good thing 50 hours of uptime and a nice looking facebook page make a MMO woth the sub!
##Best SWTOR of 2011
Posted by I_Return - SWTOR - "Forget the UI the characters and all ofhe nitpicking bullshit" "Greatest MMO Ever Created"
##Fail Thread Title of 2011
Originally posted by daveospice
"this game looks like crap?"
I won't knock this game because I support all sandbox development, ut I knew I could never play when they limited the view to first person. I know it is more realistic, and technically that should fall in line with the sandbox/realistic philosophy, but it's still a fantasy setting and an rpg game. Therefore, I want to see my toon and his armor, etc. It helps me with the immersion factor. Hell, I could even deal with the UO 3/4 bird's eye view. Just let me see more than my paper doll. Anyway, don't want this to seem like a rant. I wish MO nothing but success and I hope all the players love it. Just not for me without a 3rd person view.
Trammies need to stop polluting the MMORPG landscape. They already have enough games in which to emote hugs and sell garbage by the banks.
There is nothing else to base it on, due to the lack of content.. I was really disapointed when I was asked to go collect mushrooms and whack wood, upon entering this "sandbox" and "immersive" world.. Yeah, a 25 years old who doesn't now how to rest..
sounds good for me. They ampliate the original patch with new content like grabeyards, trade tools and houses. Isnt the bigger expansion but not bad. lets see how it work
The last "big patch" according to the CEO was the equivalent of Mortal Online 2.0
Will this patch be Mortal Online 3.0 or 2.1?
Time will tell!
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Heh, you're claiming that SV is doing more and more things to turn MO into a themepark. I ask what content we see that is indicitive of that trend. You say there isn't any.
If you find that you can't find facts to base your claim on (such as, MO is a theme park), the logical thing to do is abandon your claim, not criticize SV for not adding enough themepark features so that you can mock them for being a themepark.
Boring "tutorial". Boring "go pick 10 mushrooms" "quest". Boring skill grind by tree whacking. Flavour of the month race/spec, rendering other combos less useful.
Those above are not something I would expect from a "sandbox".
I wouldn't get too excited about their "revolutionary breeding horse gene pool" schenanigans. They have a 14 million combination crafting system for weapons/armor, yet somehow its always the 1-2 FOTM weapons/armor being used. Same thing will happen with horses, someone will figure out the best combination for what they want to do, everyone else will copy/paste, and back to square 1.
Tutorials are always linear and dull, that's the nature of the beast. I'd rather not have SV spend any more time than necessary on telling the player how to equip an item and cast a spell, ya know? Especially since there's a vocal group who see so many other areas that require more attention.
A sandbox doesn't guarentee that resource gathering won't be dull. Hell, it's much more exciting to whack a tree or rock in MO than mine in EVE's high-sec, because there's not a whole lot of trees or rocks in MO's very limitted 'hi-sec'. It's pretty exciting, and a lot of people seem to spent a lot of time doing it, it's kind of presumptious to assume you know better than them how they should choose to play the game. Hell, I don't tree-whack much at all (tried it out for a bit when I was a crafter), and I've never once found myself going "damn, I gotta whack a tree now."
The people who complain that they have to grind skills by whacking trees are just taking it for granted that they have to grind stats. It's MO; you can pretty much max out in a week or two WITHOUT TRYING, if you're actively playing. Of course Min-Maxers do a lot of grinding; that's what they choose to do.
Oh, and in a game with near unlimitted possibilities of combinations (referring to race mix, weapon crafting, skill distribution, etc), of course a few are gonna be better combinations. That's the point. And, of course, there's FOTM builds. MO is, after all, an MMO.
What do you mean if I can't find evidence? The evidence is right there.
SV has the typical collect x quests, they just don't have yellow exclamation points and quest dialogue. Now they are implementing a "Take this package and deliver it" quest but they won't add the yellow exclamation point or quest dialogue because for some reason that would make it boring and a grind.
SV boldly claimed that they were removing linear progression, and then forgot that having no system of progression at all isn't a non-linear progression model. You grind mobs, that's it. That's how you "level up" in MO. That kind of style is old hat and boring.
So overall SV took quests and removed the yellow exclamation point and the dialogue, bundled it up and called it a "Sandbox feature". They then took away levels, called them skills instead, and said "Look, no leveling means no grind!!!", and added it onto their list of "Sandbox features".
Point me to where SV called the tutorial quests a 'sandbox feature'. If you're referring to the system whereby players employ players to deliver items, please tell me what secret details you know that I don't that will somehow turn that into a wow quest. Is it because the server is playing a middle man between players?
The web page specifically says "It will be up to players to deliver the mail and parcels to the recipient's home town or address."
How is this not a generic "Take this package to x in y town"? WoW used to have tons of them. They took them out because they are stupid.
In regards to collect x quests in MO, It's a Sandbox game that's supposed to have sandbox features, right?
From their website... "Mortal Online is a true sandbox. You are free to do whatever you want, whenever you want. The path your character goes is only chosen by you, not by quest NPCs with shiny question marks over their head."
So they remove the shiny question marks but keep the same quests. What a "true" sandbox that is!
WoW's fedex quests were dumb because the items that were being delivered were generated out of thin air to serve no purpose but to give players something to drop off. These packages are obviously not gonna be generated out of thin air, they will be dropped off by players who have their own reasons to have that item and have it delivered...
It sounds a lot like you're reaching for something to complain about, tbh. You can keep trying to actively redefine "sandbox" for the sole purpose of attempting to exclude MO, but if you could do me a favor and post examples of extant MMOs that ARE a sandbox according to all your definitions, it might help me understand your perspective.
I am interested in seeing how this is implemented. If the players are actually delivering packages... wouldn't this just be ripe for exploitation? There are so many ways that pop into my mind to exploit such a system I don't even know where to start.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018