1 starting zone and 1 leveling path = an absolute guarantee of less subs
It makes the world seem small and generic, and it cost Rift heavily.
If that was true then SW:TOR would have been a huge failure (which is not btw). Apart from one quest line per class, SW:TOR is linear like a bullet train. At least Tera has two paths of quest progression minimum (from personal experience and up to lvl 22) once you leave the starter island.
1 starting zone and 1 leveling path = an absolute guarantee of less subs
It makes the world seem small and generic, and it cost Rift heavily.
If that was true then SW:TOR would have been a huge failure (which is not btw). Apart from one quest line per class, SW:TOR is linear like a bullet train. At least Tera has two paths of quest progression minimum (from personal experience and up to lvl 22) once you leave the starter island.
Like I stated above, I went off exploring and saw the same level monsters in many different locations, I am interested in seeing how this turns out.
1 starting zone and 1 leveling path = an absolute guarantee of less subs
It makes the world seem small and generic, and it cost Rift heavily.
If that was true then SW:TOR would have been a huge failure (which is not btw). Apart from one quest line per class, SW:TOR is linear like a bullet train. At least Tera has two paths of quest progression minimum (from personal experience and up to lvl 22) once you leave the starter island.
SWTOR does at least have multiple starting zones and the story content.
In terms of retention though, SWTOR is certainly not a success.
1 starting zone and 1 leveling path = an absolute guarantee of less subs
It makes the world seem small and generic, and it cost Rift heavily.
If that was true then SW:TOR would have been a huge failure (which is not btw). Apart from one quest line per class, SW:TOR is linear like a bullet train. At least Tera has two paths of quest progression minimum (from personal experience and up to lvl 22) once you leave the starter island.
Like I stated above, I went off exploring and saw the same level monsters in many different locations, I am interested in seeing how this turns out.
What about the variability of the mobs?
Sure, you have found similar levels in different areas, but are their models just slight variations from each other or are they truly different mobs?
One of the more annoying things I found with Aion is that as you progress, you go from fighting the wolf-looking mobs in one area to wolf-looking mobs in the next area to wolf-looking mobs in yet another area. I understand some repetition is inevitable, but it got very old very fast to find so little variability in the mobs (save color changes here and there).
*Edit: I should explain, I am looking forward to this title, I think the different approach to combat is interesting, and I actually don't mind that it borrows ("steals") heavily from Aion. However, I think it's inexcusable for AAA titles to have so little variability with its mobs. I mean, I know there are wolf-type mobs and bird type mobs and pig type mobs, but when you look at a single mob type and move up the level chain, they looked no different than a change in name and (sometimes) color.
1 starting zone and 1 leveling path = an absolute guarantee of less subs
It makes the world seem small and generic, and it cost Rift heavily.
If that was true then SW:TOR would have been a huge failure (which is not btw). Apart from one quest line per class, SW:TOR is linear like a bullet train. At least Tera has two paths of quest progression minimum (from personal experience and up to lvl 22) once you leave the starter island.
SWTOR does at least have multiple starting zones and the story content.
In terms of retention though, SWTOR is certainly not a success.
Still, what would you prefer, to have one starting zone that then opens up to multiple levelling paths, or four starting zones that converge to the same levelling path?
1 starting zone and 1 leveling path = an absolute guarantee of less subs
It makes the world seem small and generic, and it cost Rift heavily.
If that was true then SW:TOR would have been a huge failure (which is not btw). Apart from one quest line per class, SW:TOR is linear like a bullet train. At least Tera has two paths of quest progression minimum (from personal experience and up to lvl 22) once you leave the starter island.
SWTOR does at least have multiple starting zones and the story content.
In terms of retention though, SWTOR is certainly not a success.
Still, what would you prefer, to have one starting zone that then opens up to multiple levelling paths, or four starting zones that converge to the same levelling path?
Interesting question. On the one hand having multiple starting zones releaves the load of people during launch but tends to make the starting zones even less populated over time, But does give more content for alt rollers.
I think I would have liked to have seen multi-starting area's for tera, but seeing one or two races for one starting area would feel / look kinda weird.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
1 starting zone and 1 leveling path = an absolute guarantee of less subs
It makes the world seem small and generic, and it cost Rift heavily.
If that was true then SW:TOR would have been a huge failure (which is not btw). Apart from one quest line per class, SW:TOR is linear like a bullet train. At least Tera has two paths of quest progression minimum (from personal experience and up to lvl 22) once you leave the starter island.
SWTOR does at least have multiple starting zones and the story content.
In terms of retention though, SWTOR is certainly not a success.
Still, what would you prefer, to have one starting zone that then opens up to multiple levelling paths, or four starting zones that converge to the same levelling path?
Interesting question. On the one hand having multiple starting zones releaves the load of people during launch but tends to make the starting zones even less populated over time, But does give more content for alt rollers.
It also gives the world more depth. The most popular MMOS tend to have a strong, rich game world (EQ1, FFXI, WoW)
I hope I can check out all zones tomorrow on the map, and hopefully it says what the recommended level is.
That way I'll know how the leveling will be when it comes to zones.
Honestly, don't play the test tommorow, wait one more day until the CBT1.
You've been set on exploring and with only two hours you really won't get too. You could get to level 11 in under two hours but it's your first playthrough and it doesn't leave time for exploring.
Instead of doing level 1-11 two days in a row, just skip it and wait the extra day for CBT1.
I hope I can check out all zones tomorrow on the map, and hopefully it says what the recommended level is.
That way I'll know how the leveling will be when it comes to zones.
Honestly, don't play the test tommorow, wait one more day until the CBT1.
You've been set on exploring and with only two hours you really won't get too. You could get to level 11 in under two hours but it's your first playthrough and it doesn't leave time for exploring.
Instead of doing level 1-11 two days in a row, just skip it and wait the extra day for CBT1.
Don't worry, I'm not that short sighted.
And I didn't mean I will actually explore all the content. What I meant is, I'll open the world map, check each zone, possibly write them all down with the recommended zone, if mentioned on the world map.
I'm already understanding that I won't get what I wanted: Different zones that overlap level recommendation. In other word, having a choice what zone to quest in on any level. Let's say 2-3 zones for every level bracket.
To be honest for me the extremely linear quest hub system is what killed Rift for me. If at least Rift gave some feeling of freedom ...
SWTOR may not be a great success when it comes to missions and zones, but the story telling and story mission does make up for a lot. Lots of RP gamers in there. Even though I hate the fact that there is only ONE path (Dorumend Kaas - Balmorra - Nar Shadaa etc) I had fun creating 4 characters so far. For some reason I get stuck out of boredom around 25-30 though...
Sure, you have found similar levels in different areas, but are their models just slight variations from each other or are they truly different mobs?
One of the more annoying things I found with Aion is that as you progress, you go from fighting the wolf-looking mobs in one area to wolf-looking mobs in the next area to wolf-looking mobs in yet another area. I understand some repetition is inevitable, but it got very old very fast to find so little variability in the mobs (save color changes here and there).
*Edit: I should explain, I am looking forward to this title, I think the different approach to combat is interesting, and I actually don't mind that it borrows ("steals") heavily from Aion. However, I think it's inexcusable for AAA titles to have so little variability with its mobs. I mean, I know there are wolf-type mobs and bird type mobs and pig type mobs, but when you look at a single mob type and move up the level chain, they looked no different than a change in name and (sometimes) color.
TERA is similar to Aion in that sense. Just to give you an idea, the second kill quest you get, around level 2, asks you to kill some deer things (forgot their name). Almost every single outpost you visit after that, asks you to kill a different type of those same deer things.
There are other mobs in the game and some look pretty cool and unique but most do repeat fairly often.
I think one starter zone, and such a carebear one, is bad for the game. I mean nothing agros. It's not fun at all. Even the undead down on the south of the island just patiently wait for you to make your move, as danagerous as they look.
Well, the bridge event agros, but that's it.
But, in time, if we had enough instances it wouldn't matter anyway. I certainly don't quest my wow characters to 85, I queue for randoms (I also only play classes that can tank and heal for that mostly that reason).
I think that even just one other starter zone, with a bit more difficulty, would make the game a great deal more fun. I actually thought the agro programming was broken in CBT1 because the mobs are very aware that you're there and look like they're about to hit you...but don't.
Spec'ing properly is a gateway drug. 12 Million People have been meter spammed in heroics.
I think one starter zone, and such a carebear one, is bad for the game. I mean nothing agros. It's not fun at all. Even the undead down on the south of the island just patiently wait for you to make your move, as danagerous as they look.
Well, the bridge event agros, but that's it.
But, in time, if we had enough instances it wouldn't matter anyway. I certainly don't quest my wow characters to 85, I queue for randoms (I also only play classes that can tank and heal for that mostly that reason).
You'll change your mind about difficulty in due time. Once you hit 20 multiple BAMs start appearing in every zone, you can solo them or group up and farm for mass exp.
TERA has a decent amount of instances, certainly not the degree WoW has but atleast you can compensate by just fighting BAMs if you want.
I'd like to add, what starter zone isn't "carebear", i'd like one that is difficult please, in an open world MMO obviously.
I think one starter zone, and such a carebear one, is bad for the game. I mean nothing agros. It's not fun at all. Even the undead down on the south of the island just patiently wait for you to make your move, as danagerous as they look.
On one hand, I agree with you. But on the other hand, there were a lot of people in CBT1 frantically asking how to turn on tab-targetting. So I suppose they need a chance to safely figure things out. And at least the first island doesn't take too long if you want to rush it.
A Modest Proposal for MMORPGs: That the means of progression would not be mutually exclusive from the means of enjoyment.
Combat mechanics are very different from class to class, also different races all have their very own armor designs for each armor type (heavy, light and cloth) so if you roll different races you'll see new armors which you may have not before.
This is exactly why it has replayablity. The fun is not found in the quests so much as in the combat gameplay that goes into the quests. Having multiple starting zones is very important for a tab target, press a few buttons combat style mmo but when the combat itself is fun it doesn't really matter if the quest is "kill ten trees". I found the quests to be largely unininteresting as they are in several other large sucessful mmos currently. But I also found that to not be an issue in TERA because the combat was fun. And even once I finished the quest I would often go about killing random things just to see what they did in a fight. Or killing the same things over to see if I could improve my tactics..
Then finally as Coolgy points out each class is different. I started another character on the other server during beta and it felt all new because the class played so differently. Sure I skipped the quest text but the Isle was still fun because I was playing a different character. I can already tell that I will have serveral alts eventually just because they each feel like a different game.
Recent games -- and I mean pretty much ALL recent games -- tend to have 1 or 2 starting paths and then you essentailly end up in the same zones all the way through.
Older games had starting areas for different races and while you could eventually meet up, you generally had options with regard to how to play... IE in vanilla everquest you might start out in Kaladim -- you spend your first several levels on feydwer and then eventually you take the boat across to the main continent. You might not get to the other side of the main continent until you were halfway through levelling.
Even WoW had varied starting and mid-level zones before you pretty much had to do everything the same.
Oh and even the old games went tried and true with the expansions... There was no "waste" content where you didn't have to work through it.
------
Personally I liked the idea of the world being bigger and not simply chock-full of content with nothing inbetween.
These days there is far less world or "empty space" between areas of content. The consequence is everyone does exactly the same thing and there is no hidden content that very few people find. This was something I liked about the old games. I hunted in lesser feydwer (before they changed it). I was one of a very few people who actually did.
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Alternate methods of advancement and large tracts of world off the beaten path seem to be a lost art these days.
i think alt replayablity comes down to how much the individual likes the game. if you like the game a lot you wont mind leveling up another character. if you hate the game, why would you roll an alt and put yourself the torture of leveling up another toon.
QFT. I enjoyed WoW but i couldn't stand making an alt. on the other hand i already have 2 alts above lvl 40 in swtor
i didnt mention swtor or wow in my post. it started off "i think" i stated what i think about the op's post. so no, you QFT.
QFT = quoted for truth. I think you may be confused about the meaning. He was agreeing with you. Now who looks silly.
i think alt replayablity comes down to how much the individual likes the game. if you like the game a lot you wont mind leveling up another character. if you hate the game, why would you roll an alt and put yourself the torture of leveling up another toon.
QFT. I enjoyed WoW but i couldn't stand making an alt. on the other hand i already have 2 alts above lvl 40 in swtor
i didnt mention swtor or wow in my post. it started off "i think" i stated what i think about the op's post. so no, you QFT.
QFT = quoted for truth. I think you may be confused about the meaning. He was agreeing with you. Now who looks silly.
You. It was already clarified and cleared up.
Anyways, the general consensus is that the game is very linear with generalized quest hub "stations". This worries me for replayability because of the "fast" leveling the game seems to have and that exploration is a big part of the intrigue for me for all MMO's. Doing the same thing with different character mechanics is a little iffy. Regardless, this is just the start of the games introduction to the west so only time will tell. I hope I am wrong!
Comments
If that was true then SW:TOR would have been a huge failure (which is not btw). Apart from one quest line per class, SW:TOR is linear like a bullet train. At least Tera has two paths of quest progression minimum (from personal experience and up to lvl 22) once you leave the starter island.
Like I stated above, I went off exploring and saw the same level monsters in many different locations, I am interested in seeing how this turns out.
SWTOR does at least have multiple starting zones and the story content.
In terms of retention though, SWTOR is certainly not a success.
What about the variability of the mobs?
Sure, you have found similar levels in different areas, but are their models just slight variations from each other or are they truly different mobs?
One of the more annoying things I found with Aion is that as you progress, you go from fighting the wolf-looking mobs in one area to wolf-looking mobs in the next area to wolf-looking mobs in yet another area. I understand some repetition is inevitable, but it got very old very fast to find so little variability in the mobs (save color changes here and there).
*Edit: I should explain, I am looking forward to this title, I think the different approach to combat is interesting, and I actually don't mind that it borrows ("steals") heavily from Aion. However, I think it's inexcusable for AAA titles to have so little variability with its mobs. I mean, I know there are wolf-type mobs and bird type mobs and pig type mobs, but when you look at a single mob type and move up the level chain, they looked no different than a change in name and (sometimes) color.
it is a quest hub game, and the place where the mobs for the present quest are is shown on the map.
Still, what would you prefer, to have one starting zone that then opens up to multiple levelling paths, or four starting zones that converge to the same levelling path?
Interesting question. On the one hand having multiple starting zones releaves the load of people during launch but tends to make the starting zones even less populated over time, But does give more content for alt rollers.
I think I would have liked to have seen multi-starting area's for tera, but seeing one or two races for one starting area would feel / look kinda weird.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
It also gives the world more depth. The most popular MMOS tend to have a strong, rich game world (EQ1, FFXI, WoW)
Honestly, don't play the test tommorow, wait one more day until the CBT1.
You've been set on exploring and with only two hours you really won't get too. You could get to level 11 in under two hours but it's your first playthrough and it doesn't leave time for exploring.
Instead of doing level 1-11 two days in a row, just skip it and wait the extra day for CBT1.
Don't worry, I'm not that short sighted.
And I didn't mean I will actually explore all the content. What I meant is, I'll open the world map, check each zone, possibly write them all down with the recommended zone, if mentioned on the world map.
I'm already understanding that I won't get what I wanted: Different zones that overlap level recommendation. In other word, having a choice what zone to quest in on any level. Let's say 2-3 zones for every level bracket.
To be honest for me the extremely linear quest hub system is what killed Rift for me. If at least Rift gave some feeling of freedom ...
SWTOR may not be a great success when it comes to missions and zones, but the story telling and story mission does make up for a lot. Lots of RP gamers in there. Even though I hate the fact that there is only ONE path (Dorumend Kaas - Balmorra - Nar Shadaa etc) I had fun creating 4 characters so far. For some reason I get stuck out of boredom around 25-30 though...
TERA is similar to Aion in that sense. Just to give you an idea, the second kill quest you get, around level 2, asks you to kill some deer things (forgot their name). Almost every single outpost you visit after that, asks you to kill a different type of those same deer things.
There are other mobs in the game and some look pretty cool and unique but most do repeat fairly often.
I counted 18 zones + noobzone.
So 18 zones for 50 levels. Can't help but thinking we may be choosing which zone we spend our levels.
Either that or each zone covers close to 3 levels in average.
I think one starter zone, and such a carebear one, is bad for the game. I mean nothing agros. It's not fun at all. Even the undead down on the south of the island just patiently wait for you to make your move, as danagerous as they look.
Well, the bridge event agros, but that's it.
But, in time, if we had enough instances it wouldn't matter anyway. I certainly don't quest my wow characters to 85, I queue for randoms (I also only play classes that can tank and heal for that mostly that reason).
I think that even just one other starter zone, with a bit more difficulty, would make the game a great deal more fun. I actually thought the agro programming was broken in CBT1 because the mobs are very aware that you're there and look like they're about to hit you...but don't.
Spec'ing properly is a gateway drug.
12 Million People have been meter spammed in heroics.
You'll change your mind about difficulty in due time. Once you hit 20 multiple BAMs start appearing in every zone, you can solo them or group up and farm for mass exp.
TERA has a decent amount of instances, certainly not the degree WoW has but atleast you can compensate by just fighting BAMs if you want.
I'd like to add, what starter zone isn't "carebear", i'd like one that is difficult please, in an open world MMO obviously.
On one hand, I agree with you. But on the other hand, there were a lot of people in CBT1 frantically asking how to turn on tab-targetting. So I suppose they need a chance to safely figure things out. And at least the first island doesn't take too long if you want to rush it.
A Modest Proposal for MMORPGs:
That the means of progression would not be mutually exclusive from the means of enjoyment.
This is exactly why it has replayablity. The fun is not found in the quests so much as in the combat gameplay that goes into the quests. Having multiple starting zones is very important for a tab target, press a few buttons combat style mmo but when the combat itself is fun it doesn't really matter if the quest is "kill ten trees". I found the quests to be largely unininteresting as they are in several other large sucessful mmos currently. But I also found that to not be an issue in TERA because the combat was fun. And even once I finished the quest I would often go about killing random things just to see what they did in a fight. Or killing the same things over to see if I could improve my tactics..
Then finally as Coolgy points out each class is different. I started another character on the other server during beta and it felt all new because the class played so differently. Sure I skipped the quest text but the Isle was still fun because I was playing a different character. I can already tell that I will have serveral alts eventually just because they each feel like a different game.
All die, so die well.
I actually find this kind of interesting...
Recent games -- and I mean pretty much ALL recent games -- tend to have 1 or 2 starting paths and then you essentailly end up in the same zones all the way through.
Older games had starting areas for different races and while you could eventually meet up, you generally had options with regard to how to play... IE in vanilla everquest you might start out in Kaladim -- you spend your first several levels on feydwer and then eventually you take the boat across to the main continent. You might not get to the other side of the main continent until you were halfway through levelling.
Even WoW had varied starting and mid-level zones before you pretty much had to do everything the same.
Oh and even the old games went tried and true with the expansions... There was no "waste" content where you didn't have to work through it.
------
Personally I liked the idea of the world being bigger and not simply chock-full of content with nothing inbetween.
These days there is far less world or "empty space" between areas of content. The consequence is everyone does exactly the same thing and there is no hidden content that very few people find. This was something I liked about the old games. I hunted in lesser feydwer (before they changed it). I was one of a very few people who actually did.
------
Alternate methods of advancement and large tracts of world off the beaten path seem to be a lost art these days.
QFT = quoted for truth. I think you may be confused about the meaning. He was agreeing with you. Now who looks silly.
You. It was already clarified and cleared up.
Anyways, the general consensus is that the game is very linear with generalized quest hub "stations". This worries me for replayability because of the "fast" leveling the game seems to have and that exploration is a big part of the intrigue for me for all MMO's. Doing the same thing with different character mechanics is a little iffy. Regardless, this is just the start of the games introduction to the west so only time will tell. I hope I am wrong!