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A lack luster industry.
LiveWyre
Member Posts: 27
That exciting moment when friends and family members describe games of a new era, a game where thousands of people come to traverse the digital realm to thieve, for glory, some to gloat and others for the ultimate thrill...playing others in a mock battle. Walking around your first digital world is an odd and overwhelming feeling.. Figuring out on your own where this turn leads, this bend, follow that crevice, or as some of us do - cling on to a traversed player and be his wing man. Ahh the excitement of playing, learning and figuring out the role in which fits you best in the first MMOG.
Lets face it - the majority of us have played the market and know whats out there. Nothing compares to our first experience. Yeah, admit it, you know it's true. Yet we try and search for that feeling and dive further into the market to find no success. Why is that, why are we, the veteran MMOG players left out? Because the Industry has dumbed everything down. EVERYTHING.
How can we change this. The industry has lost its luster in my eyes. I feel we need a change. No elves, Dwarves, or any of thisi fantasy shit. Bring out a new era, something exciting.
Please, feel free to comment on anything said here. Or, give your views on what you would think is a great game.
(sorry if this seems short. I was going to write an epic article but became extremely tired in the process. Currently 1:20am)
Comments
Pretty much sums it up, fantasy MMOs have been overdone lately, but there are quite a few in the beggining stages that are showing some promise, look at things like Auto Assault (though I have to say I have no experience with this game yet so I can't attest to how well it's been implemented).
The big problem is not the devs or producers, it's the consumers. People need to stop buying the lameass rehashes over and over and willingly giving up cash. Stop buying bad games and the market will NEED to diversify to survive, because, let's face it, what company can shell out the finance for a MMO that completely fails? If people started to educate themselves before buying things would improve greatly.
I can agree totally.
The thing that confuses me most about MMO's today, is that not one has come out that doesn't use the method of auto attack and hitting icons to attack and crap like that. They need a game for broadband users. I want to be able to swing the sword myself, not have some auto attack. You know Diablo 2 is an old game but it's multiplayer was fun because you got to do all the skills yourself by clicking the button everytime you wanted something to happen. They call alot of MMO's real time gameplay, but it all has a pretty turn based feel to me in the end. Just clickin icons and letting my guy do it himself. I wanna have to aim my attacks and not rely on the computer to auto seek and destroy.
MAKE A GAME FOR BROADBAND.... WHO EVEN USES DIAL UP ANYMORE???
I mean they can have 64 player battles on Battlefield 2 and that takes pretty low pings to do, but they can't make an MMO that isn't auto attack auto everything?
Look what they did to MATRIX ONLINE. I mean why in gods name would you take something like The Matrix, that should be fast paced and free form, and turn it into another bland click this button and wait. They tried to change it up a little bit but it didn't work. It's still click and wait. I sit back and think of what The Matrix Online COUDLD HAVE been and it makes me mad. I wanna be able to run around and kick butt like in Enter the Matrix (which got bad reviews but I thought it was a pretty good game). It was much better than MXO that's for sure.
Why do they keep pumping out the same stuff over and over.
I'm not going to totally dog on everyone of em. I mean WoW was pretty good, and so is Guild Wars. But I'm still waiting for some fast paced action mmo where I control everything, and click and wait is nowhere to be seen.
_______________________________________________
"Getting it is easy. Filling it with illegal substances and sending accross the border is not."
-Ignignokt
---Playing---
Asheron's Call
I partly agree with you. Partly because I dont think its the industrys fault alone. Its is true that the first game was magical, and this was partly because we were largely ignorant of what was going on. Now we can load up a game and within hours we categorize it in familliar terms. "Eq with the combat system of wow"" Lvl-base grinding game with raid high lvl end content" etc. Us veterans know to much about what goes on under the hood of todays MMOs. We have spoiler pages for quests, and Itemlists and extended rutine in building the perfect pvp-template. Often we allready have a guild before the game launches.
I am not saying that we should not demand new and exciting worlds to discover and marvel about, only pointing out that the behaviour of many (myself included) MMO vets in the way we approach new games are designed to make the game loose its luster, really fast.
New games today are just as magical as the ones we started out playing. I know this because when wow came out a lot of my freinds, that had never even considered playing a mmo became hooked and started playing, and every time I talked to them I could feel in them, the same kind of awe that I myself felt about "the game" when I was a rookie. Needless to say I envy their state of mind and never give them spoilers but encurage them to explore and find out for themselves.
That said I truely think that the "mould" that we recoqnize in most game today needs to be broken to give us vets the magical feeling back, and new groundbreaking games ARE beeing developed, althou they have yet to become mainstream. Games like Seed give me back that largely ignorant blizfull feeling that everything is possible and the sky is the limit, if only because I do not yet know were the boundries lie.
Ignorance truely is bliss in MMOs
This is why I loved SWG... Untill we found out all the devs brainpower (LOL) was targeted at the Jedi Audience.
Its not so much the gameplay for me thats getting old, I kinda like the good ol add stats gain skills level up do quests thingy. The problem is that the STORIES are getting old for me. I'm getting sick of seeing nothing but Knights and Wizards fanatasy worlds being created. Its as if all developers out there think that they must find the most unique way of telling the same damn story! Each new MMORPG has to to have its little interface or skill or leveling querks to set it slightly apart, but nobody even sees that their classes, races, even world and lore are practically cookie cutter.
Thats why I get so sad when I see games like SWG, Matrix Online, etc... get developed by morons. The potential is so great for unique stories like those. So far I've enjoyed WoW just because if you DO read the quests and know the Warcraft lore they are a interesting story. I've done Alliance to 60 twice and read all the quests, and am now doing Horde... But soon there will be no content (Other than boring gamplay).
I'd love to see a new game based on something completly new. Like base it in modern times, aliens are attacking the earth or something. You acually play only as human (GASP) but your "Racial Abilities" are dependant on your Sex/Age. Classes could include just ordinary jobs.
I know that probably sounds stupid... But you get the idea. That story probably sounds familar (Most stories do now a days), but at least the enviroment and surroundings would be new. And the story/lore would be totally fresh!
Thats what I think this gaiming genere needs to liven it up. Not fancier new graphics or more unique bizzar gameplay of the same old story. We got the gameplay down pretty good, and a skill system, etc... What we need is a fresh take on the WORLD and LORE.
btw, i'm looking forward to StO... I hope its good >.<
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Tested: SWG, Sims, EVE, CoH, RO, Darkages, Neocron, AO, Lineage 2, ATITD 2, AC 2, WoW, MxO, LotRO, Armada Online, VsoH
Playing: WoW
Waiting for: StO
I don't mind the elves and dwarves so much; hell they could have leeches and three toed sloths as the playable characters as long as someone does something innovative with the gameplay. I've never been to picky about graphics or anything cosmetic. I used to have lists upon lists of things that were in my perfect mmo. That list has dwindled in the last couple years to one thing really. I just want a challenge. And when i say challenge i don't mean the challenge of waiting for 18 people to gather for a raid, dynamis, deadspace, *insert end game content here*. Or the challenge of staying awake 6 hours for an experience points party. I just want to have to think about what i'm doing. I want to make choices that might just bite me in the ass somewhere down the road. That and a great crafting system wouldn't hurt either.
It seems the mmo market has taken a sharp turn for the casual gamer. Which i completely understand. The purpose of these mmo companies are to make as much money as possible. And supposedly the money is all in casual gaming. There doesn't seem to be any Jerry Maguire companies around with the goal of less, but more satisfied gamers; nor do i expect anyone to do such a thing.
I have high hopes for DDO with its great variety of skills. And you can really gimp your characters if you're not careful with so many choices available. However most of the game is instanced and there will be no crafting. I guess we can't have it all.
I don't think i'm asking too much. Just a challenge where it's more than click on auto attack and and hit F1 for special attack number one. I just want to have to plan my battle and use my brain to make it out alive.
There is no best MMORPG, only favorites.
It's true, all I seem to be thinking about now adays is the good ol days of just sitting in Qeynos (everquest) and killing rats with some super buffs from some shaman at the gate who was just practicing her spell skills.
I cant see me liking mmo's that much ever again unless devs clue in.
I believe that this will happen, but probably not for many years.
New games like WoW are still capable of bringing in vast numbers of MMORPG virgins without needing to tempt players away from other games in order to succeed.
However, as the MMORPG market reaches it's maximum playerbase, then companies will start to target specific niches of that market in order to steal their share of that playerbase.
I'm not sure I would describe the industry as lack lustre.
As has been pointed out already, anyone totaly new to MMORPG's can still feel that sense of wonder when they realise there are entire worlds to be discovered and explored online. Worlds with just as much validity and meaning as the real one for most people.
I do believe the industry is now more uncaring, mediocre and focused on the acquisition of wealth than it ever has been.
Hopefully the future will change that
Check out the upcomming PSU , or if you cant wait PSO BB (although I suggest waiting for PSU). PSO came out in 2001 and was the first and only mmorpg to date that allows you to attack on your own, PSO was my first experience.. and I havent found anything to savor my taste yet. PSUs definetly going to take that place, but Im suprised more games didnt follow PSO's route... best gameplay engine for an mmo Ive ever encountered. Ever since Ive been playing auto attack mmos, and its rather boring.
I played the beta for Matrix Onine (Being one of the few fans of all 3 movies) and I was kind of dissapointed at the lack of freedom, and the somewhat concrete leveling treadmill although it was definetly unique (liked the dance clubs and pvp), I quit just before it went p2p though... level 46. If I were to remake MxO I would of incuding Zion (both tunnels and city) in playable modes and access to a ship as well as programs where users could load themselves into different cities or einvirionments (like an open field or forest for once, instead of always a city). I also would of made the combat more psoish, more action based (although ranged combat was pretty good, when yo uwerent in interlocke).. lastly, MxO had the best jumping scheme Ive ever seen hah.
But I agree its ultimately user ignorance that leads to the same romp around of games. Many companies have the mindset (why fix whats not broken?) if people will buy it, why be original? If more users took a stand against the same old same old and staved off jumping from one mmo or another just cause they need something to play (I know Im fickle when it comes to MMOs, but these days I cant bring myself to pay for one.. so mostly ive been hopping from betas to free games like a crack addict looking for a high), but there are some people out there who wil pay for game after game after game of the same old thing, and it needs to stop.
I advise all mmo gamers to check out PSU, if you want to get a feeling of what it will be like you can try PSO BB which is currently p2p for PC, PSU will be like it only better
http://phantasystaruniverse.com
http://www.psobb.com
Just on the border of your waking mind
There lies another time
Where darkness and light are one,
And as you tread the halls of sanity,
You feel so glad to be unable to go beyond.
I have a message from another time...
Axis Eleven