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Cure for the common themepark?
So just a quick history I have been online gaming since the 80s.. things were simple back then BBS text based MUDs were all we had back then. Anyway fast forward to today I have played every major MMO release since they started in graphical format.
My longest played MMOs are SWG, EQ1, UO, Lineage 2, AC, WoW, GW1, GW2, and Rift but i have played every other major release for at least a couple months. ESO lasted me 2 months and wildstar i played for a decent amount of time throughout beta but didn't enjoy it enough to purchase it.
The biggest issue I have had with pretty much every MMO in the past decade is hardly any feel like a living world. Maybe this is something many could care less about but for me it is why I get hooked on these games. To me every themepark feels basically the same it has its gimmick or famous IP but basically in the end is pretty much all the same.. Endgame revolves around dungeon grinding, instanced pvp, raids, daily quests, rep grinding ect ect making most everything you did from 1 to cap pretty much meaningless in the long run and nothing that really brings the world together.
Joining a guild and dungeon diving with people is fun but when you are doing the same exact dungeon for the 50th time it just seems to lose its purpose and fun for me. I have long awaited for a game to feel like a living world again. A game where players drive the endgame, where the community shapes the direction of how the game is played not just waiting for the devs to add more content.
Now I know AA is a bit limited overall in what you are allowed to do as far as "shaping" the world and is not a true sandbox like what i'd consider Landmark to be but I'm just hoping at least for me it helps me enjoy MMOs again and when I hit that level cap not be in a position to basically just do more of the same all over again.
I have not played AA yet but have been watching twitch streams for a couple months now and from what I have seen this game has a lot of what i have been missing in most MMOs for me and I hope come release this holds true.
Comments
I think AA has some good things going for it:
all MMOs will have a similar feel in some ways and you will say why am I playing this again? To me any MMO with a good group of people to play with will be fun. My biggest issues with themepark MMOs is the dungeon focused or instanced pvp gameplay which I don't enjoy. I enjoy open world stuff. I enjoy the world feeling large and having a purpose. I dunno I have been pretty interested in AA for awhile and I like the skill system, i like the housing/farm system, i like the naval combat, the open world PVP, the trade pack system, the crafting system, guild castles... and the fact all this takes place in the main persistent world is what makes it all work for me even more.. All these things combined I think makes it something more than a lot of games I have played of late have offered me.
For a more true sandbox experience I'm looking forward to Landmark but that one still needs a LOT of its features added till i give it more of a chance.
Also i don't mind the RNG crafting as most MMOs it's way to easy to max out your character anyway..
I basically have the same story as you. I have been watching the twitch feeds and talking with the hosts of the feed asking them questions and getting more of a feel for how the game will be.
Seems most of them have that feeling. It doesn't happen until they jump off the quest grind mentality and start taking in some of the other content. Once they do though, everyone says how it feels like an interesting interactive world where everyone is moving around doing all manor of things.
Another thing I have noticed is many of them saying they lost track of time due to the fact they were so wrapped up in whatever they were doing. Some even set alarms to be able to go check on some trees they planted in a hidden farm in the hills hoping the trees would still be there and ready to chop when they matured.
This will probably be my game of choice for at least a year if not more. I like the concept of EQ Next, but it's a long ways off. I also think Black Desert is interesting but don't know enough about it and it also looks a ways off. So ArcheAge will be a great time for many many of us that have been looking for something that offers a more imaginative and deep world that feels more alive and immersive.
Well, it's not new in the sense that it's point and click to complete. But the fact that there are thousands of different products and components, each with a different but important purpose, makes it stand out. Plus the time factor of actually growing the components on your farm and having to manage the layout.
As for community you are reminded immediately on first log in that this is a player-run world by trial chat, which while containing all the vulgarity one comes to expect from MMO public chat, also exposes a complex web of inter-guild and interpersonal relationships.
I never cared who the big guilds were in WoW, in ArcheAge your guild relationships dramatically impact your end game play experience.
I recently crossed the ocean at 18 in a rowboat with banana oil for my large farm quest. I frapped the guys who ganked me at the end for when Judgement Day comes.
Being RNG doesn't have anything to do with the ability to max out the proficiency.
AA isn't the first to require multiple materials to create the end product. It's not the basic WoW style where you gather raw mats and then fashion a guaranteed quality product, no but that doesn't make it stand out. The time factor is taking 5 seconds for each raw material refine meaning that, for example, you're done pulling up an entire farm worth of cotton, you're AFK'ing for 30 minutes while it processes it all. If you want more thoughtful production chains, take a look at Ryzom or The Repopulation where it makes a meaningful difference as to the quality of the raw material which makes it meaningful to be a skilled at resource gathering.
it does make it harder to aquire specific gear so yes id say it's harder to max out your build with an RNG system
Min-max a build, yeah, but that's not exactly what we're talking about, is it...
yea I have several games to look forward to.. BDO is definitely one but that one will be a LONG time till it hits the states i think.. The repopulation is another one i'm looking forward to. EQ Next and Landmark as well.. I ll probably play some star citizen as well. CU is another one but again a long ways off...so far no game in the near future I see offers even close to what AA offers so ill be playing it at launch for sure.
yea that was what i was talking about wasn't talking about maxing out your crafting proficiency.
yea I have heard a lot of concerns over 1.0.. i also saw Trion stated it will not be the same as the korean version of 1.0 and they have taken a lot of things into consideration when working with XLgames about 1.0.. so well see how it goes it should be on alpha pretty soon.