Originally posted by Battlerock How about this idea, bring the social to the single player games, you don't have to do it in game everytime, but take skyrim for example, it's still a very social game, just not in game. The other way is to simply embrace the fact that many people are playing mmorpgs as a single player experience, so why not build the mmorpg with that in mind. That's right, make an mmorpg that requires no coop, keep as much social as possible. The companion systems can make this happen, take 9 friends or 9 bots.
They should make the client social, instead of a launch client, they should make a virtuel world where all can enter en choose the game they want. You will get more contact and it doesn't has to be same server-language binded. A steady meeting place where all makers can promote their game and where users can log in. And if this come true they could make as virtuel language, that all can use and uniform is. No limitations in languages and communication. it also make the players alert witch game is popular or witch game isn't much populated, if you wait for a hour to enter a dungeon, Without knowing that there only 100 people online, that can be frustrating. A new world where all can enter, where all can spectate. And maybe finally a connection between all big games. transfers etc..
While I think the kill X wolves quest is dumb having a vast open world where not everything is related to some quest and a few random encounters actually draws me in. I like the open world feel.
When people say a work is "empty" it can mean a number of things:
1) It could mean that not every square yards contains something relevant to a quest. But that something i dislike about modern MMos, Almost every, building, glade, npc is part of a quest, you move from one area to the next or play ping pong between two points. Little incentive to explore and just get a feel for an area.
2) or it could mean procedurally generated garbage to which there is little point in exploring.
I like your ideas Christina, I have always believed that MMOs should be about playing with others. That's the point, that's why it's a massively multiplayer game. It's the shift towards soloable content bugs me. Not that I mind soloable content at all, but I think there's a fundamental issue with making content that can be either grouped or soloed. LOTRO had to learn this the hard way with their "Epic" Battles, which I'm pretty sure is an epic failure. Even if there's a penalty to soloing, the issue is that it takes away the challenge from the content, and players will always rather just solo and accept the penalty rather than have to find a group of people which may or may not be good. Every MMO should have solo content, no question about that, but people need to understand that when you play an MMO, you're going to eventually have to group if you want to experience the whole game.
By the way, lol @ the wolf paws image.
Currently playing: Elder Scrolls Online, Elite: Dangerous | Recently played: FFXIV, Rift, LoTRO, Diablo 3, Path of Exile, Guild Wars 2 | Single player RPGs: Dragon Age Inquisition, Skyrim
MMO devs can probably take some pointers from DAI on how to make menial task-type quests more interesting (and largely skippable if the player doesn't want to help farmer Joe find his cow), how to intelligently place/space mobs so the landscape doesn't just feel like its dotted with dumb meatbags waiting to be killed, how to craft maps so that exploration is meaningful and interesting, how to design a crafting/gathering system that isn't a boring grind and actually produces something meaningful for your level, and how to create a themepark with enough sandbox elements to give players great choice how to play (rather than just being a linear quest hub to quest hub grind), among other things.
Has anyone thought of Pirates of the Caribbean online??! It was a great MMO that was cancelled but had great MMO play for players to sail with other players and have large invasions and also small crews to do small plunders. Wish Disney could realize what they had and bring it back.
DAI is the game that made me aware of a truth about myself: I'm not anymore a MMORPG Player. I don't have the time, the dedication, and more, the patience to deal with a MMORPG, even if perfetcly programmed.
This is the first bioware game that I've played where this was an issue (well, neverwinter nights 2 I couldn't finish but I think another company did that for bioware).
I find the world bland and uninteresting.
I suppose part of the problem is the healing system. If I want to take on mobs then I'm going to get damaged. If I get damaged then it's run back to camp and then run back to where you were. I find that tedious.
Another issue is a quest that pretty much tired me out. You are sent to the desert area and there is some sort of tomb. You have to collect these shards. You see them on the map but negotiating over the terrain to actually get them was tedious. I kept thinking I could make it up one way only to find out that my character can't. so then I find a way but went around in circles.
Only to then get some, go to the door and realize I need all of them as you need a certain amount to open each door.
I just turned the game off and haven't returned yet. And it's a shame because I enjoy the story.
I've always hated mmo quests which is why in mmo's I prefer grinding/exploring killing monsters.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
This is the first bioware game that I've played where this was an issue (well, neverwinter nights 2 I couldn't finish but I think another company did that for bioware).
I find the world bland and uninteresting.
I suppose part of the problem is the healing system. If I want to take on mobs then I'm going to get damaged. If I get damaged then it's run back to camp and then run back to where you were. I find that tedious.
Another issue is a quest that pretty much tired me out. You are sent to the desert area and there is some sort of tomb. You have to collect these shards. You see them on the map but negotiating over the terrain to actually get them was tedious. I kept thinking I could make it up one way only to find out that my character can't. so then I find a way but went around in circles.
Only to then get some, go to the door and realize I need all of them as you need a certain amount to open each door.
I just turned the game off and haven't returned yet. And it's a shame because I enjoy the story.
I've always hated mmo quests which is why in mmo's I prefer grinding/exploring killing monsters.
Hmm..If you find yourself having to quaff to many healing potions, you should consider changing tactics or area, you are not "supoose" to get damaged much or at all if a fight goes well.. Are you playing realtime or "paused" ?
The quest with the "´tomb doors" ...My guess is that that quest is suppose to have you occupied for the entire adventure, collect "shards" from a multitude of adventure areas..
Want to destroy an mmorpg? Take away a player's constant need to group by creating endless quests. It's that simple.
Dark Age of Camelot was fun as heck because we were all so dependent on one another, and had to group to take out packs of mobs which is 100 times more fun than solo questing till end game raid grinding.
Most folks won't even know what I'm talking about in and out of the industry so I'll just stop here. The genre is so broken it's just not even worth being involved. I'll stick with Dragon Age until Camelot Unchained comes out.
This is the first bioware game that I've played where this was an issue (well, neverwinter nights 2 I couldn't finish but I think another company did that for bioware).
I find the world bland and uninteresting.
I suppose part of the problem is the healing system. If I want to take on mobs then I'm going to get damaged. If I get damaged then it's run back to camp and then run back to where you were. I find that tedious.
Another issue is a quest that pretty much tired me out. You are sent to the desert area and there is some sort of tomb. You have to collect these shards. You see them on the map but negotiating over the terrain to actually get them was tedious. I kept thinking I could make it up one way only to find out that my character can't. so then I find a way but went around in circles.
Only to then get some, go to the door and realize I need all of them as you need a certain amount to open each door.
I just turned the game off and haven't returned yet. And it's a shame because I enjoy the story.
I've always hated mmo quests which is why in mmo's I prefer grinding/exploring killing monsters.
Neverwinter nights 2- amazing game. Did you play Baldur's Gate?
Anyway, with the tomb quest you can use shards that you collect all through the game on many different maps- I actually still haven't done that tomb even on my second playthrough.
You don't have to do every quest, it is somewhat sandboxy in that you can do what you want at your own pace. Unless its a story quest (the ones with glowing green icons on the strategy map) I just skip anything I don't like, or anything that runs counter to my character's style. Similarly, if you are interested in something - say hunting dragons or giants, or learning more about a certain npc, you can focus on that. If you like grinding and exploring/killing monsters you can focus on that; in fact the game is extremely geared to doing just that if you wanted to. Indeed, this is exactly what other mmos could do well to try and emulate.
As for healing, it is an added challenge but it gets better as you progress and gives a good reason to push on to open a new camp. There is an amazing upgrade to the regen potion as well that gives aoe heal regen for about a minute.
Dragon Age: Inquisition was decent, but I hardly felt like their was much of anything worthwhile for an MMO designer to glean from it. It honestly felt like a game that was designed by people who had spent too much time playing MMORPGs and not enough time playing anything... anything else.
Running around collecting lore objects and codex entries and picking elfroot or obsidian every ten feet...
Comments
They should make the client social, instead of a launch client, they should make a virtuel world where all can enter en choose the game they want. You will get more contact and it doesn't has to be same server-language binded. A steady meeting place where all makers can promote their game and where users can log in. And if this come true they could make as virtuel language, that all can use and uniform is. No limitations in languages and communication. it also make the players alert witch game is popular or witch game isn't much populated, if you wait for a hour to enter a dungeon, Without knowing that there only 100 people online, that can be frustrating. A new world where all can enter, where all can spectate. And maybe finally a connection between all big games. transfers etc..
While I think the kill X wolves quest is dumb having a vast open world where not everything is related to some quest and a few random encounters actually draws me in. I like the open world feel.
When people say a work is "empty" it can mean a number of things:
1) It could mean that not every square yards contains something relevant to a quest. But that something i dislike about modern MMos, Almost every, building, glade, npc is part of a quest, you move from one area to the next or play ping pong between two points. Little incentive to explore and just get a feel for an area.
2) or it could mean procedurally generated garbage to which there is little point in exploring.
I like your ideas Christina, I have always believed that MMOs should be about playing with others. That's the point, that's why it's a massively multiplayer game. It's the shift towards soloable content bugs me. Not that I mind soloable content at all, but I think there's a fundamental issue with making content that can be either grouped or soloed. LOTRO had to learn this the hard way with their "Epic" Battles, which I'm pretty sure is an epic failure. Even if there's a penalty to soloing, the issue is that it takes away the challenge from the content, and players will always rather just solo and accept the penalty rather than have to find a group of people which may or may not be good. Every MMO should have solo content, no question about that, but people need to understand that when you play an MMO, you're going to eventually have to group if you want to experience the whole game.
By the way, lol @ the wolf paws image.
Currently playing: Elder Scrolls Online, Elite: Dangerous | Recently played: FFXIV, Rift, LoTRO, Diablo 3, Path of Exile, Guild Wars 2 | Single player RPGs: Dragon Age Inquisition, Skyrim
DAI is the game that made me aware of a truth about myself: I'm not anymore a MMORPG Player. I don't have the time, the dedication, and more, the patience to deal with a MMORPG, even if perfetcly programmed.
I'm actually finding it hard to finish this game.
This is the first bioware game that I've played where this was an issue (well, neverwinter nights 2 I couldn't finish but I think another company did that for bioware).
I find the world bland and uninteresting.
I suppose part of the problem is the healing system. If I want to take on mobs then I'm going to get damaged. If I get damaged then it's run back to camp and then run back to where you were. I find that tedious.
Another issue is a quest that pretty much tired me out. You are sent to the desert area and there is some sort of tomb. You have to collect these shards. You see them on the map but negotiating over the terrain to actually get them was tedious. I kept thinking I could make it up one way only to find out that my character can't. so then I find a way but went around in circles.
Only to then get some, go to the door and realize I need all of them as you need a certain amount to open each door.
I just turned the game off and haven't returned yet. And it's a shame because I enjoy the story.
I've always hated mmo quests which is why in mmo's I prefer grinding/exploring killing monsters.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Hmm..If you find yourself having to quaff to many healing potions, you should consider changing tactics or area, you are not "supoose" to get damaged much or at all if a fight goes well.. Are you playing realtime or "paused" ?
The quest with the "´tomb doors" ...My guess is that that quest is suppose to have you occupied for the entire adventure, collect "shards" from a multitude of adventure areas..
Any devs even read these posts?
Want to destroy an mmorpg? Take away a player's constant need to group by creating endless quests. It's that simple.
Dark Age of Camelot was fun as heck because we were all so dependent on one another, and had to group to take out packs of mobs which is 100 times more fun than solo questing till end game raid grinding.
Most folks won't even know what I'm talking about in and out of the industry so I'll just stop here. The genre is so broken it's just not even worth being involved. I'll stick with Dragon Age until Camelot Unchained comes out.
Neverwinter nights 2- amazing game. Did you play Baldur's Gate?
Anyway, with the tomb quest you can use shards that you collect all through the game on many different maps- I actually still haven't done that tomb even on my second playthrough.
You don't have to do every quest, it is somewhat sandboxy in that you can do what you want at your own pace. Unless its a story quest (the ones with glowing green icons on the strategy map) I just skip anything I don't like, or anything that runs counter to my character's style. Similarly, if you are interested in something - say hunting dragons or giants, or learning more about a certain npc, you can focus on that. If you like grinding and exploring/killing monsters you can focus on that; in fact the game is extremely geared to doing just that if you wanted to. Indeed, this is exactly what other mmos could do well to try and emulate.
As for healing, it is an added challenge but it gets better as you progress and gives a good reason to push on to open a new camp. There is an amazing upgrade to the regen potion as well that gives aoe heal regen for about a minute.
Dragon Age: Inquisition was decent, but I hardly felt like their was much of anything worthwhile for an MMO designer to glean from it. It honestly felt like a game that was designed by people who had spent too much time playing MMORPGs and not enough time playing anything... anything else.
Running around collecting lore objects and codex entries and picking elfroot or obsidian every ten feet...