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LF an MMO with a real "OPEN WORLD" like WoW
Kalvasflamm
Member Posts: 48
Well, I am actually playing FF XIV and I am not quite sure if it is the worst MMO I have ever played or only the second worst. I read a lot about the GCD, Housing not been available for everyone etc., but for me - the real killer - are the loading screens which seem to be everywhere - even in cities. This is no world, this is a cluster of hundreds of - way too small - zones.
So my question: Which games (Themepark/Sandbox) do you know, where the world is comparable open like it is in WoW? I know there are loading screens when switching continents, but at least you can travel from north to south, entering cities like Stormwind, hell even entering shops, without seeing an single loading screen.
A lot of MMOs even switch to loading screens when entering public transport. In WoW for example, flying via griffon, you can even see players beneath you questing etc. I don't get it, why so many MMOs seem to neglect that aspect? Am I the only one that can not bear zoning, loading screens etc? Hard to imagine...
So, please tell me, which games have an real open world?
What about Archeage for example? I heard Rift is doint that similiar to WoW? Is that right?
Thank you!
Comments
Archeage is seamless. Only loading screens I can think of are entering dungeons and arenas which are instanced.
As to why games aren't seamless, I'm not sure. I have more a problem with games being instanced than I do having seams, but apparently there are still some technical issues that make seamless games problematic. I too look forward to a time when loading screens are no longer necessary.
Thank you!
I have an issue with instances too, but enjoyed WoW for years nevertheless. My favorite MMO of all times will probably be UO, but I loved the open PvP in WoW and the seamless (that was the word I was looking for - thx! not good in english) world (so I could bear all the instances).
Next gen Survival Sandbox game in Jurassic Park World.
ARK: Survival Evolved.
Craft, tame dinosaurs, pvp, open world, full loot pvp...you even have Full Loot Perma Death On hardcore server
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Your English is great. Most people who speak English probably don't even know those distinctions. Traditionally, a game can actually be an open world with seams (zones), but mostly open world refers to a non-linear approach to creating objectives and player advancement.
To me, open world in single player games differs from MMOs. In an MMO, the concept of simulated reality in a truly open world is diminished when instancing is used, because it takes away from the illusion that the game world is truly open and that every player in said world exists in some area accessible to everyone else. Some would probably disagree with this though.
The sad thing is I can't think of many. WoW's huge selling point was that it was seemless when it launched compared to heavily zoned games like EQ. You would think that after WoW's incredible success, other MMOs would copy this but alas they haven't.
LOTRO was quite open actually. There were a few loading zones when you entered instances but beyond that it's very seamless and the zones are huge. AS there are not flying mounts, they feel even larger than they actually are.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
I am goingto tell you about a game that wil change everything.
Albion Online.
Buy a founders pack now and prepare for summer alpha in exactly 2weeks.
Best dang thing since sliced bread!!! Open World. Full loot PvP, amazing pvp, player run economy etc etc
Ok... this right here is some terribad advice for what you want. For one, its in early development and you can't play it on your terms and tons of stuff is missing. I think its going to be an awesome game though.
Further more, the game has smaller maps that are all instanced and require loading screens between one another. WoW is not an open world, but it is more so than Albion Online in terms of loading screens. This is of course going by OP's skewed version of what an open world is.
So yeah, as much as I support Albion Online, know what you are getting into.
Thanks for all the replies!
Yeah, perhaps I was using the wrong term. It is not so much an open world that I am looking for, but a seamless world. I know that WoW is heavily instanced and using phasing and all that crap, but at the moment my time is very limited (having a daughter of 10 months). So I can't put my heart in a game like Eve Online or even returning to Ultima Online.
The next game I will be falling in love with, will be definitely an sandbox game. Probably one as polished as UO was at release with at least the same level of game depth. Actually I can only think of one game that would come close (Eve Online).
Due to my limited amount of time, I probably will play another Themepark MMO. But I can't play something like FF XIV. Besides the missing open world pvp, I am desperately looking for sth seamless, like WoW.
So I will check out Rift and Ark. With more time I will definitely look into Archeage! And concerning Albion Online: I will put it on my watch list. I won't buy another game in alpha (did this with Mortal Online).
Oh, yes, LotRO, of course! Played that for months and had completely forgotten that is whas quite seamless (although I can remember a loading screen when switching the territory between the shire and Bree (perhaps I am wrong). Would still be playing LotRO, if there was PvP.
Thank you so far!
Shire and Ered Luin, there's a door (for shortcutting the distance, since Ered Luin is not right near the Shire). Later areas were added in the seamless fashion where possible, so the whole "western" part of the Misty Mountains, and also the "eastern" part are combined without loading screens (for most cases)
PvP, Osgiliath as a PvMP map will be in the next update I think.
WoW is open world and it's seamless. Try again though. You can walk from one end of the continent to the other without any loading screens. There are no artificial borders in WoW.
[mod edit] WoW was advertised as the largest seamless world at its launch and that was pretty much true. It wasn't zoned like EQ where loading screens hit you every time you move a zone.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Read what I wrote. There are artificial borders EVERYWHERE in WoW. Tons of ramps, trees, mini hills, to restrict your passage. People are so used to it nowadays that wow can be twisted into being deemed "open world." Funny how easily peoples' perceptions can be twisted so easily : ).
[mod edit]
Play Asheron's Call. THAT is an open world. Jump anywhere, climb anywhere, no zones. Wide open area for miles in all directions. World of Warcraft has artificial borders at every turn, thimble sized jumping, tiny hills that you cannot pass, trees that block you in all directions, and narrow choreographed tunnels that move you from zone to zone. There may not be loading, but It is in no way, shape, or form, an "open world."
How dare they put hills and trees in the game? In WoW you can fly over mountains and land on them. Whatever I see I can probably get to. Trees blocking you in all directions? I am not even sure how to respond to that. How dare those trees be in the way of our "open world".
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Yeah, for me WoW is the most "open" Themepark MMO I have ever played! And I remember to this day my first griffon flight (back in 2006) from Stormwind to Westfall. At that time I was still quite heavily invested in Ultima Online and WoW seemed to me like a very shallow game and I couldn't understand why so many people had been playing it for months.
Well, sitting on that griffon, watching the beautiful landscape (and I still prefer the look of WoW to all those more realistic landscapes in other mmos ), seeing players all around on mounts, in groups, trying to kill Hogger etc., I thought "WOW! Thats kind of impressive". And I thought, o.k., give it a chance. And although loving Ultima Online with all my heart, World of Warcraft has kept me playing for years and is now the second best game I have ever played!
In my regards it features an extremely open world. But I understand what one means with narrow passageways, leading from area to another. And perhaps it is not open in that sense, that it is a large landscape that very gradually changes it looks. So, for example, hitting the border to Duskwood while coming from Redrige Mountains, the whole looks changes suddenly.
A few weeks ago I tried Wurm Online (loved it, but couldn't bear the small population) and that was really an open world! And of course much more realistic as a World of Warcraft. Nevertheless, for me WoW was alwas open enough, especially when comparing it to so many other Themepark MMOs I tried over the years (Runes of Magic, Warhammer, TERA etc.).
And I wonder if it is really due to technical reasons that so many developers put in loading screens (especially while using public transport) or if it is simply due to the fact that developers seem to think that players don't want to invest the time in actually flying from town to another than switching towns very fast by loading screens.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D