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NO MORE ELVES AND OGRE'S
pyro9219
Member Posts: 21
I'm about to give up on MMO's. Its gotten to the point where nothing is original. Everywhere I look its all "lets be pointy eared freaks with bows". I'm sick of it... Sure, fantasy is a great place to start thinking about a game, but now I think its just because the story tellers are to busy being lazy, or to busy going "this game was fun when I played it, but I'd do it this way". What happened to original idea's? or Sci-fi? Anarchy Online, Neocron....Anything... I've tried ryzom and its just to darn "cute".
I've played Anarchy Online for years, and I loved it till they made it free to play(basic client). Then a ton of kids came into the game and a ton of Ebay farmers joined and ruined most of the leveling spots, as well as the economy. I played Neocron from beta 2 until Basically everyone I know left for SWG.. Tried going back to it... now its full of little kids that think the entire game revolves around ganking everyone around them(even their own faction).
Again, Ryzom was great for the trial period I had. Great spell system, great AI, great graphics. I really think that game deserves more attention. The playerbase was amazingly nice. Just, not for me.
I see several upcoming "idea's" like Star Trek, and StarGate. Huxley looks like it might be promising, but I already have nightmares about non-english speaking people bragging when they kill me, or all the people from Counter Strike that spent more time telling other players how much they sucked then actually playing.
Whats wrong with more sci-fi type stuff? With characters... and not ships that flight around in 3D universes on auto pilot through warp gates mining materials that you can sell from your ship when you get back home from work. (if you get my hint on this game, I was very dissapointed that EVERY person I met during my trial was on auto pilot and AFK ).
Anyone got a game that maybe I haven't heard of? (Something that is out now, beta or not). Tabula Rasa might be the game I'm looking for (not released), I sure know that RF Online isn't.
Comments
Blame Dungeons and Dragons PNP
In all honesty not only are Fantasy MMO's easier to make they are also alot more popular most folks prefer elves and ogres to robots and jetplanes
Sounds like you might not be a kid.....and a bit older like me. Part of the problem isn't just the games, but US...we're getting older and desensitized to the games they are putting out.
I'm 30, my friend/ co worker is 23 . I played them all, hes never played anything. He thinks WoW is the best thing since sliced bread, I think its like playing with a tonka truck.
The problem isn't as much that they keep spinning out Orges and Elves, but no one is trying to cater to the more mature gamer....no ones thinking outside the box anymore....why would they when they dont have to.
It's all Gygaxs fault... him and his twin brother Bill gates.... LOL (just kidding)
I disagree that people prefer elves and ogres.... the reason that they are prevalant in games these days is that they are copying the big successful games... IMHO there has never been a SCI-FI MMO that has been done with as much depth as what you see in WOW and EQ. EVE cames close and is a awesome game but people like to be something other than a ship in a game and it's long travel times are a big BIG drawback to casual gamers.
Witty saying to amuse you goes here.
It's all Gygaxs fault... him and his twin brother Bill gates.... LOL (just kidding)
I disagree that people prefer elves and ogres.... the reason that they are prevalant in games these days is that they are copying the big successful games... IMHO there has never been a SCI-FI MMO that has been done with as much depth as what you see in WOW and EQ. EVE cames close and is a awesome game but people like to be something other than a ship in a game and it's long travel times are a big BIG drawback to casual gamers.
What depth are you refering to with EQ or WOW that doesn't exist in Anarchy Online?
EDIT****
F.Y.I. Please dont flame this guy for comparing EQ to WOW! ;D
For the Horde!
the most popular RPG's (starting back when D&D first came out in the late 70's) have been fantasy. Even CRPG's
second to fantasy tabletop RPG's have been horror themed RPG's such as white wolf's games. second to fantasy CRPG is sci-fi.
its no surprise that fantasy MMO's are extremely popular, but what is a big surprise is how successful white wolf has been in the real world and nobody has tried to mimic this in the MMO world
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
I would love a great MMO of When Will You Rage! But for that matter, you would have to create it with 2 visual interfaces, one for human form, and one for were-form. (Yes, were form, as more then werewolves existed) They would also have to borrow from WAR with the concept of leveling makes your character more menecing and a force to be dealt with.
But thats for another thread! ;D
P.S. I need a game to play.......
Simple it won't sell..........MMORPG companies want to make money and Sci-fi won't sell as much as Fantasty.
Few examples:
Mythic put on hold its sci-fi game Imperator and decided to develope Warhammer instead.
Tabula Rasa was supposed to be the most original game to come out, for then Richard Garriot changing his mind and converting it to a straight forward sci-fi (I think he regretted making a sci-fi all together).
SWG although was a well known franchise because of the movie series, never had more subscription than EQ, which wasn't a franchise at all.
EVE has 120K subscribers, and it's considered the best MMORPG out there, still it doesn't even come close to the numbers of an average Fantasy game.
There is a reason why companies don't want to produce sci-fi, and basically the reason is there are not enough people interested in it.
Fantasy IS, and will always be the best subject for a MMORPG, because that's what people want.
PS: By the way I like sci-fi games, I played AO for 1 year and I am still playing EVE.
My post is not about trying to discredit you, but just to expose the truth as it is.
There is a good reason why there are not more sci-fi MMORPG around, it's not because of a conspiracy against the sci-fi genre.
It's all about profit.
I wont begin to want to argue profit out there, and you are correct, almost... I said ALL the MMO's... not the "top selling". There are MMO's flying out like bats out of hell that are this side of copyright breaking clones. Yet some of these games have excellent combat systems, or storylines, or what ever. Perhaps if they had something more original behind their game other then "look, its just like WoW, but my friends dont play it", these smaller companies rolling out tons of wannabe's might actually get a little credit on the market.
EDIT***
I guess what I'm trying to say, is that CompanyX isn't going to "become" WoW just by cloning its game... So why not try to get some angle, or twist that might draw some attention. A "better" leveling system wont draw customers out of another game unless the current game is failing to do something that holds its playerbase.
Sure, Fantasy fits into an MMO about as perfect as can be...however, fantasy is nothing more then imagination based on imaginary beings with supernaturalistic abilities.. So is Sci-Fi....
Down with the pointy-eared ones!
What, no! Thats Mr. Spock! Noooo...
Ok yeah, I'm with people on that. Sci-Fi is at least more variable, the fantasy market seems stuck on drawing from D&D. Or at least the most well-known aspects of it. I wouldn't mind having a mainstream game with some more exotic examples of dungeon denizens like Cockatrice, Beholders, and Oozes. When did you last see an Ooze? Its always goblins or rats or something.
I'd like to see a game that did away with a lot of this melee combat too.
Yeah, its really so depressing when people turn up and say they'd like AO if it was a fantasy setting.
Try EVE online. It's a really adult game.
CLICK HERE TO GET A LIST OF FREE MMO LISTS!!!
The reason I refer to Anarchy Online as much as I do isn't so much that I'm crazy about the game. I had my fun, its over... But, if you pull out the leveling system and crafting and all that, and just look at the posibilities of the story and professions. The game catered to people who like fantasy by offereing Enforcers/Keepers (tank/paladin), huge guys in shiny armor with big poundy/choppy weapons. The game catered to cleric types with medics that used nano technology for a magic system. There were pet classes that offered demonic creatures, as well as robots. You could fire guns, bullet guns, flame throwers, grenade launchers, laser things... There are also martial arts, with a variety of MA style weapons (bows, nunchuks, staff, throwing stars, bare hand to hand). Your body was modible with both technology, as well as symbio creatures.
If ruins is your thing, the enviroment, as well as Keeper class (think paladin), as well as the shade(high dps rogue like character) added to the game with Shadow Lands (Discovered Ancient Technology that opened up a parallel and mysticalish universe). This gave the game a twist on fantasy lore and added creatures like unicorns and dragons. If you are on the cutting edge of technology, you could go for the newer Alien Invasion and give your shadowy tatoo'ed shade a pair of laser sabre's that are this side of light sabers in Star Wars.
Using a Sci-Fi approach to the basis of the game gave them all the traditional traits of Fantasy, while still giving a much larger creative base for the dev teams and story creators. (What they did with this information was both good, and in many cases bad)
Either way, it worked. No matter what anyone thinks of the leveling system, or graphics, or any aspect of the game... The Sci-Fi worked well.
what for FreeWorld: Apocalypse Portal its going to rock
http://www.freeworldonline.com
If a game decides to be "unique" just for the sake of being different I will probably hate it. In sci-fi games it works but if someone wants to make a traditional fantasy type game (for many of us our favourite genre) do we really need Ugarks instead of Orcs? An orc I can relate to. They almost seem as real now as a lion or bear with all the movies, books and games we have seen them in. It is much easier to immerse myself in a world with orcs and goblins and dragons than a world like Ryzom which I feel like I am thrown in to with nothing to pull from.
That doesn't mean I don't want to see the creators come up with some unique ideas as well. Some new classes, some new skills, new spells and yes new monsters. Perhaps some of them will become so popular they can offer alternatives to orcs etc. one day. A ratio of 50/50 is probably ideal to me. A game that is 100% unique is hard to immerse yourself in and a game that is all re-hashed better have amazing gameplay or it will get boring fast.
To me there should be a balance.
Not unique for the sake of it, unique for not being a clone of another persons work and ride the success of another product. I'm tired of basically logging into a game that requires me to pay a monthly fee, just to do the same thing I've done in a bunch of other games... Ohh look, a goblin, well standard fantasy lore states I gotta smush em good, so that when I get capped out in this game, I'll have done it over and over and over and over again, just to leave this game, and find a goblin in another fantasy game to smash from one side of the world to the other. Not only that, but since I'm a "tank" class, I'll do it with the same plate armor, and shield/sword setup that is traditionally the "standard" config from each game in this genre.
Tell me how many long run TV series you can think of that are purely fantasy based? None that I can think of.... Why? Because that horse has been beaten into glue.... Now it seems that glue is keeping the games stuck in the same rut over and over again. Excellent "short term" material. They make lots of mini series like the recently played Merlin with the guy from Jurassic Park. They are great, but come on, its the story of Merlin... in an MMO world, you couldn't be Merlin, cause then everyone would want to be Merlin, and that isn't fun. (it might be worth some time, but not months of dedicated gamers) =D
Now, think of long run success TV series... Star Trek, Stargate, BattleStar, Seaquest, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits.... They are/were able to survive on the fact that while they had a relatable setup, the content wasn't limited by the bounds of other workings, and when things got old, they didn't have to pack up and create a new show because they could just drift another direction. Star Trek always found new planets and species to discover... Stargate is always hoppin through space-time to places that didn't exist to the imagination till they made it. Some locations were pure tech, some where old voodoo stuff, some where strange mixtures of the village people using laser powered potato guns. =D
EDIT****
As far as ryzom is concerned, and you feeling unfamilier with the storyline and whatnot. I guess that I feel thats part of what I'm paying for... after all, its MMO-RPG. I'd hope that means a little more then I'm playing the role of a drone with a credit card. I like that when I get a new game it takes time to learn the land, and that learning the land is a new and inspiring world. I also like learning new systems for combat, because sometimes its fun not to smash buttons over and over. I feel this content is part of what I'm expecting for my money. I'm not saying that a player should log in and be totally lost and confused, but I know what quests are like... and I know what grinding is like... and I'm not honestly in a rush to get into it. Ryzom has a very nice "design your own attack" system that lets you custom balance the "cost" of using a skill, vs. "paying" for it in range reduction and other forms of payment. This system also lets you make some very complicated and amazing compound skills. There is also an almost entirely player based economy (not original, but nice when done well) that lets players build thousands of custom gear, including colors and stats. This made for a nice lack of clones walking around the city. I can't recall seeing any 2 players that were alike. Ryzom also offers actually ranged weapons, that resemble "guns" on a very basic level. The players posses a limited amount of technology that has been gathered from the bits from one of the godlike beings from space that are part of the storyline. Lets not forget that if you are the elfish people, the main city after you leave the nooby area has one of the most fantastic rendered gardens I've ever seen, and to get to it you crawl into a bugs rump. (Think left over locust shell) They also added little extra's to the AI like herbavores, and carnavores that chase and eat the herbavores. The herbavores will look at you and sniff you and paw at you, sometimes they follow you around and make funny sounds.
However, in the future I anticipate we will see an increase in space MMO games, such as EVE Online, do to its apparent great success.
?played: Nearly everything.
?waiting: *Darkfall*, Hero''s Journey
I would like to see some more new sci-fi space MMOs as well. Either point and click controls or twitch based controls(joystick or mouse). Planetary flight or not. The usual walk around as a character and shooting things)(what almost all sci-fi mmos have) or not.
Something like a 3D space trading type game which I haven't seen in ages.
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Give me lights give me action. With a touch of a button!
Also, I think EQ is the only MMORPG I've played that I could play as an Ogre, so why you gotta be hating the Ogres?