I remember in WoW whenever I took a Hunter into a dungeon players threw a fit if I used a pet.
Not to knock other games but when I first played WoW I thought they had a fabulous way of introducing the taming steps and finally the long arduous task of gaining loyalty. That is no longer the case with the pet becoming the best friend at break neck speed. What a waste of design where playing and building a relationship with the pet actually meant something.
I never had the guts to take my hunter into a dungeon after reading and listening to the horror stories and laments about hunters I was scared of adding my own mistakes to the tales. Pity really as I always adored the class to bits.
Yes, I always looked forward to the time when my hunters got the quest to start taming pets!
I rarely ventured into dungeons without my guild, so Theo's recollection was "foreign" to me
[edit to add]
I had SOOOOOO much fun in trying to find more pets in every location to tame. My "stable" was as full as I could keep it with the gold I had to spend to buy more stable slots
Also, I wanted add that WoW pets had setting for aggressive or passive behavior...
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
One thing about Pets is that they can easily make the Tamer overpowered.
I suspect that balancing is one reason games are moving away from the idea of a controlled pet. In many cases where the balance wasn't maintained, pets could (and did) outperform many player classes. Even in the earlier days of EQ1 and UO, the likelihood of overpowered pets was present. The problem is simple really: having 1 player control 2 (or more) avatars wrecks havoc in a game, disrupting progression rates and causing player jealousy.
So, to correct a design imbalance and lack of developmental self-discipline, games appear to be moving away from the pet classes. It's a case of fixing a problem by omitting the thing causing the problem.
This is what makes me sad. 'Fun' and uniqueness is usually sacrificed for 'progression rates.' The funny thing about progression rates is that only a handful of people take it seriously compared the entire game's population. Thinking about how enraged people were at how 'overtuned' Saragares was in Legion or even more recent, the whole P8S drama in FFXIV, simply because either the classes/jobs people wanted to play were 'underperforming' for a 'world-first clear' and would've easily been forgotten about if they cleared it the next week due to more gear coming in. I do think some people are right that the 'higher-end' does impact the game, just not in the way they are thinking about. I miss the days when the latest content just wasn't cleared because more gear was needed (like the dinosaur island in MoP if anyone remembers that), but now that's just seen as lazy game design.
This is normal when you're playing with other people. Things they want may not be what you want and what is popular may be less challenging in the end. That is why if you want things that are unique and more challenging single player games are the way to go.
These MMORPGs have evolved in many ways that are a devolution rather than an evolution. I play the MMORPGs for the people I play with and when they leave or the game has a population that manages to rub me the wrong way there is little to keep me around. I also think that this is the reason people flit from game to game.
I never tried UO because I started with Everquest and that game absorbed me like no other game has done but it was the people I met there that kept me playing it. UO also was PvP then it was before Trammel so that completely turned me off. Over the years I have met other people in other games but never as long as I had played Everquest.
The current MMORPGs that action based don't interest me so I often go back to older MMORPGs and if I meet people there I stay a little while and enjoy the game for a few months. I rotate now between games as that seems to keep my interest best.
This pretty much echoes my feelings. I chose EQ over UO for the same PvP reasons (2000-ish). I also agree with the "devolution" of the genre and your take on "action orientated combat." What many players want does not "fit well" in MASSIVELY multiplayer games.
"Uniqueness" is a big one
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Pet classes work, Final Fantasy XI is proof of that. You just have lazy developers. XI is 20 years old, and they nailed it for the most part.
XIV, the current fad mmo can't seem to nail pets....how did your older bro do it? You had the blueprint.
Showing up without a pet? You better in XI....it is half or most of your total dmg lol.
The only pathing issues is with that grasshopper pet that hops.
You can do endgame stuff beautifully on SMN, PUP and BST. Getting people to invite you as the latter seems to be the only issue.
DRG is a pet class "Lite" as some call it, but it works.
But XI is the GOAT, I don't expect EVERY mmo to live up to the Final Fantasy GOAT.
This thread mad made realize why I never found a game that will allow me to move on from XI. Why should I? They don't make MMO like that anymore......Just sick with it.
Is it old? Yeah.....So are Chevy Impala, but us bruthas still rock our old schools.
The characters are usually gimped + have a pet to make up for it so some version of pet classes are required to have the pet as it's half their class. The good version of necros you can solo in group games but same problem of sucking without pets. Which I guess is the point with a pet class. So, I guess that's why pet classes are getting phased out. Who knows.
Pet classes work, Final Fantasy XI is proof of that. You just have lazy developers. XI is 20 years old, and they nailed it for the most part.
XIV, the current fad mmo can't seem to nail pets....how did your older bro do it? You had the blueprint.
Showing up without a pet? You better in XI....it is half or most of your total dmg lol.
The only pathing issues is with that grasshopper pet that hops.
You can do endgame stuff beautifully on SMN, PUP and BST. Getting people to invite you as the latter seems to be the only issue.
DRG is a pet class "Lite" as some call it, but it works.
But XI is the GOAT, I don't expect EVERY mmo to live up to the Final Fantasy GOAT.
This thread mad made realize why I never found a game that will allow me to move on from XI. Why should I? They don't make MMO like that anymore......Just sick with it.
Is it old? Yeah.....So are Chevy Impala, but us bruthas still rock our old schools.
"Is it old? Yeah.....So are Chevy Impala, but us bruthas still rock our old schools."
I don't know hardly anything about FF games, but this comment alone made me give you an "awesome."
You are also spot on about "older brothers." These things take a special expertise that's largely missing in modern games and has been thrown away like month old pizza.
Well, the loss of pet classes sucks, just like the loss of any other gameplay style.
I want a MMO with good longterm motivation to play it. That includes having a rich class system in which you can play as many different playstyles as possible. So people who love playing alts have plenty choices.
Also of course many alternative roads of leveling, like crafting, harvesting, or something like Vanguard style diplomacy.
Also of course a very large game world to explore. Etc.
Comments
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
XIV, the current fad mmo can't seem to nail pets....how did your older bro do it? You had the blueprint.
Showing up without a pet? You better in XI....it is half or most of your total dmg lol.
The only pathing issues is with that grasshopper pet that hops.
You can do endgame stuff beautifully on SMN, PUP and BST. Getting people to invite you as the latter seems to be the only issue.
DRG is a pet class "Lite" as some call it, but it works.
But XI is the GOAT, I don't expect EVERY mmo to live up to the Final Fantasy GOAT.
This thread mad made realize why I never found a game that will allow me to move on from XI. Why should I? They don't make MMO like that anymore......Just sick with it.
Is it old? Yeah.....So are Chevy Impala, but us bruthas still rock our old schools.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
I don't know hardly anything about FF games, but this comment alone made me give you an "awesome."
You are also spot on about "older brothers." These things take a special expertise that's largely missing in modern games and has been thrown away like month old pizza.
Once upon a time....