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Personal Preferences
neschria
Member UncommonPosts: 1,406
I have noticed that a lot of MMO games are played in a 3rd person view from behind or over the shoulder of your character, or from above. Is this really something that people prefer? I always switch to 1st person view, if I can. In a few games I have played, the first person isn't very good (i.e. the view is somehow 'off' or it is difficult to manipulate) and I change back, but I do prefer seeing things as my character sees them, and I am not that keen on watching my own butt all the time. Multiple camera angles that can be instantly changed are a good thing, especially if you need a broader view of your area or are trying to get that future-sig-file screenshot, but for the bulk of my playing, I like 1st person view.
While on the topic of things I prefer, I like arrow key movement. It's a habit for me. I can do WASD movement too, and that's ok. Click-and-run movement annoys me, and keyboard movement on alpha keys other than WASD is a pain to adjust to. Games that allow you to re-map their stupidly arranged movement keys are good. Games that suddenly develop weird bugs when you do that remapping are bad. 
I like games with race and class choices. I don't like games where your race *is* your class. I like games where racial differences mean something, but I don't like it to be so bad that some race/class combinations just can't compete-- if differences can be made up at the high end through equipment or other stat advancement choices, that's a good thing. In any case, I want to be able to pick a more difficult path, get to the high end, and *know* that I took the hard road... and know that other people know it too.
I am just a little curious about how other people feel about these things. So... what do all y'all think?
~*~
neschria
Bludgeoner of Bunnies
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
Comments
I agree on most of that, Arrow keys are best for movement imo, WASD are doable, but still prefer arrows. And any game that doesn't allow you to remap them as simple as it is is just silly.
Personally I prefer over the shoulder in RPGs, if I'm playing a FPS then naturally I like 1st person, but in mmorpgs it's always been 3rd that I've used. This might have alot to do with like you said the 1st person view in mmorpgs haveing mostly been screwey to date, in DAoC I swear it was knee high.
Definitely like different race/class combos, and I don't feel it should be restricted. Races should have an affect, but not too bad. I mean granted an Ogre won't make a good Mage or a Giant make a good Thief, but if thats what someone wants to roleplay that should be their right.
Richard J. Cox
"There were much of the beautiful, much of the wanton, much of the bizarre, something of the terrible, and not a little of that which might have excited disgust."
EQ spoiled me by giving me a first person view after my semi short lived UO life. Moving on to AC with third person view really gave my brain fits (although I think AC does have first person view but I did not like it). Right now I slightly perfer 3rd person view over first, depending on the game. Some first person views do not show enough of the environment for my liking. I have to know what's going on around me and who is there.
As for movement I like the ol WASD. Probably a carry over from playing FPS games. I also find WASD more convenient when I need to hit the function keys. Call me lazy but reaching across the keyboard from the arrow keys gets tiring
I think racial differences are a must to give some diversity. I get tired of looking at nothing but humans or elves.
I use a Microsoft Strategic Commander. Don't need to touch the keyboard except to chat. 24 buttons and directionals all without needing to move my hand.
As far as view, 3rd person is nice because you can see everything going on around you. Helps when you need to keep an eye out for gankers...
Hmmm. I got curious about the Strategic Commander, so I went and looked it up. I can't decide if it is something I would find really useful, or if it would just be another thing fighting for room on my desk. I imagine it would be a way to standardize different games, by putting the same commands on the same buttons all the time. That would be an advantage to me, I'd think.
I don't mind keyboard and mouse. I have to say that I am pretty uncoordinated and can't do both at the same time, so I tend to rely heavily on the keyboard for not only movement, but pitching my view up and down, and so on. I can type by touch, although I am not a very fast typist, since my manual dexterity leaves a lot to be desired. Being a creature of the habit of not being entirely conscious of what my hands are doing, once my hands are used to one system, switching to a different game makes me crazy. I rely on the mouse for targetting, and for using some screen command buttons (i.e. clicking spells or hotkeys) if I am already on the mouse. My husband tends to be a straight-up keyboard guy. If there's a keyboard shortcut, he knows it and uses it. My poor addled brain can't hold the keyboard commands for 800 games like his can.
Regarding first-vs-third person view, I was going to say that I tend to play PvE games, so I don't have to worry about people sneaking up on me, but that's not entirely true. There's always trains and backspawns to worry about. (Ugh... I hate accidentally backing up into respawns.) But I tend to spin a lot while I am standing still, so I am pretty much aware of what's going on all around me, even in first person. (I am told that my characters twitch constantly, but that seems to be a pretty common disease among melee characters.) Also, I tend to travel with company, so we watch each other's backs, so to speak.
...and I don't have to outrun mobs or PKs. I just have to outrun my husband's character.
[EDIT: clarity]
~*~
neschria
Bludgeoner of Bunnies
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
*Notice: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author... got sick of holding backspace.
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ParaTrooper, That guy that used to mod the MMORPG.com forums.
I prefer 3rd person as I can see my char and see how he looks in his new armor or with his new bureaucrat suit (dam AO
). I admit if I can use first person once in a while I will use it, but thats only when im in buildings and when i get to the otherside of the door I want to make sure no mob is pouncing on my ass. But as a whole I like 3rd person better so I can see around me, the suroundings and of course to see how kool my char looks 
Reason I left neocron was because there wasnt a third person...........I dont think theres one anyway.
But I do think having the choice to switch between the two is a plus.
The thing is that in a lot of games with a view from behind, you really can't see a whole lot more behind you, aside from being able to see your own back, and seeing myself at all kind of annoys me. I really do like instant camera angle changes. I switch to a distant 3rd person view a lot in EQ when my character is feigning death, using the mouse to swing wide to see if there's any immediate danger to standing up, and I go through all sorts of camera-and-positioning contortions to get good character screenshots, but I still love feeling like I am looking at the game world through the eyes of my avatar.
I think EQ has a nice collection of camera angles, and they've added a tether-cam/chase-cam kind of thing, so you can run up to the camera point, and as you pass, it swings and follows you. I am not sure when or if that would ever be useful in the game, but it would be cool if to take that and edit it into a video about your character, if you were inclined that way. Alas, I don't know how to do that sort of thing. (yet.)
~*~
neschria
Bludgeoner of Bunnies
...
This is where I draw the line: __________________.
I suppose it is indeed all Personal Preference, mines 3rd person allowing me to see everything around me. Plus for alot of combat depending on what type of character you play often your don't move in combat and can move the camera around whilst still in combat.
*Notice: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author... got sick of holding backspace.
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ParaTrooper, That guy that used to mod the MMORPG.com forums.
3D games are usually in 1st person or something of the sort for one reason. They are 3D games, and 3rd person poses camera issues in many games. Shadowbane would be a prime example of how annoying 3rd person can be. 3rd person becomes most problematic in places like dungeons and such.
There is hope however. Lineage 2 has 3rd person as the main view, and I must admit they have done their best to make it good. They made the game world very spacious so many problems with past games and 3rd person aren't a problem there.
It's better be hated for who you are, than loved for who you aren't.
It's better be hated for who you are, than loved for who you aren't.
I love 1st person games, but 1st person view is usually designed to be a secondary view in most MMORPGs. 3rd person view really gives you the much needed situational awareness boost and thats why I end up using it. Planetside was the only massive multiplayer game that I have been enjoying in 1st person and come to think of it PS was the MMOG which had the best feel of immersion to date for me... even tho it got boring in couple months of time.
I don't understand why game designers prefer the 3rd person view when 1st person games are so popular in the game market these days.