I am one of many MMO addicts out there jonesing for a really great game, but today no game really hits on all of the characteristics I feel an MMO needs to be great. I have outlined these characteristics below and given examples of games that succeed and fail in each area. Then I examine a few of the soon to be released games with the biggest hype and how they appear to fit in my outline.
Games that are in BOLD are examples of games that stand out as having high achievement in a category and ITALICS are games that have failed in a category.
If games are not mentioned in a category I feel that they do not stand out and are therefore adequate.
Please let me know if you think I’ve missed a category haven’t mentioned a game where I should.
Combat
-Fun factor: Age of Conan, Tabula Rasa
-Involvement: Eve Online
-Learning curve: Eve Online
Character Customization
-Avatar Appearance: Age of Conan, Vanguard
-Skillset Variation: Everquest II
-Item Variety: World of Warcraft, Everquest II, Eve Online, Age of Conan
Game interface
-Options (customizations and mods): World of Warcraft, Age of Conan
-Learning curve: Age of Conan, Eve Online
-Player Organizations (Guilds, Corps, ect): Age of Conan
Content/features
-PvE (includes lore): Lord of the Rings: Online
-PvP: Eve Online, Lord of the Rings: Online
-Character development (Lvl and classes vs sandbox): Eve Online (best sandbox since Ultima Online)
-Economy: Eve Online, World Of Warcraft, The Burning Seas
-End Game: World of Warcraft (raiding) Eve Online (PvP)
-Crafting:
-Involvement: Everquest II, Eve Online, Age of Conan
-Learning Curve: Eve Online
-Relevance (are the items useful?): Age of Conan, Tabula Rasa
Game World (degree of instancing): World of Warcraft
Real World Factors
-Company PR: Age of Conan (Funcom)
-Web resources (official site, thotbott, ect): World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings: Online, Everquest II, Eve Online
SOON TO BE RELEASED
I have outline below the specific strengths and weaknesses I expect from each game based on information released so far.
WAR
Strengths:
Content/features
PvP
Endgame (unlockable raids and opportunities for distinction)
Game interface
Player Organizations
Weaknesses:
Combat
Fun factor
Content/features
Crafting
Character Customization
Item Variety
Darkfall
Strengths:
Combat
Fun factor
Involvement
Character Customization
Item Variety
Skill set Variation
Content/features
PvP: 100% lootable!!!!
Character Development: Sandbox
Crafting
Game World
Large Continuous world with only dungeons instanced. Guild cites un-instanced.
Stargate Worlds
Strengths:
Combat
Fun factor
Involvement
Content/features
PvE (Lore)
i think combat and or pvp should be split into subcategories:
Mon Aug 18 2008 2:51AM1 vs 1 ,
grp vs grp (teams between 4 and 10 players),
army vs army (at least 30 player on each side, better 200 vs 200)
in the army vs army category lineage2 does a pretty good job providing siegable castles that produce money/items for the faction that posess them
I would like to suggest you play other MMos before make any stereotype conclusion how good about Everquest2, Eve, WoW or Age of Conan. Seem like your game experiences only up to those games. Purely garbage to me.. True MMos gamer wouldnt limited their game play with those overrated company.
Mon Aug 18 2008 2:55AMIf you read past the first paragraph you will see that I take the basics of MMOs, apply them to the BEST AND WORST EXAMPLES in the genre, and then list what of these characteristics I expect to stand out in the new MMOs coming out soon. I do not, for the sake of brevity, list every single MMO out there and how they apply.
Mon Aug 18 2008 12:52PMI think his point was that you explain none of your points, nor give reasons; it's a purely a list of what you liked or disliked in any given MMO if it's without examples or reasoning to back them.
One thing I have to wonder about is how can you judge how fun the combat is in a game that isn't released?
Mon Aug 18 2008 11:30PMGood list. I agree with every single thing you put on there. Learning curves on EVE are terrible, but... I love the game. I also think the learning curve is good because it keeps most of the idiots out of the game.
There's no real evidence toward the Future of MMO's. Except what you think of how they're gonna be broke down into categories.
Tue Aug 19 2008 12:51AMOk thanks guys I'll see if I can explain my points better while still keeping it short.
Wed Aug 20 2008 8:50AMMMORPG.com writes:
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