Here's some MMOs I've played in beta recently that I just couldn't find any enjoyment in. Is it me? Am I expecting too much these days? Something must be wrong with me if I'm picking up one new MMO only to become quickly underwhelmed then jumping straight into another:
- Gods & Heroes
According to PE, the game needed more "polish." From what I could tell they were right. Although realistic beyond the realms of most MMOs, there was a lot of detail in the weapons and armor that I either hadn't attained or was never in the game to begin with. The avatars were lifelike and could be highly customized -- better than any other MMO I can think of. This feature turned out to be the only aspect of the game that I really enjoyed. Questing was the typical point A to B humdrum with no real storytelling. I know, I know...it's BETA, but something in development for that long should have had more to offer.
What turned me on to this MMO initially was the supposed cutting-edge combat (we all saw the video clips). Looked pretty cool, but turned out to be only cool in execution and not in function. Again, more of the same cookie-cutter, click-to-activate skills like all the other MMOs out there. Bleh.
While I wait for this game to come back from the dead, BIGGER and BETTER, I pray PE's doing something utterly orgasmic with Star Trek in the meantime.
- Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
I didn't last more than a few hours in this game. Like most MMOs, it had nothing new to offer to the genre other than the LotR storyline. That's a great backbone to build an MMO on IF it can do it without operating exactly like all the other MMOs out there. Note to devs: think outside the box!
- Pirates of the Burning Sea
Landlubber or sea dog? Which aspect is more fun? I guess it was a pirate's life for me.
Here's a game with soooo much potential! PotBS has something going for it if they can add more functionality to the ship/combat system. Yes, I DID have fun with the ships and spent about 75% of my time at sea in the game. But just being able to switch ammo types gets old really quick, otherwise you're simply steering and clicking (sometimes boarding) and waiting to sink a foe or be sunk yourself. Maybe if they grouped the crew into types and allowed the player to handle each crew types tasking (gunner, marine, deckhand, etc.) independently, possibly building experience in crew types as the game progresses. I dunno...there's an intricacy to the ships that the devs are missing. Simply put, there should be more to the ships than just driving them around and shooting at one another. PotBS could actually revolve solely around the ships with all the other game's features merely supporting.
About four days into the beta I found the questing to be way too easy with the tried and true fetch and return in swashbuckling mode. It's fun but gets old quickly. And I don't see things getting any better than what I've already experienced -- that would be a game that simply wants to capitalize on the whole 'Pirates of the Caribbean' thang. Disappointing.
- Tabula Rasa
I went ahead and picked up a 3-day trial key (yeah, I know, not really in beta any longer), waited all day for the download and then spent only an hour playing before uninstalling. What's all the hype behind this game? Not only does it look terrible but the avatar movement along with the free motion camera was enough to make me puke. So it's a shooter that plays like an MMO...m'kay. Someone please convince me that I'm just way too picky and that I should give it another try. After doing the first few missions I was not at all impressed with it.
Maybe if I were a gamer in my teens or 20's, I might feel like all these new games were fresh and exciting. It's quite possible that I've somehow peaked with my expectations. Maybe I'm just too impatient. Perhaps I should go back to pen and paper RPGs?
*beta app submitted*
I'm REALLY hoping that AoC is more than just lopping off heads coupled with gratuitous T&A...
Actually I really liked your blog... and I feel exactly the same way you do.. Lately, I cant find a good RPG or MMORPG for myself to play and that drives me insane.
All the games that you mentioned had fell short for me as well, but there were a few more that I have tried and was very disappointed.
First game I tried was The Chronicles of Spellborn (TCoS). Now the concept was superb and very unique, at least to me. After finally getting invited for beta I found myself faced with none working features and crashing client. There was nothing to do in the game, but quests, which to say the least get boring really fast. The only reason why I even tried this game is because of the unique fighting and crafting systems. Crafting wasn’t even done yet. Now keep in mind this game was supposed to be out Q1 2007 then June 2007 now Q1 2008 … Yes they are using the “Unreal II” engine which is still sort of a good one, but the game has been in the development for almost 4 years and by the time it will be out I think it will look like UO compare to other games J. Not that there is anything wrong with UO….. even after 8 or 9 years that it has been out it still produces revenue and to me it means that people still like the content they are paying for.
Second game I played was 2Moons…. OMG sub par graphics, none existing PVP, very cookie cutter game like most Korean games we find on the market now a day. Basically, your typical grind fest. Played for a few hours before uninstalling it for good.
Third game I tried was Pirate King Online. Before you start flaming me for this move, listen me out. I tried to be an equal opportunity gamer and give a try to all the crappy MMORPGs that I get my hands on J. Now, talking about cookie cutter game… OMG … heheh lets count just off the top of my head: 1. Ragnarok Online 2. Rose Online 3. Maple Story 4. Angels Online 5. FlyFF 6. Corum Online etc etc etc … the list goes on and on and on and on J
Basically, what I see lately is a lot of companies coming fromKorea
Maybe I should pull out my old “New Horizons” by Koei from 95 and enjoy it…
Mon Dec 17 2007 4:35AM Reporti had same experience with TR ive even played for whole day in beta but stop what a terrible game is that.
Mon Dec 17 2007 5:01AM ReportInteresting post. I have been disenchanted with the current MMO output these days. Granted, I havent tried as many as you guys have, but for an oldstyle P&P-guy, I am looking for something special.
I realised, that I am looking for soemthing not yet anywhere. So now I'm playing more detached games. WW2-online, this shooter goes simulation is quite impressive these days, fun and actionpacked - perfect counterweight for p&p-rpg's :-).
Somewhere here in these blogs, someone rants about so called Beta-testers. Testers, who are testing games for themselves and not to support the finishing of those games.
Mon Dec 17 2007 5:02AM ReportThanks guys i have been feeling the same way but the freinds i have online just now love EQ2 and pirates of the burning sea. I how ever cant get into EQ2 as for POTBS i have played it for a week of beta and am starting to find it repetative. i loved WoW and SWG so any ideas what world to jump into just now then till start of new year.
Mon Dec 17 2007 9:07AM ReportStarsider on swg......................... Best one out there..........
I have played many, many mmorpgs too..... I can't find any that have what I want......... I have played
Final Fantasy XI..... Too hard to group and alot of grinding.
DAOC.... Nobody there.
LOTRO... Good game but not a very tight community yet.
WOW..... I'ts ok
Even after the nge swg is the best I have found what other game lets you fight in a tie fighter shoot stormtroopers, own a house, and heck live in a starwars univers... the only thing that I don't like is after you hit lvl 35 It dose'nt feel like an mmo"rpg"... It looses that aspect which I think is vital
Mon Dec 17 2007 10:32AM ReportI'm in the same boat (not a PotBS reference) as everyone else, apparently.
The games that come out all fail to live up to their hype. ALL of them.They never release to market with the impact they are promised to make. And really, nothing on the market is 'next gen'. Because 'next gen' is apparently a term like 'tomorrow'. It's always on the horizon, but it's never 'now'.
I'm also afraid that 'next gen' means 'let's blend the 1st person shooter market with the MMORPG market' to most game developers. I mean, what's the easiest way for these guys to get $$$$$ from investors?
They must go in there with this message: "we're going to build a game off of the hit $$$$ movie franchise (Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Matrix, Conan, Star Trek) using the same game mechanics of the hit $$$$$$ fps/console game (halo, quake, unreal) and make an MMO using the same featurs as other successful $$$$$ MMO's (wow, eq2, lineage).
Come up with something new already.
No Orc's. No troll's. Not even an Elf. I don't wanna see a dwarf or gnome either. And if I see any with f*cking pink pigtails... I hope... sorry... moving on.
I don't want a link to a movie... not even a likeness of Keanu in black on a brand new (not yet released in the US) cell phone, Samuel L in brown pj's waving around his glow-stick (jedi temple rave parties), or Orlando (archer or ship capt wannabe) on the game box.
...
The side note here, though... we're all addicted to MMO's. We've started off with the soft stuff and we've gradually moved on to harder stuff. Now we're asking for something even harder? lol.
Mon Dec 17 2007 11:39AM ReportMAN< you hit the Nail right on the Head.
NOTHING out there, Had to go back to Wow to get a Good game.{Even though I am Bored with it Too} Lord of the Rings Online was the Only thing close to A good Game. Still a bit Cookie Cutter. Gods and Heroes. Same. Pirates of the Burning Sea, Combat Blows. The Ship combat is Kind of Cool, but it will get Old Quick. Tabula Rasa
would be OK if it was like Guild Wars....Free. I would NEVER pay a Monthly fee for that. I too Look Forward to Age of Conan, Even though I Play it because Im a HUGE canan Freak. Warhammer looks like a WOW clone. I personaly think Dark Age of Camelot was the Best Game, But Like Hamiltonnc88 Said "Nobody There"
Its enough to Drive me away from my PC
Mon Dec 17 2007 11:51AM ReportI totally agree. There needs to be something new and big happen in the mmo world. Cause I'm bored.
Mon Dec 17 2007 11:54AM ReportI too have picked up many new MMOs and become very quickly underwhelmed, only to jump into another or fall back on "the old standard."
EQ2 - Loved it at first, got really boring and I lost interest
Tabula Rasa - Really loved it at first, still like it and play occassional but see no reason to advance beyond simply the next "ding"
LOTRO - Never that impressed, pace is too slow, for all the good story and lore I don't feel immersed at all
EVE - was very impressed with the over all nature of the game, but not with the prospect of spending months and months to get truly "involved"
Vanguard - I actually really liked the game play, but it ran like crap on my PC and was so buggy it was a joke, this was in Beta though. Waiting for re-release/trial
I've put all my hopes into Warhammer... please, please don't disappoint
Mon Dec 17 2007 2:16PM ReportStar Wars Galaxies : There was so much to do there that even the bugs couldn't keep me away.
It still had a kind of first person shooter feel but i think they did it right while still offering perks like town creation.
If there was a game like that with less of the ridiculous grinds (mining for steel or top notch solar energy etc.) then i say many of us could possibly be quick to hop on that ship.
ridiculous grind = having to beat all the people who wait for the minerals to reset and set up 100 of their extractors before anyone else can get there. (star wars galaxies reference)
WoW : they had ridiculous grinds in the fact that only certain combos really made it through the arenas, only certain people had the time to attend two day five hour raids that are entirely too strict and precise to simply ENJOY. This created less player diversity (you cant be a ret paladin and such) because you had to play THE spec for your class in order to get ONE decent item over a long period of time.
Its split up between people with too much time on their hands (the gods in the game) and casual players who feel they shouldn't have to take their weekend off just to beat a few bosses in an instance.
All in all... i guess i have put my hopes into either
Warhammer or.... DarkFall
Mon Dec 17 2007 4:30PM ReportWow. I expected more resistance than this, lol. So with no real negative commenting I'm slightly inclined to believe that there are a lot of veteran gamers out there looking for something better than what the current MMOs consist of right now, which is an unoriginal WoW archetype.
Mon Dec 17 2007 11:58PM Reportrexkramer, everyone is looking for 'better'. You won't get disagreement on that. If you want to see negative comments, write an article about what you believe would be 'better'.
Tue Dec 18 2007 12:20PM ReportMMORPG.com writes:
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