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jonchicoine 4/11/08 12:58:17 PM
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Novice Member
Joined: 6/14/04 |
What I (an MMO Vet) Craves
There will always be a place for traditional level based, Pavlovian, ring the bell get a treat, MMORPG’s like WOW and EverQuest, but I think there is an “older” generation of players that have maxed at least 1 or 2 characters , and have sampled just about every MMO created in the past 15 years that now desperately crave a new MMORPG paradigm. At the risk of being beheaded, let me also add, that many veteran MMO gamers also probably enjoy a slightly elevated economic status, and while I personally am only slightly beyond living paycheck to paycheck, I would personally pay substantially more for a monthly subscription to help fund a development team that can create a more dynamic world. In other words, I would be more than happy to cancel a number of other accounts and pay $30,$40,$50+ a month for a single game that scratched my 15 year MMO itch.
(On that note, people will pay $20 to go see a movie that only lasts 2 hours, but throw a hissy fit about paying $15 dollars a month to play an MMO. To me… an MMO is entertainment. It is not something I buy to own. It’s something I’m willing to pay for, by the hour almost. Some people will go out to eat on Friday night, or head to a bar and spend $50-$150 for a few hours of entertainment. Times have changed, I believe there are a fair number of people that are willing to pay a tad more the 2 cents an hour, for some good, quality, monthly content updates from a competent group of developers.)
I have spent the past 10 years bouncing from one MMO to another, trying to recapture that heart pounding excitement of my first MMORPG, Asheron’s Call. But alas, I have been unable to quench my thirst for MMO goodness.
So I asked myself, what was it about that first MMORPG gaming experience that made it 10 times better than all the others I've tried since? After some thought, I came to the conclusion that it was the “Unknown Factor”. I had no idea how big the world was. I had no idea how powerful I could become. I didn’t know the name of, nor where to find, the greatest sword the world had ever seen. I didn’t know the limits of magic in my new world. My imagination was running wild all the possibilities. Somehow.. we need to recapture that…
(Ok… that’s mostly what I wanted to say, lol…. You can stop reading now J, unless you’re bored)
(And… If you’ve ever asked about endgame content 2 weeks after launch, and are gaming 24/7 for the sole purpose of reaching max lvl so you can raid or pvp, please stop reading now because you don’t really want to play an RPG anyway!)
(Now, also, let me apologize for my ignorance and any inaccuracies to follow. I am a 15 year business software developer (not games), and despite considering myself a veteran MMO player, I am in no way an expert, and less knowledgeable than many dedicated noobs might be, and feel fortunate when my words congeal to form complete sentences… I just feel a need to vent or something….)
Ten or 15 years ago there weren’t as many, if any, (there must have been some) gaming websites with databases chock full of every little thing you could ever experience in a game. Yes, yes, I know… just because they are there doesn’t mean we need to visit them (but look at those who climb Everest, and why? Cause it’s there J)… but in general there’s often a sense of community and camaraderie with fellow gamers, and there’s no escaping the feeling that if you don’t visit such and such a website, you are gimping yourself, possibly to the extreme of having to reroll because you didn’t understand some new game mechanic or something.
Thus, I think we need a new game mechanic; somehow, something, that creates a world dynamic enough so that every little thing can’t be looked up in some database. Obviously, something more than just a wandering NPC you need to complete a quest. Something that helps perpetuate a feeling of not knowing what’s around the corner. Some magical fluctuating cosmic anomaly (that is not the whim of a dev having a bad day) that says there’s no way of knowing how powerful my spells will be today, this evening or tomorrow. Perhaps tomorrow will be that rare day when my powers are tripled and I can lay waste to all the foes that defeated me in the past.
I won’t pretend that I have THE answer, or any answers for that matter, to accomplish what I know I need to rekindle that old excitement, but I’ll take a stab at it with a few suggestions…. I also know that there are huge numbers of people that will vehemently disagree with me… but I also feel strongly that there is a large population of likeminded people that are craving (and willing to pay for) the same, or similar, experience I am.
Personally, I want a crossbreed, the best parts of Pre NGE/CU SWG + Asheron’s Call (combat)+ Vanguard’s (vastness) +DAOC (RvR) with a hardy helping of innovation.
· I want to log in to have fun. The focus/goal/motivation should not be doing something for the sake of attaining another level, with an end goal of reaching max level, and then asking “what now”. If you put in levels, most people will feel compelled to “grind” or quest or whatever to simple achieve the next level, so that they don’t feel weak and useless. Clearly, different things are “fun” to different people, and what is fun today will not be endlessly fun forever, but surely there must be a way. I think Richard Garret was shooting for this with Tabula Rasa, and achieved it to some degree. There’s simply no way you cannot have fun wading through tons of mobs attacking some checkpoint you’re defending, just mowing them down and knocking them back in mass numbers with a shotgun! Yes, it gets old… but that is just plain fun… for the fun of playing, and not necessarily for just some reward. I want some more of that, pretty please (in addition to some End Game content with regards to Tabula Rasa).
o No more levels (perhaps something akin to early SWG?)
o No more grinding (for the sake of grinding)
o No more classes ( more AC1 style, skill based?)
· Bounds/limits need to be eliminated as much as possible, or at least appear so using something like “diminishing returns” (Again, AC1 style with regards to skills). In other words, if I want to “pump” my sword skill to insane levels make it so that at some point I could increase my sword skill by only 1 more versus increasing my neglected defense by 10. If I want to be able to jump to the moon, let me sacrifice all my other skills so I can be the kangaroo King of jumping! Perhaps some guild will find a need for such a unique individual!
· Exploration Incentive Mechanism – Give me a reason to stuff my pack with supplies and to head out across a seemingly barren desert that could take days (real life days), with no guarantee that my supplies will last long enough for the crossing. Throw in some random weather with real impact, for example if it begins raining, and you’re not dressed for it, you could get sick, weak, or just slow down or something. Make it an adventure to explore, with consequences and rewards that are not based on just your luck of running into a huge pack of social mobs with cheetah like speed. Let me set up a camp like in the early SWG, that is a safe haven from the weather and dangerous mobs that come out at night; some place to recoup. Let other potential adventurers see the glow of my fire from afar (if I choose to build a large one) and seek shelter with me for a small donation of “good will” or some such thing.
o Perhaps there is some story driven mechanic they causes the distances and content in the barren waste lands to change from day to day…. Drifting sand dunes, magic, parallel’ish universes…
o Gimme something I can do while I watch tv, lol…. (I can hear the, “Oh no he didn’ts ringing out, lol)
o Offer up some sort huge reward that I may stumble across if my skill set is adjusted to long boring expeditions through the desert!
· Physical appearance should match and morph to fit play style. If I spend all day casting spells I shouldn’t have big huge Conan muscles; Perhaps, I have some sort of glow about me, or my beard can be grown longer if I am a longtime magic user. If I swing a sword all day, my physical appearance should reflect it, not at first, but as my toon develops and continues to swing his sword, his physical appearance should reflect it. If I spend all damn day jumping everyone I go, my skill should increase in that, as well as the musculature of my toons legs. I also don’t’ think new/young toons should be able to grow facial hair! It would be so cool to watch a character age/mature as it developed. It would also be interesting that if you were not careful, and constantly died cause you were careless, that you wore the scars of your carelessness for everyone to see ( that could perhaps fade over time if you were more cautious). Perhaps there are also plants that can be used to mask ones scars or age for those that are not proud wearers of their own history.
· Character uniqueness/individuality – both visually and skill wise. Something like what I think EQ2 did, where you can wear clothing for example over your armor. In general, you’re rarely close enough to identify someone from their face alone, thus I think customization in this regard can be limited, but you should be able to identify you fellow travelers from their eclectic wardrobe, or choice of dyes.
· An Unknown factor – Give me a reason to revisit an area I have already been to. (think, story driven, wandering “pot of gold”, or something). Perhaps some monsters in a particular area only feed on experienced travelers, and ignore young travelers because they know they will only find what they need on seasoned travelers. I think this would have the effect of making the world seem bigger, because if you can mix and match areas to suit a wider range of players, then you wont’ necessarily “out level” a given area by exploring some other area first. Thus, my wonder lust can continue to be satisfied as an experienced traveler visiting new places frequented by less experienced adventurers hunting easier game.
· A No Nerf Guarantee! – What SOE did (and is still doing) to SWG should be considered a crime and punishable by death! Don’t nerf me! Buff every other class and double mob hit points if you have to, but nothing makes me want to quit more than when I am suddenly hitting for less damage, or lose some skill, blah blah blah. I understand this makes balancing difficult, but who cares, balance is overrated …. Nerf’s cause way more unrest than unbalanced classes (again… just my opinion J) And yes, I know… easier said than done. Seriously, I don’t’ care if it takes me twice as long to kill a given mob…. That’s way better than waking up to find you’ve come down with some insane disease where you now only hit for half as much! NO NERFS, NO NERFS, NO NERFS!
· “Realm” based, PVP Resources, like player built cities, with significant tangible rewards. I know that many think player built cities have a negative impact from a social perspective, but I am suggesting player built cities, not by guild, but by Realm (think of a cross between Shadowbane player built cities and DAOC Castle sieges).
o Again, this is a personal preference, but here are some benefits from this as I see it.
§ First and foremost, this creates a default sense of belonging and community, among all those in a given “realm”, while minimizing the negative side of spreading out the player base into small guild based cities, which can often feel deserted.
§ This allows non guilded, solo adventures to participate… (like DAOC, castle sieges).
§ Allows casual players with limited time to participate without first finding a group, and makes it easier to attend to real life issues when the come up and leave in the middle of a fight without feeling that you are abandoning your mates….
o And of course, you can’t have 1000 vs 1000 players fights with all toons on the screen at the same time. Perhaps a city has multiple attack points, guard towers that are spread out around the city, and there’s some story driven mechanic that makes it easier to take down a city when it’s attacked from multiple points versus everyone attacking the same point.
And now for a few personal preferences that are a tad controversial
· Player collision detection, toons should take up real space and not be allowed to occupy the same space. – Just a personal preference but perhaps could help move some of the processing burden from the Video card to the cpu….
· Allow healing and buffs to those in close proximity, not just those you’re grouped with. Again, I think this makes it easier too for a casual player to participate even when they can only log in for 30 mins at a time….
· No bind on pickup, or very limited use of it…
o I personally don’t like dungeons…. And if I choose to casually kill 1000 low lvl mobs out on the plains, I should be allowed to trade these items at market for more hard to find items that are acquired from high lvl raid bosses and such.
o Yes…. It breeds farming and what not… see next item
o Flame away….
· No level restrictions on gear or buffs (but since I suggest no levels anywho….)
o Again…. Flame away
o One of things I use to love in Asheron’s call was being able to buff the snot out of some low level noob, or better yet, be the recipient of said buffs. Yes, I know that creates an environment more likely to see power leveling services… but I do not care!!!
o Create some ingame, user elected/managed police force capable of dealing with farmers, botters and such….
· Oh yes… lets not forget…. We need Asherons’ call combat mechanics where you can dodge both physical and magic attacks (or at least something like a fireball)
I could go on and on…
Yes Yes… I’m no expert, and I’m sure there are many intelligent reasons why the current lot of MMO’s all have certain game mechanics in common… but I don’t’ want to play those anymore… makes me want to hurl just thinking of it…
*ducks and runs for cover |
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Rotskab 4/11/08 1:14:55 PM
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Apprentice Member
Joined: 4/03/08 |
I agree with a lot of your post as I'm sure will many on these forums, but sadly one must accept that we (and most of the people who frequent this site) are a tiny minority in the sea of undemanding banality that comprises the current MMO subscriber base. MMO companies have always, and will always, make products designed for maximum revenue and right now, that means WoW clones. MMO companies won't take risks when MMO's cost so much to develop. |
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Quest2b1 4/11/08 3:07:13 PM
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Novice Member
Joined: 12/14/07 |
I really do think the next step in MMOs is an ever changing world we play in. I feel too much content is fixed, go here, kill this type of content. Here is another way to run a quest.: You run across a soldier who is dying and tells you to retrieve a messenger pouch. (Pretty standard quest starter). What is different is that you have been to this spot a 100 times and never seen this quest giver before. Reason is the quest has never happened before, it is random. As is the quest line. There is no mob location set where you can shout out, "where do I complete the Messenger pouch quest". In fact it could be a 3 or 4 stage process to complete the quest. Once done, quest goes away. There may be 50 people working on this quest, but once it is completed thats it. Completing a quest would be a true accomplishment, not just a step every players has taken before you to get to the next level. At the end of such a quest should be a bonus reward, in addition to loot and xp, maybe increased honor, fame, faction or such that opens up certain other things in the game like property ownership, Invitations to compete in tournaments, or your own market, whatever. Each player upon completion of a quest could pick what reward they wanted, Fame or Faction for example with each road leading to different opportunities. Point is the world would become once again an exciting unknown place where you are truly adventuring in stead of grinding. I think with most MMOs the adventurous feel disappears after a couple weeks (that is if you do not jump on a website and read how to complete all the quests). Now, I know that a continuously changing content would put a high demand on developers to continually think up new things, but that is better to me than adding a new area with the same boring content I just did. If you can have random loot drops, you can have random content...its just a lot more code. I would be willing to pay $50 a month for an ever changing game that made exploration truly adventurous.
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jonchicoine 4/11/08 3:22:56 PM
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Novice Member
Joined: 6/14/04 |
Great Idea Quest2b1! I love it. |
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Anofalye 4/11/08 3:41:19 PM
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Apprentice Member
Joined: 11/19/03
The enemy is so dumb! They believe that WE are the enemy! - A famous orc commander. |
I want to CHOOSE how to play the game.
Not to be forced with better rewards in a gameplay I don't even want to play to start with. |
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| - "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - René Levesque about the denial NO on the poll to his dream, project and goal. (Free translation) |
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paulscott 4/11/08 4:10:25 PM
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