General Discussion

Originally posted by Josher

1 note on Stalker.  There is NOTHING seamless about it.  There are specific zones/levels.  Some of them, you can only enter or exit from a single location and you hit a loading screen every time you switch.  Anyone who says Stalker is seamless really needs to take some classes on game design and stop talking about what they know nothing about.

 Reading the description of Stalker is much different than actually playing it.  I loved it.  But that seamless world they talked about is a total scam.  Just because you can revisit older zones, which become mostly pointless once you "beat" them, jumping from level to level by running to a zone line, doesn't mean its seamless.  Seamless is when you don't see a load screen. COD4 is about as seamless as Stalker since I can just pick my level and load it up.  If I had to litterally take a helicopter or jet from one level to the next it would be the same thing.  Pointless, but the same thing.

Ok, I might be mistaken on Stalker then. I played some of it (quite a large area really) and didn't encounter any load-screens, so I assumed it was seamless (because I have read elsewhere that it was).

Doesn't really matter, because Oblivion has good graphics and IS seamless, and it takes only one game to prove that good graphics and seamless is not mutually exclusive.

Originally posted by Rasputin

 

 

AoC is effectively little more than a serverlist+lobby that you know from BF, Counterstrike and Quake.

OK, that is just total bullsh*t.  You have like 400k people on 22 servers.  WoW had less than that on 80 servers (first week).

Instancing is a way to get more people on one server with better graphics, end of f*cking story.

I run around in a pvp server and fight many people in my instance you can't do that in a server list lobby.

Imagine Blizzard grouping groups of 10 servers, and saying you can now move from server to server in this group any time you want, to increase interaction potential.  That's all this is.

Originally posted by Rasputin

 

What would you say if I told you I *DO* have some relevant background? I am a game programmer.

 

When it comes to presentation, the limit is exactly the same for singleplayer games and MMOs. It is a matter of the amount of triangles and textures that can be rendered to the screen. So if S.T.A.L.K.E.R and Oblivion can do it, so can any MMO.

 

Btw. Funcom started out with trying to extend the AO engine for AoC but gave up and scrapped it and leased the Unreal engine.

Actually you very wrong yet again about Age of Conan. This is 3 times in this thread your argument has been proven worng. Leaving with you just the opinion Zoned games are bad. Its not even about AoC now.

FYI the game engine is the Dreamwrold one a modified AO game engine and not a leased Unreal engine.

Seriously, its been no secret Age of Conan would be zoned. Your back ground and credential dont really matter here, your just spewing hate for Age of Conan because it is zoned. Every other point about its gameplay has been thrown out the window, and no comparing an mmorpg to a single player game is pretty silly.

FC were straight up with info on how their game will be the past few yrs.

Its seems like you have been reading elsewhere and are so mis-informed its just too funny... You have never played AoC right? yep it shows...

I just released this guy created a MMORPG.com account just for this thread.  F*cking anti-advertiser.
 One of the better ones, I have to give him credit. 

I agree,with the Op. The most part people who like games like AoC , aren't mmo players, they are more of a platform gamer. They like to pretend to be pc gamers cause they have a computer, but the end, they will shift back into something that is comfortable for them to play , easy and  visually (not mentally) stimulating. The fact that games like these platform pc titles are becoming more popular is a sign more and more platform gamers are playing pc's . imo

Originally posted by Bladeinhand

I think there is need for "massive" its not really semantics, it sets it apart from a normal online game. I want to interact with hundreds of people in a world. Not a few people in a small instance I can do that in Diablo 2 or something I play for free. If this is a trend MMO's will die, just because its massive doesnt mean it has to have 40 man raids either, I thought the whole reason they did that was because the guilds who raided were some damn hardcore and eliteist, the casual gamer saw no endgame nothing to do with population. Infact I would say it increased population because it gave most players more to do.

No game ever allows you to interact with hundreds of people at the same time. You never group with more than 5-6. You never fight more than a few at a time. It is an illusion that you interact with hundred of people. The only exception is an auction house, which can be easily implemented into any instance game.

And this *is* the trend. And if you think MMO is going to die, just look at how WOW is expanding the market.

WOW actually made the player requirement of some dungeon goes DOWN so that it is easier to coordinate.

And look at how popular the 5-man heroics are. No one wants an open world dungeon where bunch of people are competing to camp the same boss. Instance is the future, whether you like it or not.

Originally posted by solareus

I agree,with the Op. The most part people who like games like AoC , aren't mmo players, they are more of a platform gamer. They like to pretend to be pc gamers cause they have a computer, but the end, they will shift back into something that is comfortable for them to play , easy and  visually (not mentally) stimulating. The fact that games like these platform pc titles are becoming more popular is a sign more and more platform gamers are playing pc's . imo

Platform ish, perhaps.  But to say no PC gamers are going to stay with it is false.  I am a PC gamer only.  I can’t even more around on a 360.

So, sorry – wrong.

Perhaps it is trying to bridge the gap, which from a sales perspective would be a very smart thing to do.

Originally posted by nariusseldon

 

Originally posted by Bladeinhand

I think there is need for "massive" its not really semantics, it sets it apart from a normal online game. I want to interact with hundreds of people in a world. Not a few people in a small instance I can do that in Diablo 2 or something I play for free. If this is a trend MMO's will die, just because its massive doesnt mean it has to have 40 man raids either, I thought the whole reason they did that was because the guilds who raided were some damn hardcore and eliteist, the casual gamer saw no endgame nothing to do with population. Infact I would say it increased population because it gave most players more to do.

 

No game ever allows you to interact with hundreds of people at the same time.

Showbane Shangrilla Sieges of 2007  US/EU vs KR/China

Both games I've participated in 200vs200 battles as the shadownbane battles reached 150 vs 400 (400 chinese players vs 150 NA/EU)

So you are wrong in your "assumption"

Originally posted by GreenChaos

Originally posted by solareus

I agree,with the Op. The most part people who like games like AoC , aren't mmo players, they are more of a platform gamer. They like to pretend to be pc gamers cause they have a computer, but the end, they will shift back into somethin