General Discussion

Anyways as the title says I hate the leveling process of mmos so much but I do love playing persistant online world games. I recently picked up Age of Conan and I have been trying to play it since it is a pretty good game but I really just hate the running around doing stupid quests that mean absolutely nothing in the end. I played WoW and leveled 4 70s which is probably what finally did me in on the whole leveling idea.

Since I have been feeling so bad about leveling in AoC I have been wish there was a game out there where I can start off with a fully leveled character with some basic gear to get started with. Spend my customization points or talent points whatever you wanna call them to make my character the way I want to and then get into the meat of the game. It just feels now like all mmo makers out there have so much focus on designing the early content to hook players that end game content lacks severely for a year or two until that end content can be designed and tested.

Some people might say the leveling process is learning to play your character and how that character works. To a certain extent I would agree but at the same time from my experience previous mmos that leveling is nothing like end game and what you learned leveling needs to be unlearned to be successful later on.

I would rather see a game that offers me a character leveled and modestly geared to start with. I can read ability information and figure out how it works unless the info is so poorly written. I would rather see the game designed around end game rather than years spent tweaking low level content that only see once while passing through it on your way to end game.

Any comments on what I have said whether positive or flames would be great.

Maybe give Eve a shot?  It's pretty much the only non-level-based game out there right now that's any good.

It's a little rough the first week or so though.  Leave everything you think you know about MMOs behind ('cause the odds are much better than not that it won't apply), and join up with Eve University as soon as you can and they'll help you learn the game.

Is EVE Online the only non-leveling MMO out there?

I would also need to find a nice good MMO to play.

Ive played Eve on and off since beta, been on a break as of late due to no internet where I have been living. Eve is a great game and I love it alot but there is something to be said for WoW and all the other fantasy based dungeon types of gameplay which I do enjoy as well. Eve is just an entirely different breed of game.

I would just like to be able to jump into a WoW / AoC type of game and not have to level. Using WoW as an example here, I would love to able to log in, make a level 70 warrior for instance with a full set of level 70 greens and spec him for what I wanted whether it is pve pr pvp and be ready to start working on the level 70 dungeons for blue gear then move on to the larger raids instead of killing off 2 to 3 weeks of time leveling. Or go pvp for my pvp set of gear.

Do tanks really learn how to tank while leveling ? No, they spec for solo damage and get to 70 and then they start to learn how to properly tank. Do priests learn to heal raids or instances on the way to 70 ? I certainly didn't when I played. I leveled to 60 first and fast, then I learned how to raid heal. The leveling process did nothing to teach me how to play end game. Sure I may have learned the mechanics of certain spells but definately not all of them or even the important ones for raiding. 

Originally posted by Lordmonkus

 

I would just like to be able to jump into a WoW / AoC type of game and not have to level. Using WoW as an example here, I would love to able to log in, make a level 70 warrior for instance with a full set of level 70 greens and spec him for what I wanted whether it is pve pr pvp and be ready to start working on the level 70 dungeons for blue gear then move on to the larger raids instead of killing off 2 to 3 weeks of time leveling. Or go pvp for my pvp set of gear.

 

You do realise that's just another form of leveling? Only in this case you're grinding to level up item stats rather than grinding to level up character stats...

Originally posted by Arathor

 

Originally posted by Lordmonkus

 

I would just like to be able to jump into a WoW / AoC type of game and not have to level. Using WoW as an example here, I would love to able to log in, make a level 70 warrior for instance with a full set of level 70 greens and spec him for what I wanted whether it is pve pr pvp and be ready to start working on the level 70 dungeons for blue gear then move on to the larger raids instead of killing off 2 to 3 weeks of time leveling. Or go pvp for my pvp set of gear.

 

 

You do realise that's just another form of leveling? Only in this case you're grinding to level up item stats rather than grinding to level up character stats...

I agree with the OP to an extent, but the only system I can think of that's more fun than pick a class, start at level 1 and head for 80 is to have only skill levels with no character level. I'd like to see an Oblivion-ish MMO.

Levels are stupid as hell. They are a mechanism that was introduced in pen & paper RPGs to ease character progression. There is no reason at all they should exist in video games where every attribute and skill level increase can be computed on the spot.

Smarter devs make sandbox games, smarter devs understand levels are shit. It's as simple as that. I won't give links to sandbox games in development here, because I don't want to make it easy for the brainwashed people here to go on those games forums and ruin them, but yes there are games made by less stupid game designers out there.

However, levelling does give a good stop off point or aim for the player, one more skill point in 2hand spec doesnt really do it for me...

leveling as a mechanism makes it easier for people to quickly relate to, to navigate the game world even and provide a solid 'i'm getting somewhere' feel.

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Originally posted by extragonk
However, levelling does give a good stop off point or aim for the player, one more skill point in 2hand spec doesnt really do it for me...
leveling as a mechanism makes it easier for people to quickly relate to, to navigate the game world even and provide a solid 'i'm getting somewhere' feel.

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A lot of people including myself like the leveling process more so than the end game. I have to admit though i do hate the time sink and would like the leveling process to not be so darn repetitious but unfortunately most MMOs whether leveling or endgame are just that repetitious.