For me, I'll only say that Jumping is not a game maker or breaker. I've played games where you can jump, and that's fine; I just keep a thumb on the space bar. i've also played games where you can't jump, and that's fine by me too; my thumb usually rests on the space-bar either way.

I'm asking because I honestly don't understand why this seems to be a very important issue for some people. I've heard people say " I tried game x for 10 minutes and when I found out I couldn't jump, I QUIT". I've also heard people say "I played game x for 10 minutes and all i saw were people hopping arounnd like idiots.. So I QUIT".

I'm just curious why this aspect of the game is so important for some people for good or bad, and maybe what makes Jumping more important than something like skill balance, community, gameplay, or story for example. What makes it more important than any other aspect of gameplay for that matter?

How does it rank for you?

Is Jumping still an issue for some people?

After playing AC, almost all MMOs feel like my character is nailed ot the ground.

The ability to use jumping as something more than an emote, btw, is a separate issue from the people hopping around, running in circles, etc. Children often display the same hyper behavior and restlessness ingame as they do in real life, so for some people it's just the constant fidgetting that annoys them after a while, For others, it's the solid realization that the guy speaking entirely in text-ese and leaping about is probably 12 and will be doing this for the next two hours of the raid.

Originally posted by Bjornulve

For me, I'll only say that Jumping is not a game maker or breaker. I've played games where you can jump, and that's fine; I just keep a thumb on the space bar. i've also played games where you can't jump, and that's fine by me too; my thumb usually rests on the space-bar either way.

I'm asking because I honestly don't understand why this seems to be a very important issue for some people. I've heard people say " I tried game x for 10 minutes and when I found out I couldn't jump, I QUIT". I've also heard people say "I played game x for 10 minutes and all i saw were people hopping arounnd like idiots.. So I QUIT".

I'm just curious why this aspect of the game is so important for some people for good or bad, and maybe what makes Jumping more important than something like skill balance, community, gameplay, or story for example. What makes it more important than any other aspect of gameplay for that matter?

How does it rank for you?

Is Jumping still an issue for some people?

I enjoy jumping... it's something you do unconsciously while sitting in a raid, for example, waiting for the mother in the group to finish doing motherly things with her chlidren, or etc. I also enjoy jumping when I am fleeing from a certain instance wipe, as for some reason it seems like you are going your fastest when you jump, or are unlocking a secret dodge bonus by doing so.

Jumping is also essential when you are on your mount, as many obstacles can be jumped over and it saves time going around things.

Also, many worlds are created with gaps placed in certain areas that require a jump (i.e. Wailing Caverns) that would spell certain doom if you didn't have the ability. All in all, jumping is an essential feature for me, and I really haven't found a game that doesn't have the jump. I suppose I would be rather concerned, along with many, if I was playing a great modern MMORPG that didn't have the jump ability.

I like having the freedom of choice to do so, I don't really like being restricted in my movement.  It's not a game breaker but it's defniitely a downfall for me if there is no jumping.  I don't really care what other people do, I don't think they are "idiots" or <insert some weird insult here>  for doing it or not like most people do.  If you want to jump, then jump,  If you don't then don't. 

I didn't mean to imply that jumping was an emote. I'm sorry if I was unclear. I also wasn't looking for ways that jumping can be important in a game, because for obvious reasons, some games require you to jump to get around or even on top of objects. (amongst other things) But on the same note, a game doesn't necessarily need to be designed this way, and I've played many enjoyable games where jumping wasn't needed or required. The question was really why is jumping SO important that people are willing to completely judge an entire game based simply on the presence or absence of jumping.

I'm sure the question doesn't even apply to most gamers, but there are those out there who feel the issue is one of, if the the most important issue for game play. I was also wondering where people placed Jumping on such a list. For me, I've always looked at a dozen other things first: Skill balance, community, content amount, price etc. before jumping would come into the picture.

I would imagine that the presence of jumping could be positive for some games and a negative for others, and at the same time the absence of jumping could either be positive or negative depending on the game. Can people really make this decision in a matter of minutes or without playing the game even? And if so, how or what is such a decision based on?

Originally posted by zchmrkenhoff

Also, many worlds are created with gaps placed in certain areas that require a jump (i.e. Wailing Caverns) that would spell certain doom if you didn't have the ability.

I wish more MMOs made use of jumping as a form of movement or interacting with the environment like that.

All in all, jumping is an essential feature for me, and I really haven't found a game that doesn't have the jump. I suppose I would be rather concerned, along with many, if I was playing a great modern MMORPG that didn't have the jump ability.

That same thought went through my mind when I started playing PotBS,

Well if I was reading about an upcoming MMO and it mentioned that it wouldn't have the jumping ability, I probably wouldn't notice it too much until I was in-game. Even then, I probably wouldn't notice it that much except in the few circumstances in which a jump would need to be utilized. It would probably be annoying at first, but I wouldn't notice it.

I can conclude by saying that jumping is nowhere near essential or at the top of my list of priorities when I 'm considering buying or playing an MMO, but just an added feature... like sitting. Sometimes a good sit is always nice :P.

Originally posted by dstar.

I like having the freedom of choice to do so, I don't really like being restricted in my movement.  It's not a game breaker but it's defniitely a downfall for me if there is no jumping.  I don't really care what other people do, I don't think they are "idiots" or <insert some weird insult here>  for doing it or not like most people do.  If you want to jump, then jump,  If you don't then don't. 

I hear where you are coming from, and just to make it x-tra clear: I wasn't actually calling the jumping people idiots or <insert random insult here> (LOL, I like that BTW), just trying to quote what I've heard people say.

But as far as freedom of movement goes, couldn't the same be said about other things too. I don't think I've ever heard someone say "I read the forum and you can't climb up walls so i wont play" or " I got in game and saw people crawling on the ground so I Quit playing. I think the same could be said for swimming or flying too. I almost hate to ask, but in a year or two after people have tried Aion will I be hearing "I read the forums, and you can't fly so I quit" or vise versa? i bring up crawling/ flying/ climbing and swimming because couldn't these also be considered things that would limit or give freedom of movement depending on the POV?? What makes jumping different from swimming or flying or crawling on one's belly? I really just don't understand I guess.

Thanks for the comment.

It's a big immersion breaker to play a character who can dispatch evil monsters with ease, but when confronted with a 2-foot ledge that you could hop down in real life the character can't do it.

So it's not "jumping" specifically, but that players expect to be able to at least do the stuff they can do in real life.

Is this a harsh demand? Not really -- I can climb up onto a ledge in real life, but don't demand every game lets me scale terrain that way (but I'm pleasantly surprised by the ones that do).

But at least the basics of letting you hop down 2 feet is pretty damn important. Because while it wasn't the reason I stopped playing Guild Wars, it also wasn't helping GW's case either.

Originally posted by zchmrkenhoff

Well if I was reading about an upcoming MMO and it mentioned that it wouldn't have the jumping ability, I probably wouldn't notice it too much until I was in-game. Even then, I probably wouldn't notice it that much except in the few circumstances in which a jump would need to be utilized. It would probably be annoying at first, but I wouldn't notice it.

 

I can conclude by saying that jumping is nowhere near essential or at the top of my list of priorities when I 'm considering buying or playing an MMO, but just an added feature... like sitting. Sometimes a good sit is always nice :P.

LOL, I love copping a squat every now and again too! =D Thanks for your input. but ya, as an added feature. I wouldn't not try a game if you couldn't sit or whatever.

EDIT: thank you too for commenting  Axehilt. GW was one of the games where I heard some very STRONG opinions on the issue.

What game are you referring to? Ryzom?   Because I played Ryzom for about 10 minutes and quit after I found out you can't jump =P 

Not being able to jump in a game like Ryzom is a blatant sign of weakness on the designers part IMO.  Why would you not be able to jump?  Maybe because the developers were incapable of designing any real 3D terrain, so instead just went with their crappy 2D maps and then added 3D as graphics only.  Or maybe it really is 3D but they didn't want to test for areas where you'd get stuck, fall through, etc. (Perhaps the VG devs should have done this hah!)  If they wanted to make a nice looking 2D game like Diablo2 then yea, that'd be great, but no they cheated at making it 3D, so I can only assume they'd do the same with expos and bugs and pretty much anything else.

Anyway that's just my opinion, any fully 3D MMO where I can't even jump or swim is gonna really irritate the explorer types (like me).

It reminds MMO players of the days they were playing CounterStrike, TF2, or any first person shooter and they couldn't aim for the life of them leading them to throw fits of nerdrage.

There's a lot of MMO players that if they had it their way all you'd have is two players stand next to each other taking whacks......MMO gamers are very sensitive to movement.....lol

I'm OK woth jumping as long as it makes sense in the context of the game. However, people who stand in one place jumping repeatedly or run around jumping should explode after 10 jumps in a row. Perma-death. Re-roll new character.

It really does not matter to me. If  game has the ability to jump then there should be things to do in the game that requires jumping.  There should also be a stamina bar for jumping that makes a person not abuse it. I hate a game where people are jumping all around town and I also hate to see PVP where the characters are jumping around all on top of each other. Those 2 things will make me uninstall a MMO fast

Originally posted by Korvenus

It really does not matter to me. If  game has the ability to jump then there should be things to do in the game that requires jumping.  There should also be a stamina bar for jumping that makes a person not abuse it. I hate a game where people are jumping all around town and I also hate to see PVP where the characters are jumping around all on top of each other. Those 2 things will make me uninstall a MMO fast

I know that rational people dislike the thought of the young, fidgety kid spamming spacebar and jumping all around you in PvP, but I like it. All I need do is point my character in the direction they are and embarrass their pitiful waste of jumping energy to a person standing completely still.

I hate it personally, it's just unrealistic/stupid to be able to jump fences and get to tops of buildings when your character is decked out in weapons, armor, and bags of potions/items/loot.

If your say a rogue or maybe a mage or some kind of acrobatic class then fine, but otherwise I thinks its pretty dumb.

Ha, if we're going to start addressing realism let's start with inventory. By what possible wizardry am I allowed to keep my kodo beast in my pocket? 

If I'm playing a new game I would prefer it to have a form of jumping in it. Granted, it isn't a deal breaker for me (I'm playing Lineage II atm which has no jumping) but I'd hope that if it is a standard WSAD sort of movement scheme that I would be allowed to jump.

And yes, I am probably one of those people who jumps around a lot when going from point A to point B. I also try and stay very mobile in PvP so I may jump now or then in it as well (not as often though). Either way I'm not a child at all (21 in a couple of months) , I just feel the need to jump when going between places. (Just because)

Jumping over objects and as part of travelling and moving through the game? Like it. Fun and interesting.

Keep it.

People jumping during PvP as part of battle when it gives them no advantage whatsoever due to autotargeting and AoEs? Hate it. Annoying and Irritating.

Get rid of it.

Yeah I don't like it very much but it doesn't really matter. The reason I don't like it is because of this:

Art design. It gives the developers more freedom to create areas instead of worrying about where people can get to. Games like Guild Wars have beautiful back drops that really increase the look of the zones... while games like WoW just have water and mountains.