Originally posted by Gishgeron

The reason that this is so, and the reason you, and even myself, are loving the genre less each pass is very simple.

We've already experienced it.  We've already achieved what these games set out for us. 

Doesn't matter what trappings cover it, the potato is still a potato and we're all damn ready for beans. 

Oh we might nibble some potato on the side now and again...but its taste has long since lost its sparkle, and we could never commit meals to it again.

I still enjoy Morrowind, even though I have played it for years and never reached the "end game".  I also never cared about levels in Morrowind.  It was all about exploring.  Likewise, I still enjoy playing Battlefield 2 even though I've played it since release, and I would still play Medal of Honor: Allied Assault if there were still servers up to play on and nobody cheated.  I think you are right to a degree, that we were amazed by the massive online world to play in with lots of other people, and now that newness is gone... but the real problem is that now that we have already experienced that aspect of MMOs, we notice the rest of the game more, and the rest of the game just doesn't hold up.  MMOs are a chore.  A boring, grinding, chore.  Someone needs to figure out how to make a game in a massive online world FUN.  I think a large part of the solution is to get rid of levels.  Levels are a cheap and outdated method to create a "goal".  Levels segregate the player base, promote boring grinds, and lead players to rush through content to get to the "end game".  A MMO should not have an end game.

Originally posted by altairzq

Precisely my point is that there is no journey. Journey to where? No, there is no journey, there is just living in a world full of danger and helping some cause maybe, exploring, making friends and enemies. But there is no (F-word) journey to end level. This is precisely the trap devs and players are in.

AND MMOs are not games, they are something bigger than games, and this is why they are failing now, devs are making games and have forgotten how to make a damn good MMO.

I used the term journey to, simply, described the transition from level 1 to the max level. Regardless of what you want to call it, the transition exists. I was just trying to explicate the reasons why MMO's are transforming into the monster you see now. Many gamers who play MMO's now are all about leveling. There is little socializing, event partaking, etc. The developers have no choice but to attempt to build the high-end content along with the rest of the game lest they want many subscription cancellations in 2 months.

I can relate to your grief. An MMO to me is like no other gaming experience. I've been a hard-core roleplayer since the late 70s and it all saddens me to see a serious lack of RPing anymore as well as the degradation of the genre.  Howbeit, times change, things change. The MMO has gone mainstream and like anything that does, the integrity of whatever medium it is will suffer. All we can do is hope that someday a gaming company will build a new MMO that captures, again, what they were built for in the first place.

What we need is for a designer to come forward and shake things up.    I have seen new games come and those that are coming and it saddens me because I see nothing that will draw me in.     I am staying with WoW and EvE, but I am hanging on by a thread.    I've reverted to playing more Mount and Blade again because the combat and game play just keeps me playing and that game is hollow - yet it gives me more challenge and I can play a character I can really relate to.    None of the current MMORPG's give me that option and that is just sad.   All I need is a vast land to travel and adventure in.   Let me find my own way.  

Oh and for those that say I should be playing FE or DF.    Sorry...to limited and neither offer the combat I really enjoy of Mount and Blade.    I an only hope that someday an online game comes along that allows me to play the way I play in Mount and Blade.   ^_^

Originally posted by Teala

What we need is for a designer to come forward and shake things up.    I have seen new games come and those that are coming and it saddens me because I see nothing that will draw me in.     I am staying with WoW and EvE, but I am hanging on by a thread.    I've reverted to playing more Mount and Blade again because the combat and game play just keeps me playing and that game is hollow - yet it gives me more challenge and I can play a character I can really relate to.    None of the current MMORPG's give me that option and that is just sad.   All I need is a vast land to travel and adventure in.   Let me find my own way.  

Oh and for those that say I should be playing FE or DF.    Sorry...to limited and neither offer the combat I really enjoy of Mount and Blade.    I an only hope that someday an online game comes along that allows me to play the way I play in Mount and Blade.   ^_^

Hey Teala. Have you been following The Secret World? I'm not sure if it's your thing but it looks to me that Funcom may have something different to offer. It looks promising for RPing aspects as well. It's hard to say at this point with such little info to go on but one can always hope.

Originally posted by altairzq  

Ok, but you can't deny either that people are less and less enthusiastic about MMOs every time. I know the big part of players just don't give a dam, don't go to forums, and just play the games if they have a minimum of fancy graphics and cool weapons. But I think in a very short time, maybe already, the only MMOs casual people will play will be huge triple A games that cost a fortune to make. What I'm saying might be a path to follow for the indies. Right now they are going for the full PVP full loot, because that's cheap, no need for content. But it puts off a lot of people that don't have the skill or simply don't want to face the ganker kids and all that stuff.

Whaa--?  Do you believe there's ever been a game where the majority of players visited the forum?  That's crazy...

And casual gamers?

Casual players don't demand triple A.

What's WOW got?  A puny 12 million subscribers if you're generous?  Pfft, Farmville (social MMO) has 22 million players sign in each day.  Farmville is far from a triple A title, but it's good at what it does: it's viral and gets enough players playing that it's profitable despite being F2P.

I am curious why you care about what casual players are doing.

Originally posted by altairzq

This is the new approach developers maybe should start trying instead:

Don't create a game at first. Just concentrate on creating a world. Make players relax, slow down their pace. There is no grind if you don't need to get to some level. Make getting better not a goal, but a consequence of living in that world. Then after release start creating end-level content. It doesn't need to be something major, just a few well epic bosses which we need to kill once in a while. The rest of the time we will be living in that world, exploring, finding special spots and treasures. I'm not saying this is easy to do, but if done right it can be interesting without the need to put a lot of content. Just slow our pace.

Don't add PVP, but let us attack everything in sight. It's not a contradiction. In life there is no PVP to speak of, but if I wanted to I could attack my neighbour. Of course it's not the same but it's just an idea. No need to balance stuff.

This is getting too long will leave it here for now.

What? could you translate this into game mechanics. Sounds like you said, developers need to make a cool fun game. I think they know that.

The only thing you've said is get rid of PvP which doesn't seem to enhance an MMORPG that much IMO.

you want slower what? Slower leveling, slower gear collection, more down time?

Please be specific about what game mechanics you'd like to see.

Originally posted by Burtzum

Originally posted by Gishgeron

The reason that this is so, and the reason you, and even myself, are loving the genre less each pass is very simple.

We've already experienced it.  We've already achieved what these games set out for us. 

Doesn't matter what trappings cover it, the potato is still a potato and we're all damn ready for beans. 

Oh we might nibble some potato on the side now and again...but its taste has long since lost its sparkle, and we could never commit meals to it again.

 

I still enjoy Morrowind, even though I have played it for years and never reached the "end game".  I also never cared about levels in Morrowind.  It was all about exploring.  Likewise, I still enjoy playing Battlefield 2 even though I've played it since release, and I would still play Medal of Honor: Allied Assault if there were still servers up to play on and nobody cheated.  I think you are right to a degree, that we were amazed by the massive online world to play in with lots of other people, and now that newness is gone... but the real problem is that now that we have already experienced that aspect of MMOs, we notice the rest of the game more, and the rest of the game just doesn't hold up.  MMOs are a chore.  A boring, grinding, chore.  Someone needs to figure out how to make a game in a massive online world FUN.  I think a large part of the solution is to get rid of levels.  Levels are a cheap and outdated method to create a "goal".  Levels segregate the player base, promote boring grinds, and lead players to rush through content to get to the "end game".  A MMO should not have an end game.

 

  First of all, I still go back and play  Morrowind from time to time.  Thats a VERY VERY different thing.  An MMO is more than just something you play once in a blue moon...its essentially gaming dedication.  Also, the "exploration" and "openess" of morrowind cannot exist in an MMO format.  For starters...you're the only one IN Morrowind playing.  So if you wanted to...say....run off and steal all the worlds pillows to make a massive pillow fort then you COULD and that would be fine (and fun).  In an MMO, should you do such a thing, you would be screwing EVERYONE else outta pillows.

  The exploration side gets shot to hell too...since (short of being the first player to play) there is no way the world won't have been uncovered and discovered in weeks then proactively mapped and discussed until even the newbies know where all the "phat lewts" are.  Don't forget also that the exploration side of morrowing (and games like it) is usually driven by the random things that you find doing so.  Pretty blue candles here, funky spiked horny helmet there....you get the idea.  In an MMO these things would get scooped up in the first month of the game and it would erase any reason to explore again.

  You can't even make random items just SPAWN in an MMO because people will find out where they spawn and camp the good stuff to control the online market.  Also, doing so ruins the economy of the game before it has a chance to explode naturally.

  Furthermore, I bet you 10 bucks RIGHT NOW that you don't play Morrowind nearly as much as you used to.  I also bet you don't get as excited TO play it.  You may go back to it, but it damn sure isn't so awesome you'd pay 15$ a month to "go back".  So no matter what, you did burn out on it, and even if you didn't the experience isn't SUPPOSED to be the same since its single player.  In fact, being single player gives it about 10,000 more options for being an awesome game than an MMO has simply because players meta-game and exploit.

  You can't compare these things together, and even if you DO my point stands.  You've already experienced morrowind and aren't rushing to play it 10 hours a day anymore.  You're ready for Oblivion, or fallout, or beans...because the damn potato is starting to taste like butthole.

  MMO's taste like butthole.

I am sorry but there is way too many worthless games.  The best way is for the game to continually evolve into a more complex and high variety game as the players learn to play it.  More content more complex mechanics with a player base that already knows the ropes is a good thing.  It does leave the new guys behind and they should be allowed to compete on the level of the veteren.  The most important thing is to start with a concept and keep that concept dont change it midstream and have thousands of rewrites.  Not a too basic concept which unfortunately will lock you into a thousand rewrites.  Have a complex intricate mechanics tree or rules that can be developed and branched.

Do you know that famous experiment with rats where they electrically stimulate the center of pleasure in a rats brain? And then they put a little lever in the cage so the rat can stimulate itself? What happens is that the rat pushes the lever more and more often until it's constantly pushing it until the rat dies of overdosis of pleasure.

It's not a bad way to die but it's death after all. I think in a way we are like those rats and MMOs are giving us more and more often that little pleasuere that is ending a quest and getting the reward or finishing a dungeon or levelling up, and then we demand to have that even more often and... until we have an overdose of pleasure, or fun, and it tastes empty and dull.

I know this is human nature, this is why developers have to be Gods again and give us what we need (epicness), not what we want (fun).

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Originally posted by zaxxon23

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Yay, a 3d virtual chatroom.. that fixes everything.

 

Your comment really does nothing more than show your lack of imagination.  Is there really any better time to say go back to wow?  :)

 

The OP clearly stated that his idea is more than a 3d chat room, or more than just a world that you wander around aimlessly in. 

The OP might have clearly stated that, but in reality a 3d chatroom is what the 'game' would be like. 

Uhh, wrong. Just because you isn't holding your hand through a competitive progression doesn't mean it will have game-content. Take a look at Wurm Online for example! It's all about the community and projects initiated by people. There is a skill-grind, however you often forget about this because you are constantly achieving things in the world that everyone can see. What's good about this "grind" is that pretty much nobody can max a stat out, and nobody really cares about them in the same way cause they are too busy doing various world-projects. If Wurm Online had proper funding to write an engine that doesn't suck and more polish it would surely be the best mmorpg on the market for community-feeling, no doubt.

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by Hyanmen

You're right about the problem. But I don't know how the developers could achieve what you're trying to say.

There must be a point to the game A direction to follow.. Right now it's progression of your character, but what would you replace it with? Or how would you change the emphasis from progression to something else? It must have more significance than leveling up, or it's not going to work..

Kinda sounds like what Bioware is attempting to do with TOR.

Shift the focus from ding-chasing to story progression where one happens to level up along the way.

If people will accept it, it might work. But from what I've seen, players often give the story less emphasis than progressing the character.. so we'll see what comes out of it. 

They're on the right track, however.

Works for single-player games, not so sure the mainstream MMO player will get it.

But it's nice to see 'em trying something new, nonetheless.

That's because in single-player games, you don't have a million people accomplishing the exact same "special" goal over and over and over.  Story progression works great if you're the only one watching it.  Standing in line to watch the same story over and over in an MMO, not so much.

Originally posted by altairzq

I know this is human nature, this is why developers have to be Gods again and give us what we need (epicness), not what we want (fun).

Which just means these developers are going to go hungry because the majority of players who only want fun won't buy a sub.  You have to be realistic about things.

Besides, the last thing we need is epicness, it just doesn't work in an MMO setting.  It's great as a one-time thing, but if Bilbo had to stand in line to throw his particular version of the One Ring into Mount Doom, it wouldn't be epic at all.  Further, "epicness" represents a single event, a one-in-a-lifetime thing, not something you do every day.  After you save the world a few times, it stops being fun and starts being more of a chore.

Originally posted by Cephus404

Originally posted by altairzq

I know this is human nature, this is why developers have to be Gods again and give us what we need (epicness), not what we want (fun).

Which just means these developers are going to go hungry because the majority of players who only want fun won't buy a sub.  You have to be realistic about things.

Besides, the last thing we need is epicness, it just doesn't work in an MMO setting.  It's great as a one-time thing, but if Bilbo had to stand in line to throw his particular version of the One Ring into Mount Doom, it wouldn't be epic at all.  Further, "epicness" represents a single event, a one-in-a-lifetime thing, not something you do every day.  After you save the world a few times, it stops being fun and starts being more of a chore.

"Epicness" works perfectly fine if these events are one-time only for 1 person (or a group) to experience. This is how i'd like to see it as just the chance of something like that happening as a result of your actions in-game would be awesome.

Originally posted by Yohanu

"Epicness" works perfectly fine if these events are one-time only for 1 person (or a group) to experience. This is how i'd like to see it as just the chance of something like that happening as a result of your actions in-game would be awesome.

Sure, until you pop onto the chat channel to tell everyone about your "epic" accomplishment and everyone else has already done it and maybe did it better than you did.  Sure, that's epic.

Originally posted by zaxxon23

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Yay, a 3d virtual chatroom.. that fixes everything.

 

Your comment really does nothing more than show your lack of imagination.  Is there really any better time to say go back to wow?  :)

 

The OP clearly stated that his idea is more than a 3d chat room, or more than just a world that you wander around aimlessly in.  You could really reference his idea more to pre-cu swg, which in many ways is a relatively accurate description of what he's talking about.  A "world" ready for "content".  Of course, we all know that SOE choose to abandon making content and instead decided to change the game, and that there were challenges and long development times just to create the world, but that doesn't mean the idea isn't sound.  Although I must admit I'm not a fan of his last paragraph open pvp idea.  But then again I'm a bit biased because I don't support the open pvp mechanic.

Speaking of WoW, what better example of a MMO who's world was created and polished before anything else was? I find it a little funny that you are using one of the best examples of what the OP is talking about as an insult. Another great example of the OP's vision is LOTRO, btw. So please, go back to UO

Originally posted by Astralglide

Originally posted by zaxxon23

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Yay, a 3d virtual chatroom.. that fixes everything.

 

Your comment really does nothing more than show your lack of imagination.  Is there really any better time to say go back to wow?  :)

 

The OP clearly stated that his idea is more than a 3d chat room, or more than just a world that you wander around aimlessly in.  You could really reference his idea more to pre-cu swg, which in many ways is a relatively accurate description of what he's talking about.  A "world" ready for "content".  Of course, we all know that SOE choose to abandon making content and instead decided to change the game, and that there were challenges and long development times just to create the world, but that doesn't mean the idea isn't sound.  Although I must admit I'm not a fan of his last paragraph open pvp idea.  But then again I'm a bit biased because I don't support the open pvp mechanic.

 

Speaking of WoW, what better example of a MMO who's world was created and polished before anything else was? I find it a little funny that you are using one of the best examples of what the OP is talking about as an insult. Another great example of the OP's vision is LOTRO, btw. So please, go back to UO

No no WOW is not a world. It looks like a world but it's all painted papier mache, it's Disneyland.

Originally posted by Cephus404

Originally posted by Yohanu

"Epicness" works perfectly fine if these events are one-time only for 1 person (or a group) to experience. This is how i'd like to see it as just the chance of something like that happening as a result of your actions in-game would be awesome.

Sure, until you pop onto the chat channel to tell everyone about your "epic" accomplishment and everyone else has already done it and maybe did it better than you did.  Sure, that's epic.

I take it you didn't read what i typed. Only for 1 person or one group means this event would NEVER occur on that server again, thus being unique content that can potentially shape the world differently.

Originally posted by altairzq

Originally posted by Astralglide

Originally posted by zaxxon23

Originally posted by Hyanmen

Yay, a 3d virtual chatroom.. that fixes everything.

 

Your comment really does nothing more than show your lack of imagination.  Is there really any better time to say go back to wow?  :)

 

The OP clearly stated that his idea is more than a 3d chat room, or more than just a world that you wander around aimlessly in.  You could really reference his idea more to pre-cu swg, which in many ways is a relatively accurate description of what he's talking about.  A "world" ready for "content".  Of course, we all know that SOE choose to abandon making content and instead decided to change the game, and that there were challenges and long development times just to create the world, but that doesn't mean the idea isn't sound.  Although I must admit I'm not a fan of his last paragraph open pvp idea.  But then again I'm a bit biased because I don't support the open pvp mechanic.

 

Speaking of WoW, what better example of a MMO who's world was created and polished before anything else was? I find it a little funny that you are using one of the best examples of what the OP is talking about as an insult. Another great example of the OP's vision is LOTRO, btw. So please, go back to UO

 

No no WOW is not a world. It looks like a world but it's all painted papier mache, it's Disneyland.

Then what game's are you talking about? What "real worlds" do you want created? If you want reality and depth, get a book. Disneyland Schmisneyland, these games are SUPPOSED to be fun and have a degree of surrealism. Calling a virtual world paper-mache is a good example, but that's all a video game really is.

Originally posted by Yohanu

Originally posted by Cephus404

Originally posted by Yohanu

"Epicness" works perfectly fine if these events are one-time only for 1 person (or a group) to experience. This is how i'd like to see it as just the chance of something like that happening as a result of your actions in-game would be awesome.

Sure, until you pop onto the chat channel to tell everyone about your "epic" accomplishment and everyone else has already done it and maybe did it better than you did.  Sure, that's epic.

I take it you didn't read what i typed. Only for 1 person or one group means this event would NEVER occur on that server again, thus being unique content that can potentially shape the world differently.

Let's imagine: the developer has time to create 1000 pieces of content (quests, events, etc).  What game is more fun?

• In Game A you get 1000 pieces of content.
• In Game B you have a chance of getting 1 piece of content.  If you're lucky.

The type of game you're asking for sounds great when you imagine yourself as that 1 important person being part of the important events.  But that conveniently ignores the fact that you're basically saying "the majority of players get nothing" by proposing this sort of game.

Originally posted by Axehilt

Originally posted by Yohanu

Originally posted by Cephus404

Originally posted by Yohanu

"Epicness" works perfectly fine if these events are one-time only for 1 person (or a group) to experience. This is how i'd like to see it as just the chance of something like that happening as a result of your actions in-game would be awesome.

Sure, until you pop onto the chat channel to tell everyone about your "epic" accomplishment and everyone else has already done it and maybe did it better than you did.  Sure, that's epic.

I take it you didn't read what i typed. Only for 1 person or one group means this event would NEVER occur on that server again, thus being unique content that can potentially shape the world differently.

 

Let's imagine: the developer has time to create 1000 pieces of content (quests, events, etc).  What game is more fun?

• In Game A you get 1000 pieces of content.
• In Game B you have a chance of getting 1 piece of content.  If you're lucky.

The type of game you're asking for sounds great when you imagine yourself as that 1 important person being part of the important events.  But that conveniently ignores the fact that you're basically saying "the majority of players get nothing" by proposing this sort of game.

Who said this would be the only content? I'm just saying the communism of mmo's should stop to make room for more interesting gameplay twists. Having a small chance of getting rich, get unique content, etc from randomness is part of the fun

I think the idea of a quest being specific and original for one person and never being seen again is totally possible.  SWG -almost- had it with their dynamic quest system...

NPC camps would spawn all over SWG's worlds and the NPCs would have quests for you.  They were very basic quests really, but they could be made more epic if the developers gave them more attention.  I think the best thing would be if there were clans in the world, like a civilization simulator.  The clans are NPC based, and conquer territory from each other, make treaties with each other, war with each other, and sometimes the clans break into civil war and are split.  Clans grow and shrink depending on what is going on in the clans around them (and maybe some level of random behavior to spice things up).  Then players can interact with the clans, join the clans, become leaders of the NPC clans and help make decisions like who to be at war and peace with.  Quests are spawned by NPCs in your clan and those quests are dynamic, so are never exactly the same, and varying levels of epicness... Often simple, sometimes epic to the point where your actions could turn the tide of a war with another clan, your actions could mean the end of another clan, it could mean gaining more territory, it could mean starting or stopping a civil war, ect.  That would be basically, a dynamic world complete with dynamic/unique quests.

Originally posted by Yohanu

I take it you didn't read what i typed. Only for 1 person or one group means this event would NEVER occur on that server again, thus being unique content that can potentially shape the world differently.

At which point nobody is going to play the damn game. Why do you think developers are going to make single-use content that can never be used again? That makes no sense.

But then again, these are the kinds of ideas that we see from people who don't understand how the business world works, they want to live in a fantasy land where developers work for free, game companies don't have to make a profit and competition for a sizable chunk of the potential player base isn't required.

About the unique content, I don't think this can be done at all, devs just can't create that amount of events to get all the players entertained, and having he world in so different states for every gamer would be a mess IMO.

But, with a little of imagination there can be a pretty good solution for this. For instance, lets imagine an evil dragon. Players start making quests that leads to the fight against the dragon. Eventually, the first group of adventurers kill the dragon. At that point, there is no dragon, and all the quest givers tell that to the players that were following the chain.  No evil dragon for lets say one month. I know players get pissed off, it's ok, this is how a world behaves, it's not tailored to the player, it's a world. Then after a period between 30 to 60 days, randomly chosen, a successor to the old dragon appears and quests are active again.

I know what many of you are thinking: this sucks I will never get to kill the dragon. Exactly. You will never get to kill the dragon. It's a damn dragon, only a few can kill a dragon. That's how it was in fantasy worlds, chances are you will never see a dragon, let alone kill it.. Are you kidding me? it's an epic MOFO Dragon FFS.

I know what you thinking now too: this sucks I want to play the game and I want to be able to kill everything. Well, are you sure? Are you sure you want to kill everything every day until you just don't give a damn if you are killing an incredibly powerfull dragon or a semi-God or whatever? Or do you want to be exploring and hear a rumble and feel your heart beating so fast and get a glimpse of a legendary creature pass by... maybe a thing that will happen to you three or four times in a year. Maybe a little more if you are very dedicated to finding such creatures.

Originally posted by Cephus404

Originally posted by Yohanu

I take it you didn't read what i typed. Only for 1 person or one group means this event would NEVER occur on that server again, thus being unique content that can potentially shape the world differently.

 

At which point nobody is going to play the damn game. Why do you think developers are going to make single-use content that can never be used again? That makes no sense.

But then again, these are the kinds of ideas that we see from people who don't understand how the business world works, they want to live in a fantasy land where developers work for free, game companies don't have to make a profit and competition for a sizable chunk of the potential player base isn't required.

It makes total sense from an immersive rpg perspective (hence why mortal online will have this)

The business isn't supposed to be the gamer's problem, the gamer's duty is to pay a reasonable price for the damn product.

Originally posted by altairzq

About the unique content, I don't think this can be done at all, devs just can't create that amount of events to get all the players entertained, and having he world in so different states for every gamer would be a mess IMO.

But, with a little of imagination there can be a pretty good solution for this. For instance, lets imagine an evil dragon. Players start making quests that leads to the fight against the dragon. Eventually, the first group of adventurers kill the dragon. At that point, there is no dragon, and all the quest givers tell that to the players that were following the chain.  No evil dragon for lets say one month. I know players get pissed off, it's ok, this is how a world behaves, it's not tailored to the player, it's a world. Then after a period between 30 to 60 days, randomly chosen, a successor to the old dragon appears and quests are active again.

I know what many of you are thinking: this sucks I will never get to kill the dragon. Exactly. You will never get to kill the dragon. It's a damn dragon, only a few can kill a dragon. That's how it was in fantasy worlds, chances are you will never see a dragon, let alone kill it.. Are you kidding me? it's an epic MOFO Dragon FFS.

I know what you thinking now too: this sucks I want to play the game and I want to be able to kill everything. Well, are you sure? Are you sure you want to kill everything every day until you just don't give a damn if you are killing an incredibly powerfull dragon or a semi-God or whatever? Or do you want to be exploring and hear a rumble and feel your heart beating so fast and get a glimpse of a legendary creature pass by... maybe a thing that will happen to you three or four times in a year. Maybe a little more if you are very dedicated to finding such creatures.

The main issue with this setup that if you want to make those events that rare, you cannot treat them as 'content' but rather as 'bonuses'.   You can't make them vital to player progression or make them pivotal to how the players play everyday.  Otherwise you start locking out parts of the game and get a frustrated playerbase.