General Discussion

thats all people ask about mmo now.....they dont care about anything else....does it really matter how long it takes to max level...as long as you have fun and there is allot to do...it really shouldent matter....

people want games that can reach max level faaassst...

I think it matters to some players because it matters to others. For example, are you as likely to get into that guild you want if your lev 10 or max lev? In many PVE games the end game raiding is designed to be the best. In many PVP based games, you can only compete when your at or near the max level.

This is not an all encompasing rule, but its more true than not.

HOwever, I agree, its the journey and not the destination that is important ...the best games do recognize this

Originally posted by TheGreyMan

thats all people ask about mmo now.....they dont care about anything else....does it really matter how long it takes to max level...as long as you have fun and there is allot to do...it really shouldent matter....

 

people want games that can reach max level faaassst...

Originally posted by Czzarre

I think it matters to some players because it matters to others. For example, are you as likely to get into that guild you want if your lev 10 or max lev? In many PVE games the end game raiding is designed to be the best. In many PVP based games, you can only compete when your at or near the max level.

This is not an all encompasing rule, but its more true than not.

HOwever, I agree, its the journey and not the destination that is important ...the best games do recognize this

yeah its really the game makers fualt not makeing enough raids and content at lower levels......L2 has allot of content for lower levels...only problem is thats its extreme grind :p  :p at least im not alone...also

The people that try to rush to max level are the ones that quit the game first (usually). They have the mindset of being the best all of the time, and what makes matters worse is they think other people actually care when in fact they do not. Thinking there is something godlike at the end, waiting for them, they rush to meet some unforseen challenge (in new MMO's) that probably do not even exist yet, such as Raid content.

I knew a couple of people who rushed to 50 in VG just to find out that there was nothing for them to do afterwards. So I chuckled as I continued to enjoy my gaming experience, leveling at my own pace with some friends.

The same mindset is involved with OP'ed classes. They will choose what wins, and soon find out that there is a huge line to get into raids as their class. In a game such as Conan, expect to see a buttload of Demonologists, Necros and Rangers. Same people, new game.

It took me just under two years to go from 1-65 in Everquest, playing about 3 hours a day. For time frame reference, I was 53 when PoP came out. Thats two years of traditional, I-never-let-anyone-else-play-me, never powerleveled, game play. I know I could have gotten there faster but, thats what it took me.

The entire time.... I had my eye on the prize: 60 (or 65 near the end.) All the other stuff was muck to slow me down on the way, its was simply stuff I had to trudge though to reach my goal. I wanted to get there as fast as I could without burning myself out.

That being said, I think it was in EQ's best interest, and any other game out there for that matter, to make the end game as far away as possible for it's players, for a few reasons:

1) When you get to max level, you are a master of your character (usually.) In eq, it was rare that a lvl 60 player didnt know his/her character INSIDE AND OUT.  In warcraft, this is just not the case. You can fly through the levels so fast that a player can easily finish with just being 'decent' or less...

2) I makes it feel like you actually accomplished something big. When you are forced to level slowely, you end up setting yourself smaller goals in your mind, and consiquently levels mean something (you saw a lvl 45 when you were 20 in EQ and that seemed like AGES away.) These smaller goals were like... in 3 levels at 25, I get a new round of spells. These in and of itself was a meaningful accomplishment. So finishing a HUGE goal like getting 60 was like... "man, I am AWESOME!"

3) People are sucked in longer, so long as the road the the end level isnt eye-stabbingly unbearable. In EQ, level 30 (for example) was quite a time investment, and walking away from that wasnt easy. Its not simple for anyone to go "well I played this game for 300 hours, im done." Again, my main experience is with EQ, so I'll use that again when I say the game was a grind up to max level, but I never felt like it was terrible to log on and grind. To me it was more.... slow because I wanted to achieve my next goal as fast as possibly because the game made it WORTH it, more than just the grind itself being cause for pain. In any case, if it takes a long time to level your character up, you are more likely to become attached to it because of personal investment. If you have something you feel is valuable to you... through spending time/money/whatever on it, its a lot harder to walk away from it than something like... a WoW character that is lvl 45 and has 40 hours logged and your consistantly the lowest level person you ever see.

I treat the leveling phase and end-game phase as two different parts of the game.  I spend my time leveling and enjoying all the new stuff I get to see (which usually turns out to be the most fun), and then when I hit max I enjoy all the max level content as well.

IMO is the younger gamers who rush to max.  They want to be 'first' and all that crap.  Maybe us older dudes have been there and done that.  Or maybe we realize that the prize will still be there if we're second, or tenth, or 100th, or last.\

It's a lot more fun when you don't rush to the end.

Originally posted by Czzarre

I think it matters to some players because it matters to others. For example, are you as likely to get into that guild you want if your lev 10 or max lev? In many PVE games the end game raiding is designed to be the best. In many PVP based games, you can only compete when your at or near the max level.

This is not an all encompasing rule, but its more true than not.

HOwever, I agree, its the journey and not the destination that is important ...the best games do recognize this

Indeed! when the MMO game is enjoyable, ill never think when it takes time to become a max level, the important is, how you enjoy the game. the main reason why we playing games even not MMO.

Originally posted by traquena

Originally posted by Czzarre

I think it matters to some players because it matters to others. For example, are you as likely to get into that guild you want if your lev 10 or max lev? In many PVE games the end game raiding is designed to be the best. In many PVP based games, you can only compete when your at or near the max level.

This is not an all encompasing rule, but its more true than not.

HOwever, I agree, its the journey and not the destination that is important ...the best games do recognize this

Indeed! when the MMO game is enjoyable, ill never think when it takes time to become a max level, the important is, how you enjoy the game. the main reason why we playing games even not MMO.

  I love your F'n avatar! YYH 4ever.....