I think Ive played almost every pay to play mmo including many bad free to play ones.

I have had the opportunity to be a staff here, at EVE (on their Polaris team: an ingame guide and official forum mod), at Anarchly Online (ARK program), Everquest 2 (As Guide), Vanguard (Live Quest Guide). SWG (Guide), etc.

I mentioned the credits because I know someone will say, well you haven't played them all. Actually, I kinda have played them all (well 98% anyways).

The MMO Genre is going down the shitter fast. True, I see this in many single player games (Spore and Force Unleased being two examples of games ran on hype turning out to be blah) but I have seen this in way too many MMOs.

To me, MMOs are developed to be a money making scheme; nothing more. There is little to no regard to actual developmental goodness in current MMOs. Its pretty much, lets throw all this shit together and see what happens.

I thought this way back in April earlier this year. People said to hold out and wait. AoC and WaR is coming out soon. Well. AoC sucks really bad. I cannot tell you how much that game sucks. Who knows, it may get better now that the Groucho guy is gone but Im not going to spend more money to found out either.

Then came WAR. No one talks in the game. NEVER. Not in groups, not in warbands, not in public, not under a car, over a bus or in a star. They just dont talk. PvE quests are atypical and RvR is a bunch of people standing here and a bunch of people standing there with an occasional person breaking from the Zerg to get others to push forward.

Don't even get me started with Darkfall. Its shadowbane all of over again. Pure and simple.

Ill still hang out in the forums but my MMO days are done.....until they actual lvl the bar of developmental talent above "Retard" I am staying away from them.

Just my thoughts. Thought I would share them

Yet one more added to an ever growing population.Soon more prospective MMO customers will be choosing not to play any of them, than will be actually playing all of them combined.

The MMO genre will stay the same for the next ten or fifteen years.  Soon all of the WoW players are who will be making MMOs, and we all know how that will turn out. *shivers*

im waiting till Earthrise, and fallen earth before i decide to make one of these threads. I dont get hyped over linear fantasy games anymore.

Can I have your stuff?

Yeah. i agree with what you said pretty mush :)

but im still playing haha.

what are you looking for in an mmo in genral?

Seems I never stop waiting for a good MMOG, it started back with the old MMOGs where I would play them, get tired of them fast, then think "maybe a better one will come out", a new one comes out and it is the same thing.  I stick to the genre not out of nostalgia but because the concept of a MMOG is such a promising one.

So yeah I know what you mean.

I agree with most of what you said.

'Making money' is the goal in basically every industry now: games, music, movies, etc. Sensation over substance. It is not unique the MMO industry.

I have played more than a few MMO's over the years and I know what I like and what I don't. I will take a pass on any level based game. Period. I didn't care when AoC and WAR were announced and I don't care now.

Your comment about Darkfall, however, is erroneous. Firstly Shadowbane was level based. Secondly Aventurine has stuck to their guns about taking their time and to their game model regardless of the whining. If any company deserves some kudos for bucking the MMO trends it is Aventurine.

I have to say I'm shocked that you weren't flamed on this, but maybe I've just been hanging out on the wrong MMO-in-development forums. It seems everyone here agrees with you, which is interesting. Then again, people who frequent this site enough to post and have a few on MMO's in general were probably playing before WoW.

I have to agree with one of the first replies though, WoW was huge and it was aimed dead center at casual gamers. A lot of people playing WoW are really into a game for the first time, not just the young kids but a lot of older folk. Everyone else wants to get some of those players, and coming out with a quest system, interface, classes, and even lore similar to it with slightly better graphics and a tweak or two will rake in the cash.

I do have a serious question though, you said Darkfall will be the next Shadowbane. I'll admit ignorance about the fate of Shadowbane, and I have been looking at Darkfall with some interest. I don't want to hear it flamed to hell and back, but I do want to know why you think it will fail, or at least not do as well as a lot of folks say.

Good, sad, and unfortunately true post.

I agree with you overall (well 98% anyways).   But I do see sparks of intelligence and novelties that sometimes bring a smile to my face in a lot of MMOs (even some bad ones). Seems the the idiot incharge of the Dev teams sometimes forgets to censor such snippets of cleverness and they get thru the cracks to those of us who appreciate a good game.

Point being, there are people out there who can deliver, but the "coders" are not necessarily "players" and vice versa. Its like asking a old Board of Director businessman , or a scientist number cruncher to design a fun game.

What we need is a MMO "by gamers, for gamers" (as Interplay puts it best).  

So... taking all your years of experience, what kind of MMO would YOU design (yes you, the OP)? Remember it has to satisfy EVERYONE on all sides of the fence (ie all PvP and PvE and RP and Crafter players, etc).

Originally posted by ssnautilus

 

 

So... taking all your years of experience, what kind of MMO would YOU design (yes you, the OP)? Remember it has to satisfy EVERYONE on all sides of the fence (ie all PvP and PvE and RP and Crafter players, etc).

 

Though not the OP, asking someone to design a game that is everything to all players is unreasonable. Some features are just mutully counterproductive and require various caps and barriers to coexist at all. The reason that WoW has done so well with their 'theme park' model is that there has not been a competitor of equivalent quality.

Once there are some quality releases that target specific players (e.g. PvE, PvP, sandbox, etc.), then I think we will see the WoW model begin to stumble.

If I had a sugar-daddy willing to buck up 24 mill I'd be happy to make a innovative sandbox mmo that breaks the mold and tries to do something new. Problem is people seem kinda attached to their money and not willing to invest millions on some group of guys saying "we're trying something new, it will be awesome, trust us!" They want research to ensure their millions are going twards something people have done and has prooven successful and marketable.

Sadly that's the root of all this evil. If developers didn't have to spend as much to make an MMO (a shorter dev cycle with smaller staff) they could innovate without as much weight on every choice. But the time/staff it takes to make a giant virtual world requires alot of cash and that means people wanting constant reassurance that their money has been going twards something profitable for the past 4 years of development.

 I'm not going to comment on why you're done with MMOs, because I don't care and what I say won't matter anyway.

But, I AM having fun with The Force Unleashed.  It seems kind of short, but I'm enjoying throwing stormtrooper down chasms to their deaths. 

PS.  In general I agree with your post.  Just have nothing to add.

I think its funny that you assume Darkfall Online is going to fail when its exactly what you crave out of MMOs. the ability to think for yourself and do what YOU want instead of following a lame linear path created by the developers.  The game is being created with a niche crowd in mind thus not expecting many subscribers.. so how could they be compared to all these get rich quick substance free MMOs?

Originally posted by Morrdread

I think its funny that you assume Darkfall Online is going to fail when its exactly what you crave out of MMOs. the ability to think for yourself and do what YOU want instead of following a lame linear path created by the developers.  The game is being created with a niche crowd in mind thus not expecting many subscribers.. so how could they be compared to all these get rich quick substance free MMOs?

Marketing scheme. They want people like yourself to think exactly the same way.

Originally posted by Morrdread

I think its funny that you assume Darkfall Online is going to fail when its exactly what you crave out of MMOs.

Ive played MMOs since 1997. Trust me when I say Darkfall will be like Shadowbane. Google the developmental history of Shadowbane as well as its release.

I dont want this thread to be a darkfall thread. Im just stating my opinions why I have stopped playing MMOs. This thread is not meant to point at people and make fun of them or something they love.

Originally posted by Enigma

Originally posted by Morrdread

I think its funny that you assume Darkfall Online is going to fail when its exactly what you crave out of MMOs.

 

Ive played MMOs since 1997. Trust me when I say Darkfall will be like Shadowbane. Google the developmental history of Shadowbane as well as its release.

I dont want this thread to be a darkfall thread. Im just stating my opinions why I have stopped playing MMOs. This thread is not meant to point at people and make fun of them or something they love.

hey engima ... have you tried lineage 2?

Originally posted by tvalentine

Originally posted by Enigma

Originally posted by Morrdread

I think its funny that you assume Darkfall Online is going to fail when its exactly what you crave out of MMOs.

 

Ive played MMOs since 1997. Trust me when I say Darkfall will be like Shadowbane. Google the developmental history of Shadowbane as well as its release.

I dont want this thread to be a darkfall thread. Im just stating my opinions why I have stopped playing MMOs. This thread is not meant to point at people and make fun of them or something they love.

 

hey engima ... have you tried lineage 2?

yeah I didnt mind it although the grind is bad and farmers were bad. If i knew a great guild I could give it a shot again. I think i had some characters on the Bartze server.

Originally posted by Enigma

Originally posted by tvalentine

Originally posted by Enigma

Originally posted by Morrdread

I think its funny that you assume Darkfall Online is going to fail when its exactly what you crave out of MMOs.

 

Ive played MMOs since 1997. Trust me when I say Darkfall will be like Shadowbane. Google the developmental history of Shadowbane as well as its release.

I dont want this thread to be a darkfall thread. Im just stating my opinions why I have stopped playing MMOs. This thread is not meant to point at people and make fun of them or something they love.

 

hey engima ... have you tried lineage 2?

 

yeah I didnt mind it although the grind is bad and farmers were bad. If i knew a great guild I could give it a shot again. I think i had some characters on the Bartze server.

i would suggest you try it out for another month. After gracia, the grind is non existant till you get to B grade. I would say you could join my guild, but im still working on getting my account back.

Hows about FF11?