I don't know if this would be accepted by most players but what if there are some humandiods/creatures that are much too difficult for certain character classes/specs to defeat. That would mean that regardless how well geared or leveled you are you would have to group with someone else that is naturally better at fighting it. But that means if you are going to do a dungeon run with multiple kinds of enemies you need to have group members that are going to be effective against them all.

Examples

Shadows inflict Healers with blight so that they can only heal themselves at 10% effectiveness and will always die to them without help.

Mirror Mage maintains a constand spell reflect and mana sap. Any mage that trys to fight it will die from the spell damage feedback. Any non-magic Melee class would have much less trouble.

Ravagor is a huge melee beast that is immune to slowdown often charges and knocks down any that flee. Attacking it as a Ranger type class would mean certain death if you were to fight it alone.

The idea is that no matter what "level" (assuming the MMO isn't heavy lvl based) you are, there will still be things that you must respectfully keep your distance from. Also this makes grouping required if you have a need to kill your "nemesis type" for a quest or what they drop.

lol, how about if you hate dieing in MMOs so much and must be that hero among heros then how about no death. That's right, if your health drops to 0 you fall down and then get  back up a few seconds later. No, I'm not serious.

Right, means based only works if the player can put up with the linear content and finds enjoyment in playing different characters; or the there is no way to achieve an end to the character, like in EVE.

I didn' play EQ long enough to die so I don't know what thats like but I thought Vanguard was just right. You had to go back for your tombstone that had all of your soulbound gear and what was in your bags and would return part of the xp lost when you died. I think at the rez shrine you could recall your tombstone for your items but they would recieve damage and no xp would be returned.

But what made it really neat was that you could rope someone to your location that is within ~10m or receive the consent to drag someones tombstone back to them or a safe rez location. So that gave some classes with invis or feign a special job in the group that other games didn't have.

You brought up two pretty good questions.

For the last one, I'd have to say its easier for me to connect with someone with more experiance than a new player but it doesn't mean they have the best equipment. If they are fairly experienced it gives me more to ask or talk about. And still I don't form a friendship with just anyone that sounds like a complete idiot or asshole.

I think it harder to keep a lasting friendship more so now with the main reason that people are quitting MMOs to play the next one that comes out often. Because few player has settle down in one MMO its hard to build any relationship. I've only been able to keep 4 friends MMO since my first MMO and still talk to them today but thats because I've gamed with them for 4 years + several games after that. Now that the MMO market is flooded with people most friendships seem to be disposable and only stay within that game for its short duration of interest.

They already made a neocron sequel. Its called Neocron 2.2. But if you want a real sequel don't expect it for another 5-10 years.

Originally posted by Axehilt

Originally posted by CactusmanX

I'll say Tabula Rasa too,

It sounded like a fun game, I just never got the chance to play it before it kicked the bucket.

Or Auto Assault, for the same reason.

 

Agreed on both accounts.

 

Tabula Rasa and Auto Assault

I must add to this and say resurrect them both and merge them into 1 MMO(with some changes obviously). That MMO would seriously kick ass!

Considering we are gamers and don't have hands on experiance, don't expect to get a better answer than one you could find out yourself. Learn2research+math for = answer

lol girlgeek you have the heart to apologize and the OP doesn't accept it nor a staff person. Don't sweat it, I got a warning that turned out to be an "accident".

The way I see it now is that its not going to be the deep immersive game like Neocron was but a casual space shooter. You could even play this along with EVE if you wanted more action.

"Skills

Characters in Black Prophecy will be progressing through the advancement of skills. Unlike other, more traditional MMORPGs, the skill system in BP won’t improve player powers or influence your ship. The reason is simple, combat is meant to be able player skill and not about dice rolls and modifiers so instead, having a higher level of skill allows players access to more powerful gear."

From this it sounds like skill advancement unlocks the ability to use more powerful upgrades so its going to be like eXteel where it takes months of play to afford the best weapons without buying them with real cash except skills are in place to slow it down even more.

I'll still give it a try but BP won't be as thrilling as I hoped.

http://www.mastheadstudios.com/jobs.php

They could use a kick ass game designer and programmer that are looking for work. If I were qualified for a game designer and lived in bulgaria I might consider it.

Who do you think would be a good person for the job? (hypothetically of course)

Internet forums serve as an outlet for arguing no matter how absurd it is =D

The screens are so good I could eat them o_0 but I can't get too obsessive yet.

Great article, much worth my reading time.

Boy do I hope some greedy publisher reads this and gets all flustered. That would be the day... when publishers fear of job security is greater than the developers.

Originally posted by M4ko

 The author didnt really have any depth to this article, he seems to just join the hype of SCIFI mmos saving the MMORPGS.

 

Where is EarthRise, where is Neocron?

Its funny how rare it is to see someone mention EarthRise or Neocron, especially Neocron. But Its also funny that everyone that I talk to that wants a scifi FPSMMO and I tell them about Neocron, they wished they had played it back then too.

Nice list. I'm happy Auto Assault was on there. I sometimes replay the soundtrack for that game because it reminds me of some really unique moments to MMOs that will possibly never happen again. I didn't love the game but there was plenty to like, same case with other people and TR.

Heh, I remember the whole Wish fiasco. I was told by friends that it was going to be so great and got in the beta2 the first week and it was a laggy mess increasing exponentially every days. I did the short tutorial, traveled to the first town and picked up a quest, and even explored some but it because unplayable so fast. Then the game was shut down and soon after my friends showed me links the server on ebay... I can't remember how much.. $20k maybe?

I know! Star Wars Galaxies! you are rushed and stuff is blowing up... idk I can't remember it well

heh fun topic of guess that MMO

but seriously its just one of those thing all devs must think is a great way to get you instantly interested in their game while teaching you about it. I think the idea to do so is good but maybe not the same OH NO Hurry! stuff is blowing up! get out there and kill something!

I love listen to/ reading from fans that are even geekier than I am as they pick out the little details

/nods to above comments

All I can to do is be clear of expectations and hope for the best.

Problems with that is

- Larger the scale of battles the more of a confusing mess of slaughtering it would be

RDPS keeps weaker MDPSers in check and allows for stand-offs of two armies

-Less complex combat

Who wins comes down to who does more damage and has more health

-Little variety in classes

Templar, Ninja, Herald of Xotli, Disciple of Kaine?

TBH the idea for the whole MMO to be centered around the idea is absurd but there is no reason why you can't enforce these restrictions for certain days, senarios, or pvp zones. You could even throw in the lore- reason of those with ranged are honorless fools that have no place here. Knifes Only Day in Murder's Square! Count me in!

So my question is: Why don't pvp based MMOs have class restrictions for some of the pvp content just for the safe of mixing things up? You know, for the sake of fun?

Originally posted by wisesquirrel

An MMO is not supposed to make a player feel special just because he is playing, they should honestly be treated like dirt, scum, peasants, garbage.

Now if a few players decide to join forces and make a difference, these will gain higher reputations around regions and gain more benefits.

An MMO is a game world that revolves around the players in general, not you, you, you and you.

 

No one is a legendary hero, there ,may be many minor heroes around the regions if they get up and try and do the impossible missions, make the player actually feel special by making him do a  task that is difficult to accomplish and that not everybody will do.

I agree. Players do need to feel like the start out as a peasant then become the hero and recognized for difficult feats not simply because thats what happens in level 1-10 but by what they choose to do. Hell, you should be able to become a villain, just the same.

What is the point of a persistant non-changing world? more AC type story driven content, please!

Am I right or wrong that "an MMO" is improper grammar. "an massively" doesn't sound right but "an online" does but its... at the end... what gives?

Originally posted by astoria

Originally posted by luvboox

I don't care what anyone says about his background, this is an excellent post, and should be required reading for anyone who wants to get into making games.

 

Should be required reading for getting a MMORPG.com account.

lol astoria

As someone that is has studied game design, I found this article to be quite good even though it feels like it came from a book I read. Scott Jennings has now become my favorite columnist.