---

My question to all of you is this: Is it possible to create a game design that makes both the hardcore PvPers and the hardcore PvEers happy?

---

It depends on what you mean my "hardcore PvPer".  Some PvPers want to fight their peers ... that is other PvPers with comparable skills and ambitions.  Those folks can certainly enjoy a game that restricts PvP to certain areas.  DAoC is an example of a game that was designed around PvP but also a large amount of "safe" PvE content.  So, yes, it is possible to have a game that pleases PvE'ers and this breed of PvP'er.

But other PvP'ers want to be able to kill players weaker than themselves.  They need free-for-all PvP without any "safe" areas.  They will never be happy with any game that also appeals to dedicated PvE'ers.  The great frustration for this breed of PvP'er is that the one population they desperately want to kill (crafters and non-PvPers) is the same population that generally wont play in a free-for-all game.  These PvP'ers will never be happy in any game.  That's why every forum is filled with their cries of despair.  I have pity for them but my honest opinion is that people with such predatory desires should be spending their money on therapy not mmorpgs.

I'll agree that every new issue has improved CoH/V.  They have a good track record of actually adding new content.  I can still remember when people said pvp, supervillians, and crafting would never happen in this game. 

But I could also say the same of EVE.  Their updates are less frequent but every addition has been an improvement.  I reactivate my account for a few months everytime they add something new.

As you say many games actually got worse over time.  SWG being the most notorious.  It really hurts to give a company 15 dollars a month only to discover that they have used it to ruin your game.

Commanding the squad could be immersive if done right.  I would want my soldiers to have names.  Individual differences between them would help a lot. Hopefully we could customize their appearance and skills.

 I wouldn't want to have to micromanage their every action, though.  If I can give them a general command and then trust them to follow orders it would be fine.  But most other mmorpgs have such a system for pets so this should be no problem.  In SWG I always fought with two or three pets.  It was very immersive.  Check my sig, immersion is why I game.

Openness:

I would log on because I needed to survey for a new source of good Aluminum.  While surveying I would see an interesting creature ... and milk it, then take the eggs from its nest... then notice it had a baby ... I'd tame it and let it follow me until I saw another interesting creature who's DNA I could sample.  I'd sample it ... then I'd stumble into a group of Rebel NPC's and destroy them for the good of the Empire ... then build a camp to help heal my wounds ... then chat with the hunter who saw my campfire and needed a rest ... and heal his wounds ... then see a Gungan in the distance and shoot him because, well, he's a Gungan ... then resume my wanderings until I saw an NPC with a surveying quest, which I'd do ... and then remember that I had logged on two hours ago to find Aluminum.  The game play was so open and varied that I could get lost in it.

Pre-CU I could wander unbuffed on most planets with my hunting pets and have enjoyable fights with 75% of the creatures and NPC's we met.  Between fights I'd employ a dozen different non-combat skills.  The introduction of CL's ruined the wilderness for me.  NGE ruined the rest of it.  I wanted a sandbox, not an arcade game.  Sorry for the rant.

Obviously this is a matter of opinion.  Most mmorpgs I have played would have been more enjoyable for me if they were more realistic.  When I comment on the forums of games in development I'm usually one of the people asking the devs for more realism.

I think EVE strikes about the right balance for me.  But Roma Victor ...?  From everything I've read, RV goes way beyond what I'd tolerate.  But I suspect that one reason why they make everything in RV so difficult right now is that there is simply very little to do and they want to keep people busy until they can add more content.

There is nothing wrong with having night so dark you cannot hunt or craft outside.  That is a great idea ... as long as there is something else meaninful for you to do in the dark like make a campfire, cook your food for the next day, change your bandages to speed healing, repair your weapons, pray to your gods, etc.  But 15 minutes of night-time activities would be plenty.  Three hours?  No thanks.

I'd love to see mmorpg developers move away from in-combat healing.  A healing skill is great.  Even a healing class is ok if you must have classes.  But leave the healing for AFTER combat.

500 unique character appearances is nothing even close to what I'd consider acceptable customization.  If the game offers six clothing slots as well as a choice of face and hair then there would be eight things to customize.  If you only got three options for each of those customizable items then you already have over 500 combinations.  If that "500" number is real then the developers aren't promising us much customization at all!

Black and White clans?  Are these "realms" in the way that DAoC has three realms?  What is the relationship between the classes and the Black and White clans?  Can a shaolin warrior join either clan or does your choice of class restrict which clan you belong to?

Thachsahn, I want to thank you and the other people playing 9D for helping us with all these questions

Sorry, but that isn't crafting.  Unless I'm entirely mistaken you cannot make a sword or a shirt in 9Dragons.  You can only improve an item's performance.  It sounds like there is no skill involved so one man may improve the stats of an item as well an any other, given the same materials.  So there can be no crafters either.

This is not to say that the item improvement system won't be fun.  It may be.  But please don't call it "crafting". That sounds intentionally misleading.

If anyone who has actually played the game can comment, that would be great.  I plan to give it a try.

Great editorial.  I agree 100%

I have always found it extremely annoying that mob AI is so predictable.  Real creatures do not react in totally predictable ways when attacked or when they themselves hunt.  Evolution doesn't favor predictable fight/flight behavior for obvious reasons.  Why make mmorpg mobs so predictable?  Programming easily allows a random selection from among several reasonable alternatives.

As for mobs running away from fights they can't possibly win ... I'm all for it.  Any game design that requires a mob to do something suicidally stupid so we can advance our characters is a flawed game design.  Maybe some day we will get a game with good AI that also realizes the difference between "fighting" and "hunting".

If I understand this right only six of the factions (martial arts schools) will be playable at release. Three seem to be "good" and the other three "evil".   Members of a guild must be all of one faction.  Members of a group must be of one faction or an "allied faction".   I'm assuming that means "good"  guys can't group with "evil" guys.  Aside from role playing I can't think why there would be such guild and grouping restrictions.  There is no RvR as far as I can see.  The only pvp seems to be arena duels.  Why limit people's ability to form groups and guilds in this way?

Each faction has four classes that follow a similar pattern: (1) a pure fighter who relies on his natural abilities, (2) a fighter who uses chi (supernatural powers that will play a lot like magic) to enhance his combat ability, (3) a fighter who uses chi for healing, and (4) a hybrid fighter who combines traits of the other three classes for people who want to solo effectively.

The term "crafting" seems to be used to describe the process a player uses to improve his weapons.  It doesn't look like we will be able to play crafters as a profession.  That's unfortunate.

Please let me know if I'm wrong about any of this.  I'm trying to interpret the little info in English I've been able to find about 9D.  I'd love to hear from someone who has been playing the original Korean version.

I sure hope the characters are fully customizable.  If eveyone in my guild is a Shaolin monk then we really need to be able to look different.  I don't want to fight in a clone army :-)