Female ~

Plan on playing Female Humang, Male Asura, Female Sylvari as my starters ~

I would say features like Auction House and fast travel take a lot of of the player interaction and immersion out of mmos. But they're convenient. A lot of what differentiates current MMOs from the first few are simple matters of convenience, and the things left out in favour of those conveniences.

Its like using wikipedia instead of going to the library and looking up info in books. Do certain social skills and experiences get lost in the process? Yes. But we live in a time where convenience is considered an advancement, and inconvenience is an impardonable offense to the majority of those living in the First World. 

I mean even here, when people complain about game features, some of these things like "more challenge" and "more grouping" can be done by players, for players. But a lot of people complain because they don't like having to think about and work for those things without the game itself giving out lots of tools and rewards for such activities. They feel they're entitled to convenience because they paid for something, and indeed they are, but that kind of helpless attitude is why mmos are where they are right now.

People call GW2 a wow clone all the time. Anytime two games have an aspect that even remotely resembles each other, one will be called a clone. In both GW2 and TESO's case, this "clone" status will mostly come from the medium-to-high fantasy setting. If you go into the GW2 forum here, you'll get a lot of people saying they won't bother with it because of the WoW-like setting.

It's likely going become more prevalent the more popular settings like TSW become. MMOs are a fair bit behind the curve when it comes to the appeal of urban fantasy, but likely it'll expand steadily, and so will those who poo-poo at more traditional fantasy. An increase in choices often seems to leads to dissatisfaction with what you were once limited to.

But I've gotten a bit off topic fromt he OP, so I'll just reiterate: all a game needs is ONE feature (be it mechanics, UI, setting, races, enemies, art style, a  single shared dev) for it to be called a clone of another game in the forums. Why?

Because haters gonna hate.

Sounds more like it's dead...

...in your heart.

"You people need to realise..."  

...is a really awful way to start a reasonable discussion, you automatically alienate people with that sort of approach. Gaming forums only represent a small portion of player populations, so making this plea here likely won't have a very dramatic effect, even if people did as you ask.

I will be spending money in the GW2 cash shop btw, particularly for dyes and transmutation stones, as I like having a character that looks the way I want them to look. And also because a portion of that money will be going back into more game content, which is also important to me.

I view playing an MMO as I view any long-term IRL hobby, and even with subs or cash shops, a very inexpensive one at that.

Oh its this thread again. It must be a day ending in y.

I think a more accurate question for you OP, would be "Are there any upcoming AAA MMOs with the potential to please me?" 

Paying cash for gold from an outside source is less acceptable because...

- it's illegal

- often bot gold, which can ruin economies

- players and devs do not have control over going rates, also bad for ingame economy

- the money doesn't go back into game developement, making it all-around non-beneficial for both game and the majority of players

Originally posted by rogabr

 

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You'll have the advantage of skills, both gained for your characters (regular and elite skills unlocked) ~ and the ones you yourself gain by playing. You'll understand class tactics better, dodging and strafing will come more naturally, and you'll be familiar with terrain and the more beneficial objectives. These are real advantages, and ones that you may find more satisfying than only being able to say you grinded a long time for some stat increases.

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that takes about a week tops

you unlock the regular and elite skills insanely quickly and the whole talent system is easily done through a online skill calculator

dodging and strafing come naturally from playing other games at any sort of compitent level and you'll learn a huge variety of class tactics through just watching other players play / dungeon queues

familiarity with terrain takes a whole 1-2 games played on the maps and the more beneficial objectives are 100% subjective. due to who is where and how long it takes you to get there / who could be there

this isnt "skill advantages" this is Common sense.

If you haven't had a full week to play, then it's not something you can really claim as fact.

Common sense would be what any fresh player has coming into pvp, not what's gained through that experience afterward. By your own statements, they're gained skill advantages recieved through actually playing. You asked how you could win over a fresh player, I provided an answer.

I think you are underestimating those advantages, and perhaps would benefit from a better understanding of real world historical battles (particularly those prior WW1) rather than gear-dependant mmo "battles." Training, strategy, tactics, and knowledge of terrain aren't things to be dismissed out of hand as "oh it's just common sense."

Here's a question, spawned by a GW2 gold seller posting in the pub (here for however long its up.) Let's say the cash shop did somehow magically give a player such a great edge that they basically "won" GW2. Do think it more beneficial if the cash shop was removed, and those seeking a cash advantage went to goldsellers and ebay to gain it? Are you more concerned about the principle of the thing rather than the practicalities?

You'll have the advantage of skills, both gained for your characters (regular and elite skills unlocked) ~ and the ones you yourself gain by playing. You'll understand class tactics better, dodging and strafing will come more naturally, and you'll be familiar with terrain and the more beneficial objectives. These are real advantages, and ones that you may find more satisfying than only being able to say you grinded a long time for some stat increases.

Originally posted by GrumpyJester

No, it did not live up to it for me.

 

 

It's been a while since I played an MMO that was this grindy before level 10. I need levels before I can see more of the world / experience more of the personal storyline, and the only way to do that is to grind. Either I run around for events I've probably already done before, or I try to fill karma hearts with tedious "collect ten apples" chores.

 

I was so desperate for XP that I started doing the daily achievements...find ten different mobs to kill, gather 10 resources. Big disappointment.

You can get to lvl 10 pretty easily. If you want to explore the world, just do so. You don't have to be the area's lvl, you just have to play carefully and be attentive. Not only that, but the exploring will gain you experience as well. I was able to get a lvl just exploring Divinity's Reach, and had a good (not to mention informative) time doing so. At later lvls the gain may not make much of an impact, but under 10? Its very nice and can easily fill the lvl gaps in your personal story.

Originally posted by Interesting

Graphical version for those who were blind.

 

You're missing the half that explains accruing the cash. Strangely enough, it doesn't actually grow on trees. 

I think some people are confusing what was stated in the OP. The question isn't about if the games meets the hype, it's if the game complies with what was stated in the linked manifesto video.

I still need to play the Asura area ~ but in the human lands there's this beekeeper lady whose hives get attacked by bears and she's just amazing. She sounds like a post-menopause Winnie the Pooh.

Originally posted by Interesting

Too Long Didnt Read Version:

Whole point is to send the message that its not OK to monetize time and effort

 

 

And I stopped right there.

Yes it is ok. Time is worth something. Effort is worth something. It doesn't matter if it's time and effort spent playing a video game, or time and effort spent at an actual job, they both have value. How the value of one is measured against the other depends greatly on the playerbase. Even without a cash shop of any kind, there would still be the translation of real cash to in-game currency through gold and account sellers, like in every other mmo. A cash shop simply represents a more visible, more palatable, and more easily controlled conversion that can directly benefit the game.

So I went over the manifesto and what they promised ~ here's my opinions on what was claimed in the video: