All Posts by Lodeclaw

Originally posted by mlbslugger

Forced grouping wasn't in FFXI from the start?  I definitely came at the wrong time. I couldn't find anyone to group with and I'll gladly solo if it's a game I like and can get somewhere. I finally chucked it after 4 attempts and my discs met mr. garbage man....

FFXI always has had forced grouping since day one. It's the reason I left. However, since they added the level synch and increased experience for lower difficulty enemies, I'm interested in possibly trying it out again.

Hell, there are no other acceptable mmorpgs on the market, so what's the harm in trying? I'm looking forward finally to a world that's too big rather than too small and cramped. I'll give it a shot, since it's free. What's the harm?

Hum... I don't think people understand my vision in all of this... However, this is just a theoretical situation and a simple inquiry. I appreciate all the opinions and discussion so far.

Any dumbass can make an mmorpg these days, it seems.

Originally posted by JackDonkey

um I want to say no but I bought a second computer just to dual box eve back in the day and I bought a 60 dwarf priest for $210 so I'm sure if the game is one I like enough I would pay more, however if I had to start at the high rate I would probably not last the first month.  It takes me about 6 months to get to the point where I start justifying spending extra money even though it's a game.

Edit: i think WoW proved the money invested in quality will pay for itself and you don't even have to increase the price.

Well, that goes to show how twisted the level system is. If you have to wait 6 months or however long it takes you to get up to the highest tier of players, then there's something wrong. If a game is truly good you should feel that you're getting your money's worth right away, not six months down the road.

Originally posted by severius

 

Problem with your poll, the choices are far too limited.  As far as I am concerned the 49.95+ box price and 14.99 per month that are already charged are more than enough for quality.  Seeing as how this quality (by my own measure) has not really been reached by any game out there I see no reason to pay for it.

 

I also believe that the quality of the community will be reflected in the depth, quality, and challenge presented by the game.  Seeing as how none of the games out  (maybe apart from eve but that game has it's own issues) and definitely coming soon (from the information available) will reach the minimal bar of quality that I expect for my hard earned money I have no intention of paying to play any of them.

The poll refers simply to the example given in my OP. I decided in the example to have, if possible, a free download for the game to avoid forcing people to pay a large fee right off the bat. This of course means you aren't paying 49.95+ box price before you've even had a chance to decide if you like the game or not. The increased monthly fee helps pay for continuing development and the wages of a larger quantity and greater quality of GMs that exist to participate in the game world and help the players with more than technical issues.

I understand how you feel about the current and upcoming games. I don't feel any of them are going to raise the bar dramatically, which is frustrating to say the least. I do hope Mortal Online gets a few things right so someone else will clue in and take it a few steps further.

Originally posted by mike470

 

 

Interesting 2nd paragraphs, the only problem I see with that is if the more mature servers fail to unlock them...Then the people who play less would be mad.

As to your first paragraph... What kind of quiz would a mature test say..? 

*hey older bro! answer these questions*    

It's not a quiz. It's a simple screening process. The questions would exists simply to aid in determining if the applicant reaches the requirements for the top tier server.

But first, I don't think it's possible that the top tier server would be unable to unlock new areas and features. Their trials would be challenging, but never impossible. And this extra money people would be paying would give them good GMs that interact with people in the game. If the players are unable to complete their task, GMs can give them hints or even help with the process by working WITH the players.

Back to the questions... I'm not going to sit here and think up exact questions, but there would be possibly 3 questions. One question perhaps about their character's background to determine their writing skill. One question giving them a situation and asking how they would deal with the situation. One more perhaps asking them why they feel they should be included in the top tier server.

Hey, everyone's just talking about getting girlfriends into MMORPGs... But you're all missing the point. For example, my girlfriend already loves playing MMORPGs, but she doesn't role-play. How can I get her more interested in the role-playing aspect of MMORPGs?

Ekibiogami, I think you've been playing WoW for far too long. That's all I can really say. Anyway, they don't get the good stuff first like it's some sort of inherent gift. The progress of the game's story and new features depend on the players' ability to work together and figure out the complex objectives that they've been given to complete. It should require thinking and it would only happen once. Repeated quests are my bane and I hate them. If a quest is world-encompassing and requires many people over a course of several days or longer, there will be no websites telling you how to do it, because it has never been done before.

Originally posted by mike470  

 

1)  Sorry, misunderstood

 

2)   I  see where you are getting at....How would you plan to screen the members though, since that would be rather challenging?   And let's face it, once the other less-mature players are done with the less-expensive servers, than they will want to play the more expensive servers, and borrow mommy's credit card.

3)  It still does not change the fact that the game has to be good to pay this "extra fee"

Edit:  You must also make sure that these servers get updated constantly.  Just because they pay less money doesn't mean they don't deserve updates/custamor service.  The number of updates may be less, but both must be updated, since they are paying money.

Screening members would as simple as a few long answer questions. This would help to determine the player's maturity and also their writing skill and grammar. Age doesn't matter, but maturity does. As long as it's in the TOS, people who don't fit into the high-end servers will have their characters moved to a lower-grade server. Any developer is well within it's rights to do this, as often the TOS states that the administration can do as they please when they please. As bad as that sounds, it is commonly found in any TOS.

The low-end servers will receive updates, sure, but they will only receive these update when the high-end servers have unlocked them through completion of world-encompassing objectives, such as defeating a NPC-run monster faction in a certain region, thus opening that region for players to explore and populate. Once new features are unlocked, the low-end servers will have to wait longer to receive these, but they will eventually receive many of them. (But not all)

Any additional opinions on this?

Originally posted by mike470

Hmm, I see your point OP.  But the fact is that "kids" are a good percentage of the community in  MMOs.  If one were to risk putting it up to $25 dollars a month (which is a little extreme), than the developers better have a damned good game.  Mature community or not, the game has to be extremely good to raise the bar at 25 dollars.  Also, when some people see the fact that the game is 25 dollars, it will just turn them off, since that is a large price for an MMO.  I see where you are getting at, but is it really worth the risk for a developer to do that?

Also, you seem to be generalizing kids as one group: immature ass-holes.  Sure, some kids are like that, but others are also muture.  It is never right to say that everyone of one group acts like this.  It's just not fair to some kids who are not immature ass-holes to be grouped like that just because of their age.

 

Anyway... My associate and I from The Guild were discussing these issues and I thought that maybe it would be appropriate for mmorpgs to take a little lesson from theme parks. In a theme park, the best rides are usually build for people who are more mature. (Please note I'm not referring directly to age.) As is, mmorpgs generally have quite a few servers, and often they are split up between pve, pvp, rp, and various combinations of these. Why shouldn't a developer take these servers to the next level and separate players by maturity and by the players' desired quality of play and rank these servers setting conditions and raising prices for the higher ranked servers which will provide the most dynamic, challenging and interesting experiences.

What I mean is, let's say you have two servers. Power gamers want to play right away with minimal effort, so they can play on the cheaper, more populated server that costs them less money. Sure, I don't care, they can have fun with that. Now, players who are looking for a game that challenges them on a more dynamic and intellectual level that provides them with more interesting activities can apply to join the advanced server. Like the biggest roller coaster in the theme park, they have to be "this tall" to ride. By screening it's members, this server can ensure that players who are willing to pay more are getting their money's worth.

(Also, please note that as I write this, I'm not referring directly to the given example of a $25 price tag. This is a separate, though related, example, so think about it before you feel ripped off and tell me I'm supporting greedy developers.)

Another example of how level systems are inferior game mechanics.

An mmorts wouldn't work very well simply for the fact that when one person is offline, their units and structures are completely vulnerable. In a mmorpg the player has only one character at a time so it's no problem for them to log out. In an rts, the units are many and have to remain active even without the player.

You are all making very good points. I agree with a number of you that a game's depth can help to manage the maturity of it's core community.

I also want to remind you all that this is a theoretical situation and the situation I provided in the OP is that you've come across an MMORPG that does provide these extra services.

However, as I said, you're all making excellent points and I'd love to continue seeing this discussion develop. Maybe it would be appropriate to discuss what features within a game you would all be willing to pay more to see? For example, GM supported player-run events cost you an extra 30c per day to help pay GM wages and ensure quality GMs.

What say you? Keep in mind it's only an example; feel free to expand this with your own examples. Is it good, or is it bad?

Originally posted by Larsa

Yes, i would pay more, no doubt about it.

Imagine a game that would ask double the normal subscription rate but in exchange would have servers with frequent GM-run events, changing story-lines, GM-enforced RP policies, GM-supported player-run events and the like. Of course it would be more expensive to run these servers, after all even GMs want a salary, but I would be more than happy to pay a higher subscription rate for that.

These are the kinds of things I am planning on using if I am able to make my way into a development position for an MMORPG.

Alright. So I'm a role-player and in an MMORPG I crave social interaction on a personal level; that is, something more than "Level? Class? Wanna party? Y/N" Immersion, please.

On average, a pay to play MMORPG will cost you around US$15 per month and you get usually pretty shitty communities. So I was wondering, if you were given the opportunity to get into a pay to play MMORPG that promised to take care of it's in-game community and support quality experiences within the game world for a larger monthy fee, would you do it? For the sake of argument, let's say that the cost is US$25 per month instead of US$15 per month and to be fair, let's assume that the base cost to buy the game retail is minimal or free for download.

Would you pay $10 more for superior quality so that a developer could better take care of it's players and be able to sustain itself off of fewer subscriptions than a killer app like WoW?

Opinions are very welcome.

This thread comes to you on behalf of The Guild: Clan and Community.
(www.theguild.darkbb.com)

EVE Online is a good choice for PvP, especially if you don't have a lot of time. All the skills in EVE Online are learned over time regardless of whether or not you're logged in... So your character can grow and learn skills without you having to actively spend vast amounts of time playing. If you get into a good PvP corporation, you should have some good times, I think. Just make sure you pick something to specialize in so you can become useful in PvP in a minimal amount of time.

Also, Warhammer 40k is going to have pretty heavy-duty PvP, I think... Don't quote me on it. I think it got pushed back, but I honestly haven't been paying attention to it.

Look for some games that have free trials such as CoH/V or possibly LotRO if it's doing trials right now...  I know CoH has PvP areas where players from either side can roam freely and fight if they feel inclined.

Good luck with your search.

Character development is at a minimum currently. I think a large portion of those who used to use MMORPGs as a venue to role-play have left for text-based and other non-graphical forms or role-playing. Developers don't seem to have this kind of play in mind, which is really unfortunate. I think City of Heroes' character customization is what keeps a strong role-playing community alive there, but I also understand your sentiments regarding a desire for a fantasy RP setting; I'm looking for the same thing. Hopefully Mortal Online will cater to a more casual, role-playing community with it's sandbox style gameplay. If it works out for Mortal Online, it may pave the way for similar styles of MMORPG in the future.

I don't see anything of much interest this year. AoC and Warhammer is all, but I don't think they're going to be as amazing as people think. Next year appears to have a lot more interesting activity, in my opinion. I'm waiting for Champions Online and Mortal Online, both slated for 2009 release.

Also, yeah, those games you listed aren't oldschool in any way, shape or form.