Basically, a simple distinction is:

if the game has an open world and nearly all of it is open to at the start it's a sandbox. not all content has to be available, but nearly the whole world.

if the game forces you to complete area A before moving to B and only after you can move to C, it's a themepark.

think Fallout and Mass Effect series in single player games. I can play through fallout and it's my choice if i go west/east/north or south first.  In Mass Effect you are lead through missions. 

the main complaint before was that people bot to get the keys. Now, if they did announce before how you will get the key, would it not be counter-effective because people would just set up bots to reflect the changes...?

Originally posted by Beermangler

Originally posted by sacredfool

 

The cash shop is not this games problem right now, it's the fact that it requires you to grind for a full week after you run out of quests.

Sorry to barge in, but isn't this a good thing? Having so much quests that you need a week to complete them, instead of grinding a whole week for enough xp to move on to the next area?

Just asking...

I meant, if you complete every quest ingame, grind all rep on the way to get gear, and generally be careful with XP, you will still need to log in with nothing to do but grind for a week before reaching the level cap.

Originally posted by VirusDancer

Pass.  AO was an awesome game in its day.  There are many elements of the game that I wish they would apply to current and upcoming MMOs... but AO's time has come and gone.

Yeh, i am in the same boat. I have fond memories of AO and would rather not confront them with reality!

Uhm.. there is no 24h death penalty.

you do realise you can get the 24h incense buff for free ingame.... every 24 hours.

There is also an option to get 5 PoPs/charm items (also daily) which prevent the death penalty. So, you can play with full damage, and have 5 "free" deaths a day. 

Once you reach endgame there is a need to spend $10-15 for basic runes so that anyone will want you in group, but you can save ingame cash for that leveling to 40 without greater problems.

The cash shop is not this games problem right now, it's the fact that it requires you to grind for a full week after you run out of quests.

It is obvious the analysts have studied the last 20 years of MMOs, and their development, and this is how they came up with the results...

Oooohhhhh...... waitt......

The statement is ludicrous. it's like saying "The communist party of China has been leading the country for last 90 years, so it will also be leading it in 2500"

Originally posted by Papadam

Blizzard

Turbine

CCP

?

Funcom.

Despite the fact they have made abominational released they are on the market for a long time and their games are playable. :D

Originally posted by shultz

I don't, but my mother should still, having been born and raised there until college. Will borrowing her's be enough, or what else must I do to get in, in terms of this ID'ing process?

Moreover, US games don't mandate SSNs, and they welcome international players, so why do Korean games NEED to shut us out? (If a government statute, what statute and why is it there?)

Moreover, how will I be sure that proxies won't make the game extra slow? (Moreover, all proxies I've tried using won't allow Flash to run, so a similar fate might befall this game. If that's the case, how do I override this limitation?)

And are you SURE that the Korean WoW will not let IPs from outside Korea get in their servers? (Because if you're not guessing, would you please link a source backing this up?)

I highly doubt the game itself is IP locked. 

The reason why asian servers are locked is because they are (relatively) cheaper then western ones, so they don't want people going there. Don't koreans pay by hour as well? :S

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=29561456&ticker=ATVI:US

Seems like Michael Morhaime's salary is around 1 million. Quite respectable though I was unable to find information on what car he has. He can afford a ferrari though.

Originally posted by Clubmaster22

 Yeah just /sign more to this utter stupidity. Your guys are probably the ones who think that Blizzard earn "Millions per month" and buy themselves ferraris and candy with the money. Grow up guys.

Uhm.. Blizzard is a corporation which is interested ONLY in profits. The fact that having profits means you have to make a good game made them make a good game. If they could get the same income with a crap game which takes 1/2 the resources, WoW would be exactly that.

with each expansion they will add enough content to keep their players happy, so if it turns out so some expansion has more content then necessary they will simply move some of it to the next one to reduce the costs.

*shrug*

I don't see why asian MMos should at all be included actually. The MMOs I am concerned with are the ones in english, released in the western market, and i don't give a rats pelt about what Koreans play.

I like you BioNut, mainly because I 100% agree. 

GW2 is actually the game I am hoping that can turn the MMO world around. It's either that or TSW from Funcom.Rest is still "same old, same old" unfortunatelly, even it's a very polished same old. 

GW2 has most chances since Funcom has a nice record with alienating players after release, whereas ANet does not. However, funcom always was first to introduce new features to MMOs (Anarchy: alternate advancement, free to play, AoC's combat and graphics etc) so they should also be taken into account.

The housing would have to be instanced. Very very very instanced because of teh server load it creates.

CCP has some of the best game servers on the planet but it doesn't mean they have infinite resources. I think you don't realise how much data (and most importantly data transfers between server to client and vice versa) such customisable housing will create. 

A way it could be done is making it incredibly instanced with an additional payment option for it (either RL cash or ingame cash) so that there is a limiting factor and much of them can be deleted after the person stops paying for it. 

Either way, even for something with 5% of the complexity  of what you propose requires a loading screen when approaching :D

same server load issues apply to most customisations in clothing, that's why most games don't offer anything but a few dyes :D

If you find the CS in RoM is too much, I would also suggest Fallen Earth. It has a trial so you can always get to play free for 10 days and see if you like it.

It really sounds like something you could enjoy (as long as you don't mind it's Post-Apoc, not fantasy).

Seems like I will still be a Playboy Manager virgin in 2010. The release date needs updating!!

:(

I voted for GW2. I think it's the only game which will do anything "different" and has the potential. 

Rift is very interesting, but I will only know if my fears/hopes are confirmed on Dec 7th. 

DC is superhero based, ie a type of game I will not touch with a 3 foot long stick.

SWTOR will not be innovative in any way, it does have a potential to become the new "leader" of standard uninnovative MMOs in around 4-5 years since ideologically it's a re-textured WoW.

TERA is like the another Aion, perhaps better since they have learned and localise it before release. It might be the new "leader" of Anime MMOs in the west after it's released. 

Originally posted by Shoju

Originally posted by SloppyApe

Bummer! Was hoping to play an MMO that doesn't suck for a change.

There is still a good chance that Rift is going to suck balls.

Also, it's a beta so people with your attitude would most probably be the first to go "OMG Gfx and client are not optimised, game runs like crap and it's full of bugs QQ" 

:D

I just bought the LL pack.... *cries a little about the 0.50 euro's lost*

Originally posted by decoy26517

So, after 6 long years, WoW is still the best and most popular MMO out there. Why is that? Why haven't other MMOs been able to capture WoW's polish and fun factor?
Discuss you thoughts on the matter.

Uhmm... Lennon died more then 6 years old and still has some of the most recognisable pieces  :D

The real answer is, people like what  they are used to, and they get used to what they like. Since WoW was the first really "like-able" MMO now new games have it harder because not only they have to be likeable, but also fight off the mentioned fact that people are looking for something very much like WoW but diffenet (ie: influenced by "1"