Originally posted by daeandor

There are some emulated EQ servers out there that run under similar rules.

 

I personally would like to see a lot of stuff that is currently in game.  The game is so much better now than it was in the Velious era.  All that said, it was probably at it's peek around then and Luclin, which always leads to favoritism.  I like LDoN and LoY and the revamped old world zones as they are now.  Also there *needs* to be a means of transport like PoK books or else the size of EQ becomes a pain since we are all used to being able to assemble rapidly in nearly every modern mmorpg.

 

Nah you want to put in what everyone here hates and the reasons they are requesting this. The reason we don't like anything past Velious is because it did introduce easy travel, bazaar and other crap. I would donate money to have a player run server every month. I am sure there are more like me. With the things you are suggesting, mine as well play the live versions now.

Are there any emulated classic servers btw? I would love to play one if it was emulated really close to the original game. 

Originally posted by Squishynoise

That is an apologist article if ever there was one.  Seriously, you must be getting free game accounts for this. This is like a paid lobbying effort on behalf of all MMO games isn't it?

Game developers and publishers care about their customers as much as drug dealers and drug manufacturers care about their customers. 

So the question is, do you fault the Junky or the Dealer? I fault the dealer. The junky is just trying to get his fix. The dealer will make more money if the producer makes a cleaner drug cut with less harsh additives, but then the dealer has to wait longer.

Waiting around costs the dealers money, so the producers get slapped around a litle bit and are told to "cut it faster" and noone cares what you cut it with as long as you get   X  amount ready by friday.

So that's how game development works. Get it out faster and who cares about the customer. They'll buy it cause there isn't anything else like this out right now.

And that is our fault as well as consumers. We are the ignorant junkies who keep paying for bad products.

But the alternative is abstinence and we can't handle that.

As far as the article goes that was just pure flowery bunk. You are a junky justifying your smack cut with dried fertilizer because you don't have anything else to snort.

So you explain  to the people who are angry that the inside of their nose is bleeding and burning that they just don't know how to appreciate the specialness of the burning sensation.

How awesome is that. Tabula Rasa isn't an incomplete game! We just aren't appreciative enough of the special creative juicyness!

Man I had no idea I wasn't really feeling the specialness, and the, the far reaching reality bending theoretical cutting edgeness of the artistry.

I thought I was just seriously pissed off at spending hundreds of dollars on games that I can't enjoy until nearly a year after I start paying for it. I'm so glad you explained it to me  Laura, in your little special good times happy feeling article.

I feel much better about paying to help make someone wealthy who doesn't have to do his job right to get rich and famous.

I guess that takes away my guilt for sticking my finger in my nose while I am making hamburgers for all of you. Or for scratching at my flaky armpit deodorant without washing my hands while I divide up the buns for the lunch rush.

I guess it makes sense though . No wonder the service industries are a complete shambles and you can't get anything done right. All the pothead losers who get stuck working fast food only have themselves, and the video game industry as a model for a job well done.

You know I don't remember paying for a CD of a band who promised to learn to play their instruments AFTER the CD made enough money.

I have never walked into a movie theatre and seen a time stamp at the one hour and twelve minute marker that states "Thank you for your continued patience, this film will have an ending as soon as we can finish it, please check backl next week when you pay again to see the ending".

But I guess we should all start expecting that shouldn't we Laura!

I think you are being a little over dramatic, there have been only a few games that were unplayable at launch. I can name one off the top of my head and that is Vangaurd. MMORPGs are large games where you are going to find some bugs and issues along the way after going live. I would not go as far to call it paying for beta, you make it sound really severe. You also make it sound like Laura is in bed with the MMORPG companies which is clearly not the case. Again you make it sounds as what she said was really severe, when she was merely stating her opinion and did say some were rough around the edges.

Most MMORPGS I have played from the beginning had some  bugs but not enough to ruin my fun. I think I played WoW and yes it had it's bugs and some hiccups during first few days of live but it was an okay game for what they pushed it as.

I myself am not happy with the direction alot of MMORPG games are going lately but I haven't had this severe issue of playing beta as you say. I just hate the linear crap easy games they are feeding us lately. There is no one to blame about how the games are not other than ourselves considering how much bugs they have on launch and how easy and shallow they have become. We are to blame for it, money talks.

If you choose to buy a MMORPG on launch day and are unhappy, don't next time .. wait a few weeks for a review and then make your decision. If everyone refuses a game because it is so buggy then the developers will have no choice but to put out more polished products. If you are sick of the shallow linear games they feed us now, then don't buy them and pay the subscription for them. That is what I recently have done, I have quit playing any game that is shallow and linear, because I am voting with my money. It is the only thing you can do. If the games are making money then it will continue. Once they don't the games will change untill they do make money. Money talks people! Vote with you pocketbooks!

To the OP don't play on opening days anymore till they get their act together to satisfy you. If other's feel the way you do, then things will change. I personally haven't been unhappy at launch about a game except for Vanguard. That leads to another way you can vote. I now only buy games I can try for free first. After all these are MMORPGs I feel it is only fair to let us try them to see if you enjoy the game before making a purchase. You know how I make my vote? I don't play MMORPGs unless they offer some free trial.

I think you are being a bit over critical of Laura and a bit dramatic on how bad these games are on opening day. That is my opinion only though, if you feel that way though I suggest you do as I do above about things I don't like.

Edit: grammer and spelling errors do exist above, I am really sleepy. Also too tired to correct them, anyhow hope it makes a little sense.

Yes sir. Supposedly full featured. They did say they had some ideas on how to make some money with it but they are careful not to effect the game experience. They hinted that online purchase of items will not be the way they do it.

I have never tried this game in the past because of the horrible launch they had but the game ideas are wonderful. If the game was playable it would be the game I want a MMORPG to be. My question is have the improved on any of the issue since launch and it looks like now will be the time to try the game.

Any Irth online players still around to say whether they have fixed the bugs and performance issues?

Yes they have lost their way.

Back when I use to play EQ, I played a shaman with my ranger friend. The duo worked well all the way up. We picked up some people along the way sometimes though, that was what made it a blast. I couldn't stand to play it now after luclin was released.

I miss a game where each class had distinct strengths and weaknesses when compared to another class. It was great fun. I would slow the monsters and haste the ranger and we did very well.

I was about to pick up Vanguard ... luckily I caught the newsletter about the great "changes" in store for the game. There goes that niche game. The only reason no one was playing it in the beginning was the horrible bugs and performance issues.

Instead SOE is going to make it just like all the other easy games that require no attention span of today.

Some old fogeys like myself do not enjoy constant drastic change. I play a small game right now called rubies of eventide that hasn't changed in about 3 years. I like it that way, it is familar and I know everyone.

Classic server to Velious

Thank you for all the replies so far and doing my little poll. I know alot don't like it but maybe there is room for one , just one type of these games? Please I think there is a niche market for it. I don't necessarily see it as "hardcore" rather an different playstyle.

Like the poster above me, I miss having a little downtime and I actually found it more laid backed to pull to a group and not having to do quest.

So far anything under luclin is winning.

Isn't about time for Sony to sell off EQ to someone else now, I really wish they would. I and alot of my friends just want to play EQ 1 like it was at the beginning again. That is the MMORPG we loved and they don't make games like that anymore. I don't like quest, I don't like fast leveling, I don't like Auction Houses .. I like EQ 1 the original. Most people agree that far as it should go is Velious. I am okay with that I guess. Luclin is what started killing it with faster leveling, and the auction house (Not to mention how about some lore killing? Cats on the moon anyone?)

I wish they would sell it off to someone that would just put up a classic server just like it was before, not including any of the new features. I even want to see that old UI again. I miss a game where the players made the adventures, not some quest giver and I miss a game where you had to group to play. This made such a great community. The social jerks never made it far before they quit and you were left with great folks for the most part. Jerks can only hide their true self for so long before the ugly comes out.

I think if Sony put up a classic server as well they would have a dedicated group of people that would play it. Not everyone wants quest, easy mode leveling and no death penalties. Enough is a enough, the game is old .. finally give us what we wanted since Luclin and PoP came out .. the old game back. You have one subscription right here that will not switch games on you. I hate all the new games (here is looking at you WoW).

Sorry if this sounded negative but that was the way I was feeling today. I was playing LOTR some and just shut it off for how easy it was and at the same time from the boredom of playing a single player rpg online. They can take those quest and shove them.

I don't like quest in my MMORPGs, I don't like soloing in MMORPGs, I don't like instances in MMORPGs, and I don't like fast leveling in MMORPGS.

Planeshift people are starting to think it isn't so open source as it is claimed to be.

Alot of people as of late are fed up with the way MMORPGs are going. The MMORPGs are turning more and more into the cheap instant gratification thrill games of the new console games. If you do not know what open source is, you should look into it. Most things that use this model are of high quality because a lot of eyes looking at something is better than few eyes. Also, I believe the people that usually work on open source projects are more passionate on what they are working on.

Let US design our MMORPG. I know it has been attempted in a way in the past which was kind of disappointing but they tried to be too different. Let's make it a fantasy based MMORPG. Let's have polls on how combat works, character development works, game mechanics work and customization works. Let's have passionate developers submit their work and make a game the people want. Open source doesn't necessarily mean free and I am okay with that. Have a big company put this thing together and charge a monthly fee but keep it open source, make it have a GNU license. I think the MMORPG of the people would be the best game.

Bad thing, just made the journey even less important in these online persistant world. I think leveling should be very very very long. I don't want to pay 15/month to finish a game in a month and then stagnate at the end collecting gear. Why not just do away with levels then and just have everyone do raids and pvp for gear, if it is such a insignificant part of the game?

I want a long interesting journey, it is suppose to be an endless online journey and content should be fun and interesting along the way, raids, dungeons, dragons, monsters .. why make these games "end game focused?"

IMO you should never reach end level in an online MMORPG, content should be fun all the way too. When people start getting close to the finish line, bump it up some more.

I always like a large group limit such as 10 players but you can do it with far less. That way if you lose some along the way you still can keep going and pick up more.

Glad alot of you enjoyed the read. That is the way I feel and am very pleased many feel the same way I do. To people who don't, that is cool too, I am happy to hear all points of views.

I have thought about trying EQ2 but haven't been happy with the way SOE does things, still I have heard positive things and may give it a shot.

Originally posted by lanorra

Personally, I think the next step in the evolution of MMORPGs will come when someone creates a game where the world is proactive, instead of interactive.  Let me 'splain what I mean.

In current, typical MMORPG worlds, the environment just persists. It offers essentially the same experience to player after player, character after character. A single experience will not meaningfully take into account the players class, race, religion, skills, talents, level, or most of the players past actions (excepting of course, the limited "faction" functionality offered in some). The environment never changes or if it does, it does not change radically, and certainly does not present a different experience for one player versus another. But of all the issues, the one that is the most radically boring  is the fact that all games today require YOU, the player, to interact with the world in order to uncover quests, or items, etc. YOU have to go up to NPC XYZ and hail them. YOU have to travel to a place where there is a boss that spawns and kill him (and he miraculously appears again for other groups). YOU have to run around to different NPCs to unlock quests, or to buy certain items, or to interact at all with the environment.  /yawn.

In a proactive world, the environment changes as a result of singular player's activity, skills, talents, and other character attributes. It also serves as a "character" in and of itself, and will seek YOU out as a player, rather than the other way around. The same event experienced by 100 different players may yield 100 different results, depending on any number of circumstances. Wow. Imagine a game where your experiences are different than anyone else's. Imagine a game where different characters can enjoy radically different experiences. Imagine a game where the world recognizes you for your charcter specifics and treats you accordingly. How could that get old? How cool would that be?

To illustrate:  You are walking through a forest, and a tree falls in front of you. It narrowly misses crushing you (you saved on your reflex roll!). A group of wood nymphs jump out. They peer at you skeptically, then ask you a number of questions, which you answer, and then your screen goes black and you suddenly find yourself in a room with no windows or doors, and you have to .. do something to figure out what the heck just happened. Another player comes across this same tree, already down in the road, and is jumped by bandits who where hiding behind it. He fights them, kills a few, and the others flee. Searching their corpses, he finds a map. He has to then figure out what it means. Another player happens by this same tree, but it's being chopped up by a group of men. The player hails these men, and they respond jovially, offering to trade their firewood for our player's cloak. He agrees, and makes the trade, and finds out later the wood is enchanted and makes a fine hilt for a magic weapon. Another player comes by and the tree is gone, and he passes by this little area without incident.

While it may sound horribly expensive or terribly difficult to create this sort of player experience, it's not outside the realm of what is already being created for players by MMORPG companies. It's certianly not outside the realm of possibility, only outside of the box in terms of current game design.

In addition, in a proactive world, your activities will have consequences. For example, if you go into the woods and slaughter a few dozen wolves, you'll suddenly find it a little more difficult to gain admittance to a druidic guild or temple. However, the nearby town's Militia is suddenly more interested in hiring you for things like guard duty, something they'd not be willing to ask just anyone. And this opens up new opportunities .. perhaps you get to learn new weapon skills, or leadership skills, etc.

My point is this: games will need to change their player experience focus. Games should not be about a player walking through the same, static environment anymore. The world should come to them, interact with them, give them experiences unique to them. Make their actions and choices meaningful. Give them a chance to fully create a unique persona and gaming experience. Give them a chance to really immerse themselves in a world that cares. When your play because you're excited to uncover your next experience, because you never know what it's going to be, then playing isn't about grinding, or money, or leveling, or progressing anyore. It's simply about enjoying new and exciting adventures, that in the end, result in the progession of your character. That's not a 'grind'. That's just pure fun.

/dares to dream. :)

 

 

 

 Man I have to just say ... you freaking rock! Thanks for the awesome read. I was immersed in your story, just think if it was a game. Oh the fun. I was going to add something but I can't now, I am awed.