All Posts by rejad

Solo-player : Someone who should have bought a console and saved a lot of money.

Hardcore : People who want to get to the top, ASAP.  Once there they whine a lot about being bored before moving on to a new game.  The only good thing about them is that they only stick around about 3 months after new expansions hit.

Grind : Anything that is repetitive and isn't fun but is between the player and the things that are fun.

RMT : A business model that works great in Asia where most people don't use credit cards, thus making subs inconvenient.  Coupled with the fact that most RMT games sell game cards in vending machines that sell all kinds of cards and are everywhere, it works very well in Asia.  Not so much here.

Community : Source of support and fun or high school popularity contest.  There is varying degrees.

Sandbox : A game environment where the players move the story.  The upside is that content only needs tools and not constant injections of new story.

Linear : A game environment where the story moves the players.  The upside is that you don't have to think about what to do next

PvP : The best way to be challenged and to develop skills and reflexes.  Or a way to compensate for being stuffed in your locker every day at school.  It always seems one or the other.

PvE : A way to meet new players and learn the game.  Can be challenging when the players are out-classed.

There you go.

I don't play it because its filled with lag that makes Star Wars Galaxies look smooth and the character movement is like trying to steer a freight truck on ice.

This card game is funny to me.  Probably a smart move but rather silly to me.  WoW had something simmilar, it seems the WoW-envy is still strong with SOE.  I wonder, if the WoW dev team were in a bus and accidentally drove over a cliff would the current pres of SOE shove SWG's dev team over a cliff as well?

Originally posted by Spoofis

WoW's secret to success

1. low lag, some people raid on dial up

2. low system requirements

3. emphasis on combat, low lag is important for combat

4. entry level stuff mixed in with hard core stuff, a wide variety of content that appeals to guilds and soloers.

This, right here.

To the OP, I say yes.  But the game would have to provide a different experience, be something you couldn't get in WoW.  I'm not saying it has to be radically different but different enough.  There isn't much point in trying to compete with WoW by being WoW.  Why make a knock-off that provides the exact same experience that people will either ignore or be cynical towards?  Why abandone all your acomplishments and friendships in WoW to play a new game that isn't any different?

Originally posted by Solar

I was bored and thinking, what is missing from all of the MMORPG's out there today.

So I made a list.

Immersive Storylines

I think this is a big one. The stories in all MMO's are pretty emotionless. I love playing normal RPG's, there's always a cast of characters, a story and a world you fall in love with. However in most MMO's there is a very loose story, if any.

I think a great addition to MMO's would be high quality stories. Perhaps writers could be hired for continuation. The stories could be on par with Television shows and anime/mangas, or games like Final Fantasy. These stories should be designed to enjoy solo or with a group of people. Perhaps depending on how you play the game, alone or with freinds, the storyline will change through your eyes.

Having a quality and on going storyline would make the game much more exciting.

Cutscenes

An enjoyable part of today's normal RPG's is watching the beautiful in game movies, that add to the emotion and overall immersion into the story. Few MMO's have cutscenes, and those that do usually lack the point.

Advanced AI

Although you have many real people to talk and make freinds with, I think this should be possible with the many NPC's in games too. Why not give every NPC a backstory, and a life of their own. Let them wander the world, let events happen to them. Allow them to grow. Similar to how characters in a single player RPG would.

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I feel basically the problem with MMORPG's is there is little depth to them. You create your character. You talk to NPC's. They give you quests. Your character grows a little. Though your never really involved in anything. It becomes more of a graphical chatroom, then a game.

There needs to be more elements from the single player RPG's we all love in the MMORPG's that are still relatively new.
 

So why not just play single-player games?  Why waste all that money on building a network and running servers to achieve what can be done without all that?

The point of playing a game online is to interact with other players.  If I want a story, I'll go read a book.  If I want cut-scenes, I'll go watch a movie.  If I want to build up a guild to dominate a server I'll play a video game.  The problem with MMO's, in my own opinion, is that they focus too much on things like story and epic PvE content.  The focus needs to be on systems that allows characters to have effect on their game world, increase interaction, and encourage competiton. 

I think the naesayers balance out the fanboys rather nicely on this issue, actually.  So I wouldn't go so far as to say that everyone has confidence in Darkfall.

If you're going to play a game that has leveled, quest-based advancement I'd go with WoW.  Less bugs, easier to run, bigger game world, more players at all levels to interact with, etc.

Not to say there isn't some nice features about EQ2.  I like how abilities function differently for PvP than they do for PvE.  Keeping them seperate seems like a good solution to tweek one without fubar'ing the other.  I like how guilds have their own form of advancement giving meaning to being in one outside of the social aspect.  There is housing, even though its instanced.  Everything else that EQ2 has that I like is really minor, like collections.  It wasn't enough to hold me.

I haven't played EQ2 in a long time.  I played on a PvP server and it was great fun for a while but then they messed the whole thing up.  Of course therein lies the other reason to avoid EQ2; Sony Online Entertainment.  EQ2 has already gone through two major changes, one of which changed the entire way characters advanced.  WoW's gameplay hasn't been "revamped" like SOE games and doubtfully ever will.  

Didn't read all nine pages.  OP had some nice points but I think those considerations are secondary and for the most part I disagree entirely.  The bugs, lag, and steep system requirements DID kill VG.  At the time of its release I didn't have a system that could even run the thing.  I have maintained and continue to believe that World of Warcraft owes its success largely to factors that have very little to do with the actual game play design.  I could write pages as to why but I'll summerize it in a single sentence:

Unlike most other MMO's on the market, WoW is successful because it looks good, plays good, and more people are able to run it and run it without problems.  Not neccessarily in that order.

You could have the best game design in the world but if the graphics are tripe and the gameplay is as clunky as moving furniture down stairs then you're only going to gain a niche audience.  The same is true if you ship the game with so many bugs that it becomes nearly unplayble.  And again its true if you make it so that your game can only run on the latest computers with the latest graphics cards.  These considerations, as opposed to game concepts such as levels, instances, sandboxes, and the like I believe count more to whether a game is successful or not.  If the game is buggy, laggy, and/or ugly then almost no one will want to play it.

Originally posted by Vrami

wouldn't it just be SOOOOOOOOOO ironic and funny if Bliz ended up being the ones to produce the new next gen SANDBOX so many are looking for? I wonder how people would feel about blizzard then. Of course this probably won't happen but WoW (no pun intended) would I laugh if bliz made the sandbox so many people hope for.

Wouldn't be the least bit surprised.  They're the top dog that everyone else is trying to emulate.  As time goes on however the game will become more and more dated, eventually it will lose subs.  If they want to be successful in the future they need to make something new.  They can always update the engine on WoW and use it to make their own WoW-clones.  But to grow and gain new customers, they need to innovate.

Gentlemen, lets get back to what's important.  Hating SOE; something we can all agree with.

Originally posted by brihtwulf

While a sandbox means you can use the sand to make anything you want, you're not going to get far without water or tools.  And Ryzom is dry as hell and devoid of useful tools.

This, right here.

That is my big problem with the game.  Its not that there isn't anything to do, its that there isn't anything very fun to do.  Yeah yeah, tell me about how sandbox's don't have quests.  I'm a SWG preCU fan, I've been there.  But what you're overlooking is that in SWG there were things to do.  You could place homes and decorate them how you wanted.  You could start up shops, no auctioneer.  You formed guilds and built cities, put down bases and raided your enemies bases. 

Granted, SWG was always unfinished and I think that if the devs back in preCU hadn't been so preoccupied with "balancing" the game and added the other features to enchance the Galactic Civil War and such it would have been better.  But even where that game lacked Ryzom lacks more because it is a static world like Everquest but no quests.  Sure the game is skill based and open but the game world itself is designed in a linear fashion.

Also in SWG you were limited in what skills you had.  To change your character from one thing to another, you had to drop skills and relearn new ones.  The effect of this is something that I've never seen another game do; it kept the level grind going.  New players, especially during the CU when they eleminated the XP penalty for grouping, always had others to play with and grind because the old players were constantly retweeking their characters.  It not only gave new players a chance to actually play with others as they improved their characters but it also created a way for new players to meet the old ones.  In Ryzom you grind alone for 100+ levels.

This game is really nice in a lot of ways, but in this case there really isn't much at all to do.  This game needs a meta-game, something that lets you have some impact on the world.  It also needs a way for new players to be useful to the established players so newbies aren't stuck climbing a massive wall of boring grind to get to where they might have fun.

If you think you're having spyware issues do a search on google for Ad Aware and download the free version.  Install, update, and run a scan.  Probably do a virus scan with your virus program as well.  If you're still having problems check out a tech forum for help, be sure to read their stickied help topics before posting anything.  You can find a list of such forums at merijn.org where you can also download a program called Hijack This which can create a log of the programs that run on your computer and other info such has the settings on your web browser. 

Graphics could be PS1 quality for all I care, performance is king.  I don't care if its cartoony as long as it looks alright.  Smooth movement, fps style, environment collision and such.  Knockback attacks, knockdowns, flight, naval combat, really dynamic stuff.

Limited advancement.  Spending three months leveling up your toon is silly.  The gameplay shouldn't be learning to play or advancing your character, the gameplay should be the actual gameplay.

No uber gear.  Only thing it does is create buisness for goldfarmers and make players waste many hours doing grinds for the best gear.  Everything wears out but who cares, its easy to replace.

Skill based.  No classes, you pick what skills you want to have but with limits so you don't end up with everyone running around with every skill.  You have to decide how you're going to play.

No backstory.  If I want to read a book I'll go read a book.  The story should be what the players do.

Player-made factions.  You control a territory, you hire players to patrol it or help run it.  They become part of your faction.  You get bigger, you invade to expand or defend against invaders.  You want to be a pirate?  Raid others towns and cities.  Wanna be a merchant?  Collect material in one region and transport and sell to one where its rare.  Build an empire if you can.  Do whatever you want but unlike SWG have game mechanics that accomadate this.

Sure it was different.  But what it amounted to was a license to grief.  Also those who were getting the raw end of the deal were the new players as being lower in level meant they had much less ability to survive what was going on.  I don't think that giving entertainment to the bored alpha players at the expensive of the newer players is a good decision.  I'm not saying that they shouldn't try new things or that they should have never bothered with this, I'm just saying it wasn't all that great.  I wouldn't have had a problem with it if you didn't incure equipment damage from dying as a zombie.  There was more than one way to do this.

Originally posted by rikilii

There's already a thread on this in, ***GASP***, the  SW: TOR forum.

He knows because he made that one too. 

I'm thinking BG's in WoW, complete with gnomes spazzing out everywhere if Yoda's race is playable.

I happen to know more than one person who gladly pays monthly fees to do nothing BUT make shoes.  Boo.

Originally posted by LordRelic

No problem,, Just so you know this isnt pre cu swg.. just incase you missed it

No kidding.  "Jedi must be unlockable" isn't some law chisled into stone somewhere.

Guides wouldn't be so popular if the path of discovery was as interesting as the final destination.

Originally posted by Razimus

That's the best way I can describe it, I use the term polished loosely it could still use some patches to fix a few minor bugs, but the storyline is better, the races and RvR automatically makes it better, and the open public quests are great, you don't have to recruit someone to play a quest you simply walk on the map and bam are automatically part of the quest, the top quest contibutors get a prize after a randomly generated roll giving the most a better chance but those that can't kill 100 monsters in 10 minutes can be lotto'd to 1st place, the tome of knowledge is cool, it records everything you do and see (every specific monter killed, every action taken, every death, etc etc etc), and you can choose titles, most wasteful if you throw a lot of stuff away, the pirate if you loot a lot, strategic crusher, etc etc, tons of titles, many ways to get exp, overall, I've played the game for about 10 hours so far, and I'm only at chapter 3 so I haven't really met with RvR pVp yet, but the quests are fun, and fully open mmorpg up to at least where I'm at, I know some parts are instanced but I haven't seen any yet, I like the gold system, so far I've only found about 2 gold pieces, which is a lot in the game, it's gold system is like guildwars sort of, 100 silver is 1 gold, 100 copper is 1 silver.

I'm having fun so far, I don't know if it defeats wow as I've only played wow for 5 minutes, but I've played guildwars since it came out and I'd say it's much funner than guildwars, the multi-race rvr option alone, the storyline alone gives you a more reason to want to fight, and the settings and graphics are better, so I say it beats guildwars hands down, can't say for wow, but I do like the story so far, and the map, and how the game functions is really good, you have to complete quests to really level fast, and people that hate quests should not play RPG games.

Sorry had to make a new thread but that 'war failed' thread only purpetuates a skewed perspective. 70,000 pre-order collectors editions SOLD OUT over a week ago, do the math, that NEVER happens, 1million give or take in open beta, this game is gonna be huge, now the 15 bucks a month factor will factor against it when it comes to guildwars fans because GW is not p2p, but the way I look at it, the 15 bucks is a buffer, which keeps a lot of 12 year old douche bags out of the game, so far I've noticed a good 90% of players have ROLEPLAY themed names, that's pretty rare, I'm used to k3wld000ds crapping up games, hopefully this game is full of great epic pvp and some decent roleplay on the side, I know everytime I rvr someone I'm gonna roleplay, you start the game on the battlefield, and are given a sense of urgency, not a fairy land where you have the option of fighting, this is a FIGHTING game.

Fixed, somewhat.  I wanted to make more paragraphs out of it but the first and third paragraphs above are all one sentence.  On topic, I'm going to wait for some kind of demo before I consider the game.  Some of the features sound very positive but I'm going to have to see it all in action first.