Originally posted by Csick

- Each Zone will support 64-100+ players  - That IS massive.  What mmorpg do you know that can have more than that in a single area all fighting at the same time?

Vendetta Online, you should check it out.

Originally posted by mmoski

AND THE WINNER FOR MOST INNOVATIVE FLUID COMBAT SYSTEM IS....

Dragons Nest, although many of you wont like the graphics and instancing, the combat is second to none, the combat plays more like a fighting game, fluid combo's, breakers, movement and dodging based on aim targeting. No other game has come close yet.

 

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm

If you're going to make a sweeping claim like that, I hope you're prepared to back it up.  The above list includes just a few games you may want to consider.

Originally posted by Swanea

Originally posted by Phaserlight

[...]

This is an example of the strategy and execution one must use while in combat in Vendetta Online. Books that might aid in strategy in Vendetta include Sun Tzu's The Art of War or Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings.  All in all, the combat is fluid, fast, depending on player skill as well as strategy.  The combat in WoW does not compare.

[...]

For Point two, I understand where you are going and that seems to make Vendetta a very fun game in that regard.  Having not played, I can't comment on its fluid combat.  What I can comment on is that in almost any PvP scenario, things are different and exciting for MOST games.  I think you are looking at two different types of games.  But most people hardly care for the deeper combat in wow DUE to it's fluidness.

 

Fair enough; I can appreciate that WoW excels in its own regard, doing the things it does very well.  However, I feel like the words "fluid" and "intuitive" should go hand in hand.  In other words, a new player should be able to enter a game and become a seasoned opponent by virtue of adaptability.  I'm sure this is somewhat true of a game like WoW, however I would think a game like VO that depends on (spooky)^[1] emergence, based on physical interactions, should "flow" just a little bit better; I'd rather spend my time learning the physical boundaries of a consistent, simple ruleset than memorizing menu-paths based on context-specific advantages.  There's the adage that a baseball outfielder is actually performing calculus when catching a fly-ball: if a game is intuitive, strategy can flourish without any artificially-added complexity.

If that didn't make any sense: WoW and VO are both great games, but I appreciate VO's robust simplicity in combat.

^[1]Berit Brogaard, (March 1, 2013) What Is Consciousness? Psychology Today. Retrieved 5-21-13.

Originally posted by Eir_S
I don't even understand a LITTLE bit how the dialog screens were confusing, and there are plenty of people on channel 1 of every single server save perhaps Leviatha.  I agree about the cash shop though.  Nexon games aren't very welcoming in that regard.  The game is still pretty awesome though.

The dialog was not at all confusing, no more so than navigating a word-processing menu.  I dunno, it just felt... (and I strongly dislike this word)... unpolished.

I did log on again and this time I saw plenty of people running all over the place; I guess it must have been the time of day I was on previously.

Let me tell you about the most recent PvP fight I had in Vendetta Online; I will attempt to do this using as few words as possible, while illustrating different points of strategy. I will also assume the reader has little or no knowledge about this game.

I was leaving a sector belonging to a lawless faction in “Greyspace”, on an errand, when I was hailed by a pilot who wanted to practice. We both cleared a safe distance outside the “No Fire Zone”, and then I turned to face him. He was in a Marauder: a trade ship with low mass that had decent firepower and was also capable of dogfighting. I was in a Corvus Vulturius: a dedicated fighter with slightly less firepower and an extremely thin frontal profile.

In the beginning of the fight I did not know what weapons my opponent would be using. The first person to fire gives away a certain advantage: the advantage of surprise. I fired first, a little too early, perhaps. I was using all-energy weapons: these have the benefit of not consuming ammo. One strategy is to save a weapon until partway through the fight, hiding it from one's opponent. By firing both weapons I had tipped my hand.

We closed the distance and began the process of feeling each other out; reaction versus reaction. No strong commitments, just looking for any possible openings. He launched flares.  Flares have proximity fuses: the closer you are to one, the more in danger you are. Worse, flares have a concussive stun to their explosion which can cause one's ship to spin, forcing one to recover.

I dodged away from the flare, and switched my strafing pattern to a lateral movement; this increased the lateral angle at which my opponent would have to aim in order to hit with his slower flares. Slowly, I began working him down with my blasters, scoring one hit at a time. Another flare launch, I counted them: three. He was using an all-flare loadout. This meant that I had only to dodge 10 more shots before he would be out of ammo and forced to run or stand and die honorably. This volley came a little too close; in one flash my health had dropped from 100% to 49%. I couldn't take another hit like that.

Recovering, I saw that my opponent was behaving a little too eagerly; smelling blood, he was moving in to close range for the kill. Many inexperienced pilots will backroll in the face of an aggressive adversary: this can mean certain doom for someone facing flares. However, flares have a subtle weakness, an Achilles-heel: I could tell by the sound of the flares and the color of the explosions that I was facing Sunflares, the most powerful kind, which also have a safety-fuse. If Sunflares are inside the range at which they will damage the pilot who launched them by detonating, they will not explode. By advancing aggressively, my opponent has given me an opportunity to get inside this safety-fuse radius and nullify the usefulness of his flares. In my lighter, faster Vulturius I am in a great setup to take advantage of this.

Switching to Flight-Assist mode, I throw the throttle forward and begin advancing head-on toward my opponent. Surprised, he launches another flare volley that roars harmlessly past. Realizing what has happened, my opponent begins back-pedaling, but it's no use; my Vulturius with it's higher maneuvering speed can easily stay inside his safety-fuse radius so long as I do not strafe too heavily to either side. For a few seconds I hover menacingly in front of him, scoring hit after hit with both blasters, then he explodes. I leave the scene with 49% health remaining.

This is an example of the strategy and execution one must use while in combat in Vendetta Online. Books that might aid in strategy in Vendetta include Sun Tzu's The Art of War or Miyamoto Musashi's The Book of Five Rings.  All in all, the combat is fluid, fast, depending on player skill as well as strategy.  The combat in WoW does not compare.

Vendetta Online:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFnBReK_tBQ

You can be proficient in combat in about a month.  However, it takes years to master some of the techniques.  There are no artificial skills; everything depends on the player.

Before you object: Vendetta Online is not a first-person shooter... it's more like an Aikido / Samurai simulation in space.

EVR and Star Citizen ain't the only ones...

Vendetta Online's lead dev has stated that they are "waiting for [their] Oculus Rift to arrive" and that they would "like to try supporting that whenever it shows up".^[1]

This is cautious language, but I am very optimistic about this news (and feel that it's worthy of the Rumor Room) for several reasons.  Unlike EVR or Star Citizen, Vendetta Online is available to play to anyone right now, and has a long history of (and penchant for) multi-platform support; if VO's devs make the port (and they are very good at porting their game to new platforms), this could become one of the first commercial MMORPGs to be released on a VR headset.  Before the Oculus' Kickstarter was even announced, I had expressed feeling that VO would work very well with a head-mounted display (if only they were affordable! ).  During the Oculus Kickstarter, Guild Software (VO's publisher) was named as one of the finalists (#2) in Oculus' "Gift a Rift" contest.  So you see, there has been some momentum building toward this.

VO's lead dev has historically been very understated, particularly involving developments that have yet to reach the market.  I consider it a very good sign that he is mentioning the Oculus at all.  The iPhone and OUYA release will probably come first, but VO may clutch the holy grail of seamless multi-platform MMORPG-play including the Oculus before long.

Vendetta Online:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FAHf9C8YGk

Goes very nicely with a controller.  Deep game, too.

Originally posted by Loktofeit

Originally posted by Phaserlight

Let's assume the game is fun (why else play it?).

That aside, what is the biggest motivating gameplay factor for you in any MMORP game?  It could be new or old, real or imagined, experienced or looked-forward-to.

Is it...

Progress - gear, statistics, accomplishments, standing...

Influence - other players, guild-members, enemies...

Skill - muscle memory, situational awareness, strategy, practice...

Wealth - becoming a benefactor, heir, steward...

Discovery - revealing the world, research, exploration...

Design - seeing an original plan come to life...

Fame - recognition, monuments, legacy...

The particular games I've played aren't important to this poll, but I've played a few and spent nearly a decade in my game of choice.  These are the primary motivating factors I could think of to continue playing any MMORPG.  I'm interested in hearing what motivates others in their gameplay activities.

That you missed Socializing, Combat and Story leads me to believe you either recently read something that you interpreted poorly or you're asking your question in a very strange and unclear way. 

 

It could be that I'm asking the question in a strange way?

The background to this is that I was designing an event which had a successful first run, but one player complained that the reward wasn't high enough.  This got me thinking about why it is that people play online games at all; I'm very interested in psychology and game design, and have some schooling in mathematics and social theory.  I expected one player's reward could be another player's per-diem.  Anyhow, that's what led me to ask this poll.

Regarding combat: I consider this to be even too general for what I'm asking.  There can be many aspects to combat; i.e. is the enjoyable aspect finally having the right sword, ability, stats or whatever to defeat a powerful enemy (progress)... or is it more about developing the right muscle-memory, "connecting" to the game in the right way (skill)...

Take a look at an older game like Contra; most of the "boss battles" involved memorizing the enemy's "pattern" and dodging in the correct manner or sequence.  Pretty archaiac in one regard, but I don't think I'd be too far off the mark by setting this up as an adjacent design philosophy to a game like... Final Fantasy, where one's ability in combat involved managing character's health bars, mana, etc.

Similarly with socialization, one could say that even socialization is a means to an end.  Over the years certain games have built up entire virtual societies, complete with their own economies, castes, backgrounds, what have you... my poll is aimed more at the question why socialize?  Is it the feeling of helping others on their way, making their journey easier, or keeping an eye on something valuable (wealth)... or perhaps rising through the ranks in a regimented military structure (progress)... being part of a secret society pulling the strings behind the scenes (influence)...

Likewise, story might be about discovery, or it could be more about design or fame given the structure of any game...

It's not a perfect poll, and I expect there to be some cross-over between categories, but I think the key-words provide a decent cross-section without having one or two "obvious answers".

Thanks for the responses so far!  The results are pretty enlightening, and some of the answers have been very insightful.

Let's assume the game is fun (why else play it?).

That aside, what is the biggest motivating gameplay factor for you in any MMORP game?  It could be new or old, real or imagined, experienced or looked-forward-to.

Is it...

Progress - gear, statistics, accomplishments, standing...

Influence - other players, guild-members, enemies...

Skill - muscle memory, situational awareness, strategy, practice...

Wealth - becoming a benefactor, heir, steward...

Discovery - revealing the world, research, exploration...

Design - seeing an original plan come to life...

Fame - recognition, monuments, legacy...

The particular games I've played aren't important to this poll, but I've played a few and spent nearly a decade in my game of choice.  These are the primary motivating factors I could think of to continue playing any MMORPG.  I'm interested in hearing what motivates others in their gameplay activities.