<
>

Profile: Aryas
Send PM  Forum Posts  Forum Topics 

UsernameAryas
Rank: 42/100Rank: 42/100Rank: 42/100Rank: 42/100Rank: 42/100
Real Name 
RankAdvanced Member
JoinedJanuary 21, 2008
GenderMale
Age29
LocationLondon, United Kingdom
Last VisitSeptember 23, 2008
Post Count50
Biography 
Quote 

5 Most Recent Threads by Aryas [more...]

Latest Blog Entry - PvP MMO + FPS: What would make a successful hybrid?
From my blog Looking to the future... [Aryas]

I’ve read quite a few posts recently on the subject of MMOs/FPS hybrid games and I thought I’d put together what I think would need to be considered to make a successful hybrid, a format which may – technology allowing – become the defacto standard game format for the MMO genre one day.
 
Note: This post primarily contains ideas based around MY OPINION and is full of loose GENERALISATIONS.
 
To start off, I thought I’d consider some of the key positive and negative aspects of both genres are in terms of what I feel many MMO-gamers like:
 
FPS
 
·          A very ‘hands on’, involved experience
·          Easy to pick-up
·          No levels, no grind
 
·          Lack of depth
·          Lack of skill, based on good reactions
·          Technically demanding due to totally real-time nature of game play
 
MMO
 
·          Deep, involving content/lore
·          Non-linear progression
·          Advanced character customisation (skills/talents/etc)
 
·          Combat is typically turn-based/uninvolving
·          PvP success is often dependent on kit not ability
·          All aspects of game play require often unnecessary repetition to progress (grind)
 
If a game company could produce a game that combined the positive elements of both genres and eliminated as best as possible the negative elements, I’m sure they’d be onto a winner.
 
I think the biggest issues with developing a game of this type lie in 3 areas. Firstly, there is the issue of character depth. FPS games often have little or no character development options. You choose a class and off you go. MMOs have excellent character development/customisation options, but to gain access to these options you have to put a significant amount of effort into the character in terms of experience. My suggested halfway house option would be to give players access to all abilities from the outset and have them scale in power, assuming a rank/level system is also implemented. A bit like starting WoW at level 70, choosing your talent allocation and then selecting say, a maximum of 20 out of the 100 abilities available for you class.
 
Another issue would be class balance. Due to the complexity of MMO character development options, achieving class balance appears to be a real issue for developers and they often appear to adopt a paper-rock-scissors approach to the class strengths and weaknesses. My suggestion would be to do away with the formal class structure and have players build characters as follows:
 
Select class:           Melee, Magic or Ranged (each with a basic melee point tree and a type-specific point tree)
 
Select sub-skills:     Choose 2 trees from 3 specific to your type. Each tree improving certain aspects of you class.
 
Select abilities:        Choose 20 abilities from a total of 100 for your class.
 
As these options wouldn’t be earned as such, the player can design their character as they wish. To avoid constant changing, players could be allowed to modify their character build when not actually in a match. Certain builds would become popular but there would always players who develop builds to exploit certain classes. The trees and abilities could even be respected every so often to force players to re-jig their builds.
 
One problem with PvP in any online setting is technical limitations of connection speeds, etc. With auto-attacks and turn-based approaches, this doesn’t affect MMOs too negatively. However, this can often leave actual combat requiring very little skill, even if the overall battle requires a lot of tactics. FPS games don’t seem to require much skill either, just lightning reactions. I will site AoC here as being an example of a gaming company that’s developed a new and involved combat interface. Whether it is effective remains to be seen but I think this is the direction all games should move in, particularly MMOFPS PvP games. Getting the correct balance of involvement, skill and technical requirements will be key to success here.
 
Something I find irritating in many MMOs and FPS PvP games is the speed with which a character can die. Often the damage output of all classes/types far exceeds the amount of life/armour they have. This means 1/2/3-hit deaths are all too common. This again negates the skill aspect, so I would suggest significantly upping the life points of classes in any PvP game so attacking players are forced to apply skill as opposed to just getting lucky and getting the first hit in. I think it’s ok to ambush someone, but to reduce their life by 90% with 2 button presses is ridiculous.
 
Other things I think would be good include:
 
·          In match quests, that temporarily boost your abilities
·          Bonuses for number of kills
·          Randomly generated maps
·          Multiple backdrops for each match-type
·          No healing classes (I hate these!)

Read more from my blog [Aryas]

Latest User Gallery Images [more...]

Aryas has not uploaded any photos or screenshots yet

Recent Forum Posts [more...]

    • WARLadder Online. Warhammer is a ladder!

    • Boring and pointless post to read.

      What does it achieve?

      Don't even reply.

      Massacre some kids at your local college, it's more productive.

      God, what do I even come to this site for anymore?

      These games are about trying to have fun. So you don't - big deal.

      Do a vacuous job for 50 years, that's fun.

      Not interested in analogies to life, nations of the world or taking a dump.

      Yawn, so tired of this shit.

    • Posted: 9/23/08 11:25 AM
      WAR (Warhammer Online)
    • Help! Tech issues!

    • Maybe the wrong place to post this but is anyone else experiencing the following:

      • Repeatedly having to accept the user agreement at the start of the game
      • Chat box keeps reloacating to the top left of the screen no matter how you configure UI

      If you've had these issues, how did you resolve them, or is it a know bug/issue awaiting a fix?

      Cheers,

      Aryas

    • Posted: 9/21/08 3:28 AM
      WAR (Warhammer Online)
    • Didn't live up to expectations

    • No offence, but who reviews an MMO (or any modern PC game) after one day/night of playing one character in it?

      That's like reviewing Tetris based on a screenshot and then declaring that it's a pile of crap that will never take off.

      Some things take time to be appreciated, particularly when objectivity is clouded by other more dazzling but ultimately empty options.

      I would've said something similar after my first 10 minutes with a Black Orc tbh, but then I tried a few other classes and subsequently came in my pants.

      A good review should be impartial. It should identify who the game will appeal to and who it won't and of course, why.

    • Posted: 9/19/08 9:21 AM
      WAR (Warhammer Online)
    • Will these actions change anything

    • I'm lovin' tha seks off WAR atm but if they fix AoC, I'll be subbin' up like a ho!

      Seriously, AoC isn't bad, and it's well worth the 30 quid on the tin. I'd even say it's worth a tenner a month in fees but currently it's getting pwned by better, more polished games.

      Too many people (kids) are ripping into this game like they thought they were getting the birthday present they'd always wanted coz the box was the right shape, but instead they got something else. Their disappointment is clouding their objectivity.

      IMO, this game has more potential than WoW and all the other heavy hitters - including WAR, which as mentioned, I'm really enjoying. And because of that, if they fix it up I will definitely play the it. Ask yourself this, if a crap game gets turned into the best things ever, are you REALLY not going to play just because of all the bitching that went on about it before?

      If I met a girl who was hotter than the surface of the sun but just so happened to be a ripping minger when we used to go to school together, I'm not gonna say "Oh sorry dear, you was a dog once so get outta my bed, put your clothes back on and fcuk off pls" am I?

      Whether it can be fixed or not, I don't know. Who gives a toss anyway? If Funcom make it happen, then hoorah! If not, have a wank instead.

    • Posted: 9/17/08 3:14 PM
      Age of Conan
    • So... WAR ( A independent survey of the state of the game)

    • Graphics ( Visually appealing or no?): 5 - Looks slightly out-of-date, some things are downright ugly and a few animations are weak. Functional over form I guess and future patches could bolster this.

      UI ( action bars, healthbars, etc): 7 - Great, but could be more stylized and have a more innovative combat system.

      Preformance ( smoothness / how well the game runs): 9 - A few glitches but it's early days so I'm very impressed.

      PvP (Player versus player): 10 - I doubt this could get much better tbh.

      PvE ( Player versus Enviroment): 10 - Not what many people will buy the game for but it seems fine to me; not tried any dungeons yet though ofc.

      Class balance ( Does everyone have an equal chance): 10 - Not seen any class getting pwned too badly yet so looks good so far, but still only played tier 1.

      Itemization( Are stats used effectivly/ Is your gear helping you): 7 - Stats seem to have little effect so far, but the kit defo helps.

      Professions / Crafting ( Is it a grind or is it something great): ? - Can't answer this yet.

      Lore Implementation ( Is the lore present / used effectively): 10 - Yes, I like this a lot. No bloody aliens/interdimensional crap in this game so far!

      Threat in the Genre ( Can this game be a formidable force in the MMO Genre?): 8 - It's piles of fun so it should be. However, if AoC gets it's act together or the likes of Aion or TCoS provide something special (given their graphical advantages) it could slip down the ranks fast. It'll certainly hold casual PvPer's for a long time.


      Comments:

      I like this game; it's simple but very effective. There are glitches but nothing on the scale of AoC and nothing that detracts from the pleasure of playing the game. Technically however, it strikes me as being a tad dated. I was primarily attracted by the PvP options but aside from that it doesn't really offer anything novel to lure gamers away from stalwarts like WoW. Despite the obviously casual slant to the game, I can also see expansions coming thick and fast for this - just a feeling. If casual PvP is your bag, it's tha bomb!

    • Posted: 9/13/08 1:29 PM
      WAR (Warhammer Online)

Special Offers

MMORPG.COM Polls

Do you Role Play?

Yes
Occasionally
No

(login to vote)

View all polls