Profile: Cymdai
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• • Would you play a forced grouping game?

  • I'm personally so burned out on the solo-friendly play-style, that I would welcome a group-oriented game.

    FFXI had the right idea. You grouped so often, that by the time you hit 75, you probably knew most of the people on the server.

    If there's ever a sequel to FFXI, I will definitely play it :-)

  • Posted: 7/24/08 10:09 PM
    General Discussion
• • Worst 5 MMORPGs

  • Are we talking current, or ever?

    Ever, I would say:

    1) Asheron's Call 2

    2) Vanguard

    3) Age of Conan

    4) RF Online

    5) Auto Assault

     

    In terms of now:

    1) Age of Conan

    2) Hellgate: London

    3) Pirates of the Burning Sea

    4) Star Wars Galaxies

    5) Archlord

  • Posted: 7/24/08 4:36 PM
    General Discussion
• • Ok, enough - I am turning my back on MMORPG.com, it has degenerated too far

  • While I don't believe the people are the problem, I can empathize with Elikal a bit.

    I write for this site, and have contributed to many different forums and websites since I was only 13. GameFAQS was actually where I started posting, with Game Reviews and such.

    One of the things I came to realize at an early age is that people are going to disagree with you. Some people will approach you with thought-out, well-organized arguments, and challenge you every step of the way. Some folks will just call you a raging idiot, and give you no premise or reason for the 1-line insult of character. Heck, sometimes people will team up on you, and belittle and demean your credibility.

    But you get used to it. Your skin thickens, and you realize, quite simply "**** it.". You can't please everyone, you can't always win. What you have to look for is that portion of the community that listens to, and respects your words. In the mind of the haters, they'll probably forget about you in a few minutes, or a few days. But when you garner the respect of people, they'll remember both you and the message you carry for a long time to come.

    If you've seen me post on the boards, then I'm sure you've seen me attacked at least a few times. It comes with the territory. But, for the most part, I think a lot of the users here have come to know and respect me, at least as a poster here at MMORPG.com. Those are the people I write and post for. Because at the end of the day, I hope I helped at least a few people out, or spoke for a few folks that chose not to. That's all you can really do on a forum; speak, and see what happens.

    I don't know if this post meant anything to you, but I hope you got the gist of what I was saying. If you choose to leave the community, as for all people who may also consider leaving, then I hope you'll find what you're looking for elsewhere.

  • Posted: 7/24/08 4:28 PM
    General Discussion
• • Top 5: MMORPG Moments

  • Oh, I'll play along here... some of my answers will prolly be atypical.

    1) Planetside. Max crash.

    The first time I played this game, I remember I was teeming with excitement. I got recruited to an amazing outfit early on (Blood of the Spider, on the Johari server). I remember the Galaxy drops being so intense that I actually got an adrenaline rush. But for me, the most exciting moment I ever had was my first MAX crash. I played on the Terran Republic team, and I'll never forget when 25 of us suited up in Dual Cyclers and Pounders, and proceeded to just conquer Amerish. Planetside, to date, was the most fun and excitement I ever had in an MMORPG at release. I really, truly hope SOE makes a Planetside 2 some day, because with the technology available nowadays, it could really shine!

     

    2) Star Wars Galaxies. Imperial Raid on Corneria

    My time with Star Wars Galaxies was a mixed bag. I loved many aspects of it, but there were also a huge number of problems. For example, I was one of the first Commandos on the server of Shadowfire... and we didn't have weapons, save for the limited use ones from the Darth Vader quest. However... I remember when we got our guns, and we could destroy anyone and anything.

    I remember I joined up with a guild, led by Jacyn, and we all went to go raise hell at (if my memory serves me correct) Corneria, the rebel city. We killed people there for an hour, and it was some of the most intense fighting. When we finally all died, I remembered seeing a force of Rebels standing over my body, and thinking to myself "Wow... we just caused that much of an uproar. Awesome"

     

    3) Final Fantasy 11. Twinkling Treant Event

    I'll never forget Final Fantasy 11, as I played it longer than any other MMO to date. But my favorite moment was the server-wide Twinkling Treant. Watching hordes of players of all levels running up to these creatures, getting in a few swings, and then dying and running back in for some more. Just talking about it makes me miss my linkshell, my old friends, and the game itself. It was also the first game where I felt social interaction was a core part of the game, and I loved that.

     

    4) City of Heroes. Building my character.

    Never had I played a game with so many customization options. I loved that I could run around, and never see my twin in the game (save for weaponry, of course). I liked reading player's Biographies, and really seeing the creative minds of the world at work. Plus, I thought the idea of them creating a comic book based on characters from within the game was one of the coolest, fan-appreciation gestures I've ever seen from a company.

     

    5) Everquest 2. Leading the pack.

    Everquest 2 was one of the first games where I legitimately was allowed to sit on my ass 10+ hours a day to play. I was sick as a dog with the flu, so I couldn't sleep, or do much else. I remember being absolutely haggard in real life. So I decided to give this game a try whilst being miserable.

    I played so much, that I was the first Berserker on my server by Day number 2 (Blackburrow server), and for the first time in ages, the highest level player on my server for a few days. I don't know why that mattered to me so much, but I suppose it was just memorable because of how sick I was, and how cool it felt to know that I was at the top of the food chain for once.

    
    
  • Posted: 7/24/08 3:44 PM
    General Discussion
• • We Should Thank Funcom (seriously)

  • Originally posted by Malickiebloo
    

    Originally posted by Cymdai
    

    I disagree entirely with this post.

    Age of Conan is just another game in a slew of recent failures that ignored their competition.

    I think the problem with all these MMO developers is that:

    1) They have absolutely no idea what gamers want/expect nowadays, and approach this from a business perspective, instead of from a gamer's perspective.

    2) All project managers have 0% competence, and are skilled in budget mismanagement, lying to all their customers, and generally lacking in the creativity department.

    3) None of the backers, nor the project managers, have ever researched the history of MMO's, pre-WoW, and it shows.

     

    In my mind, the MMO genre is in shambles. When is the last time some new ideas came forward? Why are we always using the same classes, the same races, the same everything that were being used nearly a decade ago? Why isn't the genre evolving?

    I think when you couple the problems listed above, accompanied with the fact the MMO players are  *finally*  getting tired of playing the same game with a few different features, designs, etc etc, and looking for more, that you've got a stonewall.

    I believe the next, truly great MMO will require the following:

    1) Abandon the Tolkien Lore/Fantasy theme. No more orcs, battle axes, and for God's sake, I never want to see an elf again, in any form, period.

    2) A company that actively interacts with it's players. Dev-led monster raids vs. player cities and such would be something remarkable to me. Devs who actually post on their forums. GM's who give a damn about customer care. You know, not a corporation.

    3) An emphasis on a setting not often explored. For example, I'd pay stupid amounts of money to play a Fallout MMO that worked well.

    4) New ideas in the industry. It's obvious that those who ARE in this industry are just plain drained of new creative endeavors. McQuaid's Vanguard, Gaute's Conan, and let's not even get into Archlord. It's time to start a search for new creative genius.

    Just my 2 cents... I should write an editorial column. "How to Build a 5 Star MMO"

    There's one problem I see in your theory , Most games that are trying something different don't get funded, If they do they don't become hits.  Look at Fallen Earth (similar to the lore in Fallout) , They have a lot of good tech footage, art, ideas , but have yet to get invested in by a corporation . EVE has most of what you described , It actually offers a lot more(including CCP being very active within their community) . Yet has only a small portion of the MMO market under it's wing. 

    Maybe the problem isn't with developers at all , It's those putting up the big money. And those who buy their fantasy rehashes up like milk and bread. Look at WOW, Blizzard controls 10 million subs , Yet never innovates , never takes a risk , They Just rehash what's been done over and over for years now.Yet if you look at any MMO community site like this one , You have so many people that defend this , just because their game happens to have a bit more spit and polish.

    Therefor no one takes a risk , look what happens if they do . When trying something new you have few guidelines to follow in how to make this or that work . Therefor games that innovate are far more buggy , have general stability issues and more hedaches all around. In turn noone supports the game , Game dies . Company closes bye bye innovation. Sad truth of the state of MMO's

     

    That's a valid point.

    It's been argued in the past that one of the reason ambitious projects fail is because of investor interference. For example, the company has a vision of the game they would like to produce, how it will work, etc etc. But Jo Money, a major backer for the game, thinks he's got some pretty brilliant ideas of his own. Therefore, he says he'll put his money into the game, provided they compromise with him on a few areas. it's a theory that could carry some weight; he who writes the checks makes the games!

    I also happen to agree with you on another point; new ideas are generally poorly executed. I think this IS a problem nowadays in relation to WoW. Before WoW, the community was smaller, willing to deal with more bugs, delays, etc. Now that over 10 million people have seen what 99% functionality is, what an excellent framerate is like, how class balance looks when it's done right... they're much less interested in waiting for a game to stabilize. But I think that's also just a consumer preference. Honestly, I think most people would prefer something that is done, functional, and "complete" over something that's a work in progress. For example, to poke fun at Gaute's comparison...

    Would you prefer to walk into a restaurant where there is a steak fresh off the oven, on your plate, perfectly prepared for your consumption? Or, would you rather wait several hours, while the cow is killed, cured, treated, cut, cleaned, and prepared, on what could be an excellent filet (if done properly)? Probably not ^_~

    That's Blizzard's gift. They take ideas, and they perfect them. I can't fault them for it; it's a hell of a talent. They enter the day with a "It IS broke, but we CAN and WILL fix it!". I admire that.

    However, with what you pointed out, there's now a trail of failed "copycat" games on the trail. Perhaps the customers *are* finally tiring of the same old, same old.  Why pay for a new game that hasn't brought something to the table that a finely-tuned game like World of Warcraft has? I think the first developer to break the mold EFFICIENTLY (ala QA testing out the ass) will rake in the money. WoW's kind of got a monopoly on what's been done; their subs prove that. I think the next big competitor is going to have enter the game with a different approach.

  • Posted: 7/24/08 12:35 AM
    Age of Conan