Profile: ThePhil
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• • World of Warcraft: What's to Come in Patch 3.0

  • I don't hate WoW.  I prefer other things.  WoW worked for me for a while, but before long I found myself logging in and mostly just talking to friends and family who play the game as well.

    What I don't understand is this sentence.  "It must be sad to be so consumed with hatred for a game that actually works."

    Consumed with hatred?  No. Far from it.  My opinion differs from yours.  That is all.  If you enjoy what WoW brings to the table, I'm not going to hold it against you.  When you get the chance though, I'd recommend trying out a few other games if you haven't already.  There are a lot of MMOs which offer experiences vastly different from WoW.  This has been my experience.

    In my original post I was pointing out how empty the article is. It was all fluff and fodder, nothing to actually think about or discuss.  It was a nice summary of old news, but whether it deserves to be front page news is debatable.  Back to your wheel now little gerbil, if you're good and keep your helmet on you'll get a carrot before bed.

  • Posted: 9/11/08 2:51 PM
    General Discussion
• • World of Warcraft: What's to Come in Patch 3.0

  • "Oh come on, you've got to be kidding?"

     

    My thoughts exactly.  How is hair, which you can't even see as anyone lvl 20+ is wearing a helmet 24/7, a customization option to appease the masses.  People aren't complaining about hair options.  What people are concerned about, and the reason that I'm trying out other games, is that nearly everyone you see has a copy/pasted character build.

    Yea, they're adding talents, 10 levels, and a new chunk of land.  But it's still the same blah WoW they've been panhandling for the past 4 years.  Because of the cookie cutter classes, and the focus on gear, everyone ends up in the same spot.  So why bother making people level?  Give them the items, and see if they can beat Illidan.

    Like a pet gerbil running on an exercise wheel, people will eat this crap up unless they're shown something different.  I know quite a few people who continue to play WoW solely because they've got obscene amounts of time spent on their characters.  I approach it as, I'm paying $15/month anyhow, I may as well play something that doesn't require me to grind badges to get the new item, so I can get to the next dungeon to grind badges again...

  • Posted: 9/11/08 1:02 PM
    General Discussion
• • Is a level cap necessary?

  • Originally posted by UNATCOII
    

    Caps and grinds aren't the answer. Character development is. Unfortunately, most of the time to develop your character like that = ingame store. Skills can't be bought or leveled quickly, so they go. Killing one monster solo isn't enough for ADHD/Red Bull types, so mobs groups/raids are the status quo.

    You get caps because it makes game design easier, and keeps players on the bank roll. These MMO companies aren't going to make it easy for you to outgrow them, or leave.

    Eve is a radical game. Only wished it wasn't open PvP, because I'd jump at playing that game long ago.

     

    'Caps and grinds aren't the answer. Character development is.'

    I agree.  Grinds are my biggest turnoff.  Character development can mean many things.  How do you mean it?

    'You get caps because it makes game design easier, and keeps players on the bank roll. These MMO companies aren't going to make it easy for you to outgrow them, or leave.'

    I wouldn't think that outgrowing the game would necessarily happen.  With the rate at which new content can be, and is already being, delivered I believe the devs could keep up with the demand for new content as players continue to level.  Note also that I said diminished return in my OP.  You would still gain from your efforts in the same way in which you always have, just not as significantly.  Upon release of new level appropriate content, the xp curve could be adjusted to come in line with character advancement at the previously established levels.  Players who had previously exceeded the minimum level for the dungeon, could keep the percentage of xp they had accrued toward the next level, and resume with leveling as normal.

    Now I'm not trying to be combative. I'd just like to get a dialogue going for ways this type of system could work.  Reasons that it would be difficult to implement, to me, are seen as obstacles.  I welcome them.  Please go on.

  • Posted: 6/27/08 4:58 PM
    General Discussion
• • Is a level cap necessary?

  • While boredom at works is a horrible thing for the company, I find it to be incredible productive as it gives me time to think about gaming in general.  I'd like to put out a question, and draw hypotheses from the forum users on this.

    How would MMOs be different if there weren't a hard level cap?

    My thoughts...

    Pros: It often seems that upon reaching 70, many people feel that the ways in which they can improve their character's have been significantly diminished.  Most will play with their new max level character until they've gotten all of the reasonably attainable gear they can, and see the new places they can get to before either starting an alt or taking a break from the game.  The removal of a level cap, would theoretically, leave that avenue of advancement intact.  This would benefit many players significantly for these reasons.

    1. There are a handful of players who are in a truly exceptional, tactically battle oriented, gonna take down the next boss no matter what it takes guild (Group A).  They excel at the methods of finding bosses' weaknesses and exploiting them in every way possible. They are so familiar with their group dynamic that they operate as a cohesive unit and are able to successfully complete dungeons that higher level, less skilled guilds are not.

    Most every one else is in a guild where the guild leaders will look the solutions up online which group A found. Allowing everyone the ability to advance without artificial level caps would allow Group B to experience the same content as Group A, they would just have to spend some time advancing their characters beyond the minimum level requirements for the dungeon that Group A now tears through without blinking.

    2. It keeps the treadmill going for the game devs as well.  As group A gets to the point where the dungeons are on farm status, new dungeons are introduced, Group A storms ahead, and Group B moves through the content at their own pace.

    ~~~

    In my mind I'm picturing a 3-4 month recurring timeline, where new dungeons are introduced, and new equipment is made available.  It seems like the succesful MMOs are doing this already, so this wouldn't be much of a change for them from a production standpoint.

    Another key design mechanism for this to work, (in order to keep people from advancing in level beyond the next dungeon release) is the diminishing return of grinding out XP once you reach the highest current 'minimum level for success' of any one dungeon.  Remember how long it would take to get from level 98 to level 99 in Diablo 2? Not that severe at first.  Let's say once you reach the highest minimum required level it requires 50% more xp to level than it previously would have.  With the rate of xp required increasing by x=x+1% each level after that.  (if x=5, previous level xp * 150%, 156%, 163%, etc...)

    Just thoughts here.  An idea to kick around, and gather ideas and other viewpoints from.

     

  • Posted: 6/27/08 4:26 PM
    General Discussion