Profile: eccoton
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• • Alive or just a game!

  • Originally posted by nethaniah
    

    Well you didn't list Lineage 2 (shame you didn't play that) but I will go ahead and do it for you.

    Lineage 2 - Automated

    "Let he who has the best scripts win." -Lineage 2 code

    I did play Lineage II for about 6 months. I  actually like a lot of things about that game but it doesnot fit into my "alive" list.

  • Posted: 5/11/08 8:27 AM
    General Discussion
• • Can someone explain the hate towards SOE?

  •  

    I can explain the hate simply,
    SWG!

     

  • Posted: 5/11/08 7:20 AM
    Pirates of the Burning Sea
• • Alive or just a game!

  • Originally posted by Adamantine
    

    Hmm, so the list of "alife" MMOs is, according to you:

    UO

    EQ

    SWG pre-NGE

    Sorry, but I know a common feature of these: they are all OLD.

    Except maybe this "Saga" title that I never have heard of before.

    Is it possible that its mainly you, not these games ? Or can you specify more clearly what the advantage of the "alife" titles are, in comparison to the "only a game" ones ?

    If you would own a game company and would be asked of your developers what they have to do to make an "alife" game, what would you tell them ?

    in the MMO world "old" is relative but the age of the games I listed has nothing to do with the "alive" feel. You never heard of Saga of Ryzom? I was a fantastic game very original and very "alive".  Also I have played a lot more mmos then I listed. I was keeping the list to the bigger ones.

    No I do not think it is me. That is why I started the thread to see if others understand this feeling or find it important to a game. There is no real advantage to the games I feel are more "alive" it is a preference. I also do not think all the games that give that "alive" feel are the only games worth playing. It goes to the core question in mmo development and that is do people really want or need a persistent world feel to make the game a success. I think SOE questioned that with NGE and failed. They decided the answer was "no" and removed all the persistent/sandbox feel to the game. I think those two words go together. Blizzard is flirting with this edge and found a balance between both ideas. At the lose of the alive feel I wish it had more of.

    What would I tell the developers of my game company? Good question. First if it was possible (I no it is not) I would have them play pre-nge SWG a lot to be learned from that title. One thing that would be a must, is a feeling of ownership in the game. I hate the living on the streets feeling of WoW. So arguably housing is a must. Also placing the housing in the game world as in SWG would be in place. Every mmo has NPCs and they need to be alive and speak like in EQ2. The NPCs and creatures in the game need to move with purpose like in  Saga of Ryzom. A large world with little or no zoning as in WoW is a must as well. EQ2 is the most immersive game for me but I do hate the zoning. Changing weather effects with day night time cycles, including seasons would be needed. A feeling of enviromental scale. WoW does this well. You feel like you go up into the mountians and down deep into the craters. This was lacking in Ryzom and early EQ2. EQ2 addressed this with it's expansions and now you climb high and low. Also a must is a totally optimized graphic engine and game at release. Good fps is a must to the experience. The game play must be smooth even at the expense of graphics. That smoothness is critical.

    Well I could write volumes on what I would do if leading a MMO's development. Those are just a few ideas to help create that enviroment on a graphic level. Game play is a totally different issue.  

  • Posted: 5/11/08 7:13 AM
    General Discussion
• • Alive or just a game!

  • I have thought about this idea for awhile now. Especially since LoTRO fell flat for me and I wonder why. How could such a beautiful game like LoTRO be so boring for me? I started thinking about all the MMOs I have played and wondered what really made me love some and leave others. I realized the games I really loved, I was connected to my characters and the game world. These elements seemed alive for me. This is not based on how good the graphic are. I guess I could say I felt the games had soul. The games presented an atmosphere the characters felt alive and not just vehicle to move around the game world. In short they did not feel like a game. I am not say one is bad or good but I seemed to prefer the alive games. I wonder if anyone else gets what I am saying.

    Here is a list of a few games I have played and if they were alive or a game to me. (Now when I say alive I mean that in a fun light way not literaly alive. No, get out and get a life comments please. I realize these are just games. Even with that said I bet someone will post a comment like that) Here we go.

    LoTRO - game                                    EQ2 - alive

    SWG - alive                                          SWG NGE - game (dead game)

    WoW - game                                        Saga of Ryzom - alive

    CoH/CoV - game (but I loved it)        Guild Wars - game

    Tabula Rasa - game                           Asherons Call - alive

    EQ - alive                                               Dungeon and Dragons Online - game

    Ultima Online - alive                            Final Fantasy - game (it tried to come alive but did not make it

     

     

  • Posted: 5/11/08 5:45 AM
    General Discussion
• • I want to enjoy it so badly

  • Originally posted by Gindace
    

    Maybe my problem is that I've had the majority of my play time during the day time, and rarely peak hours, but the game is very boring so far.

    I've leveled to 10 andjust feel like I'm getting nowhere. Everywhere I go is "go to this part of the shire (oh yea I rolled a hobbit) and talk to 'x' for 'x' reward." 'X' usually sends me somewhere else until I finally finish the quest arc, and I solo everything. EVERYTHING. Even during peak hours I can't find a group. I have a few quests that require a fellowship and there is just no one willing to do it.

    Does everyone solo at low levels? Am I missing something? Should I get to a certain level to really pick up steam?

    Like the thread title says, I want to enjoy it so badly, but so far no dice.

    
    You will get a lot of responses telling you to join a clan or change servers. However you maybe suffering from, what many who have played the game a lot longer but still have the same feeling, boredom. 

    "I really want to love this game but something is missing and I can not put my finger on it"

    I do not remember a game that so many have responded in this way to. No one really seems to trash the game. Many like me who left still defend the game but it still fell flat. One lacking element that is mentioned a lot is lack of sandbox. So many want to live in Middle Earth and even with housing you never feel like you live there. As a Tolkien fan the lore brought me in but that is not enough to keep me and many others. They did a lot right with LoTRO but for many that was simply not enough. For me it never had that elusive feeling of atmosphere. That is something EQ2 really does for me. Even though EQ2 has more flaws then LoTRO it presents wonderful atmosphere. I really feel like it is a living world. LoTRO has much better landscapes but EQ2's seem living.

  • Posted: 5/11/08 5:25 AM
    Lord of the Rings Online