MMOs add new mechanics all the time to spice up the gameplay. Sometimes they are game changing, making the experience feel much better overall. Other times they are a detriment, or simply don't quite change the game in a meaningful way. Has there ever been a much-anticipated mechhanic that just didn't do it for you?
For me, the most obvious answer in my MMO gameplay was horse combat in The Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan. This mechanic was meant to be game changing - and indeed, even with its issues it truly was. There is something about speeding across the plains of Rohan, taking out Orcs and Wargs from atop my steed.
However, the experience itself was plagued with lag and, most infuriatingly, rubber banding issues. Too often I'd be riding and experience micro stutters, or even wholesale rubberbanding, stopping any momentum I had until the server caught up with my game client. This still happens today, years after Rohan's release when just traveling with your warsteed.
The rubber banding made the experience feelt janky, sometimes unweildy. But when it worked without those issues, which for me personally wasn't very often, I could clearly see the potential the developers intended when it was implemented.
Has there ever been a mechanic you were looking forward to that, in practice, fell short? Something like Warsteeds that doesn't exactly break the game, but it never quite lives up to its full potential or is plagued with issues? Or maybe even a mechanic that might have made the MMO worse with its inclusion? Sound off in the comments below.
