MEO's producer, Chris Taylor, stopped by the Official Forums the other day to address a couple of questions from the fan base. You can check out the Q&A below:
The first question asks if the MEO devs will be pressured by management to change whether or not the game will ultimately have PvP.
Isn't it inevitable the suits would do the same with MEO?
The "suits" have nothing to do with the amount of PvP and PvE in MEO. It's a production team and developer call. We are basing it on: a) the number of people who prefer PvE over PvP, and more importantly, b) what kind of game we enjoying playing.
We are going with an emphasis on PvE since it is more popular, but we have several new ideas about PvP that are being built into the core game design instead of being tacked on at the very end.
I know it's hard to wait, but we'll announce more details about the PvP system we do have at a later date. I also know it's hard to discuss these major issues without more information.
pax,
Chris
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The next question asks about the level of support the game will have for solo players.
Without getting into specifics about MEO, I can talk a little bit about my thoughts on soloing versus grouping (and raiding) in MMPs on a general level. My play style tends to have me soloing quite a bit for advancement, and participating in large scale raids. I actually rarely have time to group, but I like to group when possible.
With that in mind, I think there is room for solo play in an MMP. We realize that not everyone will play the game the same way (which is one of the really neat things about MMPs that tend to cause all sorts of design and balance problems). There are times when soloing is the only option available. And I don't think that it's unreasonable to have some types of characters solo better than other characters, as long as that information is available during character creation or if characters can be changed over time to better fit the player's play style.
This is a MMP, however, and that means we should be emphasizing reasons for people to play together. The group should have some sort of advantage over a solo player, and multiple groups (i.e. raids) should have some sort of advantage over the group and solo players. I think it's a little unreasonable and far more difficult to balance a game if you assume that a solo player can access the exact same content as a larger group of players.
I don't like game designs that allow you to solo until a certain level and then require grouping. I like game designs that have options for soloing, but make grouping and raiding more desirable over time. That seems to strike the best balance between the different types of play styles, players and game content.
Thoughts?
pax,
Chris
