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Anyway, I'm rather bored of MMORPGs, and this is why:
- They require too much time and 'dedication' to play. Starting characters struggle up the first few rungs of the ladder and generally don't have much fun killing bats and badgers. What's more, this period of crapness generally tends to be the 'free trial' period, which stops players from seeing if they'll like what's ahead. What I would like is a system that doesn't require that much time, where you don't really need to develop your character and still survive - just by playing it smart. Maybe using small battles - like in real life ? Where you can lose and still not make the game end.
- I don't think the 'epic storyline' concepts particularly work, because, although factions do struggle against each other, it's not really financially viable to have one side defeat the other, as it would bring the game to an end. This makes them seem rather futile to me. I, personally, would love to participate in an epic storyline with a lot of other people, and I'd love to see it come to a successful (or tragic) end.
- Everyone is out of character. 'kool, U kil orc dude? K? get HP.' does not befit a Knight of the Holy Order, or whatever, nor does 'WANNA CYBER?' befit a Ghuk alien from Nan-toobuk IV. Character development is a hard nut to crack - Diablo II was one way to do it but it's not a MMORPG - Diablo II consists of many single games which makes it possible for the game to adapt to the player.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how any of these can be overcome? The one that puts me off the most is definitely the first. I'd love to play RPG style games online, but avoid the commitment and intensity associated with Everquest - I'd rather dip in and out as I can with Counterstrike.
Pay-as-you-go MMORPGs?
What changes would you like to see made? Where do you see the problems lying with MMORPGs? What do you like most of them? Do you look at each new release and groan 'This has one gimmick, and is identical to everything else' as I do, or do you hold a lot of enthusiasm for them?
The monthly fee is a bit of a problem - not everyone has a credit card or is willing to pay a monthly fee.
I am split over this one.
Point 1 - If a game is good enough, it is not a problem to put 'time and dedication' into it. If it is a properly good game, that is what you will want to do.
Unfortunately, that thing called "real life" occasionally gets in the way. Sometimes you simply don't have the time to play a game as much as you'd like. Exactly, we're not all 15 year olds ditching classes. But really, those things eat loads of time. It's the major reason why I don't play any - I just don't have the time. If you only spend a few hours a week you're bound to be pretty pathetic in the game so there's no fun so why bother?
Point 2 - The epic storyline approach is very, very good. Sadly, it does not work. Anyone who is not directly involved either wishes they could be but can't get involved for whatever reason (i.e. they are too shat/new/stupid/lazy), or wishes it was not happening as it interferes with their gaming experience. So unless everyone wants one, that is strike one against it.
On the plus side, they do give the game direction, and build community, and help develop group identity. It also means that people may be able to get a helping hand from the start if recruiting is going on. Sadly, as most MMORPG players are elitest twits, this rarely happens. But, one more bad point here, they do tend to be either too simple and almost like a quest that does not really matter, or so complex any events that do pass are either so pathetic they are ignored, or so important they swing the entire campaign. Somewhat realistic, yes, but not really very desirable in a community game, as it leads to people feeling left out.
Point 3 - Not everyone is out of character. The problem is, as games are made to make people money, they aim at the largest market, meaning anyone can play. This, by default, sadly includes absolute idiots.
I 'completed' the Legend of Mir trial, and throughout around 20-30 hours of play, group conversations tend to consist of.
"Want 2 grp?"
"This xp is shat"
"Pull faster"
"Let's attack that *Insert name of ridiculously powerful creature here*"
"stfu!"
"n00b"
"kthxbye"
I hate it. I want to take these people, slather their genitals with catnip and hurl them into a cage of rabid mountain lions. And I fear that it is always going to be like this. Because for every Role Player there are 20 moronic children with no wit or interest in the game besdies being better than other people. On a side note though, the servers in America have a couple of dedicated role playing servers that people can stick to. I've no idea what they're like, but I guess it is one option to seperate those who want to roleplay and socialise from those who want to just exploit a game engine.
Another problem is late comers. A lot of these MMORPG's aren't very friendly towards people who just entered the game without knowing a thing. Especially if the game has been released half a year ago or even longer. Often the community shuns newbies, it doesn't help them, or kills them. I heard this was often the case on the USA servers of Ultima. The European servers are more friendly in general apparantly but still...
Right, it takes about 15 hours to get a character up to a decent level. When you buy a new game, do you spend at least 15 hours on it in the first week or two of owning it? I would say that generally, yes, people will spend at least that long playing it. And as with MMORPGs you open up more of the game world as you progress, after those 2 weeks, of say 10 hours play a week, you suddenly realise you can now go to big doomy temple of nasty spiders and not die, maybe even get a decent sword/armour/cloak/gain loads of experience and gold. So basically it is longetivity.
I think the problem I am complaining about may not be the amount of time you must invest in the game, but the fact that because the better games are faily un-directed and freeform, the first few hours of play may seem completely and utterly shat, as you have no idea what to do or how to do it. It is just a matter of can you be bothered to work for your enjoyment? That sounds stupid, but it is so much rewarding when you become a grand master mage (or whatever), can afford that new shiny katana of much-death-giving, or finally defeat that devil of an orc mage that killed you every time before. It is risk vs reward, combined with input and output. The more you are willing to put, the more you will get out.
However, to an extent, you will get more out of the game if you spend more time on it, but that is just common sense really, and stands true for any game. Even better, in MMORPGs, the end result does not mean credits roll. It means you open up an entire new level of play. You can never do everything, because there is so much to do anyway, and more is being added all the time.
You can generalise as much as you want about the genre, but that is pointless. No genre is going to consist of entirely perfect games, or even mostly good ones, so the generalisation is pointless. I could quite easily say that generally RTS games are shat, looking at all the clones and rip-offs there are, but that does not make it true. Some of my favourite games of all time are RTS games. Same stands here - if you are talking about how the genre can improve, you must take the most advanced example of it, else you are moaning about improvements that have already been made.
If we say that not enough developers are picking up on the improvements some games have shown, then I stand up. On the other hand, you cannot expect a game that has to cater for so many tastes to ever be perfect for everyone. Or anyone, in fact. Do you want invincible new characters? But then they can slaughter the higher level characters, which makes the whole thing pointless, and you might as well remove any way of improving. Either that, or remove the PvP. But a lot of people play mainly for the PvP, so then you alienate another section of your market.
Basically, if you do not enjoy the games because they take up too much time, or you do not feel they are fun to start with, don't play them, I suppose. I think Rally games are shat, but I do not go around grumbling about how they have too few tracks and car types, only 4 cars per race, and are all samey, because that is what Rally games are, and if I don't like it, it is my problem, not the developers. Or are you saying that games should always appeal to everyone?
Look at the number of people playing MMORPGs. That is somewhere near how many people do not find what you complain about a problem, or are willing/able to put in more hours to play. I don't think a genre which mostly involves walking around talking to bearded Americans has much of a future. I wouldn't enjoy that in real life, so why should I have to endure it in a game?
How many MMPORGS do you think will be a success. 6, 10, a dozen maybe 2 dozen?
3rd World, A Tale in the Desert, Adellion, Ages of Athiria,Anarchy Online, Anarchy Online: Shadowlands, Arcanity, Archaean: Massive Online World, Asheron's Call, Asheron's Call 2, Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty, Astonia 3, Athanasia, Atriarch, BattleTech 3025, BigWorld: Citizen Zero, Black Moon Chronicles: Winds of War, Caeron3000, Call of the Warlords, Charr: The Grimm Fate, City of Heroes, Clan Lord, Dark Age of Camelot, Dark Age of Camelot: Shrouded Isles, Dark Ages: Online Roleplaying, Darkfall, Dawn, DOMINION, Dragon Empires, Earth and Beyond, El Kardian, Elemental Saga, Endless Ages, EVE Online: The Second Genesis , EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Age, Fate, Final Fantasy XI, Gladius Online, Helbreath: The Crusade, Highlander Online, HORIZONS: Empires of Istaria, Jumpgate, Last Kingdom, Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle, Lineage: The Bloodpledge, Meridian 59, Midgard, Mimesis Online, Mistmare, Neocron...
MMPORGs the industry's greatest mistake.
Thanks for reading,
LF.
- They require too much time and 'dedication' to play. Starting characters struggle up the first few rungs of the ladder and generally don't have much fun killing bats and badgers. What's more, this period of crapness generally tends to be the 'free trial' period, which stops players from seeing if they'll like what's ahead. What I would like is a system that doesn't require that much time, where you don't really need to develop your character and still survive - just by playing it smart. Maybe using small battles - like in real life ? Where you can lose and still not make the game end.
- I don't think the 'epic storyline' concepts particularly work, because, although factions do struggle against each other, it's not really financially viable to have one side defeat the other, as it would bring the game to an end. This makes them seem rather futile to me. I, personally, would love to participate in an epic storyline with a lot of other people, and I'd love to see it come to a successful (or tragic) end.
- Everyone is out of character. 'kool, U kil orc dude? K? get HP.' does not befit a Knight of the Holy Order, or whatever, nor does 'WANNA CYBER?' befit a Ghuk alien from Nan-toobuk IV. Character development is a hard nut to crack - Diablo II was one way to do it but it's not a MMORPG - Diablo II consists of many single games which makes it possible for the game to adapt to the player.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how any of these can be overcome? The one that puts me off the most is definitely the first. I'd love to play RPG style games online, but avoid the commitment and intensity associated with Everquest - I'd rather dip in and out as I can with Counterstrike.
Pay-as-you-go MMORPGs?
What changes would you like to see made? Where do you see the problems lying with MMORPGs? What do you like most of them? Do you look at each new release and groan 'This has one gimmick, and is identical to everything else' as I do, or do you hold a lot of enthusiasm for them?
The monthly fee is a bit of a problem - not everyone has a credit card or is willing to pay a monthly fee.
I am split over this one.
Point 1 - If a game is good enough, it is not a problem to put 'time and dedication' into it. If it is a properly good game, that is what you will want to do.
Unfortunately, that thing called "real life" occasionally gets in the way. Sometimes you simply don't have the time to play a game as much as you'd like. Exactly, we're not all 15 year olds ditching classes. But really, those things eat loads of time. It's the major reason why I don't play any - I just don't have the time. If you only spend a few hours a week you're bound to be pretty pathetic in the game so there's no fun so why bother?
Point 2 - The epic storyline approach is very, very good. Sadly, it does not work. Anyone who is not directly involved either wishes they could be but can't get involved for whatever reason (i.e. they are too shat/new/stupid/lazy), or wishes it was not happening as it interferes with their gaming experience. So unless everyone wants one, that is strike one against it.
On the plus side, they do give the game direction, and build community, and help develop group identity. It also means that people may be able to get a helping hand from the start if recruiting is going on. Sadly, as most MMORPG players are elitest twits, this rarely happens. But, one more bad point here, they do tend to be either too simple and almost like a quest that does not really matter, or so complex any events that do pass are either so pathetic they are ignored, or so important they swing the entire campaign. Somewhat realistic, yes, but not really very desirable in a community game, as it leads to people feeling left out.
Point 3 - Not everyone is out of character. The problem is, as games are made to make people money, they aim at the largest market, meaning anyone can play. This, by default, sadly includes absolute idiots.
I 'completed' the Legend of Mir trial, and throughout around 20-30 hours of play, group conversations tend to consist of.
"Want 2 grp?"
"This xp is shat"
"Pull faster"
"Let's attack that *Insert name of ridiculously powerful creature here*"
"stfu!"
"n00b"
"kthxbye"
I hate it. I want to take these people, slather their genitals with catnip and hurl them into a cage of rabid mountain lions. And I fear that it is always going to be like this. Because for every Role Player there are 20 moronic children with no wit or interest in the game besdies being better than other people. On a side note though, the servers in America have a couple of dedicated role playing servers that people can stick to. I've no idea what they're like, but I guess it is one option to seperate those who want to roleplay and socialise from those who want to just exploit a game engine.
Another problem is late comers. A lot of these MMORPG's aren't very friendly towards people who just entered the game without knowing a thing. Especially if the game has been released half a year ago or even longer. Often the community shuns newbies, it doesn't help them, or kills them. I heard this was often the case on the USA servers of Ultima. The European servers are more friendly in general apparantly but still...
Right, it takes about 15 hours to get a character up to a decent level. When you buy a new game, do you spend at least 15 hours on it in the first week or two of owning it? I would say that generally, yes, people will spend at least that long playing it. And as with MMORPGs you open up more of the game world as you progress, after those 2 weeks, of say 10 hours play a week, you suddenly realise you can now go to big doomy temple of nasty spiders and not die, maybe even get a decent sword/armour/cloak/gain loads of experience and gold. So basically it is longetivity.
I think the problem I am complaining about may not be the amount of time you must invest in the game, but the fact that because the better games are faily un-directed and freeform, the first few hours of play may seem completely and utterly shat, as you have no idea what to do or how to do it. It is just a matter of can you be bothered to work for your enjoyment? That sounds stupid, but it is so much rewarding when you become a grand master mage (or whatever), can afford that new shiny katana of much-death-giving, or finally defeat that devil of an orc mage that killed you every time before. It is risk vs reward, combined with input and output. The more you are willing to put, the more you will get out.
However, to an extent, you will get more out of the game if you spend more time on it, but that is just common sense really, and stands true for any game. Even better, in MMORPGs, the end result does not mean credits roll. It means you open up an entire new level of play. You can never do everything, because there is so much to do anyway, and more is being added all the time.
You can generalise as much as you want about the genre, but that is pointless. No genre is going to consist of entirely perfect games, or even mostly good ones, so the generalisation is pointless. I could quite easily say that generally RTS games are shat, looking at all the clones and rip-offs there are, but that does not make it true. Some of my favourite games of all time are RTS games. Same stands here - if you are talking about how the genre can improve, you must take the most advanced example of it, else you are moaning about improvements that have already been made.
If we say that not enough developers are picking up on the improvements some games have shown, then I stand up. On the other hand, you cannot expect a game that has to cater for so many tastes to ever be perfect for everyone. Or anyone, in fact. Do you want invincible new characters? But then they can slaughter the higher level characters, which makes the whole thing pointless, and you might as well remove any way of improving. Either that, or remove the PvP. But a lot of people play mainly for the PvP, so then you alienate another section of your market.
Basically, if you do not enjoy the games because they take up too much time, or you do not feel they are fun to start with, don't play them, I suppose. I think Rally games are shat, but I do not go around grumbling about how they have too few tracks and car types, only 4 cars per race, and are all samey, because that is what Rally games are, and if I don't like it, it is my problem, not the developers. Or are you saying that games should always appeal to everyone?
Look at the number of people playing MMORPGs. That is somewhere near how many people do not find what you complain about a problem, or are willing/able to put in more hours to play. I don't think a genre which mostly involves walking around talking to bearded Americans has much of a future. I wouldn't enjoy that in real life, so why should I have to endure it in a game?
How many MMPORGS do you think will be a success. 6, 10, a dozen maybe 2 dozen?
3rd World, A Tale in the Desert, Adellion, Ages of Athiria,Anarchy Online, Anarchy Online: Shadowlands, Arcanity, Archaean: Massive Online World, Asheron's Call, Asheron's Call 2, Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty, Astonia 3, Athanasia, Atriarch, BattleTech 3025, BigWorld: Citizen Zero, Black Moon Chronicles: Winds of War, Caeron3000, Call of the Warlords, Charr: The Grimm Fate, City of Heroes, Clan Lord, Dark Age of Camelot, Dark Age of Camelot: Shrouded Isles, Dark Ages: Online Roleplaying, Darkfall, Dawn, DOMINION, Dragon Empires, Earth and Beyond, El Kardian, Elemental Saga, Endless Ages, EVE Online: The Second Genesis , EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Age, Fate, Final Fantasy XI, Gladius Online, Helbreath: The Crusade, Highlander Online, HORIZONS: Empires of Istaria, Jumpgate, Last Kingdom, Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle, Lineage: The Bloodpledge, Meridian 59, Midgard, Mimesis Online, Mistmare, Neocron...
MMPORGs the industry's greatest mistake.
Thanks for reading,
LF.
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Anyway, I'm rather bored of MMORPGs, and this is why:
- They require too much time and 'dedication' to play. Starting characters struggle up the first few rungs of the ladder and generally don't have much fun killing bats and badgers. What's more, this period of crapness generally tends to be the 'free trial' period, which stops players from seeing if they'll like what's ahead. What I would like is a system that doesn't require that much time, where you don't really need to develop your character and still survive - just by playing it smart. Maybe using small battles - like in real life ? Where you can lose and still not make the game end.
- I don't think the 'epic storyline' concepts particularly work, because, although factions do struggle against each other, it's not really financially viable to have one side defeat the other, as it would bring the game to an end. This makes them seem rather futile to me. I, personally, would love to participate in an epic storyline with a lot of other people, and I'd love to see it come to a successful (or tragic) end.
- Everyone is out of character. 'kool, U kil orc dude? K? get HP.' does not befit a Knight of the Holy Order, or whatever, nor does 'WANNA CYBER?' befit a Ghuk alien from Nan-toobuk IV. Character development is a hard nut to crack - Diablo II was one way to do it but it's not a MMORPG - Diablo II consists of many single games which makes it possible for the game to adapt to the player.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how any of these can be overcome? The one that puts me off the most is definitely the first. I'd love to play RPG style games online, but avoid the commitment and intensity associated with Everquest - I'd rather dip in and out as I can with Counterstrike.
Pay-as-you-go MMORPGs?
What changes would you like to see made? Where do you see the problems lying with MMORPGs? What do you like most of them? Do you look at each new release and groan 'This has one gimmick, and is identical to everything else' as I do, or do you hold a lot of enthusiasm for them?
The monthly fee is a bit of a problem - not everyone has a credit card or is willing to pay a monthly fee.
I am split over this one.
Point 1 - If a game is good enough, it is not a problem to put 'time and dedication' into it. If it is a properly good game, that is what you will want to do.
Unfortunately, that thing called "real life" occasionally gets in the way. Sometimes you simply don't have the time to play a game as much as you'd like. Exactly, we're not all 15 year olds ditching classes. But really, those things eat loads of time. It's the major reason why I don't play any - I just don't have the time. If you only spend a few hours a week you're bound to be pretty pathetic in the game so there's no fun so why bother?
Point 2 - The epic storyline approach is very, very good. Sadly, it does not work. Anyone who is not directly involved either wishes they could be but can't get involved for whatever reason (i.e. they are too shat/new/stupid/lazy), or wishes it was not happening as it interferes with their gaming experience. So unless everyone wants one, that is strike one against it.
On the plus side, they do give the game direction, and build community, and help develop group identity. It also means that people may be able to get a helping hand from the start if recruiting is going on. Sadly, as most MMORPG players are elitest twits, this rarely happens. But, one more bad point here, they do tend to be either too simple and almost like a quest that does not really matter, or so complex any events that do pass are either so pathetic they are ignored, or so important they swing the entire campaign. Somewhat realistic, yes, but not really very desirable in a community game, as it leads to people feeling left out.
Point 3 - Not everyone is out of character. The problem is, as games are made to make people money, they aim at the largest market, meaning anyone can play. This, by default, sadly includes absolute idiots.
I 'completed' the Legend of Mir trial, and throughout around 20-30 hours of play, group conversations tend to consist of.
"Want 2 grp?"
"This xp is shat"
"Pull faster"
"Let's attack that *Insert name of ridiculously powerful creature here*"
"stfu!"
"n00b"
"kthxbye"
I hate it. I want to take these people, slather their genitals with catnip and hurl them into a cage of rabid mountain lions. And I fear that it is always going to be like this. Because for every Role Player there are 20 moronic children with no wit or interest in the game besdies being better than other people. On a side note though, the servers in America have a couple of dedicated role playing servers that people can stick to. I've no idea what they're like, but I guess it is one option to seperate those who want to roleplay and socialise from those who want to just exploit a game engine.
Another problem is late comers. A lot of these MMORPG's aren't very friendly towards people who just entered the game without knowing a thing. Especially if the game has been released half a year ago or even longer. Often the community shuns newbies, it doesn't help them, or kills them. I heard this was often the case on the USA servers of Ultima. The European servers are more friendly in general apparantly but still...
Right, it takes about 15 hours to get a character up to a decent level. When you buy a new game, do you spend at least 15 hours on it in the first week or two of owning it? I would say that generally, yes, people will spend at least that long playing it. And as with MMORPGs you open up more of the game world as you progress, after those 2 weeks, of say 10 hours play a week, you suddenly realise you can now go to big doomy temple of nasty spiders and not die, maybe even get a decent sword/armour/cloak/gain loads of experience and gold. So basically it is longetivity.
I think the problem I am complaining about may not be the amount of time you must invest in the game, but the fact that because the better games are faily un-directed and freeform, the first few hours of play may seem completely and utterly shat, as you have no idea what to do or how to do it. It is just a matter of can you be bothered to work for your enjoyment? That sounds stupid, but it is so much rewarding when you become a grand master mage (or whatever), can afford that new shiny katana of much-death-giving, or finally defeat that devil of an orc mage that killed you every time before. It is risk vs reward, combined with input and output. The more you are willing to put, the more you will get out.
However, to an extent, you will get more out of the game if you spend more time on it, but that is just common sense really, and stands true for any game. Even better, in MMORPGs, the end result does not mean credits roll. It means you open up an entire new level of play. You can never do everything, because there is so much to do anyway, and more is being added all the time.
You can generalise as much as you want about the genre, but that is pointless. No genre is going to consist of entirely perfect games, or even mostly good ones, so the generalisation is pointless. I could quite easily say that generally RTS games are shat, looking at all the clones and rip-offs there are, but that does not make it true. Some of my favourite games of all time are RTS games. Same stands here - if you are talking about how the genre can improve, you must take the most advanced example of it, else you are moaning about improvements that have already been made.
If we say that not enough developers are picking up on the improvements some games have shown, then I stand up. On the other hand, you cannot expect a game that has to cater for so many tastes to ever be perfect for everyone. Or anyone, in fact. Do you want invincible new characters? But then they can slaughter the higher level characters, which makes the whole thing pointless, and you might as well remove any way of improving. Either that, or remove the PvP. But a lot of people play mainly for the PvP, so then you alienate another section of your market.
Basically, if you do not enjoy the games because they take up too much time, or you do not feel they are fun to start with, don't play them, I suppose. I think Rally games are shat, but I do not go around grumbling about how they have too few tracks and car types, only 4 cars per race, and are all samey, because that is what Rally games are, and if I don't like it, it is my problem, not the developers. Or are you saying that games should always appeal to everyone?
Look at the number of people playing MMORPGs. That is somewhere near how many people do not find what you complain about a problem, or are willing/able to put in more hours to play. I don't think a genre which mostly involves walking around talking to bearded Americans has much of a future. I wouldn't enjoy that in real life, so why should I have to endure it in a game?
How many MMPORGS do you think will be a success. 6, 10, a dozen maybe 2 dozen?
3rd World, A Tale in the Desert, Adellion, Ages of Athiria,Anarchy Online, Anarchy Online: Shadowlands, Arcanity, Archaean: Massive Online World, Asheron's Call, Asheron's Call 2, Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty, Astonia 3, Athanasia, Atriarch, BattleTech 3025, BigWorld: Citizen Zero, Black Moon Chronicles: Winds of War, Caeron3000, Call of the Warlords, Charr: The Grimm Fate, City of Heroes, Clan Lord, Dark Age of Camelot, Dark Age of Camelot: Shrouded Isles, Dark Ages: Online Roleplaying, Darkfall, Dawn, DOMINION, Dragon Empires, Earth and Beyond, El Kardian, Elemental Saga, Endless Ages, EVE Online: The Second Genesis , EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Age, Fate, Final Fantasy XI, Gladius Online, Helbreath: The Crusade, Highlander Online, HORIZONS: Empires of Istaria, Jumpgate, Last Kingdom, Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle, Lineage: The Bloodpledge, Meridian 59, Midgard, Mimesis Online, Mistmare, Neocron...
MMPORGs the industry's greatest mistake.
Thanks for reading,
LF.
- They require too much time and 'dedication' to play. Starting characters struggle up the first few rungs of the ladder and generally don't have much fun killing bats and badgers. What's more, this period of crapness generally tends to be the 'free trial' period, which stops players from seeing if they'll like what's ahead. What I would like is a system that doesn't require that much time, where you don't really need to develop your character and still survive - just by playing it smart. Maybe using small battles - like in real life ? Where you can lose and still not make the game end.
- I don't think the 'epic storyline' concepts particularly work, because, although factions do struggle against each other, it's not really financially viable to have one side defeat the other, as it would bring the game to an end. This makes them seem rather futile to me. I, personally, would love to participate in an epic storyline with a lot of other people, and I'd love to see it come to a successful (or tragic) end.
- Everyone is out of character. 'kool, U kil orc dude? K? get HP.' does not befit a Knight of the Holy Order, or whatever, nor does 'WANNA CYBER?' befit a Ghuk alien from Nan-toobuk IV. Character development is a hard nut to crack - Diablo II was one way to do it but it's not a MMORPG - Diablo II consists of many single games which makes it possible for the game to adapt to the player.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to how any of these can be overcome? The one that puts me off the most is definitely the first. I'd love to play RPG style games online, but avoid the commitment and intensity associated with Everquest - I'd rather dip in and out as I can with Counterstrike.
Pay-as-you-go MMORPGs?
What changes would you like to see made? Where do you see the problems lying with MMORPGs? What do you like most of them? Do you look at each new release and groan 'This has one gimmick, and is identical to everything else' as I do, or do you hold a lot of enthusiasm for them?
The monthly fee is a bit of a problem - not everyone has a credit card or is willing to pay a monthly fee.
I am split over this one.
Point 1 - If a game is good enough, it is not a problem to put 'time and dedication' into it. If it is a properly good game, that is what you will want to do.
Unfortunately, that thing called "real life" occasionally gets in the way. Sometimes you simply don't have the time to play a game as much as you'd like. Exactly, we're not all 15 year olds ditching classes. But really, those things eat loads of time. It's the major reason why I don't play any - I just don't have the time. If you only spend a few hours a week you're bound to be pretty pathetic in the game so there's no fun so why bother?
Point 2 - The epic storyline approach is very, very good. Sadly, it does not work. Anyone who is not directly involved either wishes they could be but can't get involved for whatever reason (i.e. they are too shat/new/stupid/lazy), or wishes it was not happening as it interferes with their gaming experience. So unless everyone wants one, that is strike one against it.
On the plus side, they do give the game direction, and build community, and help develop group identity. It also means that people may be able to get a helping hand from the start if recruiting is going on. Sadly, as most MMORPG players are elitest twits, this rarely happens. But, one more bad point here, they do tend to be either too simple and almost like a quest that does not really matter, or so complex any events that do pass are either so pathetic they are ignored, or so important they swing the entire campaign. Somewhat realistic, yes, but not really very desirable in a community game, as it leads to people feeling left out.
Point 3 - Not everyone is out of character. The problem is, as games are made to make people money, they aim at the largest market, meaning anyone can play. This, by default, sadly includes absolute idiots.
I 'completed' the Legend of Mir trial, and throughout around 20-30 hours of play, group conversations tend to consist of.
"Want 2 grp?"
"This xp is shat"
"Pull faster"
"Let's attack that *Insert name of ridiculously powerful creature here*"
"stfu!"
"n00b"
"kthxbye"
I hate it. I want to take these people, slather their genitals with catnip and hurl them into a cage of rabid mountain lions. And I fear that it is always going to be like this. Because for every Role Player there are 20 moronic children with no wit or interest in the game besdies being better than other people. On a side note though, the servers in America have a couple of dedicated role playing servers that people can stick to. I've no idea what they're like, but I guess it is one option to seperate those who want to roleplay and socialise from those who want to just exploit a game engine.
Another problem is late comers. A lot of these MMORPG's aren't very friendly towards people who just entered the game without knowing a thing. Especially if the game has been released half a year ago or even longer. Often the community shuns newbies, it doesn't help them, or kills them. I heard this was often the case on the USA servers of Ultima. The European servers are more friendly in general apparantly but still...
Right, it takes about 15 hours to get a character up to a decent level. When you buy a new game, do you spend at least 15 hours on it in the first week or two of owning it? I would say that generally, yes, people will spend at least that long playing it. And as with MMORPGs you open up more of the game world as you progress, after those 2 weeks, of say 10 hours play a week, you suddenly realise you can now go to big doomy temple of nasty spiders and not die, maybe even get a decent sword/armour/cloak/gain loads of experience and gold. So basically it is longetivity.
I think the problem I am complaining about may not be the amount of time you must invest in the game, but the fact that because the better games are faily un-directed and freeform, the first few hours of play may seem completely and utterly shat, as you have no idea what to do or how to do it. It is just a matter of can you be bothered to work for your enjoyment? That sounds stupid, but it is so much rewarding when you become a grand master mage (or whatever), can afford that new shiny katana of much-death-giving, or finally defeat that devil of an orc mage that killed you every time before. It is risk vs reward, combined with input and output. The more you are willing to put, the more you will get out.
However, to an extent, you will get more out of the game if you spend more time on it, but that is just common sense really, and stands true for any game. Even better, in MMORPGs, the end result does not mean credits roll. It means you open up an entire new level of play. You can never do everything, because there is so much to do anyway, and more is being added all the time.
You can generalise as much as you want about the genre, but that is pointless. No genre is going to consist of entirely perfect games, or even mostly good ones, so the generalisation is pointless. I could quite easily say that generally RTS games are shat, looking at all the clones and rip-offs there are, but that does not make it true. Some of my favourite games of all time are RTS games. Same stands here - if you are talking about how the genre can improve, you must take the most advanced example of it, else you are moaning about improvements that have already been made.
If we say that not enough developers are picking up on the improvements some games have shown, then I stand up. On the other hand, you cannot expect a game that has to cater for so many tastes to ever be perfect for everyone. Or anyone, in fact. Do you want invincible new characters? But then they can slaughter the higher level characters, which makes the whole thing pointless, and you might as well remove any way of improving. Either that, or remove the PvP. But a lot of people play mainly for the PvP, so then you alienate another section of your market.
Basically, if you do not enjoy the games because they take up too much time, or you do not feel they are fun to start with, don't play them, I suppose. I think Rally games are shat, but I do not go around grumbling about how they have too few tracks and car types, only 4 cars per race, and are all samey, because that is what Rally games are, and if I don't like it, it is my problem, not the developers. Or are you saying that games should always appeal to everyone?
Look at the number of people playing MMORPGs. That is somewhere near how many people do not find what you complain about a problem, or are willing/able to put in more hours to play. I don't think a genre which mostly involves walking around talking to bearded Americans has much of a future. I wouldn't enjoy that in real life, so why should I have to endure it in a game?
How many MMPORGS do you think will be a success. 6, 10, a dozen maybe 2 dozen?
3rd World, A Tale in the Desert, Adellion, Ages of Athiria,Anarchy Online, Anarchy Online: Shadowlands, Arcanity, Archaean: Massive Online World, Asheron's Call, Asheron's Call 2, Asheron's Call: Dark Majesty, Astonia 3, Athanasia, Atriarch, BattleTech 3025, BigWorld: Citizen Zero, Black Moon Chronicles: Winds of War, Caeron3000, Call of the Warlords, Charr: The Grimm Fate, City of Heroes, Clan Lord, Dark Age of Camelot, Dark Age of Camelot: Shrouded Isles, Dark Ages: Online Roleplaying, Darkfall, Dawn, DOMINION, Dragon Empires, Earth and Beyond, El Kardian, Elemental Saga, Endless Ages, EVE Online: The Second Genesis , EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Age, Fate, Final Fantasy XI, Gladius Online, Helbreath: The Crusade, Highlander Online, HORIZONS: Empires of Istaria, Jumpgate, Last Kingdom, Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle, Lineage: The Bloodpledge, Meridian 59, Midgard, Mimesis Online, Mistmare, Neocron...
MMPORGs the industry's greatest mistake.
Thanks for reading,
LF.
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