I personally found encumberance to be one of the more moronic game systems.
I love role playing and I am by no means one of the instant gratification crowd, but I am playing a game. I have no intention of playing a reality simulation.
There are certain real life trappings I simply do not want to have to deal with. But to each his own.
You are officially granted membership in the instant gratification crowd.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
I think the regression in MMORPG gaming parallels the regression in Western humanity that comes with technology. In 20 years or so, it may be people no longer use their arms and legs, and such are withered useless atrophic limbs attached to bloated persons whose eyeball scans cause their game mouses to automatically move across the screens and play games. Even waste will be siphoned through their game chairs, which they never leave, and filtered back through tubes and into their mouths as second harvest nutrition.
The future bodes ill for MMORPG gaming, indeed.
Your right on track.
Soon, every mom's baseent will require a second harvest nutrition system to meet code if they plan on having children.
I despise inventory management as well. It's not fun in the slightest.
Yeah it's a little silly that I can carry forty greatswords, an anvil and 20 feasts around, but then again, I'm fighting dragons or zombies or faeries... I think how big my bag is is the least of my issues with immersion.
Spec'ing properly is a gateway drug. 12 Million People have been meter spammed in heroics.
I dont understand all these treads about wanting encumbrance, eating/sleeping, player housing, KOS in some towns and a dozen other "old-school" MMORPG things. All you have to do is load up Mortal Online and you should be in heaven, just overlook a few bugs. Its all there, all these things people ask for and claim no game has it.
I agree mr GT wonder,so many new gamers havbe been playing really cheap games and got in the nabit of just button mashing with no meaning.
Us older gamers have seen how all those in depth ideas can add a lot of meaning to game play.
FFXI is one of those games that covered a lot of those areas but the only weight idea was in the weapons.That however added a LOT of strategy and versatility to weapon selections.
FFXi's storage system definitely worked to curb RMT boitters.You see if you allow massive storage with no care ,be it weight or not,RMT will just sit there in auto bot and load up.In FFXI you have very little bagg space,you had to earn the extra space and RMT are usually not into actually playing a game,so it screwed them over.They did however figure ways around it by just having extra players sit there and act as transporters.
Sadly when i read MANY excuses,it sounds like a lot of lazy people who really do not want a RPG,so i wonder why they are bothering to hang out in one?This is probably also why we see so many new games get a ton of people ,then they all quit.
I beleive most game system designers are passionate,but they are cutting corners to make game development shorter and make a higher profit.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Originally posted by Wizardry I agree mr GT wonder,so many new gamers havbe been playing really cheap games and got in the nabit of just button mashing with no meaning.Us older gamers have seen how all those in depth ideas can add a lot of meaning to game play.FFXI is one of those games that covered a lot of those areas but the only weight idea was in the weapons.That however added a LOT of strategy and versatility to weapon selections.FFXi's storage system definitely worked to curb RMT boitters.You see if you allow massive storage with no care ,be it weight or not,RMT will just sit there in auto bot and load up.In FFXI you have very little bagg space,you had to earn the extra space and RMT are usually not into actually playing a game,so it screwed them over.They did however figure ways around it by just having extra players sit there and act as transporters.Sadly when i read MANY excuses,it sounds like a lot of lazy people who really do not want a RPG,so i wonder why they are bothering to hang out in one?This is probably also why we see so many new games get a ton of people ,then they all quit.I beleive most game system designers are passionate,but they are cutting corners to make game development shorter and make a higher profit.
I've been playing video games and rpg since 1976. I do not miss encumbrance rules or anything of the kind. Mostly, I think it's because it seems like people spend so much time getting caught up in the rules, they forget to play the game. If the rules are the game, why bother playing online rpg? Play pnp rpg, where the rules are king?
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Well what I see these days is that all games are becoming a homogenous layer of crap, everything is samey, and the reason why is because they are sticking with what people say they "want", and removing anything considered "hassle".
Now we have hundreds of games that do the exact same fucking thing... Good job guys.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I've been playing video games and rpg since 1976. I do not miss encumbrance rules or anything of the kind. Mostly, I think it's because it seems like people spend so much time getting caught up in the rules, they forget to play the game. If the rules are the game, why bother playing online rpg? Play pnp rpg, where the rules are king?
Micromanagement is easier on a computer than with pencil and paper. I'm not a huge fan of encumbrance, but part of what makes a game work is some framework of limitations and choices. Deciding what's worth looting has always been a part of it - whether it's by weight, by slots or some other wall that prevents you from overflowing the database.
Originally posted by lizardbones Originally posted by Wizardry I agree mr GT wonder,so many new gamers havbe been playing really cheap games and got in the nabit of just button mashing with no meaning.Us older gamers have seen how all those in depth ideas can add a lot of meaning to game play.FFXI is one of those games that covered a lot of those areas but the only weight idea was in the weapons.That however added a LOT of strategy and versatility to weapon selections.FFXi's storage system definitely worked to curb RMT boitters.You see if you allow massive storage with no care ,be it weight or not,RMT will just sit there in auto bot and load up.In FFXI you have very little bagg space,you had to earn the extra space and RMT are usually not into actually playing a game,so it screwed them over.They did however figure ways around it by just having extra players sit there and act as transporters.Sadly when i read MANY excuses,it sounds like a lot of lazy people who really do not want a RPG,so i wonder why they are bothering to hang out in one?This is probably also why we see so many new games get a ton of people ,then they all quit.I beleive most game system designers are passionate,but they are cutting corners to make game development shorter and make a higher profit.
I've been playing video games and rpg since 1976. I do not miss encumbrance rules or anything of the kind. Mostly, I think it's because it seems like people spend so much time getting caught up in the rules, they forget to play the game. If the rules are the game, why bother playing online rpg? Play pnp rpg, where the rules are king?
Most people welcome with open arms any changes that makes life easier. Many of these easier, less cumbersome games are not replacing the absent challenge with anything new.
I might very well be a minority but I still want to have some challenges while I play my games. I am not suggesting that they be annoying to the degree of pointless but whether it is a weight issue, or a bag space issue the choice will have to be made.
Personally I favor the concept where the weight of the items you are wearing also affect your speed and attack abilities. Cloth wearing characters should be faster than plate wearing players. We read about how people want their choices to affect the game, but then we also want to keep those choices limited to other areas of the game because it is easier.
Easier and faster are two of the most important factors for a majority of players.
Well what I see these days is that all games are becoming a homogenous layer of crap, everything is samey, and the reason why is because they are sticking with what people say they "want", and removing anything considered "hassle".
Now we have hundreds of games that do the exact same fucking thing... Good job guys.
That's ridiculous.
There are hundreds of genres out there which are completely different games without adding ample inconveniences, and there are tons of potential MMORPG designs which are completely different from existing MMORPGs without involving ample inconveniences.
Homogenization has nothing to do with avoiding inconveniences.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Well what I see these days is that all games are becoming a homogenous layer of crap, everything is samey, and the reason why is because they are sticking with what people say they "want", and removing anything considered "hassle".
Now we have hundreds of games that do the exact same fucking thing... Good job guys.
That's ridiculous.
There are hundreds of genres out there which are completely different games without adding ample inconveniences, and there are tons of potential MMORPG designs which are completely different from existing MMORPGs without involving ample inconveniences.
Homogenization has nothing to do with avoiding inconveniences.
Uh huh, yet every new shooter has health mechanics from Halo, leveling aspects from CoD, etc, etc.
Everything is ending up samey on a per-genre level. MMOs especially.
How many total genres are there again? Pretty sure I can count them on all my available digits... so in the future, it will be that many choices of games to play overall. ~and hopefully, the market will lean towards whatever titles choose to stray from the "norm" at that point.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
The "problem" is killing a rat and looting a two-handed sword, killing a dragon and looting a full set of shiny new armor.
We should be looting scales, teeth, fangs, etc, for use in a crafting system that would be the only source of PvE equipment (exchanging PvP tokens seems perfectly fine). From that point it would become a lot easier to handle inventory logic without creating a huge hassle for players (a realistic inventory without a realistic loot system wouldn't work - you'd kill monsters for like 10 minutes and get overburdened with 5 shields on your backpack. It's the reason I love the Monster Hunter games.
Anyway, we play in a MMORPG genre that barely justifies the use of the RPG anymore, there really should be a lot of differences between races even if considering only the implications of the physical differences.
Uh huh, yet every new shooter has health mechanics from Halo, leveling aspects from CoD, etc, etc.
Couldn't one argue that that this has always been true in video games? From a mass of scrolling 1942-esque shooters in the arcade days, to a mass of Dune-type RTS games, a mass of RPGs with similar D&D-inspired mechanics/settings ... it's just that when we look back 10 years, most of the surrounding mass of clones has faded from memory and we only remember one or two iconic games from each genre or subgenre..
Originally posted by EricDanie We must go deeper.The "problem" is killing a rat and looting a two-handed sword, killing a dragon and looting a full set of shiny new armor.We should be looting scales, teeth, fangs, etc, for use in a crafting system that would be the only source of PvE equipment (exchanging PvP tokens seems perfectly fine). From that point it would become a lot easier to handle inventory logic without creating a huge hassle for players (a realistic inventory without a realistic loot system wouldn't work - you'd kill monsters for like 10 minutes and get overburdened with 5 shields on your backpack. It's the reason I love the Monster Hunter games.Anyway, we play in a MMORPG genre that barely justifies the use of the RPG anymore, there really should be a lot of differences between races even if considering only the implications of the physical differences.
I agree. This is one of the features I enjoy while playing Fallen Earth. I have to make my weapons or buy them from someone else who has made them. The rats just have resources.
Interesting that I am suddenly in the instant gratification crowd simply for disliking needlessly complex inventory management systems. Nice flash judgement there.
A little is fine, I don't care, but when it takes me like hours to do a 20 minute dungeon (my experience in the first Neverwinter Nights), it's generally easier on me if I don't have to worry about going back to town every time I enter a new room.
The problem is mine, lol, I have this uncontrollable need to loot everything I can and not throw anything away. It might be useful or valueable. Obvoiusly it's a bit different in MMOs, but I still avoid destroying stuff (even greys) if I can help it.
Interesting, though, that an endless bag space with no regard to the number or size of objects in your recent MMOs are looked down on, but no one bats en eye in DnD when a wizard opens his satchel to reveal his cavernous study in a pocket dimension.
People wanted to play the "killing monsters" game, not the "endless inventory management" game. This allowed developers to have player banks instead of player houses, which players generally found acceptable.
Right there is the problem. MMOs are only about 10% killing monester if it is a true MMO. There is much more in the world than just that.
All it really does is get you to look at each individual items weight and sell value to determine what should be tossed out because the weight to gold ratio isn't good enough. Item slots without weight on items is about convience. Out of combat conviences are important in any form of MMO because it lets players get back to playing with each other faster. Having to stop what I am doing with a friend just to check the weight of somethings in my UI isn't exactly something I consider fun. I can see where an RPG leaning MMORPGer would have some fun with it, but not an MMO leaning MMORPGer.
Mmmm no. This is one feature in particular I was happy to see disappear. I don't like my inventory and thus my versatility and ability to make money (and support myself) hindered because all my stats went into making sure I was a value to my party. Mechanics like this favored the keyboard face-roll dpsers who only had to spam points in Strength, putting them at the advantage of not only gaining lots of loot but not having to actually work very hard, while the healers and mages keeping their squishy asses alive could barely carry anything and had to content themselves with whatever crumbs got thrown their way.
Naw. I'm good.
EDIT - btw as far as realism goes, no one would be able to carry the armor/weapons frequently worn by these characters (even in the pre-WoW shoulder-pads-of-huge days) let alone spare equipment in real life, especially in the heat of battle. Suspension of disbelief...it is necessary.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Uh huh, yet every new shooter has health mechanics from Halo, leveling aspects from CoD, etc, etc.
Couldn't one argue that that this has always been true in video games? From a mass of scrolling 1942-esque shooters in the arcade days, to a mass of Dune-type RTS games, a mass of RPGs with similar D&D-inspired mechanics/settings ... it's just that when we look back 10 years, most of the surrounding mass of clones has faded from memory and we only remember one or two iconic games from each genre or subgenre..
Got a point there, but now it's even harder for these companies to stray off and be the first to introduce a "next big thing" that can be copied by all the poseurs.
I can think of (and have thought of) a dozen ways to handle health mechanics that don't involve finding a pickup or having auto-regenerating health. Yet, that seems to be the only two ever employed, and only because of sheer copycat~ism.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Originally posted by redcloud16 Interesting that I am suddenly in the instant gratification crowd simply for disliking needlessly complex inventory management systems. Nice flash judgement there.A little is fine, I don't care, but when it takes me like hours to do a 20 minute dungeon (my experience in the first Neverwinter Nights), it's generally easier on me if I don't have to worry about going back to town every time I enter a new room. The problem is mine, lol, I have this uncontrollable need to loot everything I can and not throw anything away. It might be useful or valueable. Obvoiusly it's a bit different in MMOs, but I still avoid destroying stuff (even greys) if I can help it. Interesting, though, that an endless bag space with no regard to the number or size of objects in your recent MMOs are looked down on, but no one bats en eye in DnD when a wizard opens his satchel to reveal his cavernous study in a pocket dimension.Bag of Holding/Hermione's Bag anyone?
I have the same issue regarding my loot. I really do not like giving up any of it either. I do enjoy having to make decisions however sometimes I just can't have everything.
Not everyone is an instant gratification member of the crowd. These games are just designed to attract those people. Just like the loot we like so much, it drops so frequently now days and in many cases we know exactly what mob to kill in order to get the stuff we want. I preferred the days where items were less frequently dropped and when you got something unique or rare actually was exciting to get. I don't expect the loot table to change though.
It required thinking. Thinking is outdated and so 1999.
Remember eating and drinking?
Remember picking a certain species for specific attributes to better min/max your class?
Remember corpse runs?
Remember planning with your friends how to get from a city to a dungeon across zones alive?
Remember having good standing with a npc faction but couldn't go to town because your friend in the group was KOS?
Get with it man, it's 2012. Wait in your city (lobby) for your que to pop and warp you to wherever you want to go. Then spam 1112311123 (or use a macro to fight for you) for 15 mins and get the uber loot.
I miss all those things
Racial/class diversity got neutered in the cause for class balance. Can't let 1 class or race be better than another, can't let class/race combo's unbalance the game. While I don't usually jump on the blame WoW cruscade, I'm pretty sure they killed this. Dwarf tanks making all other races unwanted.
THis is a good point...SO many RPG elements are disappearing from games...No wonder players only stay a month or two in games nowadays......Heck even EQ has weightless coins now.
Yes, with any NEW MMO that has come out it is all about endgame, even most of the older MMO's have sped up the leveling curve. The first incarnation of WoW it took months to max level, now that same level range requires 2 weeks of casual play with a friend.
Why has this happened?
1) Companies, big and small, realized that you can attract non-gamers and casual gamers to a game and make it easy enough for them to hang around. Experience gathering is easier and anything that is not experience related is trivialized, crafting, Guilds, exploration, corpse runs The MMO's further blur the lines by using hybred characters, giving everyone a chance to heal and insta-travel, making it that much easier to gain experience over a period of time.
2) Using this model + hype, gives a company what they want a game easily accessible by all that gives instant gratification, does not take time to master and they expect high turnover and are willing to do so by offering incentives to atract new players or get old ones to come back.
3) They listened to the communities complaints and gave the gamers what they wanted, this is the fault of gamers to a degree, this is why.
a) Everyone cried about the holy trinity (fighter, cleric, crowd control) so developers made hybred characters, so everyone could do everything well enough to get by in the game.
b) Pick up groups (PUGS) were flamed by communities and forums everywhere, run over by the short bus, flamed some more, made the joke list of every forum and then beaten like a dead horse and left for dead. Developers answered the call by making games with companions(GW, SWTOR) or made them easy enough for solo play.
c) Everyone clamoured about casual players and not seeing all the content in a game, devs made the games easier, so everyone can experience everything about a game.
d) Anything that required thinking beyond mashing buttons has been trivialized crafting, weght management, exploration, race/class advantages, teamwork, housing, guilds and giuld halls.
e) This (plus sharding) led to the death of the community behind a game, if you can solo a game and every thing else is trivialized, you do not need a guild except as a vehicle for a chat room. If the companion guide on how to beat the game is printed the day the game releases, all you need is you and the book (or the website) and you do not need a guild or anyone else, except for a few bottlenecks in the game.
I honestly hope that someone builds an MMO that challenges me again......
Comments
I'm just going to blame Pokemon since they can fit huge monsters into tiny capsules. Obvious cheating!
Enter a whole new realm of challenge and adventure.
You are officially granted membership in the instant gratification crowd.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Your right on track.
Soon, every mom's baseent will require a second harvest nutrition system to meet code if they plan on having children.
Nanulak
I despise inventory management as well. It's not fun in the slightest.
Yeah it's a little silly that I can carry forty greatswords, an anvil and 20 feasts around, but then again, I'm fighting dragons or zombies or faeries... I think how big my bag is is the least of my issues with immersion.
Spec'ing properly is a gateway drug.
12 Million People have been meter spammed in heroics.
I dont understand all these treads about wanting encumbrance, eating/sleeping, player housing, KOS in some towns and a dozen other "old-school" MMORPG things. All you have to do is load up Mortal Online and you should be in heaven, just overlook a few bugs. Its all there, all these things people ask for and claim no game has it.
playing:DCUO,GW2,WoW
played:SWG,LotRO,CoH,GW,FF14,ESO,AlbionOnline
I agree mr GT wonder,so many new gamers havbe been playing really cheap games and got in the nabit of just button mashing with no meaning.
Us older gamers have seen how all those in depth ideas can add a lot of meaning to game play.
FFXI is one of those games that covered a lot of those areas but the only weight idea was in the weapons.That however added a LOT of strategy and versatility to weapon selections.
FFXi's storage system definitely worked to curb RMT boitters.You see if you allow massive storage with no care ,be it weight or not,RMT will just sit there in auto bot and load up.In FFXI you have very little bagg space,you had to earn the extra space and RMT are usually not into actually playing a game,so it screwed them over.They did however figure ways around it by just having extra players sit there and act as transporters.
Sadly when i read MANY excuses,it sounds like a lot of lazy people who really do not want a RPG,so i wonder why they are bothering to hang out in one?This is probably also why we see so many new games get a ton of people ,then they all quit.
I beleive most game system designers are passionate,but they are cutting corners to make game development shorter and make a higher profit.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I've been playing video games and rpg since 1976. I do not miss encumbrance rules or anything of the kind. Mostly, I think it's because it seems like people spend so much time getting caught up in the rules, they forget to play the game. If the rules are the game, why bother playing online rpg? Play pnp rpg, where the rules are king?
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Well what I see these days is that all games are becoming a homogenous layer of crap, everything is samey, and the reason why is because they are sticking with what people say they "want", and removing anything considered "hassle".
Now we have hundreds of games that do the exact same fucking thing... Good job guys.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Micromanagement is easier on a computer than with pencil and paper. I'm not a huge fan of encumbrance, but part of what makes a game work is some framework of limitations and choices. Deciding what's worth looting has always been a part of it - whether it's by weight, by slots or some other wall that prevents you from overflowing the database.
I've been playing video games and rpg since 1976. I do not miss encumbrance rules or anything of the kind. Mostly, I think it's because it seems like people spend so much time getting caught up in the rules, they forget to play the game. If the rules are the game, why bother playing online rpg? Play pnp rpg, where the rules are king?
Most people welcome with open arms any changes that makes life easier. Many of these easier, less cumbersome games are not replacing the absent challenge with anything new.
I might very well be a minority but I still want to have some challenges while I play my games. I am not suggesting that they be annoying to the degree of pointless but whether it is a weight issue, or a bag space issue the choice will have to be made.
Personally I favor the concept where the weight of the items you are wearing also affect your speed and attack abilities. Cloth wearing characters should be faster than plate wearing players. We read about how people want their choices to affect the game, but then we also want to keep those choices limited to other areas of the game because it is easier.
Easier and faster are two of the most important factors for a majority of players.
That's ridiculous.
There are hundreds of genres out there which are completely different games without adding ample inconveniences, and there are tons of potential MMORPG designs which are completely different from existing MMORPGs without involving ample inconveniences.
Homogenization has nothing to do with avoiding inconveniences.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
what happened : if there were weight mechanics then tiny rats and bunnys couldnt carry huge blue lockboxes from cash shop dimension.
Let's internet
Uh huh, yet every new shooter has health mechanics from Halo, leveling aspects from CoD, etc, etc.
Everything is ending up samey on a per-genre level. MMOs especially.
How many total genres are there again? Pretty sure I can count them on all my available digits... so in the future, it will be that many choices of games to play overall. ~and hopefully, the market will lean towards whatever titles choose to stray from the "norm" at that point.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
We must go deeper.
The "problem" is killing a rat and looting a two-handed sword, killing a dragon and looting a full set of shiny new armor.
We should be looting scales, teeth, fangs, etc, for use in a crafting system that would be the only source of PvE equipment (exchanging PvP tokens seems perfectly fine). From that point it would become a lot easier to handle inventory logic without creating a huge hassle for players (a realistic inventory without a realistic loot system wouldn't work - you'd kill monsters for like 10 minutes and get overburdened with 5 shields on your backpack. It's the reason I love the Monster Hunter games.
Anyway, we play in a MMORPG genre that barely justifies the use of the RPG anymore, there really should be a lot of differences between races even if considering only the implications of the physical differences.
Couldn't one argue that that this has always been true in video games? From a mass of scrolling 1942-esque shooters in the arcade days, to a mass of Dune-type RTS games, a mass of RPGs with similar D&D-inspired mechanics/settings ... it's just that when we look back 10 years, most of the surrounding mass of clones has faded from memory and we only remember one or two iconic games from each genre or subgenre..
I agree. This is one of the features I enjoy while playing Fallen Earth. I have to make my weapons or buy them from someone else who has made them. The rats just have resources.
Interesting that I am suddenly in the instant gratification crowd simply for disliking needlessly complex inventory management systems. Nice flash judgement there.
A little is fine, I don't care, but when it takes me like hours to do a 20 minute dungeon (my experience in the first Neverwinter Nights), it's generally easier on me if I don't have to worry about going back to town every time I enter a new room.
The problem is mine, lol, I have this uncontrollable need to loot everything I can and not throw anything away. It might be useful or valueable. Obvoiusly it's a bit different in MMOs, but I still avoid destroying stuff (even greys) if I can help it.
Interesting, though, that an endless bag space with no regard to the number or size of objects in your recent MMOs are looked down on, but no one bats en eye in DnD when a wizard opens his satchel to reveal his cavernous study in a pocket dimension.
Bag of Holding/Hermione's Bag anyone?
Right there is the problem. MMOs are only about 10% killing monester if it is a true MMO. There is much more in the world than just that.
All it really does is get you to look at each individual items weight and sell value to determine what should be tossed out because the weight to gold ratio isn't good enough. Item slots without weight on items is about convience. Out of combat conviences are important in any form of MMO because it lets players get back to playing with each other faster. Having to stop what I am doing with a friend just to check the weight of somethings in my UI isn't exactly something I consider fun. I can see where an RPG leaning MMORPGer would have some fun with it, but not an MMO leaning MMORPGer.
Mmmm no. This is one feature in particular I was happy to see disappear. I don't like my inventory and thus my versatility and ability to make money (and support myself) hindered because all my stats went into making sure I was a value to my party. Mechanics like this favored the keyboard face-roll dpsers who only had to spam points in Strength, putting them at the advantage of not only gaining lots of loot but not having to actually work very hard, while the healers and mages keeping their squishy asses alive could barely carry anything and had to content themselves with whatever crumbs got thrown their way.
Naw. I'm good.
EDIT - btw as far as realism goes, no one would be able to carry the armor/weapons frequently worn by these characters (even in the pre-WoW shoulder-pads-of-huge days) let alone spare equipment in real life, especially in the heat of battle. Suspension of disbelief...it is necessary.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Got a point there, but now it's even harder for these companies to stray off and be the first to introduce a "next big thing" that can be copied by all the poseurs.
I can think of (and have thought of) a dozen ways to handle health mechanics that don't involve finding a pickup or having auto-regenerating health. Yet, that seems to be the only two ever employed, and only because of sheer copycat~ism.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I have the same issue regarding my loot. I really do not like giving up any of it either. I do enjoy having to make decisions however sometimes I just can't have everything.
Not everyone is an instant gratification member of the crowd. These games are just designed to attract those people. Just like the loot we like so much, it drops so frequently now days and in many cases we know exactly what mob to kill in order to get the stuff we want. I preferred the days where items were less frequently dropped and when you got something unique or rare actually was exciting to get. I don't expect the loot table to change though.
I miss all those things
Racial/class diversity got neutered in the cause for class balance. Can't let 1 class or race be better than another, can't let class/race combo's unbalance the game. While I don't usually jump on the blame WoW cruscade, I'm pretty sure they killed this. Dwarf tanks making all other races unwanted.
THis is a good point...SO many RPG elements are disappearing from games...No wonder players only stay a month or two in games nowadays......Heck even EQ has weightless coins now.
Yes, with any NEW MMO that has come out it is all about endgame, even most of the older MMO's have sped up the leveling curve. The first incarnation of WoW it took months to max level, now that same level range requires 2 weeks of casual play with a friend.
Why has this happened?
1) Companies, big and small, realized that you can attract non-gamers and casual gamers to a game and make it easy enough for them to hang around. Experience gathering is easier and anything that is not experience related is trivialized, crafting, Guilds, exploration, corpse runs The MMO's further blur the lines by using hybred characters, giving everyone a chance to heal and insta-travel, making it that much easier to gain experience over a period of time.
2) Using this model + hype, gives a company what they want a game easily accessible by all that gives instant gratification, does not take time to master and they expect high turnover and are willing to do so by offering incentives to atract new players or get old ones to come back.
3) They listened to the communities complaints and gave the gamers what they wanted, this is the fault of gamers to a degree, this is why.
a) Everyone cried about the holy trinity (fighter, cleric, crowd control) so developers made hybred characters, so everyone could do everything well enough to get by in the game.
b) Pick up groups (PUGS) were flamed by communities and forums everywhere, run over by the short bus, flamed some more, made the joke list of every forum and then beaten like a dead horse and left for dead. Developers answered the call by making games with companions(GW, SWTOR) or made them easy enough for solo play.
c) Everyone clamoured about casual players and not seeing all the content in a game, devs made the games easier, so everyone can experience everything about a game.
d) Anything that required thinking beyond mashing buttons has been trivialized crafting, weght management, exploration, race/class advantages, teamwork, housing, guilds and giuld halls.
e) This (plus sharding) led to the death of the community behind a game, if you can solo a game and every thing else is trivialized, you do not need a guild except as a vehicle for a chat room. If the companion guide on how to beat the game is printed the day the game releases, all you need is you and the book (or the website) and you do not need a guild or anyone else, except for a few bottlenecks in the game.
I honestly hope that someone builds an MMO that challenges me again......