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Why the sudden omission of Night/Day cycles and dynamic weather?
Sharkypal
Member Posts: 1,137
I find this new trend annoying and as much as it may not be as important as some gameplay features, it is a huge immersion breaker for me.
Several of the new MMOs I have played implemented neither of these systems. SW:TOR didn't have it, the reasons given on the forums were because "it might confuse people".
We seem to do fine with the concept of day and night here on earth, and similarly with weather, so I don't really see who it stands to confuse except possibly people who come from planets with no weather or day/night cycles.
After all, so much is made of Tatooine's sunsets and the danger of Hoth's night but in TOR, both planets feel consequence free. Hoth feels more like a ski resort than the cold and dangerous place it supposedly is
Moving on to TERA, I was really looking forward to this game but within about 20 minutes of playing it, I realised that it to, had no weather or day/night cycle. As with TOR, there are a few zones where it is clouded over and raining but it stays that way constantly and is restricted to those few small zones.
EnMasse's excuse, the game is a God's dream and he doesn't dream about weather or night/day cycles. This sounds to me like "we can't be bothered". I quite like TERA but I am sick of every zone I enter being sunny and bright.
Where are the "Kithicor's" and "Feerot's" of old where a change in the time of day changed the level of danger in the zone and when wandering through a Stormy Nektulos at night or visiting Pre-CU Dath in SWG actually felt foreboding?
It seems we are going backwards in terms of design. Why bother with dynamic weather or a day/night cycle when it is far easier to have a perpetual sunny summer day at around noon.
After all, we wouldn't want to confuse anyone :rolleyes:
Comments
GW2 has day/night cycles and weather.. Just sayin' ..
Yep, that is definitely good news - I hope Secret World does as well
My belief is that when developers started adding things like dynamic lighting, shadows, etc, a moving sun and weather caused these things to be too processor intensive and graphics card capabilities are only now starting to catch up. I know Planetside 2 is going to have day/night cycles and (I think) weather also.
I'm not aware of another MMO aside from TOR that has done this of late, wouldn't call it a trend by any stretch.
Very few games presenting a world do it that way.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Quick box sales.
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Rift had it before GW2 :O
@ Distopia
TOR and TERA, RIFT (Has a weak day/night cycle but no dynamic weather).
In fact there are MANY with no weather system although I would agree that there are fewer that don't have day and night cycles. I would like to know if The Secret World does or not.
Agreed, I actually wish that the games went further instead and added seasons instead of taking stuff like this away.
At least GW2 have it, I hope it will "inspire" other devs to add it to newer games.
I would really love to see all seasons in a MMO, it is technically possible...
TERA has weather. You might need to play longer than 20 minutes to experience it. just saying.
I've got the straight edge.
Agreed
I don't agree with devs saying it's a technical limitation. EQ, UO, AC and DAOC all had it and we didn't have 1/10th of the PC horsepower we have now.
It's simply down to laziness IMHO.
I'm pretty impressed by what i am hearing about AC3 (assassins creed) never a big fan of that series, but the way they're doing seasons and their cycles is something I'd love to see in an MMO>
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Its easier to make without those things.
Played about 3 hours now and haven't seen any except the static weather in one zone (as I indicated in my original post).
It has also been confirmed that Tera does not have dynamic weather or a night and day cycle on their own forums.
Yeah, I remember the first time I saw it started to rain in a MMO, it was an awesome feeling...
I also miss the pitch black nights those games had.
PRE-CU Dath at night during a storm was really spooky. You could hear the Rancors and Nightsisters but you couldn't always see them through the rain and blackness.
I'd love to see another MMO with that level of immersion, it really sucks you in
Well I call bull. I take it you never bothered to goto Iron Pine Peak or Moonshade.
Hmmm, I will have to check it out.
A 1 month yearly cycle would be so cool in a MMO, I could see that certain crafting materials only could be gathered in spring or autumn and so on, certain mobs only spawning one season and some season specific quests or DEs.
The problem is that most devs seems to think that the MMO world should feel less alive instead of more.
Think how beutiful it would be when the leaves turn red first and then fall off the trees before the snow.
Shadow's Hand Guild
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The Secret World - Dragons
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That's not dynamic weather, it's zone specific. I'm not talking about static weather in certain zones. I was pretty clear about that in my OP.
wait it does? that... makes me so happy...
One reason is its effect on lag to some extent and another reason is without a cycle the developers have more freedom to set the overall mood of the zone / area.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
From the videos I have seen, it certainly looks like it does which is good news
WHy? Because immersion, creativity, and adventure isn’t nearly as cool as Quest hubs and grinding gear... oh and subscription fees. Goto love that!
Fk making a game world seem like an actual world. Id rather grind tokens for a leet shoulder pads...
The way mmo's were: Community, Exploration, Character Development, Conquest.
The way mmo's are now : Cut-Scenes,Cut-Scenes, solo Questing, Cut-Scenes...
www.CeaselessGuild.com
it won't be anymore dynamic then the other games mentioned in this thread. the day/night cycle is on a 4 hour loop.
I've got the straight edge.
They are video games. Many didnt launch with weather.
If weather is make or break for you might I suggest logging off and getting outside.
If you really want to complain about something along these lines.....where did the bow-strings go? EQ I believe had them, and City of Heros for sure did....