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Once more, a new game
I've come to accept a number of things about MMOs and have really shifted my focus on what I want. So, here's what I'm looking for in a game.
1- Social player base. Much like the old days when you had to rest between some fights, group up for an instance, or just plain leveled better with others, I want something where communicating with other people is common and expected. Being beneficial to the game is a plus but not vital. If I can play the game for three days and not utter a word that doesn't involve trading, I probably don't want that.
2- Amazing soundtrack. Music does a lot to make an MMO and some of the best free MMOs had soundtracks that were worth buying on CD and even remixing. Ragnarok Online, I'm looking at you. Runes of Magic did this well too. However, I'd prefer something that didn't get too excessively theatrical like WoW would at times. Setting a fitting atmosphere is the goal.
3- Weak level tether. Yes, a level 10 character has no business hunting in a level 50 area. The point is more that I don't want some bottleneck at level 25 fighting precisely one monster in an inconvenient area because it is the only thing that yields even halfway decent exp. Meanwhile, if I have a quest or rare drop to find from something lower level, it would be nice to get diminished yet existing exp. It's also nice when rare drops that are useful are not strictly tied to level ranges such that there are items at level 25 that haven't become infinitely obsolete by 35 by every possible measure.
4- Item production outside hunting. Yeah, crafting is always in demand and never done right. This one's really just a bonus. Trickster had drilling which mattered for the longest time, but it ended up becoming a quest mechanism above all else. I'm not quite sure how this can be done right but I'd quite enjoy seeing someone try.
5- Not a PvP ego fest. Seriously. Not doing that. I want a social player base, not a trash talk forum.
So yeah, there you have it. Probably not easy to put those together, but getting #1, 2, and 5 all in one would be impressive on its own. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Comments
hmm, maybe. Do you own a time machine?
Sadly, they don't make games like that anymore.
So yeah, I'd have to say keep an eye out for FFXIV: A Realm Reborn. Everything about the relaunch is looking good in my opinion. As it is, I hated the game at launch, left after a month, and returned in January of this year to find that all the systems changes and added content added up to make it the only game in 6 years that has held me for any significant length of time.
The Secret World, Arcadia dimension.
1. Great player community with lots of RP folks who are friendly, chatty & helpful.
2. Excellent soundtrack by Simon Poole, samples here:
3. Because progression is largely horizontal, you can definitely find yourself in places where you possibly "shouldn't" be. But with creative builds, some folks have done very well tackling mobs far higher than their supposed capabilities.
4. Crafting is minimal but useful. You can disassemble most everything and craft on the fly as needed: potions, elixirs, weapons, gear, glyphs and signets. Beyond that, there isn't much use yet.
5. PvP is relegated to certain areas and 1v1 dueling is located in the Fight Clubs. There is vertical progression, and between those folks and the PvPers there is plenty of ego flying about in places. But as you quest, they are mostly invisible.
Extras: CMs and devs post quite often on the forums and the player base is passionate. Modern setting, mature rating, fabulous lore/story. 3-day free trial can be extended.
http://www.thesecretworld.com/
Kezzadrix- You crush my hopes and dreams almost as much as the state of gaming! I hear you though, I've resorted to empty replays of MMOs that are either ghost towns scraping by or empty shells of what they used to be.
AstralEcho- Tempting. FFXIV will absolutely have enough people to qualify for #1. Theatric music beats bad music, even if I have a fondness for light fluffy Korean MMO tunes. I sorely doubt it will become a PvP ego fest as well. I'll keep my eyes open.
This thing you said about a quest based level system though, please tell me that's not true. Please? That's what turns sandbox into theme park on a leash for me. I liked Ragnarok so much because levels and hunting were based on what could be killed, not what was the right level. It was more chasing items, resources, and upgrades than it was chasing exp. Trickster turned into a quest-chain system which really sapped a lot of the game from me. The story was surprisingly good which made it tolerable, but I just felt like the game wanted to dictate to me where I should be. You know, the classic "sandbox" argument that nobody ever seems to get right.
As for item production, I mean harvesting, gathering, and crafting in ways that don't require combat. I'd be more okay with combat requirements if it's not level tethered, but when it's all about "Kill X monster that is +/- 3 levels of yourself to obtain this drop" it loses a lot.
I'll give it a look.
Jaedor- On the advice of one friend who I join up with in almost any MMO either of us chooses, I'll have to skip TSW. He was rather emphatic about that one. Looks like the no level system fails to avoid the tether effect anyway.
Yeah, I hear you on your concerns about the quest-based leveling. That's the one thing I'm leery about, doubly so because Yoshida often mentions having played WoW and trying to bring FFXIV to the "baseline" that modern MMOs are at. At the same time, I'm pretty sure they've mentioned that there will be other leveling paths as well, I think NMs were meant to tie into that, but it's something I recall hearing during either the 25th Anniversary presentation or the Letter From The Producer Live, both of which are hour-long videos that I'm not ready to re-watch. >_> Ultimately the game does need to provide enough leveling content for nine separate combat classes, not counting any more that get added, so I'd be surprised if the questing was overly-linear.
I do, however, think that of all the modern theme-park MMOs, A Realm Reborn has the best chance of being different. SE added plenty of alternative / non-combat content in FFXI, and we're seeing that in XIV as well with the crafter/gatherer elements of Hamlet Defense, and housing, chocobo raising, and a casino the likes of Golden Saucer being planned either for the launch of A Realm Reborn, or shortly after.
That, and it pretty much has the crafting you're looking for. Gatherers even get a stealth ability so they can bypass enemies while hunting for nodes, so if you really wanted to there's no need to level up combat before working on crafting. There are some drops that only come from enemies, but as far as I'm aware there aren't any that can't be traded, so it'd just be a matter of getting those materials off of the market or building relationships with adventurers.