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[Poll] Which mmo formula is preferred by you?

maccarthur2004maccarthur2004 Member UncommonPosts: 511

I prefer "sandbox with some themepark features", with the themepark features restricted to starting areas, guiding the new players into learning and dominating the game tools before venturing into the world.

 

 

 

 



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Comments

  • Cephus404Cephus404 Member CommonPosts: 3,675
    I have to go with themepark with some sandbox features although it's hard to choose between the three half/half options.  I want a game that is fun to play from the very beginning, where I can jump in and find something to do immediately, but where I have the option of doing other things or building/crafting/whatever if I choose to do so.

    Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
    Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
    Now Playing: None
    Hope: None

  • IsawaIsawa Member UncommonPosts: 1,051

    About half and half sounds right to me. Classes (if you have them) that are crafting dedicated, not side disciplines. Big open vibrant worlds or planets with quests (if you want) and plenty of exploration. Alternate ways to level besides becoming a massive slayer of everything moving. Have a good storyline or multiple ones that aren't required. Ability to enter world neutral and then pick your faction or choose not to, instead of choosing sides before entering the game world. Those are some things, could add more :)

    What would some games be that fit into each category?

  • ScalplessScalpless Member UncommonPosts: 1,426

    This is a bit hard to answer, because no one seems to know what exactly is a sandbox/themepark. I think some "themepark features" like some kind of introductory quests and starter areas are a must, but other than that, I don't really have a preference. I just want a high-quality game without poorly-designed FFA PvP.

  • RydesonRydeson Member UncommonPosts: 3,852
    I went with what the OP said as well..  Sandbox with just enough themepark in the starting areas to educate the players..  No more follow the yellow brick road questing.. 
  • maccarthur2004maccarthur2004 Member UncommonPosts: 511

    I wanna do a list of mmos categorized by the options from the poll, but i dont know so much mmos in details like many people here, so i would like to have the help of you all. Please amplify and correct that list, if possible.

     

     

    Sandbox => I know only Ultima Online and EVE fitting 100% that category. Darkfall and Mortal Online can be considered sandboxes too, but they have far less sandbox tools than UO, EVE and Archeage (which, paradoxically, will not be a pure sandbox). DF and MO seens more "PVP arenas".

     

    Themepark => WoW, Rift, SWTOR, Tera...

     

    Sandbox with some themepark features => Archeage, EverquestNext, Asheron's Call, Shadowbane...

     

    Themepark with some sandbox features => Aion(?)

     

    Sandbox and themepark in equal amount => Lineage 2

     

     

    Really, some mmos lack both sandboxes AND themepark tools if compared to others. Lineage 2 is a example.

     

     

     

     

     



  • ScalplessScalpless Member UncommonPosts: 1,426

    Themepark with some sandbox features => GW2, Firefall

    Sandbox and themepark in equal amount => Anarchy Online

    I guess.

  • maccarthur2004maccarthur2004 Member UncommonPosts: 511
    Originally posted by Scalpless

    Themepark with some sandbox features => GW2, Firefall

    Sandbox and themepark in equal amount => Anarchy Online

    I guess.

    How could i forget GW2...! :(

    I never played it, but  the informations that i received about it points to a mmo with VERY emphasis in instancing, which makes him a true themepark. What are its sandbox features?

     

     

     



  • ScalplessScalpless Member UncommonPosts: 1,426

    Actually, the majority of GW2 isn't instanced. Only dungeons, small team PvP and so-called Personal Story (single-player) missions are. They're a very minor part of the game and can be ignored entirely. GW1 was entirely instanced.

    As for its sandbox elements, being able to achieve max lvl by crafting, build siege engines and modify/conquer forts and castles, an emphasis on exploration and a relative lack of hand-holding are the ones that come to mind.

  • TholdarianTholdarian Member UncommonPosts: 67
    Although I´m probably alone with my opinion (mmorpg.com just loves them sandboxes!) I´d say the way to go is themepark with sandbox elements. While I do enjoy to have freedom in games, I´m a person who gets overwhelmed by things to do pretty fast, so I do feel like having, at least, some direction, whether it is a main quest involving a certain story or any other "handholding-feature". I know, sandboxes are cool and stuff, but I´d rather pick some features out of it and combine it with a themepark to make it less like an actual themepark (less like WoW or SW:TOR) and move the term more in the sandbox direction. But that´s just my opinion.
  • maccarthur2004maccarthur2004 Member UncommonPosts: 511
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  • DrunkWolfDrunkWolf Member RarePosts: 1,701

    for myself i want sandbox. i want to be dumped into a harsh world with some cheap weapon and no idea what the hell im doing. I want to explore and figure things out, i want to meet people and ask for their help or help others with things i have figured out, i want death from level 1. not hand holding.

    pretty much how DayZ is when you first play it.

  • ThorbrandThorbrand Member Posts: 1,198
    The time before there was a seperation of Sandbox and Themepark. Back when MMOs where MMOs.
  • VengeSunsoarVengeSunsoar Member EpicPosts: 6,601
    Originally posted by Thorbrand
    The time before there was a seperation of Sandbox and Themepark. Back when MMOs where MMOs.

    That must have been before EQ at the latest. 

    Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it is bad.
  • ShakyMoShakyMo Member CommonPosts: 7,207
    Rvr or sandbox with a little themepark
  • LoktofeitLoktofeit Member RarePosts: 14,247
    Just want to note that once again on the forums where so many people clamour for more community, more interaction and more reasons to group, "social" is noticeably absent from discussion.

    There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
    "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre

  • maplestonemaplestone Member UncommonPosts: 3,099
    Although there is an initial period of frustration and the occassional "why didn't I know about that a month ago?!", I still prefer a game that offers me no help at all, just dumps me into the world and lets me fumble around figuring out how to walk and talk.
  • tollboothtollbooth Member CommonPosts: 298
    Originally posted by Scalpless

    Themepark with some sandbox features => GW2, Firefall - Neither of these have any sandbox

    Sandbox and themepark in equal amount => Anarchy Online

  • xeniarxeniar Member UncommonPosts: 805
    Originally posted by Loktofeit
    Just want to note that once again on the forums where so many people clamour for more community, more interaction and more reasons to group, "social" is noticeably absent from discussion.

    well from my experience. when you are forced to group to level up and colaborate with people youl get the social part with it?

    i think people mean social when they talk about community and grouping. (and no dungeon running for 20mins without saying a word is not social at all) :P

     

    voted sandbox with themepark elements btw. im not sure myself wich themepark elements are nice but some tools are good.

  • KenFisherKenFisher Member UncommonPosts: 5,035

    I can't really vote either themepark or sandbox.

     

    The formula I prefer is:

    Free roaming PVE focused on adventuring with few but difficult and rewarding quests.

    Well established backstory.  Some storyline for individual quests, but no arcs.

    Roaming elites in overland that require groups and can easily squash soloers.

    Public group-oriented dungeons, mixed linear and non-linear.

    Emphasis on crafting with crafted gear on par with dungeon reward gear.

    Emphasis on farming materials in dungeon and overland.  Used by self or to sell to crafters.

    Consensual faction-based PVP in the overland and dungeons. (no BGs or arenas).

    Optional servers with non-consensual PVP everywhere.

    Some towns are faction specific, others are neutral.

    Town guards are weak enough that no area is ever safe from PVP if flagged or on a PVP server.

     

    I guess this is sort of a mix of the two.  For me it feels more like what oldschool would have progressed into if quest-hub hopping hadn't become the norm.

     


    Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security.  I don't Forum PVP.  If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident.  When I don't understand, I ask.  Such is not intended as criticism.
  • xeniarxeniar Member UncommonPosts: 805
    Originally posted by XAPGames

    I can't really vote either themepark or sandbox.

     

    The formula I prefer is:

    Free roaming PVE focused on adventuring with few but difficult and rewarding quests.

    Well established backstory.  Some storyline for individual quests, but no arcs.

    Roaming elites in overland that require groups and can easily squash soloers.

    Public group-oriented dungeons, mixed linear and non-linear.

    Emphasis on crafting with crafted gear on par with dungeon reward gear.

    Emphasis on farming materials in dungeon and overland.  Used by self or to sell to crafters.

    Consensual faction-based PVP in the overland and dungeons. (no BGs or arenas).

    Optional servers with non-consensual PVP everywhere.

    Some towns are faction specific, others are neutral.

    Town guards are weak enough that no area is ever safe from PVP if flagged or on a PVP server.

     

    I guess this is sort of a mix of the two.  For me it feels more like what oldschool would have progressed into if quest-hub hopping hadn't become the norm.

     

    dungeons being open world not instances? My kind of game tbh

  • laokokolaokoko Member UncommonPosts: 2,004

    I prefer sandbox formula.  It should give complete freedom.  There should be 1000 profession in the game.  If I'm a farmer, I should spend all of my time making crops.  If I'm a trademan I should spend all my time in the market.  Mob shouldn't be able to respawn instantly since it break immersion.  So if I kill too many goblin, there won't be any goblin left.  Unless those golbin mate with each other and produce offspring.  And obviously if the godblin notice alot of people is killing them, they should hide in an area so people won't be able to hunt them.  I should be able to get marry in the game too and have children.  And there should be a need to eat 3 meal a day to stay alive.  Might I add peeing and taking a dump should be in the game too, since without it, it break immersion.

    Basically playing an mmorpg should be exactly like living and breathing in the world.  Which is impossible to make.  So in that case I prefer themepark game.  Unless a true sandbox game with 500 billion budget is in the making.

  • IcewhiteIcewhite Member Posts: 6,403
    Originally posted by coretex666
    But I guess its just a grey area which is a subject to subjectivism.

    As inevitable as the sunrise.  Not you coretex, but rather nearly single sandbox discussion, ever.

    Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.

  • MithrandolirMithrandolir Member UncommonPosts: 1,701

    Pure sandbox is my primary choice. I mess around with a couple themeparks, but most I can't stand. The things I dislike most in mmorpgs are themepark elements... quests, story, instances and stuff like that. The things I love most are lack of direction, player driven economies, open world housing and dynamic weather, realistic day/night cycles, hunger and thirst, slow pace. 

    So yeah, sandbox for me. the more pure the better. I'll play a couple themeparks which i do find fun, but they have to be separate for me. Merging the two would simply kill both angles for me.

     

     

  • yewsefyewsef Member CommonPosts: 335

     

    But what is Themepark? and what exactly makes a sandbox "element"?

    I don't care for these terms and I think people focus about these things too much that on and off themselves they really mean NOTHING.

    An MMORPG is a complicated sum of game mechanics that all should work well together. Make one wrong design decision aspect and you end up with an MMORPG that I probably don't want to play. It doesn't matter if it's Themepark or Sandbox.

     

    That's the real problem with MMORPGs, peopel think if you make a sandbox MMORPG it will be a success. Not necessary. The game, as a whole, should be made the way the designer had envisioned it. Every single aspect of it should compliment the other. If you compromise you end up with a bastard child.

     

    I am also a strong believer in "inconveniences" in MMORPGs. Things should be tough and inconvenient. Otherwise what are you going to overcome if everything is instant, straightforward, easy and convenient?

    But that doesn't work with the current game philosophy of Quest Hubs and Story Driven/HandHolding kind of experience. It simply doesn't work. Once you define a path for players to take, you cannot make things inconvenient. However, when you set the players FREE to get involved with your world (which must have static CONTENT like Dungeons, Factions, Places to Explore) and allow them to progress in various ways (economy, combat, socially) then you have a game I might be interested in.

     

    MMORPGs are very complex that you can never mention a specific factor and expect that particular thing is going to make or break a game.

     

     

     

     

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