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mmorpg success
newbism
Member Posts: 39
I read an interesting post about how EQ1 was the greatest mmo experience for a lot of people. The reason was that grouping was forced, even at really low levels. You were forced to get to know people and form friendship. I see some truth to this, so i present this idea.
For a mmorpg to repeat eq1's awesomeness and sucess,
1. force grouping at low levels by making fights really difficult even at level 1.
2. make levels very long and difficult, reaching level 2 should be equal to 10 in most games. To add some kind of progress, make skills that level up at a rate to reach their cap per level before reaching next level.
3. less levels (maybe a cap of 30) - and/or have level not much to do with the level of monster. For example in WoW, your rolls against a monster can be weak just because of the level difference. Eliminate that factor so people can group with people outside the level, still gaining xp achieving good loot and skills and so forth.
It seems all mmorpgs follow the same formula with a 50ish cap and 3-4 level difference in grouping. This makes grouping difficult, and they solve the problem by adding soloable content. Now anyone who enters a game after laucnh is soloing to reach the cap where they can actually group. Seems like a huge flaw.
Comments
Current players aren't prepared for long grind anymore. Most don't like to work again, which is one factor in stagnation of market.
Also, EQ1 has the factor of it being the first for many, so even desing was bad in current day standards it's still praised. I would probaly go the way of AO myself, lot of levels and level's don't directly offer power, but allow it and give potential by the system.
Old days of DAoC was the best for me. You really didn't have to group but to get better, faster xp, you had 2. I met some fantastic peeps while in group with DAoC. Slow grind was a pain at times but I wouldn't change the slow grind for the fast lvln crap out today. It took a loooong time back in the day to reach lvl 50. When you have worked that hard for a long time on your toon it really meant something. I think the grouping/guilds, PVP (maybe not PVE) and social aspects were the best on DAoC. BTW, I did play EQ1. It was missing something called REALM PRIDE!
I agree, DAoC was a great experience to. I remember the first time entering the PVP area with a group. We had to scale the walls and hide as well as possible to not to get ambushed. If i remember right the reason staying alive was so important was the fact that dying would result in a really long trip back, or something else. Either way the penalty made the game more exciting.
Compare that with a game Like WoW, where you're in a bg and don't care much if you die, which happens often. You just revive in 20 seconds, mount and in battle again in no time.
EQ and DAOC best two mmos hands down I have played over the years. Both held my interest the longest. Even though I did group a good deal of the time, I did not find either EQ or DAOC "impossible" to solo at all. levels went slower sure, but in a mmorpg that shouldnt matter, its not finish the game but enjoy it. Best pve was EQ and best pvp (rvr) was DAOC ( the different level battlegrounds made it fun to pvp from very early on also which was great). If only there was a chance for a daoc 2, oh well....