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Does SOE realize all their mmorpgs are the same?
Nomatica
Member Posts: 132
EQ2, SWG, EQ1 Even VG currently all play the same. They use to be different
Old school EQ1 from kunark was awesome and much different it was all about community, dungeons crawling and grouping. Now its like EQ2 its easy mode, no need to group unless you want to get the new shinees.
SWG use to be completely different, sandbox, no linear path, it was awesome use to be hard. Now its just like EQ2 or it has become a exact WoW clone but with a different coat of paint. Linear path, extremely easy mode, you must choose 9 classes no being unique. SOE hates this one aspect SOE hates uniquness. amd thats with all their games.
Now we have EQ2 and Vanguard, Sadly through recent patch changes and upcomming changes Vanguard instead of being different and going the old school EQ1 route its now going to become more easier, more rifts added take away meaningful travel, think about POK and the stones in EQ1. More solo content.
All SOE games are like EQ2 and WoW. No SOE game is different any more.
Comments
I wish it was just a SOE problem but sadly it seems to be the way of things in this genre. Originality is pretty much dead. The only game I can think of that tried to be different and was successful is EVE. Everything else is pretty much more of the same old thing.
TBH i think its just an SOE problem, i think SOE has the most mmorpgs released by one company right? They have like 4-5 mmropgs under their belt? Not one mmorpg is different then the other.
i think planet side and potbs are "different" , EQ2 and VG might be very similar, and SWG WAS different. And the Agency looks different, though not my cup of tea
I think EVE's advantage is being different and not really all that new.
Nobody wants a "hard" game to play.... they want FUN. What is fun to you may certainly not be fun to anyone else. Want to know why Warcraft is so successful? Because it is EASY. Yes, easy.... and without the stress or worry of losing a level when you die, going on corpse runs, being ganked by someone 50 levels higher than you (PvE servers of course), etc etc... players are free to have fun.
If you go to the WoW forums, it's filled with kiddie posts about Arenas and BGs. If you check the post histories of those forums, it's the same 10-20,000 people posting... an oh so very small percentage of the actual player base. Why? The bulk of the player base is off having fun and doesn't care about min/maxing or the myriad of other trivial details that users whine so heavily about on the forums.
Give me a game where I can solo if and when I want and still be able to accomplish EVERYTHING the game has to offer... give me a game where I do not have to rely on others to complete an objective (make 2 routes to it if you must, one for groups and a longer one for soloers), give me a game where I never, ever have to encounter PvP if I don't want to and I am not penalized for not wanting to... make it stress free and fun and you will get my money - and probably the money of millions of others.
I think they do realize some of their games are similar.
Im pretty sure they bought up Vanguard so no one would buy it and fix it up and they could have it compete against EQ2. So they buy it out, let it die a natural death. Pretty smart business decision. Kinda like what Oil companies did with solar/alternative fuel technologies. They bought up a bunch of patents/licenses way back when so they could stiffle the industry and keep us dependant on oil.
But thats a different topic
If you own pretty much one type of content, where do you think the customers are gonna go to get it?
SoE.... Crazy.. like a fox!
"TO MICHAEL!"
I think there should be a special forum all about SoE, in fact I think it should be called "The Special forum all about SoE".
There is so much hate directed at them, largely deserved.
I wasn't into MMO's when EQ was out, I had a life, now that I don't can someone tell me, was there this much hate when EQ was released or did it all start when SWG was fucked?
No annoying animated GIF here!
I disagree that most new MMOs are the same. While there are bound to be some that are replicas of older games alot are different. For Example: Pirates of the Burning Sea,, Age of Conan, Aion, Huxley. Chronicles of Spellborn, Darkfall (If it ever releases), Star Trek Online, and etc... all bring something unique and innovative. I know somebody is going to bring up they are the same because you get quests and level up but thats part of the MMO formula. Only very unknown titles in development are clones of older titles, except maybe WAR.
It's not SOE games (specifically) I have a problem with.
It is SOE business and development practices once the get their hands on one.
And, their oh-so-slow computers that they use for downloads and patches. I swear that every new game they acquire shares the same set of old, tired, support computers.
I can put up with a lot of crap. Poor customer service, abysmal in-game support, high prices, and more. But I simply will NOT put up with the continued use and over-use of old, crap computers for support services.
Oh well, I could rant on.
But, no.
SOE == No Good
'Nuff said.
the only difference is that i only payed retail box...
Bren
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If you want a game that you can do everything by yourself without needing to interact with others, and don't want to be competitive with other players than online games are not your type of game.
Problem is even if the good developers create a mmorpg like Bioware they'll be restricted by say EA or if they are creating a mmorpg with LA then them as well. We all know then we'll get the same old crap and EA wont want to take risks and LA will delay patches like was done with SWG because they had to check everything......
I just want more developers like CCP creating mmorpgs which put their lives on the line to make a great mmorpg, i'm sick of all the crap being released today.
If you want a game that you can do everything by yourself without needing to interact with others, and don't want to be competitive with other players than online games are not your type of game.
Oh, you'll never get your point across.
If you study up on child development, you'll discover quickly that there are different levels of play. The first few steps include playing next to other children, then playing the same games next to other children, then finally playing WITH other children. Quite simply, our newer generation of gamers are stuck in the first few steps of socialization and don't know how to move past that into playing WITH others. And for some reason, videogames are being coded for them.
So basically, WoW is coded for a 3 year old's playstyle. And nobody is telling them that there is another type of play that they should be evolving toward.
If you want a game that you can do everything by yourself without needing to interact with others, and don't want to be competitive with other players than online games are not your type of game.
Oh, you'll never get your point across.
If you study up on child development, you'll discover quickly that there are different levels of play. The first few steps include playing next to other children, then playing the same games next to other children, then finally playing WITH other children. Quite simply, our newer generation of gamers are stuck in the first few steps of socialization and don't know how to move past that into playing WITH others. And for some reason, videogames are being coded for them.
So basically, WoW is coded for a 3 year old's playstyle. And nobody is telling them that there is another type of play that they should be evolving toward.
No, it isn't an unevolving playerbase. It's the reality that as players age (and the median age for these games is not teenagers, it is closing in on 30), people who are gaming need much more flexibility in general than group-mandating games often require. There's that 2 year old in the background, the spouse who needs to be attended to on a moment's notice, the conference call that comes up unawares, the three day business trip during the scheduled raid/war/attack. etc. Mature people prefer to solo because they need the flexibility to be online for brief periods, offline for long periods, logging off on very short notice (or no notice), and not being able to schedule their lives around ingame guild schedules.
So, no it isn't players that are not evolving to interact with others. The players are interacting with others in their RLs, and the game developers, who are also many in the same age group, understand this and are designing games accordingly.