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Instancing WTF is the problem
VultureSkull
Member UncommonPosts: 1,774
I can't understand the problem people have with instancing tbh.
You got to remember that AOC has collision, so if there were no instancing then no one would be able to move in the cities.
The only thing i can see that is wrong with instancing is that you do not see hundreds of people in one place which has no consequence on game play what so ever.
Other than that there is no downside to instancing (apart from maybe the imersion factor) and in fact make everything work better.
It takes a little time to jump to the same instance as your group and there will always be a few random people around as well.
So let me know what your problem with it, dont come and tell me that you dont like without giving a proper reason.
Thanks,
Comments
I think most of the people who are disgruntled about instancing are MMO purists. The main argument is that its supposed to be everyone playing together at the same time..thus a seamless world is required. The use of instances causes some players to feel that its more a collection of mini-games strung together in a sequence.
I do not fnid this to be the case in AoC. It flows well.
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
I don't get it either. Didn't like Guild Wars because you couldn't run in to people outside of the city but thats not the way AoC does it so I'm ok with it.
Anyway, game could be good with heavy instancing, of course, but AoC has more issues..
Like it or not, immersion a huge deal to a lot of people and can be a deal breaker for role players especially. When you go into the capital cities, you should see 100s if not thousands of players characters.. From what I understand, Age of Clonan gives a lot of people that HG:L or GW feeling. Those games don't charge $15 a month. Some people pay their $15 a month to be around the MASSES of people that are suppose to be in an online world.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
Thousands is a bit of an exaggeration. The game would certainly be more immersive if the instancing was kept to a minimum. I understand why they are doing it and I understand that in due time (when more people upgrade their PCs) the instancing limits will rise.
It would still be better if there was one insance of one zone. Don't mind the zones (maybe because I played too much AO as well). Too much instancing is a so-so deal.
I think part of the problem is that the zones are so small, it feels like your having to switch instances every 5 or 10 minutes, especially when your doing a fed ex quest or chain that sends you back and forth.
I can understand the need for instances. Who wants to camp out for boss mobs for days on end, but i think they went too far with the instances and made them too small. It feels very confined. For example, the underhalls in tortage is three different instances. Why? there is no need for those small areas to be set up that way. Make them all one instance but give them different areas for a different feel.
i feel less and less in an MMO the more instances i see. it just doesn't feel like a big world if instances are used. not to hit a bad nerve here, but WoW has the best "balance" of instances and real world environment.
I dont get it either, and Im big on immersion..
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'Cry Havoc, and Let Loose the Dogs of WARRRRR!!!'
PvP.
The only game I played with Instances is PoBS; and it felt like a single player game 99% of the time. I don't need to pay $15 a month for a single player game.
I quit everquest LONG before they went instance-crazy. But, the first instances, Lost Dungeons of Norrath, were a huge hit; and I loved them.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
That's the problem, some folks believe wanting the absence of instancing makes them an MMO purist.
It's quite opposite considering instancing has become a defining feature of MMOs. An MMO purist is obviously a person fine with instancing, and appreciates what it offers both technically and creatively.
I can't take an MMO seriously that claims to be a seamless, open world. They've all either never released, are a full of technical problems or simply boring due to the inability to carry out scripted events.
Don't worry about it Zorndorf. The hate word these days is AoC. Even the WoW enthusiasts bash it, quite hilarious if you think about it.
You're risking to be proven wrong with those doom and gloom posts. Then again, who am I to talk. I was proven wrong as well in the past.
By the way, if you didn't notice, traders are fixed, so I would refrain from using that in your bashing. I'm waiting to hear the status on the city building.
That's the problem, some folks believe wanting the absence of instancing makes them an MMO purist.
It's quite opposite considering instancing has become a defining feature of MMOs. An MMO purist is obviously a person fine with instancing, and appreciates what it offers both technically and creatively.
I can't take an MMO seriously that claims to be a seamless, open world. They've all either never released, are a full of technical problems or simply boring due to the inability to carry out scripted events.
purist is one who desires that a particular item remain true to its essence and free from adulterating or diluting influences
QFTAlso, I'm an immersion fan too, but instancing is much appreciated in some aspects: waiting out vulchers for an item respawn sucks, as we all know.
The same people who complain about instancing are probably the same people that complain about node respawn rate (Catch 22), they'll never be happy.
Another thing that I've noticed is that A LOT of people are getting Instancing and Zoning confused. Zoning is the thing that DOES kill immersion.
Problem with instancing dosent touch technical aspect for me. I have no problem with comfortable playing with it. Problem is that It is so much unnatural, kills atmosphere of the game... Alternates worlds ? Please...
do I like the extreme amount of instancing done? No.
do I understand why they did it? Yes and agree it was the best course of action.
Do I think that as time goes along that we'll see less instancing and an improvement on the number of people who can be in an instance? Yes, yes I do.
I didn't realize how heavily instanced the game was until I attempted to meet up with a friend of mine in front of Tortage. I was jumping up and down in front of the guard and his dog and saying, "But I'm right there! Is it bugged? Why can't you see me?"
We then realized what was up and managed to sync up on the same instance. I'm not sure how I feel about it. Although, when I do go for some revenge against someone who ganked me over and over again in Underhalls, how will I find them? Seriously, is there a way? Cause I got some killin' to do. If I will never see these people again, that concerns me.
- LC
I agree with you for sure on this... that is pretty bad.
I was really hoping this would be my new MMO. I love everything about it, except the zones.
I lose all sense of immersion. I feel like I'm warping around the world and honestly feel like I don't have a place in the world. I'm not an RPer however I do like to have a sense of roleplaying when I'm playing a roleplaying game.
The Zones and instances take away from the feeling that I'm in a fantasy world, and enforce the fact that I'm just playing a game. I wanted so much to love this game, I'm upset that it is the way it is. I might come back if they change it a bit, but I never knew it was going to be like this.
Too bad, really. But I guess I just gotta wait and see if anything changes, or if a new mmo of this caliber - but without zones is released.
-Computer specs no one cares about: check.
-MMOs played no one cares about: check.
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Ahh.... to revist a topic we visited a few years ago.... I think it was when Everquest 2 came out and everything in it was instanced.
Anyway, the OP asked for my opinion, well, here it is. I've played enough games without it (UO, EQ, EVE) and with it (WoW, EQ2, PoBS; just to name a few of each).
I wouldn't even call WoW instanced, just a few aspects of the game (ie single group/raid dungeons),but it gives a unique style of dungeon crawl that I enjoy. (Not grinding through to a spawn point and then camping till the mob spawns.) It seems to be very popular form of instancing though. I hope to see more games use it in the future on most dungeon content.
What I have enjoyed about full zone instancing that I have only seen in EQ2 previously was early on in a new area opening or when the game was first released. EQ2 had a few hundred thousand players in the first month or two, and without it, so many of the zones would have been so overcrowded, you'd have never gotten a quest one done, let alone trying to actually grind xp or loot. As it was, many of the zones were still overcrowded when people were trying to camp the same areas. When new areas have opened up, especially with new races, there would be hundreds that first day trying out the new character. You could pick an instance, and you'd still have to wait on a particular mob to respawn.
Now, a few things that I don't like about instancing (and these only apply when you can PvP your dominance over an area). You can't prove your dominance over another group. This has it's upside (ie you are dominant) and it's downside (either can't compete or find others willing to help compete) and has put extreme limits on several games (EVE, DAOC). When done poorly, it lessens the experience of the game because it leaves zones/areas over- or underpopulated. It can also make it a real pain to meet up with the rest of your group (a real problem the first few months of EQ2 when attempting to do a dungeon grind and the party wiped and got stuck between a full or closing instance and the ones you could enter.)
Slider bar analogy:
<---------------------------------------------------------------->
Movie Open World
(No control) (Absolute freedom)
| | | |
AOC WOW EQ UO
The more force-fed and directed gameplay is, the less free it is, until you get to the point at which there is zero freedom to even click the mouse button (at which you are effectively watching a movie).
AOC is pretty far to the left on the slider bar above, and this what folks are talking about when mentioning "instances" or "linear gameplay" and hits on "immersion." When you try to walk off a path in the woods and hit an invisible wall, you really are following a preset path.
Lulz, AoC is a commie
Haha, that's funny. Never thought about that. Instead of complaining about "linear" games, I'm going to start griping about communism seeping into MMO's.
in my opinion instancing sucks, mmorpg's should be moving away from it as much as possible as technology improves - not towards it.
I enjoy WoW. yes i said it. hey look my 70 UD Priest is in my sig oh noes....anyways I am looking forward to splitting my play time between WoW and AoC til Stagate Worlds comes out and then bye bye WoW and AoC.