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My issue with Korean MMORPGs is the weak communication between developers and the English playerbase. The consistent problem is that the developer either caters solely to the Asian audience, or they try to appease both crowds and fail miserably.
The desires of the Asian player base are incredibly different from the desires of the North American and European player base. What can be fun and relaxing to the typical Asian player can be viewed as repetitive and dull by the American/European player. Considering this, the developer is left to with the choice of making changes for one playerbase at the expense of the other.
I can't stomach any more Asían-style game, ArcheAge was the last one.
Comments
There is far to big a disconnect for me to make it work. Pretty much everything seems "off" to me and I mean everything.
Characters look creepy, men look like she boys, girls look like blow up dolls.
Monsters look like someone took two cartoon characters and smashed them to together, I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for anyone who thinks that's "scary" or immersive.
Combat sounds, wow where to start. HA, EH, HA, EH I I I EH AH, an annoyingly hi pitched voice on every swing of a sword or pull of a bow.
Quests and stories I just cant connect with, even if they are translated well (which is hardly ever) they lack any sort of intellect or culture humor, they just fall flat and dead.
Weapons, hmm 40 foot swords, 12 foot bows that are so arnate to be unrecognizable as the objects they are supposed to be.
Gear, everyone starting from level 1 looks like they are going to a Gay costume ball ( no offense just calling it has I see it). And it just gets more ridiculous from there.
Color pallet is generally florescent colors, everything overly bright and completely washed out, no character depth or use of shadows and light sources.
Small nuclear color bombs are detonated with every swing of the sword or casting of magic.
Screen is usually shaking non stop in combat. Ya that's comfortable after an hour of gameplay. 10 mins and I want to toss my monitor out the window.
These, just off the top of my head.
Its no different then jumping on a plane landing in Korea heading to downtown and then saying, oh ya I just fit right in here. Uhh no you don't.
I understand what can drive you away from playing them, and same goes for me. But I don't stereotype all of them, as some day there could be a Korean top-selling MMO, you never really know. Most if not all of them out right now are very low quality games, at least in my opinion but I know others don't think the same as me.
Most are free so if you see one that you like just try it and give it a chance, nothing to lose. But I think any type of MMO has a chance to hit it big time, as long as they are executed correctly and have longevity.
As for the original topic. I agree asian games tend to be grindy and slower pace. Also many times the quests are mean.. AA actually does have a few decently written questlines though.
However most western MMOs come with an i win button these days. They are easy, fast and never dangle any carrots over your head instead they force feed you from a trough of glittery rewards that leave you feeling like you have accomplished nothing after playing.
It probably works both ways. North American gamers have a hard time dealing with the cultural differences in Korean MMO's. Asian (Korean) gamers have hard times dealing with Western MMO's due to cultural differences. In the end, it is just a matter of tastes and what you can or cannot deal with.
Let's party like it is 1863!
I like how you use stylized for maplestory and disney like for WOW. Even though WOW is no where close to disney artstyle.
Maplestory is as childish as it can get in terms of art style.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
It is a matter of taste, I prefer Korean MMOs the same way I prefer KPOP to american pop.
Do you really think western developers cater to the western market? Hahahaha.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Could say the same thing about western MMOs except they're just bigger budget clones.
The staggered releases with the ridiculous wait times for localization puts me off.
It's completely unacceptable to release in the west 6-12 months later in this day.
I never said anything about your taste but the false description and association of WOW's artystle with that of disney. Both are nothing alike.
Ill keep trying each triple A budget South-Korean MMO until one sticks for much longer than the previous one. I played AION and TERA for quite a long time each and enjoyed myself a lot.
I simply cant get enough of the armour, the avatars and the interesting mechanics each one comes out with.
They do leave their mark over here but what we need is an even stronger publisher for the west.
Its unacceptable that we fall behind the S-Korean updates.
Its unacceptable that Europe is treated like garbage compared to the other regions.
If its because of the many official languages in EU then JUST STICK TO ENGLISH. GOD, its not that hard. English is the de facto language of the world. Dont struggle to bring out 4 different versions for EU and have us lag behind if you cant do it.
Next up on my wish list: Black Desert.
Playing: FFXIV, DnL, and World of Warships
Waiting on: Ashes of Creation
I am put off by asian mmos in general as I dont like the art style..
The disconnect between the developers and publishers aside, for me personally a far greater issue is the type of games that tend to come out of Korea and from Asia in general. Myself, I just tend to not find these games aesthetically pleasing or interesting in terms of their plots, worlds or whatever.
So really, my problem is the cultural disconnect between myself and the developers.
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