Honestly, the hub-based nature has me excited. Reminds me of Guild Wars 1.
And yet I can't really put myself out there and "hype" any more MMOs. I rode the Guild Wars 2 train for 5 years from its announce date to its launch. I rode the WildStar train. I rode a few others. I'm a little bit done.
I think, more than anything, the lack of hope (or rather hype) is exhaustion on the part of the MMO community.
Hub based games remind of games where the developers didn't have enough time talent or money to make an open world. Even the GW team admitted the only reason they had a hub system was because they didn't have the resources to build a more open gameworld.
Funny how people get used to things designed as a shortcut, then actually desire it.
It's more complex than that. GW1's hub-based nature allowed for a lot of great endgame activities that are simply not a thing in open world games. Vanquishing comes to mind, as the instanced setup for all areas allowed players to wipe all enemies on any map and receive rewards and titles tailored to that. The ability to play any map in Hard Mode certainly stands out.
Or, you know, the simple pleasure of picking a team of 8 and taking on the world with them and them alone.
It's not "Oh, instancing is a bad shortcut that I've come to desire." It's more of instancing is a legitimate design choice that offers its own unique advantages (and disadvantages).
As for the GW team, I think most GW veterans will tell you that Anet simply has no clue what they had with their first title. They have lost sight of many of the mechanical philosophies that made them great.
The game deserves much more hype than it currently has. But maybe that's a good thing.
I've been following it for awhile and am also in the technical test for this weekend (everything I'm going to say has already been said by the devs, so no breaking NDA). The game is good. The devs are smart and they are listening to the feedback about combat (combat is pretty great to begin with but needs a few tweaks).
Seriously, listen to the interview MMORPG.com did one the main obsidian dev for this game. He knows what the game is, he knows how MMO players work, and he's (and the two dev teams) designing a game around that.
The hub based nature of the game, or instanced nature, was a very specific strategy on their part to allow them to create content faster. Each solo dungeon can be run multiple times, and each time it gets harder, has new mechanics, and better rewards. Let's face it, open world games are just the same thing over and over again with a new skin. Well..so are instances. It's really no different. The divine observatory, and the integrated facebook like social site, allows you to quickly connect with players, choose a mission based on your time frame and get going.
Feel like doing some open world exploring with your friends? Skyforge has that. Feel like popping straight into a raid? Skyforge has that. Want to run a 10 minute dungeon solo? Skyforge has that. Want to...anyway you get the point :P
The devs want you to get to the content you want quickly, and not waste time doing stuff you don't want to do. And yeah, there are very large open world zones where you will run into other players and make impromptu groups. The game has what you want.
There are so many key features that set skyforge apart from another f2p themepark game. You're missing out if you dismiss it because there are some hubs in the game.
A good game will garner attention regardless. If Skyforge is solid, people will flock. Hype only seems to be there to advertise those terrible games that need the attention from advertising because they will never get it from the game play.
Comments
It's more complex than that. GW1's hub-based nature allowed for a lot of great endgame activities that are simply not a thing in open world games. Vanquishing comes to mind, as the instanced setup for all areas allowed players to wipe all enemies on any map and receive rewards and titles tailored to that. The ability to play any map in Hard Mode certainly stands out.
Or, you know, the simple pleasure of picking a team of 8 and taking on the world with them and them alone.
It's not "Oh, instancing is a bad shortcut that I've come to desire." It's more of instancing is a legitimate design choice that offers its own unique advantages (and disadvantages).
As for the GW team, I think most GW veterans will tell you that Anet simply has no clue what they had with their first title. They have lost sight of many of the mechanical philosophies that made them great.
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The game deserves much more hype than it currently has. But maybe that's a good thing.
I've been following it for awhile and am also in the technical test for this weekend (everything I'm going to say has already been said by the devs, so no breaking NDA). The game is good. The devs are smart and they are listening to the feedback about combat (combat is pretty great to begin with but needs a few tweaks).
Seriously, listen to the interview MMORPG.com did one the main obsidian dev for this game. He knows what the game is, he knows how MMO players work, and he's (and the two dev teams) designing a game around that.
The hub based nature of the game, or instanced nature, was a very specific strategy on their part to allow them to create content faster. Each solo dungeon can be run multiple times, and each time it gets harder, has new mechanics, and better rewards. Let's face it, open world games are just the same thing over and over again with a new skin. Well..so are instances. It's really no different. The divine observatory, and the integrated facebook like social site, allows you to quickly connect with players, choose a mission based on your time frame and get going.
Feel like doing some open world exploring with your friends? Skyforge has that. Feel like popping straight into a raid? Skyforge has that. Want to run a 10 minute dungeon solo? Skyforge has that. Want to...anyway you get the point :P
The devs want you to get to the content you want quickly, and not waste time doing stuff you don't want to do. And yeah, there are very large open world zones where you will run into other players and make impromptu groups. The game has what you want.
There are so many key features that set skyforge apart from another f2p themepark game. You're missing out if you dismiss it because there are some hubs in the game.
Hype is irrelevant.
A good game will garner attention regardless. If Skyforge is solid, people will flock. Hype only seems to be there to advertise those terrible games that need the attention from advertising because they will never get it from the game play.
I played Allods, their monetization scheme makes Trion/XL look generous by comparison.
No way I'll touch this one.
Allods had GPOTATO behind it.
This, this does not.
PS - All mammals have nipples.
Get over it already.