I think people miss that an MMO is supposed to be entertainment, not work.
If only players would remember this fact when mmos stop being fun and start feeling like tedious work.
Hell I used to play games well past their fun factor wore off and I would just end up hating the games I initially loved.
The key is to quit when you feel the game not being fun and feeling more like work
I learned the hard way
There is a difference from an achievable goal and one based on RNG. Any grinding that is based on RNG is terrible.
For instance you should not be able to just get the items or skills or a house or other things without an investment. You should grind for some things but when you introduce horrible RNG to a bad grind it just makes it a really terrible proposition.
Take PSO2, sorry haven't got another game for reference since I'm playing it now. The sweet box mechanic requires you to remove certain blocks in the path of the sweets that need a currency which you have to grind for. Similarly you can also get certain sweets by doing quests and it takes time to build all the sweet boxes up (great mechanic for a class; an observational side note).
It is a great and satisfying feeling to look at the sweet box you worked for and it would have meant nothing if there was no grind behind it.
Similarly when I was playing Everquest 2 I worked hard for months to get the items in my house and it was a source of great pride for me. Some of the quest items took days of grinding but it was so worth it to see it on my wall. Nothing that you obtain without effort is worth anything.
However when you place an artificial barrier to advancement behind a crushing RNG mechanic it can totally backfire with people like me. I accept grinding for a certain period of time but grinding without a guarantee like a quest grind that you are going to get the item eventually by fulfilling the steps is impossible for me to tolerate for very long. It just completely drains my whole enjoyment and makes me leave the game.
One thing in Archeage I enjoyed was that I could build up my farming and items production for trading at my own pace. There were limits because of the time it took to grow but you largely controlled it all and worked at your pace. I overextended as I was too keen to get to the bigger production cycles and exhausted myself in the process not to mention how I hurt my hand by furiously planting and picking the harvest. It was dumb the way I played and I had to stop when I found I could not keep up with the daily chores. That is not to say the game was not fun it was a great source of entertainment for a player like me.
This is something current games should really bear in mind because there is a limit to what you can expect players to accept and if enough say "to hell with this " you game is screwed.
I've said for a long while that I'd rather see many different smaller MMORPGs made for specific playstyles than one huge MMORPG that tries to please everyone. But all we get are attempts to please as many as possibe MMORPGs.
The gaming industry confuses me, I admit. On one hand, they everyone playing their games. On the other, they make games exclusive.
I guess money is the be all, end all of gaming, too
So much this!
I'm sick and tired on looking at new releases and see them trying to please every play style in the same game. It has been proven time and time again that it doesn't last long, yet here we are. To me it seems like, they're in for the quick buck before the game becomes stale and people start leaving.
They secretly know all the money is on the front end of release...... They do'n't care what happens later on.
However if they strike a hit, they will do it again with an expansion.
They want the up front money and don't care about longevity.
"I think people miss that an MMO is supposed to be entertainment, not work."
When I think of entertainment, I think of watching a movie, TV show, or sporting event. I don't really think of a MMO as entertainment like that. Sure there are games that have voice acting, cutscenes, autoquesting, etc that make it so you don't have to do much, but personally I'd rather earn my achievements than just sit back and watch and be handed them.
"I think people miss that an MMO is supposed to be entertainment, not work."
When I think of entertainment, I think of watching a movie, TV show, or sporting event. I don't really think of a MMO as entertainment like that. Sure there are games that have voice acting, cutscenes, autoquesting, etc that make it so you don't have to do much, but personally I'd rather earn my achievements than just sit back and watch and be handed them.
I agree. I suppose there are different kinds of "fun" in MMORPG games. There's the FLASH and SPLASH stuff like wild explosions and the heat of battle. But there's also achievement as fun and entertainment. And that feels empty if there's no effort required. At least, to me.
"No effort required", by the way, in my mind, is part and parcel to the subject matter here. LCD. In this sense (and there are other senses of LCD), it leaves a game feeling so meaningless.
"I think people miss that an MMO is supposed to be entertainment, not work."
When I think of entertainment, I think of watching a movie, TV show, or sporting event. I don't really think of a MMO as entertainment like that. Sure there are games that have voice acting, cutscenes, autoquesting, etc that make it so you don't have to do much, but personally I'd rather earn my achievements than just sit back and watch and be handed them.
I agree. I suppose there are different kinds of "fun" in MMORPG games. There's the FLASH and SPLASH stuff like wild explosions and the heat of battle. But there's also achievement as fun and entertainment. And that feels empty if there's no effort required. At least, to me.
"No effort required", by the way, in my mind, is part and parcel to the subject matter here. LCD. In this sense (and there are other senses of LCD), it leaves a game feeling so meaningless.
Definitely an interesting side to this discussion.
To me, "entertainment" is definitely a one-way street: the other side does the entertaining, I just soak it up. So, I don't think of games as entertainment because its a two-way street.
On the effort required part, I'll go back to the theory of "flow" again. This is all about how to achieve fun, or how to get into the zone / flow. The basic, really dumbed down theory goes something like this.
When the challenge is really easy compared to your skill level, you find it relaxing.
When the challenge is slightly easy, you find it boring.
When the challenge is exactly right for your skill level, you have the most fun.
When the challenge is slightly above your own skill level, you find it anxious.
When the challenge is greatly above your own skill level, you find it stressful.
[NB: this is all based on the assumption that the person actually wants to engage with the activity in the first place. If they don't want to do it, challenge / engagement won't change the emotional outcome, its going to be negative no matter what]
When things are easy, you won't achieve full engagement and the effort required will never seem like much. Simply being easy means your brain has spare capacity to think about other things.
When the challenge level is equal or above your own skill level, you have to be fully engaged otherwise you'll fail. No guarantee of fun or entertainment, but also the only way it will actually be fun.
The big thing I want to point out here, with regards to gaming, is that designing a game to be relaxing and designing a game to be fun are very different things. Likewise, what we want out of a game will also colour our opinions. I play games for fun, I do not play games to relax. So, when I see a game that has been designed to be relaxing or has been aimed at the lowest common denominator and is therefore too easy to ever be fun, it pisses me off.
But, I cannot deny that there is a large market who do only play games to relax, and not to have fun. So, its also understandable that plenty of devs have been releasing dead easy games for that market.
When I played EQ it was not easy. Many things made it difficult, such as the slow progression rate, corpse runs, slow travel, no maps, etc., etc.
I never asked nor expected any of that to be changed. I was a casual player, having a great time. There was plenty for me to do. And none of those features were holding me back.
Nowadays I hear how hardcore and casual players cannot co-exist, but I know that it is possible because I have seen it.
These days we readily pin labels on folks for marketing reasons I guess. Back in the day the games were made for players, not sub markets.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
The problem can be defined as modern MMO's being somewhere where you play multiplayer and old school was where you played in a world.
Today rather than playing in a world, you play in MMOs with little in the way of lore or even the most basic information about the "world" the game is set in. Which is handy when you want to make changes, as you have told players nothing. BDO would be my classic example here.
To enable that one size fits all, modern MMO's only fit players who want what the majority want in all areas. You have to be very Norman normal to fit that.
Obviously there are many MMOs running today with standards above the lowest common denominator, but the pull of the LCD is there. Every time a game is made easier, simpler to play, dependent more on spending money in the cash shop rather than playing, thats the drift to the LCD for you.
Is that a problem? Can players not choose to play the MMORPGs that suit their desires best. There are plenty around to suit a variety of tastes, ranging from the oldest titles to latest releases. One is only confined to the LCD if wanting to play the largest of games that must maximize the scope of their appeal to endure.
There are not plenty of different play styles around that's the point, even the old school MMOs have bowed to the expectations of the LCD. Sure, not every MMO is identical, but in gameplay and content they move ever closer. Today difference is determined as much by revenue model as actual gameplay, which is why we on here talk so much about revenue models.
Yes, even the old games still running commercially aren't quite what they were back in the day. Regardless, they are still quite different to contemporary ones. Also, lost relics of the past do not always remain so. There is more variety available than many here suggest. Options are limited, to be sure, but some of those limitations are self-imposed rather than inflicted upon us.
"I think people miss that an MMO is supposed to be entertainment, not work."
When I think of entertainment, I think of watching a movie, TV show, or sporting event. I don't really think of a MMO as entertainment like that. Sure there are games that have voice acting, cutscenes, autoquesting, etc that make it so you don't have to do much, but personally I'd rather earn my achievements than just sit back and watch and be handed them.
I agree. I suppose there are different kinds of "fun" in MMORPG games. There's the FLASH and SPLASH stuff like wild explosions and the heat of battle. But there's also achievement as fun and entertainment. And that feels empty if there's no effort required. At least, to me.
"No effort required", by the way, in my mind, is part and parcel to the subject matter here. LCD. In this sense (and there are other senses of LCD), it leaves a game feeling so meaningless.
Definitely an interesting side to this discussion.
To me, "entertainment" is definitely a one-way street: the other side does the entertaining, I just soak it up. So, I don't think of games as entertainment because its a two-way street.
On the effort required part, I'll go back to the theory of "flow" again. This is all about how to achieve fun, or how to get into the zone / flow. The basic, really dumbed down theory goes something like this.
When the challenge is really easy compared to your skill level, you find it relaxing.
When the challenge is slightly easy, you find it boring.
When the challenge is exactly right for your skill level, you have the most fun.
When the challenge is slightly above your own skill level, you find it anxious.
When the challenge is greatly above your own skill level, you find it stressful.
[NB: this is all based on the assumption that the person actually wants to engage with the activity in the first place. If they don't want to do it, challenge / engagement won't change the emotional outcome, its going to be negative no matter what]
When things are easy, you won't achieve full engagement and the effort required will never seem like much. Simply being easy means your brain has spare capacity to think about other things.
When the challenge level is equal or above your own skill level, you have to be fully engaged otherwise you'll fail. No guarantee of fun or entertainment, but also the only way it will actually be fun.
The big thing I want to point out here, with regards to gaming, is that designing a game to be relaxing and designing a game to be fun are very different things. Likewise, what we want out of a game will also colour our opinions. I play games for fun, I do not play games to relax. So, when I see a game that has been designed to be relaxing or has been aimed at the lowest common denominator and is therefore too easy to ever be fun, it pisses me off.
But, I cannot deny that there is a large market who do only play games to relax, and not to have fun. So, its also understandable that plenty of devs have been releasing dead easy games for that market.
To me, the most fun is when things get really hairy, and players are scrambling around trying to stay alive, and someone comes up with an idea that makes all the difference.
An example. In UO, in Dungeon Hythloth. Gargoyle area with a lower sub-level under a bridge, and with steps around the hall corners at the top section, going down to the lower sub-level for easy access. Demons in a room not far from the bridge area. The Demons would sometimes agro on players on the bridge and come after them from their room. Demons were very tough and took a number of players to kill, but showing up when players were busy fighting Gargoyles was a nasty turn of events.
So I marked a Rune on the bridge, went below to the sub-level where I could cast heals on players on my side of the bridge (line of sight) above me. Players would move to that side to get a Heal. But when players took too much damage, as the heals couldn't keep up, I cast the Gate spell, allowing them to run into it and teleport to where I cast the spell from below. Safe escape from the clutches of death!
I heard players comment that playing with me was a lot of fun, and that was a very rewarding thing. And fun it was. Hairy intensity, fast action, breaks available to check the ol' pulse, high rewards, and a shjtload of fun.
And it wasn't just me. I was in a great guild with a number of inventive players who all had their moments. Boy, did we have fun.
Even with PvP, as a unit, we had it down. The guild had a war leader, second in command of the guild. He told me once that he liked (name forgotten after so many years) so much because when he said "Attack", that player turned into a tiger. He was like a blur, no hesitation, no questions, he knew somehow who he was supposed to attack. Quiet player, but when he was unleashed it was instant reaction, and the rest of us followed with certainty that we were going after the right enemy. (We were an "Anti-PKer" guild, so that certainty was important.) And that revenge against the PKers meant something to the rest of us. We each had our own bad experiences in the game before finding this guild.
When EQ released, most of them left. The guild fell apart (in UO), and I have not had another experience like that in MMO's since. They didn't fare any better in EQ than we did in UO, because the Level based game took away strategy and reactions, in exchange for levels and Power Gaps.
I think people miss that an MMO is supposed to be entertainment, not work.
Not the people, companies do... and not just within this industry, but overall.
It's kinda built into the system, the lower you set the bar the higher number of customers you can reach.
It's not the companies, it's the players.
You are correct that easier games get more players, but this is not the companies doing, it is the players doing.
To understand this, imagine there are 3 groups of players.
Average Skilled.
Highly Skilled
Gifted.
The thing here is that everyone above the Average Skilled, thinks they are king shit, and they want to play games where they get to feel like king shit, and that can only happen in a game where the majority of the players are lower skilled then they are, but has content that only the Highly Skilled or better can do.. this allowing them to feel like king shit in the game.
This means, Highly Skilled Player who has already built a huge fucking ego playing other games, is not going to be motivated to play a game that was designed for their skill bracket and above, because that would make them the 'average' players, and the Gifted Players would be the King Shits in that game.. so these games designed to be "hardcore" attract even less a crowed then they are targeted for.
Game Companies realize this, they realize they cannot set the bar too high, because first off, it removes the "Average" players, so they lose that entire demographic, and then the "Highly Skilled" players won't play, because their ego can't handle it, so they are only left with the gifted players, and, making pumping out content fast enough to keep them happy, is just fucking impossible.
This is exactly what happened in GW2, where they had a game that was originally built from the ground up to be a 'average' gamers playpen, easy, relaxing, with some minor challenges and content to if they felt up to it, but nothing that was, what anyone would call demanding. Then a bunch of wanna-be's and try-hards came in and cried and whined and complained that they needed their own specialty hard content, just for them, because they needed to feed their e-peen, and feel better than the unwashed masses of average players.
That happened, because as opposed to moving on to a harder game, like say Wild Star, that was designed for the hardcore player, where they would be equally or better skilled players, doing content that was designed just for them, they hung around in some casual swamp hallow, and cried for content that would make them feel like king-shit and allow them to wave their e-peen around.
Watching that kind of shit unfold, if you were going to make a game, and wanted it to sell, what would you legitimately make at that point?
An easy as fuck game, right?
That is what is going to sell, that will pull in the average players, and everyone else as well. But it's not the company that wants to make cake walk easy shit games, it's players that move the market that push things in those directions.
For example, If every player that cried in GW2 that they needed challenge, and raids went to Wild Star, Wild Star would have still be around, and GW2, would not have made the fuck up's that it did, alienating it's casuals.
This is also why I say, MMO makers need to have a market in mind, they need to have a demographic they are going to focus on, and make the best game they can for that group. If that focus is Hard Core Mutherfuckers, then that is what they should focus on, the hell with anyone else. If that group is casuals, then that is what they should focus on, screw anyone else.
Just my feels.
“They feel” you always claim to state what “they feel”.
I think people miss that an MMO is supposed to be entertainment, not work.
Not the people, companies do... and not just within this industry, but overall.
It's kinda built into the system, the lower you set the bar the higher number of customers you can reach.
It's not the companies, it's the players.
You are correct that easier games get more players, but this is not the companies doing, it is the players doing.
To understand this, imagine there are 3 groups of players.
Average Skilled.
Highly Skilled
Gifted.
The thing here is that everyone above the Average Skilled, thinks they are king shit, and they want to play games where they get to feel like king shit, and that can only happen in a game where the majority of the players are lower skilled then they are, but has content that only the Highly Skilled or better can do.. this allowing them to feel like king shit in the game.
This means, Highly Skilled Player who has already built a huge fucking ego playing other games, is not going to be motivated to play a game that was designed for their skill bracket and above, because that would make them the 'average' players, and the Gifted Players would be the King Shits in that game.. so these games designed to be "hardcore" attract even less a crowed then they are targeted for.
Game Companies realize this, they realize they cannot set the bar too high, because first off, it removes the "Average" players, so they lose that entire demographic, and then the "Highly Skilled" players won't play, because their ego can't handle it, so they are only left with the gifted players, and, making pumping out content fast enough to keep them happy, is just fucking impossible.
This is exactly what happened in GW2, where they had a game that was originally built from the ground up to be a 'average' gamers playpen, easy, relaxing, with some minor challenges and content to if they felt up to it, but nothing that was, what anyone would call demanding. Then a bunch of wanna-be's and try-hards came in and cried and whined and complained that they needed their own specialty hard content, just for them, because they needed to feed their e-peen, and feel better than the unwashed masses of average players.
That happened, because as opposed to moving on to a harder game, like say Wild Star, that was designed for the hardcore player, where they would be equally or better skilled players, doing content that was designed just for them, they hung around in some casual swamp hallow, and cried for content that would make them feel like king-shit and allow them to wave their e-peen around.
Watching that kind of shit unfold, if you were going to make a game, and wanted it to sell, what would you legitimately make at that point?
An easy as fuck game, right?
That is what is going to sell, that will pull in the average players, and everyone else as well. But it's not the company that wants to make cake walk easy shit games, it's players that move the market that push things in those directions.
For example, If every player that cried in GW2 that they needed challenge, and raids went to Wild Star, Wild Star would have still be around, and GW2, would not have made the fuck up's that it did, alienating it's casuals.
This is also why I say, MMO makers need to have a market in mind, they need to have a demographic they are going to focus on, and make the best game they can for that group. If that focus is Hard Core Mutherfuckers, then that is what they should focus on, the hell with anyone else. If that group is casuals, then that is what they should focus on, screw anyone else.
Just my feels.
“They feel” you always claim to state what “they feel”.
I think “they” is you my friend.
Isn't that what we all do here? We only have our personal experiences to draw upon
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Isn't that what we all do here? We only have our personal experiences to draw upon
There's also data, numbers, studies, facts and links. But to be fair to Ungood he did say explicitly that this is just his opinion.
It is a fact backed by numbers for example that Anet and GW2 are declining (based on revenue numbers, recent layoffs etc) and that Wildstar failed. Linking the two and giving a reason is where it gets to personal experience and opinion territory.
I would have liked them to focus on the points, if they thought they were wrong, and make counter points and claims.
Instead I get whiny personal attacks.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
I would have liked them to focus on the points, if they thought they were wrong, and make counter points and claims.
....you pulled your "points" literally out of your arse.
What kind of "counter argument" do you expect when you are yourself presenting none?
And yet you can't formulate a means to shoot them down or refute them so have retorted to attacking the messenger.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
I thought this 13 minute video from Kinda Funny Games (Colin Was Right) sums up my thoughts on "The Lowest Common Denominator."
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
I thought this 13 minute video from Kinda Funny Games (Colin Was Right) sums up my thoughts on "The Lowest Common Denominator."
Not sure you can call Pc and console core gaming when mobile makes more money and though mobile players come and go, mobile gaming is only going to have even more of an adverse effect in the future.
But he is wrong, issues such as LCD started way back, mobile is just the latest iteration of that issue. Games were getting dumbed down before mobile gaming started but he does nicely sum up how mobile has pushed us even further down this road.
I thought this 13 minute video from Kinda Funny Games (Colin Was Right) sums up my thoughts on "The Lowest Common Denominator."
Not sure you can call Pc and console core gaming when mobile makes more money and though mobile players come and go, mobile gaming is only going to have even more of an adverse effect in the future.
But he is wrong, issues such as LCD started way back, mobile is just the latest iteration of that issue. Games were getting dumbed down before mobile gaming started but he does nicely sum up how mobile has pushed us even further down this road.
I don't know about your first comment. People have already seen a clear distinction caused by Cash Shops.
I agree with your second paragraph, completely. It was like a sinking ship, slowly at first, then the plunge to the bottom. The problem is that the best MMORPGs are still stuck in that earlier, slowly sinking, stage. The stage that set up the move to rock bottom. Controlled, predesigned content in a step ladder tier.
Comments
For instance you should not be able to just get the items or skills or a house or other things without an investment. You should grind for some things but when you introduce horrible RNG to a bad grind it just makes it a really terrible proposition.
Take PSO2, sorry haven't got another game for reference since I'm playing it now. The sweet box mechanic requires you to remove certain blocks in the path of the sweets that need a currency which you have to grind for. Similarly you can also get certain sweets by doing quests and it takes time to build all the sweet boxes up (great mechanic for a class; an observational side note).
It is a great and satisfying feeling to look at the sweet box you worked for and it would have meant nothing if there was no grind behind it.
Similarly when I was playing Everquest 2 I worked hard for months to get the items in my house and it was a source of great pride for me. Some of the quest items took days of grinding but it was so worth it to see it on my wall. Nothing that you obtain without effort is worth anything.
However when you place an artificial barrier to advancement behind a crushing RNG mechanic it can totally backfire with people like me. I accept grinding for a certain period of time but grinding without a guarantee like a quest grind that you are going to get the item eventually by fulfilling the steps is impossible for me to tolerate for very long. It just completely drains my whole enjoyment and makes me leave the game.
One thing in Archeage I enjoyed was that I could build up my farming and items production for trading at my own pace. There were limits because of the time it took to grow but you largely controlled it all and worked at your pace. I overextended as I was too keen to get to the bigger production cycles and exhausted myself in the process not to mention how I hurt my hand by furiously planting and picking the harvest. It was dumb the way I played and I had to stop when I found I could not keep up with the daily chores. That is not to say the game was not fun it was a great source of entertainment for a player like me.
This is something current games should really bear in mind because there is a limit to what you can expect players to accept and if enough say "to hell with this " you game is screwed.
However if they strike a hit, they will do it again with an expansion.
They want the up front money and don't care about longevity.
I suppose there are different kinds of "fun" in MMORPG games.
There's the FLASH and SPLASH stuff like wild explosions and the heat of battle.
But there's also achievement as fun and entertainment. And that feels empty if there's no effort required. At least, to me.
"No effort required", by the way, in my mind, is part and parcel to the subject matter here.
LCD.
In this sense (and there are other senses of LCD), it leaves a game feeling so meaningless.
Once upon a time....
I never asked nor expected any of that to be changed. I was a casual player, having a great time. There was plenty for me to do. And none of those features were holding me back.
Nowadays I hear how hardcore and casual players cannot co-exist, but I know that it is possible because I have seen it.
These days we readily pin labels on folks for marketing reasons I guess. Back in the day the games were made for players, not sub markets.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Yes, even the old games still running commercially aren't quite what they were back in the day. Regardless, they are still quite different to contemporary ones. Also, lost relics of the past do not always remain so. There is more variety available than many here suggest. Options are limited, to be sure, but some of those limitations are self-imposed rather than inflicted upon us.
An example.
In UO, in Dungeon Hythloth.
Gargoyle area with a lower sub-level under a bridge, and with steps around the hall corners at the top section, going down to the lower sub-level for easy access.
Demons in a room not far from the bridge area. The Demons would sometimes agro on players on the bridge and come after them from their room.
Demons were very tough and took a number of players to kill, but showing up when players were busy fighting Gargoyles was a nasty turn of events.
So I marked a Rune on the bridge, went below to the sub-level where I could cast heals on players on my side of the bridge (line of sight) above me. Players would move to that side to get a Heal. But when players took too much damage, as the heals couldn't keep up, I cast the Gate spell, allowing them to run into it and teleport to where I cast the spell from below.
Safe escape from the clutches of death!
I heard players comment that playing with me was a lot of fun, and that was a very rewarding thing.
And fun it was. Hairy intensity, fast action, breaks available to check the ol' pulse, high rewards, and a shjtload of fun.
And it wasn't just me. I was in a great guild with a number of inventive players who all had their moments.
Boy, did we have fun.
Even with PvP, as a unit, we had it down.
The guild had a war leader, second in command of the guild.
He told me once that he liked (name forgotten after so many years) so much because when he said "Attack", that player turned into a tiger. He was like a blur, no hesitation, no questions, he knew somehow who he was supposed to attack.
Quiet player, but when he was unleashed it was instant reaction, and the rest of us followed with certainty that we were going after the right enemy.
(We were an "Anti-PKer" guild, so that certainty was important.)
And that revenge against the PKers meant something to the rest of us. We each had our own bad experiences in the game before finding this guild.
When EQ released, most of them left. The guild fell apart (in UO), and I have not had another experience like that in MMO's since.
They didn't fare any better in EQ than we did in UO, because the Level based game took away strategy and reactions, in exchange for levels and Power Gaps.
Once upon a time....
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
People dont' even call diablo solo game.
Instead I get whiny personal attacks.
What kind of "counter argument" do you expect when you are yourself presenting none?
(Please be aware im joking)
Messenger here is the only one to shoot at, and it seems rightfully so....
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
But he is wrong, issues such as LCD started way back, mobile is just the latest iteration of that issue. Games were getting dumbed down before mobile gaming started but he does nicely sum up how mobile has pushed us even further down this road.
People have already seen a clear distinction caused by Cash Shops.
I agree with your second paragraph, completely. It was like a sinking ship, slowly at first, then the plunge to the bottom.
The problem is that the best MMORPGs are still stuck in that earlier, slowly sinking, stage. The stage that set up the move to rock bottom.
Controlled, predesigned content in a step ladder tier.
Once upon a time....