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Please tell me this isn't true. Instanced gameplay
Okay, I have been watching this since we heard of it and I have seen all the movies. First of all, it seems like the gameplay is unique which is good but I haven't seen any group play. I am wondering if the game is instanced and you have to get a group to go into an instanced world with you, like Guild Wars. Wait, before you flame, let me point out some things. First of all, if you look in the movies, there is little space for movement. If there were a lot of people in that tight area, there could be a lot of lag. Also, look at the graphics. They are gorgeous, like Guild Wars but could they support 300+ people at a time in one area!? These are my qualms and I am worried. I hope it isn't instanced but so far the world and gameplay seem like it might be. Also, look at the cinematics? I have never seen cut-scenes in any mmo except for in instances like in FFXI when fighting like Shiva, etc. How will they do the cutscenes with that many people?
Okay, here's some hopeful thinking. Maybe, since they were showing a demo, things are different. Maybe the land is just small like that because you have to complete the tutorial (like in City of Heroes) first before going onto the main land. Hopefully this is true and the tutorial is only like 10-20 minutes. Maybe later, they will give you an option to skip it. Maybe, the gameplay is like FFXI where there were tight spaces but people usually didn't hang out in them. In otherwords, maybe these are just small passages to the big areas. I did see one big area but it seem limited, like FFXI. It wasn't sprawling out in every direction like WoW or Lineage 2. It sort of reminded me of EQ2. And about the cut-scenes -- maybe just the cut-scenes will be instanced like a 20-second instance and the other players will just see you talk to the guys and disappear, reappearing at the other side of the gap. (If you have no idea what I am talking about, please see the movies.)
Comments
I personally hope for a good balance between instancing and not instancing. Like dungeons are good for instancing, so you dont have to compete with other people for loot and whatnot, and it is alot less stressful. But out in the wildnerness and in cities its nice to not have instancing.
Anyway, I think you dont see so many people around in the demos because well.... they are demos. They cant really hook up 300 people to do a demo.
from what has been seen and writen on different sites, there is alot of solo and group play. Like if you were to watch all of the class videos that i have posted on aionsource.com
then you would see that you dont even get to see ANY instanced play at all, and that all the charaters are well able to handel themselfs in battle. From what i have read there will be boss the you need more than just a 1 or 2 people for. And some bosses that need like 5 partys full of people. So im thinking that this game will have a fair balanced between solo and instanced play.
They said somthing about it being seamless with select instanced areas...sort of like WoW I guess?
Yeah from what iv seen its going to be seamless but with some instanced boss battle areas. Great mix imo.
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I can't understand how people could possibly prefer instances over actually walking into an area. it makes absolutely no sence to me....INSTANCES SUCK REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION...who's the genius who said....."hey, let's make it so the players can access any dungeon by talking to a guy in town who will transport them to an area that doesn't exist on the map but somehow holds a dungeon and a transporting device..." How did the people even get to the dungeon in the first place to set up the transporter?!
We should start a pole expressing our uttermost hate for instances. Who's with me???
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Not me. And I'm fairly certain that's not how instances will work in this game, so you're targeting one or two games with your comments. If you've played a game like City of Heroes you'll see that instances are very well implemented. You accept your mission and for you and your party a spot on the map opens up (a cave or the door to a building) and you enter, which takes you to the instanced dungeon.
And you talk like it breaks immersion. What's so immersive about arriving at the "Temple of Doom" only to see a party walk out with the unique phat loot that you're supposed to be getting in the quest, saying to your party, "Yeah, we just killed the Cyclops. Thirty minute respawn lolz."
Computers and design tools aren't to the point where a game can be seamless and feel completely immersive at the same time. I have no issues with instancing so long as it's used the right ways and helps improve the overall experience of the player.
Not me. And I'm fairly certain that's not how instances will work in this game, so you're targeting one or two games with your comments. If you've played a game like City of Heroes you'll see that instances are very well implemented. You accept your mission and for you and your party a spot on the map opens up (a cave or the door to a building) and you enter, which takes you to the instanced dungeon.
And you talk like it breaks immersion. What's so immersive about arriving at the "Temple of Doom" only to see a party walk out with the unique phat loot that you're supposed to be getting in the quest, saying to your party, "Yeah, we just killed the Cyclops. Thirty minute respawn lolz."
Computers and design tools aren't to the point where a game can be seamless and feel completely immersive at the same time. I have no issues with instancing so long as it's used the right ways and helps improve the overall experience of the player.
@valo... Back in the EQ1 non-instanced world, I was ina guild and one day we decided to get a boss for his loot or epic quest or whatever. So, being in a completely uninstanced world, we picked a target, we sent a scout to see if hes up... He wasnt. Hmmmm, maybe kill another boss in the nearby area? Hmm, nope his not up yet either. Oh wait, our scout just picked another wondering boss... a rare spawn who drops a very good and very rare items. K, gotta hurry before someone kills him... 20 minutes later after assembling our raid at the last known location of the boss - WTF.. those F&*$ing asshole over there just killed that boss!!! Dammit and they didnt even loot his NO-DROP quest items. They just killed him to improve their faction with a rival faction.
At moments like that is when I greately appreciate the concept of instanced play - no waiting for 5 hours to kill one boss or complete a quest
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
instance = less lag
no instance = less loading
hehe
Tried: Vanguard, UO, Rappelz, Archlord, RF Online, SWG, WAR, Ryzom, Anarchy Online, AC, APB, STO, Perfect World, Black Prophecy...
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If instancing is done in a constructive way, it could really add a lot to any game. As they are right now they, IMHO, are not fully utilized. For the most part they are used to keep players isolated from the persistant world to help ensure they are not interupted. Which is fine BUT....
What many companies are missing is the oportunity to customize and tailor the game to the players in an RPG sense. Worlds could be large and persistant but quest should be tied into specific NPCs/quest. (similar to City of Heroes) Anything from abandon towers to assaulting a dungeon tied into a story could be tailored to individual players in an instance.
The key thing MMO's are missing are the RPG elements. They boil down to 2 things. Story (with impact by the player) and moral / ethics choices that make a difference. RPG is not about levels and loot, that is game mechanics. Its about choosing what you are and roll you play in the world. What good is a dialog tree if it is the same and static with no choices? Zero. It is usually unceremoniously clicked through and the amount of mobs the player is tasked to kill is really all that matters since there is no choice other then to do or not do it. That is not RPG.
Compare the type of RPG found in any MMO to the RPG in other computer games like "Vampire Bloodlines" (I just played this, excellent game) None measure up. Of course no computer based RPG can match PnP, which is created by the human mind on the spot. In an MMO, no matter what class you choose, what race you pick, how fast ot slow you level, what armor you have one thing is constant. The content you play is exactly the same as everyone elses. There is no dynamic choice.
Instances provide the technical ability to step closer to a true RPG experience. MMO companies need to start taking advantage of this.
Instancing has it's ups and downs while in an instanced dungeon one will not get ksed because one is only with his group. One won't lag much becaus one is in a seperate zone from the actual world.
P.S I just hope it won't have the same item system: " If you don't do instances you won't get anything better than what you have on yourself"
Erm... Please dont associate CoH with good examples of instancing - its the worse example Ive ever seen. There could be 500 people online and only 5 would see your message because of instancing, hence its impossible to form a party and leads to a single player game with a monthly fee.
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Erm... Please dont associate CoH with good examples of instancing - its the worse example Ive ever seen. There could be 500 people online and only 5 would see your message because of instancing, hence its impossible to form a party and leads to a single player game with a monthly fee.
Have you even played this game?
Instancing in City of Heroes is for mission dungeons. So you enter these instances AFTER you've formed a party and AFTER you've started the mission. You can still communicate with those outside the instanced dungeon via the other chat channels.
You sound like you're talking about the gameworld being split into zones, which is a totally different thing that neither I or anyone else is referring to.
Erm... Please dont associate CoH with good examples of instancing - its the worse example Ive ever seen. There could be 500 people online and only 5 would see your message because of instancing, hence its impossible to form a party and leads to a single player game with a monthly fee.
Never had any problems with CoX. I thought they handled the instancing very well. It tied most of the missions into a story arch and they where pretty fun (for awhile anyway
) I would say CoX has the best execution of instances of any MMO. (aside from GW, but that is a different style game altogether)
They definately handled it better then the newer games like WoW and definately much better then DAoC which the Catacomb instancing actually "damaged" the game because of the low pops. It actually did thin out the populations as it kept everyone neatly in the little task cave and not out roaming the world like th old days.
Whats your "best" example?
but if they plan to make all the phat lootz bosses outside someone needs to smack that dev.
As a player of The Saga of Ryzom I must say I quite agree with Valo. Instanced games can't give you the freedom feeling given by a game such as EVE or SoR. Seems to me that non-instanced games' worlds are also giving a much more immersive feeling into the persistant environment.
*Plus it deprives us of "steal kills arguments" which always crack me up
I will see at release, but if it is instanced I guess I won't be a part of it, even know I already feel like this would be the kind of world that fit me best...
Moyaku-Sama
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