General Discussion

Judging from the way things have been going these last couple of years...

Originally posted by aleos

Judging from the way things have been going these last couple of years...

I said this a couple times but let me point out a short fall that are making MMO gaming less interesting.

Most MMOs being released are focused on the graphics. Some of the newer games like AoC just don't have any real purpose to play except to get levels and kill each other. Most of the game is based on look and feel and lacks any real immersion beyond quests. Some of the game has broken or missing content. Adding the vital pieces to a released game shows lack of development for sight. I am still subed since I take a couple hrs a week to unwind.

I have played 10 online games over the last 7 years and every one has its good and bad. DAOC I just spent WAY' to much of my life playing and took a break. When I came back, I was back doing the same 6 runs a week and just said I need a change. DAoC is a great game.

After playing a couple F2P and AoC I just said screw the MMO playing it is time to make a game that I would want to play. It is not an easy task but, hell, I got time because I don't spent my 50+ hrs a week playing them, I design my own. I could care less if it ever gets published or if it does, i get 2000 subs. I can live off 2000 subs.

Originally posted by demc

Originally posted by aleos

Judging from the way things have been going these last couple of years...

 

I said this a couple times but let me point out a short fall that are making MMO gaming less interesting.

Most MMOs being released are focused on the graphics. Some of the newer games like AoC just don't have any real purpose to play except to get levels and kill each other. Most of the game is based on look and feel and lacks any real immersion beyond quests. Some of the game has broken or missing content. Adding the vital pieces to a released game shows lack of development for sight. I am still subed since I take a couple hrs a week to unwind.

I have played 10 online games over the last 7 years and every one has its good and bad. DAOC I just spent WAY' to much of my life playing and took a break. When I came back, I was back doing the same 6 runs a week and just said I need a change. DAoC is a great game.

After playing a couple F2P and AoC I just said screw the MMO playing it is time to make a game that I would want to play. It is not an easy task but, hell, I got time because I don't spent my 50+ hrs a week playing them, I design my own. I could care less if it ever gets published or if it does, i get 2000 subs. I can live off 2000 subs.

Graphics? If you want to call Warhammer and WoW graphics then you obviously don't know good graphics. Sure they are decent but to me, they aren't real graphics. I guess it's really based on personal opinions and what kind of graphics players are looking for. I myself like realistic looking graphics that don't take a ton of memory to run. Lineage 2 for example. Runs perfect in big pvp groups and never lags on high settings. Graphics are really clear. Movement system sucks. But overall, the graphics on the game are great. We need more games with realistic graphics.

Good luck on creating an mmorpg. =) I own a text based game with an active base of over 500 players, since we came back this summer and already have around 600 players. They are active until December hits then we start weeding out inactives. It's fun working with Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver and working with cpanel and database tables etc....

I've played over 50 mmorgps and am still in search for a new genre of games. Something creative. I want something new and fresh. New world and environment. Darkfall does look nice but I won't get my hopes up like I did with Warhammer.

The problem with all these games coming out are they are ALL cookie-cutter games. They are the same as the last one that was released. If a game will come out that has lots of change in it and lots of new features such as Aging and Skill System linked to Gear and cities where some are in a closed environment and you have to enter keys to get inside the city....etc....big unique changes. I'm ready for some new genres.

Comming out half ready and buggy.

the community

To much is focused around the PVP.

No mmorpg feeling.

The focus is on the  individual rather than the group/community.

All in all the mmos have reached the point ion where u kind of play singleplayer, even thoe you are grouped. It might sound wierd, but its true.

I'm also not a big fan of PvP.  I do like to solo though it's starting to bore me a lot.  It would be nice to see a good group based dungeon crawler come out again like EQ.  All PvE, but group based with lots of neat dungeons ranging from deep dark forests, to underwater, to desearts, to snowy/icy dungeons, to fiery dungeons, etc.  Pure PvE based around small group content.  Right now I believe that devs are trying to do to many things and end up not doing anything well. 

What's wrong with MMOs today?

1.  WoW -- I've spent my share of time playing WoW and enjoyed it, but it's killing the industry.  Most companies capable of producing a big-budget MMO look at WoW's subscription numbers and tell their developers "do that!".  It is the root of many of the following problems.

2.  Too easy -- MMOs are sliding towards risk-free cakewalks, where there is little to no penalty for doing things the wrong way.  Death is a temporary debuff and minor inconvenience.  Questing is simplified so greatly that an NPC explains to you in painfully clear detail what to do, shows you exactly on your map where to go, you are guided by a floating arrow to get there, and tooltips show you precisely what to kill or gather.  Despie this, most quests are of the "bring me X of item Y"...incredible creativity there!  Combat no longer requires skill.  Gear is so freakishly easy to get that there is little reward in excelling at anything.  Leveling has been abandoned in favor of super-fast progressions, because nobody has the patience to build a character and advance themselves.  Now, its "rush to endgame in a week or two, then spend the rest of your life in endless, generic battlegrounds bashing eachother in the head".  In short, effort, thought, danger and excitement have been removed to pander to the lowest common denominator.

3.  The people -- Sorry, but anybody who has been playing for a while knows that it didn't used to be like this.  There were always people who bitched & whined, but today developers appear to be slaves to them.  I know absolutely that this statement is elitist, but...there used to be a better caliber of player.  The floodgates have now opened to anybody that can screech and pound their way through Guitar Hero.  And that's where the money is at, the masses.  As if that weren't bad enough to start with, people cry a river if they aren't satisfied immediately--"I WANT IT ALL I WANT IT NOW GIVE IT TO ME ITS NOT FAIR IF I CANT HAVE IT!"

4.  The companies -- Steaming pile of crap releases.  WAR is mediocre, but it broke the spell of abysmal major title releases of the past few years.  I can count the number of professional, polished (major) MMOs on one hand.  Yep, WoW is one of them, because Blizzard has a reuptation for doing things right, and it shows.  Vanguard was a disaster, and is just now getting fixed into proper shape, but it may never recover.  Funcom had a golden opportunity and squandered it by lying to then taking a dump on their customers--AoC will probably never recover.  AoC alone frothed up bored-with-WoW players so much that many just lost faith in MMOs alltogether when the dust settled.

5.  The market -- The market is a sewer.  F2P cash-shop asia-grinders multiply like rabbits.  Most major title that haven't been disasters have fallen into small niches that can only get smaller (LOTRO, DDO, PotBS), or been so utterly mediocre that they are dead or nearly dead already (Auto Assault, TR, Matrix Online)...the few original MMOs that really do shine seem to be cursed, coming from companies that can't get themselves together (Ryzom, old mangement). 

6.  The sites -- including this one.  See #3...but MMO site (official or 3rd party) forum trolls should just be shot.  Seriously.

7.  Nothing REALLY new and exciting -- I'm still waiting for a "next-gen" MMO.  Whatever that is, we haven't seen it yet, and it needs to appear soon.