MMORPG's and you

[shiftnative 3103]

Hey LoTC,

 

In an age of over-saturation, players seem to still be waiting for something new & memorable. There has been so many mmo's come and go over the years, each with their own bit of promise but none have really lived up to games that birthed the genre.

 

 

Will there ever be another Ultima Online, Everquest, Runescape, Eve Online or World of Warcraft?

(These games were made 10+ years ago yet still stand as the most impactful, profitable and long-lasting.)

If you could help make an mmorpg, what elements would you find most important and would expect to see?

(The more specific the better)

 

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Here's one to start,

 

I think that loot shouldn't be so heavily based on "level" you should be able to find/wear super powerful loot early in the game if you're lucky enough to have it drop.

(Lots of iconic/fat loot with super low drop rates)

 

 

[cmack1028 549]

i think that shiftnative needs to make lotc great again

 

and I always hated that level determined everything in typical MMORPGs. I liked how in Runescape a skilled level 40 could still take a less strategically skilled level 50, for example 

 

 

[Krism 67]

Will there ever be another Ultima Online, Everquest or World of Warcraft?

Forgetting Runescape, i am insulted.

 

But honestly i can't imagine a future for MMORPG'. I really don't know what would be needed to save the genre.

[shiftnative 3103]

Just now, Krism said:

Will there ever be another Ultima Online, Everquest or World of Warcraft?

Forgetting Runescape, i am insulted.

 

But honestly i can't imagine a future for MMORPG'. I really don't know what would be needed to save the genre.

You're 100% right, adding runescape & yeah - things certainly seem bleak =/

[Ambduscias 1028]

I think the genre is rapidly molding into other facets, and that the overall profitability seems failing after the last few years. Lots of layoffs in the industry.

 

Almost every new MMO has overspent and crashed in a horrific manner. ESO went free to play and struggled with meeting the costs. Wildstar literally took a nosedive. Even Warcraft is dropping, though Blizzard will forever be a giant of the gaming industry thanks to the innovation and what they managed.

 

On the other side of the hand, games that mix the 'always online' and open world elements're exceptionally successful. Survival games are a new cashcow, Division performed well from a cash standpoint, Destiny is a monstrosity..

 

If it /is/ going to come back, I think it'll need to seriously redefine what an MMO is. I just doubt any company is brave enough to take wide-scale risks on a dying genre. It's a shame, but it isn't the first time it's happened; IE, AAA strategy games are nonexistent and a lot normally flop these days.

[Hiebe 2493]

Loot tables should be flat but the chance of finding them should go up based on a skill that would find it. Example a miner would have a trained eye to find jewels in the stone compared to the newbie but both have a flat chance to find a jewel

[Areon 947]

A system in which loot didn't require levels to use, but levels of an enemy to drop could be abused by guilds and such gearing low levels, loot level requirements is one thing that makes progression a thing in the game.

[Quavinir_Twiceborn 1050]

I myself am infatuated with GuildWars2, its one of my, if not my favorite game to play.

 

I think breaking from the norms and just... I dunno, trying something new, focussing on making players hapy rather than giveing them 1000s of things to do is better.

[Ambduscias 1028]

5 minutes ago, Quavinir_Twiceborn said:

I myself am infatuated with GuildWars2, its one of my, if not my favorite game to play.

 

I think breaking from the norms and just... I dunno, trying something new, focussing on making players hapy rather than giveing them 1000s of things to do is better.

Feel the same way. The only game I enjoyed as much as GW2 was Mortal Online.

[_pr0fit 3084]

I don't know if anyone ever played the secret world, which had a lot of negative attributes that made it difficult to enjoy, but nonetheless it was one of my favorite mmo's. Here are some of the reasons why I enjoyed it

• setting; which was modern day, the character took control of an agent from one of three secret societies and battled in interesting locations. there were zombies in Maine, cultists in Egypt, and werewolves and vampyres in Romania
• the story; which was very interesting and the world was full of hidden areas for people to stumble upon and learn something interesting about the story
• the fact that there was no levels, but that you would get more powerful based on the items you had, you would always have the same health and attack as any other player regardless of how long they played or how much xp they got, you became better by having better weapons, and better gear.

[Destroyer_Bravo 1054]

we're leaving out SWO ( a game I really wish I could have played ), EVE Online, GW2.....

 

and tbh I think there are some pretty cool MMORPGs that are coming out, they seem to mostly be taking a walk back down the road to **** like EVE or Ultima Online, with a less forgiving feel to them generally.

 

Making players work is key to player engagement. As soon as I maxed my mesmer on GW2 I dropped that game like a hot potato.

[Krism 67]

After thinking about this for some time i think i will put forth my conclusion on the MMORPG genre.

 

The reasons most of the listed games, WOW, Runescape and so on became popular was at that time they were new and cool and just overall THE games to play. This is no longer the case, MMORPG' is an old concept and there are many new concepts out there people would rather try.

 

At the same time, i think most people without knowing it, go into new MMORPG' expecting to feel that special feeling, the way they feel when they think about the early 2000 of classic WOW and Runescape in the good old days, that feeling that make those games and memories seem special when thinking back. But that feeling, really is just nostalgia, and memories of not just a different time in the gaming community, but also in peoples own lives.

 

I think a new generation of gamers, who did not experience those starting MMORPG', is needed for the new games of the genre to be succesful.

[shiftnative 3103]

1 hour ago, Krism said:

After thinking about this for some time i think i will put forth my conclusion on the MMORPG genre.

 

The reasons most of the listed games, WOW, Runescape and so on became popular was at that time they were new and cool and just overall THE games to play. This is no longer the case, MMORPG' is an old concept and there are many new concepts out there people would rather try.

 

At the same time, i think most people without knowing it, go into new MMORPG' expecting to feel that special feeling, the way they feel when they think about the early 2000 of classic WOW and Runescape in the good old days, that feeling that make those games and memories seem special when thinking back. But that feeling, really is just nostalgia, and memories of not just a different time in the gaming community, but also in peoples own lives.

 

I think a new generation of gamers, who did not experience those starting MMORPG', is needed for the new games of the genre to be successful.

I think nostalgia may play a small part in some cases but you gotta admit, those classic games were certainly more punishing and less hand-holding than modern MMO's. They also paid more respect to interaction between players and it's importance. (No "queuing", more reliance on others, etc)

 

Everquest (1999-2002) for example has certain implementations that I haven't seen paired together since. Many of which are what make the game what it is and kept people playing for so long. (All dungeons are public, gotta return to your corpse naked and defenseless after death, loss of exp on death, no in-game maps, epic quest for each race.. etc. refer to project 1999)

I would like to think MMORPG fans are starting to want games with much more consequence, exclusivity & social interaction - like the older games, but we'll see =p

 

[Hiebe 2493]

It was the start of the casual gamer. You see the trend well in elder scroll games where morrowind was a awesome game but it was not for everyone. Game producers then turned to include more and more type of players and thus the hardcore players get over done by the casuals.

[Vaynth 3005]

Moved to the Archive. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.