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ThouShaltNot
Eager Tradesman
Joined: 27 Feb 2003
Posts: 32
Location: New Zealand |
| Why I have never tried a MMORPG |
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Several times I have been tempted to try out one MMORPG or another, but then I always remember the most important reason why I have avoided them in the past (and will probably always do so, unless some fundamental things are changed).
It’s not because of the monthly fees (although that is a dissuading factor). If my money could truly go towards keeping a game new and interesting for months or years, I would be (grudgingly) willing to pay.
It's not because of the repetitive combat and levelling treadmill I keep hearing about. Games such as A Tale in the Desert and (to a lesser degree Star Wars Galaxies) are already offering alternative game-play options. This is sure to improve in years to come.
It’s not because of the lack of a story centred around the player. Although current MMORPGs lack in the story department (so I hear), developers will surely find some way to rectify this in the future.
It’s not because of the griefers and l33t speakers. I’m sure there are groups and guilds out there who have an average mental age of greater than 12.
No, the reason why I have avoided MMORPGs is because I can only enjoy games that I own. I like to play them for weeks or months before setting them aside, only to return to them years later. I know I can go back to Fallout or Ultima VII or Quest for Glory whenever I feel the whim (as long as I can get them to work in whatever operating system I’m using at the time). But with MMORPGs, I cannot guarantee that they’ll still be around, because they are owned and controlled by other people, not me.
Eventually even the most successful MMORPG will end, in one way or another – either the company will go out of business, or the bean counters will decide profits are too low and shut it down, or the game will change so much that it is no longer enjoyable to the people who played it from the beginning (eg Ultima Online, or so I hear). I can only imagine what it would be like to have invested years into a character and a community, only to be told, “Sorry but we’re shutting down now and Bert the 70th level Grogsmiter and all his friends will have to die. This game simply isn’t profitable any more, you see. I’m sure you understand.” After paying hundreds of dollars and investing thousands of hours, all you will have is … memories. All I can say is, I will never let that happen to me.
What I need before I will consider paying for a MMORPG is some form of assurance that when the developers finally abandon it, they will release it to the public, to be run on private servers for as long as people want to continue playing it. Another alternative is to release MMORPGs with some sort of single-player / private server component so that players still have something to do when the creators decide to stop supporting it.
Please don’t bite my head off if any of my statements are incorrect. As I said, I have no personal experience with the genre (or is it a sub-genre?) – all I have to go on is what I’ve read on the net.
Oh, and you’re welcome to try to change my mind. Just don’t think it’ll be easy.  |
Sun Jul 20, 2003 12:27 pm |
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Davo
City Guard
Joined: 03 Sep 2002
Posts: 146
Location: Massachusetts, USA |
I have never played an MMORPG and do not plan to play one anytime soon. My first reason for not playing is the fees. I do not want to pay $50 for the game, plus $30 each for expansions, plus $13-15 per month to play. Two years of an MMORPG that uses this business model costs about $400 US for a single game. That doesn't include the cost of the hardware and Internet connection.
My second reason for not playing MMORPGs is player-killing/griefing. I am supremely uninterested in any game that allows someone else to ruin my fun by killing me, preventing me from acquiring necessary items, stalking me at spawn points, or doing any of the other hundreds of things that griefers do to have their own fun at someone else's expense.
My third reason for not playing MMORPGs is the time commitment. I have too many real-life interests and responsibilities to devote dozens of hours per week, ever week, to a single game. My inability/unwillingness to devote those hours to the game means that I would never be able to reach certain parts of the game. It also means that I would not be able to enjoy the social atmosphere of the genre because most other players would advance far beyond me. Any friends I made on-line would be 30 or 40 levels higher than me and likely unable to use my weaker character in a group.
I think that the MMORPG is a valid genre for people who have the time, desire and interest to devote to a single game over a long period of time. I love the idea of the social aspects of the game. I just don't have the time or interest to devote to the genre.
I can't say that I will never play an MMORPG. I am at a point in my life right now in which I have very little spare time for gaming. And for me, gaming is something that I do only in my spare time. I don't set aside time for gaming. If I have a free hour or two, I MAY play a game. It depends on my mood. In the future, however, I may become interested in MMORPGs if a game comes along that grabs my interest, finds a creative way to deter griefing, and charges a reasonable fee. Of course, I would need to have more time on my hands as well. It may happen sooner than I think. My son wants me to buy World of Warcraft for him next year when it comes out. I have to say, of all the MMORPGs out there, that one has me the most interested.
_________________
Apologize, v.i. To lay the foundation for a future offense.
Backbite, v.t. To speak of a man as you find him when he can't find you.
-- Ambrose Bierce, from The Devil's Dictionary. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2003 1:21 pm |
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Hexy
High Emperor
Joined: 28 Jun 2002
Posts: 621
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Ok, about the monthly fees. Fees are an OBVIOUS requirement to keep ANY sort of large-scale MMORPG running. MANY people APPRECIATE the extras you get for paying a monthly fee. Customer service (to some extent), special events (GM events), and of course the ability to interact with thousands of others.
quote:
It's not because of the repetitive combat and levelling treadmill I keep hearing about. Games such as A Tale in the Desert and (to a lesser degree Star Wars Galaxies) are already offering alternative game-play options. This is sure to improve in years to come.
It’s not because of the lack of a story centred around the player. Although current MMORPGs lack in the story department (so I hear), developers will surely find some way to rectify this in the future.
EVERYTHING turns into a treadmill after a while. Tradeskills as well. And tradeskills have been around A LONG time. Since Ultima Online and Everquest 'till now.
As for player-centered stories, there have been some player-centered quests throughout MOST MMORPGs. Granted, not as much as a single-player rpg, but it's pretty self-explainatory that there could be no such thing. This is after all a MULTI-PLAYER game.
quote:
Eventually even the most successful MMORPG will end, in one way or another – either the company will go out of business, or the bean counters will decide profits are too low and shut it down, or the game will change so much that it is no longer enjoyable to the people who played it from the beginning (eg Ultima Online, or so I hear). I can only imagine what it would be like to have invested years into a character and a community, only to be told, “Sorry but we’re shutting down now and Bert the 70th level Grogsmiter and all his friends will have to die. This game simply isn’t profitable any more, you see. I’m sure you understand.” After paying hundreds of dollars and investing thousands of hours, all you will have is … memories. All I can say is, I will never let that happen to me.
Could be, but honestly, you got ENTERTAINMENT out of those dollars. Why do people go to see a movie? All they get, in the end, is memories. But they pay for the ENTERTAINMENT during that time.
quote:
My second reason for not playing MMORPGs is player-killing/griefing. I am supremely uninterested in any game that allows someone else to ruin my fun by killing me, preventing me from acquiring necessary items, stalking me at spawn points, or doing any of the other hundreds of things that griefers do to have their own fun at someone else's expense.
Uh... not all MMORPGs are PvP, you know. There are several that just let you group up with people and kill monsters. No possibility of being griefed.
_________________
Like some bold seer in a trance;
Seeing all his own mischance |
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Sun Jul 20, 2003 1:44 pm |
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ThouShaltNot
Eager Tradesman
Joined: 27 Feb 2003
Posts: 32
Location: New Zealand |
quote:
Originally posted by Hexy
Could be, but honestly, you got ENTERTAINMENT out of those dollars. Why do people go to see a movie? All they get, in the end, is memories. But they pay for the ENTERTAINMENT during that time.
Well actually I would buy the movie on DVD so I could watch it again once the memory of it had faded - which actually doesn't take very long for me. Unless I'm mistaken, MMORPGs that are no longer supported are basically lost forever, and NO-ONE will EVER be able to play them again. Since when has that ever happened to a movie?
The only forms of entertainment that I can think of that are similarly lost from history are things like live theatre productions and concerts. And even then the scripts, music etc are usually kept so that they can be performed again by different groups in the future. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2003 3:00 pm |
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Rain-X
Village Dweller
Joined: 06 Jul 2003
Posts: 7
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Its always been the online fees and the bugs for me. SWG has me very tempted, but the lack of vehicles/mounts  and the bugs keep me away with along with the hiked monthly dues. Guess I'll wait til '04 and/or the next round of MMORPGs, Drangon Emipirs, Mythica, and someother ones that slip my mind look good so far. I still can't get enough of freebee Counter-Strike. 
Three more hours of surfing the boards, work suxxzors.
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This is defenitely not my first rodeo. |
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Sun Jul 20, 2003 7:01 pm |
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Xanaki
Ghost of Asheron
Joined: 07 May 2002
Posts: 398
Location: Helsinki, Finland |
Well, atleast the biggest ones are still strong and have no threat to be closed any time soon, even Ultima Online. I've played Asheron's Call since 1999, then Anarchy Online, DAoC (since 2000), UO, AC2 and Eve Online. I now have active accounts in AC, DAoC and Eve (yeah I work for my living too:)
I consider all the monthly fees similar as costs for any normal hobby. And one of my hobbies is to play these MMO games. If you enjoy your hobby you're ready to pay for continuing with your hobby.
Player centric quests are not easy to do in MMO because of the nature of the genre. They MASSIVELY multiplayer games, meaning that the game can not concentrate just on YOU as there are many other playing around you. Single player games are easy quest-wise because the developer can do *anything* to change the world, behaviour of people and such according on what you do in the game. ALSO and sadly the current bandwidth and CPU power limitations DO not allow developers to do very complex things (e.g. shaping the MMO world in real time and such) in real time. They have to support low bandwidth/CPU players (modem and ISDN users).
HOWEVER, We'll see how Mythica will implement this. It claims to have "private realms" where you can do solo and or group quests if you like to have more player centric stuff and be away from other players.
However, IMHO, why play MMOs if you are not prepared to deal with other people.
_________________
=Moderator of General MMORPG talk forum=
Senior Editor @ www.mmorpgdot.com |
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Mon Jul 21, 2003 7:14 am |
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Ekim
Eagle's Shadow
Joined: 27 May 2002
Posts: 2365
Location: Montreal, Canada |
| Re: Why I have never tried a MMORPG |
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Pretty interesting subject. A few points I want to add to those already good ones pointed out by others before me:
quote:
Originally posted by ThouShaltNot
No, the reason why I have avoided MMORPGs is because I can only enjoy games that I own. I like to play them for weeks or months before setting them aside, only to return to them years later. I know I can go back to Fallout or Ultima VII or Quest for Glory whenever I feel the whim (as long as I can get them to work in whatever operating system I’m using at the time). But with MMORPGs, I cannot guarantee that they’ll still be around, because they are owned and controlled by other people, not me.
Very interesting. I never stopped to think about that myself. Strangely enough though, your apprehension brings out another interesting fact: no major MMORPG has ever been shut down yet. Even UO which is.... 6 years old now I think? Not even those who were initial critical failures on many accounts that people predicted would fall quickly (AO anyone?). But I do understand your grief. I sometimes go through periods of nostalgia too, and pop out my old Ultima CD's for old times sake. I wonder how I'll be able to do that with DAoC 10 years from now... Then again, from my experience I can almost certainly say that I've played DAoC (and other MMORPGs) so much that once I'm done with them I am really through! You'll have, as you said, spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours in this game in its life span. That's probably a few hundred times more than you'll have ever spent playing most single player game in existence! I wonder if the nostalgia factor really exists with MMORPGs... I never felt it myself anyway... But that might also be because most of the popular MMORPGs come out of the same mold 
quote:
Originally posted by ThouShaltNot
What I need before I will consider paying for a MMORPG is some form of assurance that when the developers finally abandon it, they will release it to the public, to be run on private servers for as long as people want to continue playing it.
Releasing the game to the public would be a nice solution, but I wonder if it would ever come to that... If the developper would ever come up with a new generation of that same game (take EQ2 for example) wouldn't that just work against them? People could play EQ for free, or pay for EQ2... Given the tremendous popularity of EQ, I doubt they would even take a chance on it...
By the way, ever thought of trying NeverWinter Nights? It's not an MMO, but it certainly is multiplayer, and it doesn't cost a thing after the initial purchase of the box. It's also player-drive in the sense that players operate servers, not Bioware, and even if they ever decide to stop supporting the game it will still be playable.
quote:
Originally posted by Davo
My second reason for not playing MMORPGs is player-killing/griefing. I am supremely uninterested in any game that allows someone else to ruin my fun by killing me, preventing me from acquiring necessary items, stalking me at spawn points, or doing any of the other hundreds of things that griefers do to have their own fun at someone else's expense.
Hexy already touched on that one, but I will too. This comment is irrelevant really... Actually it was relevant in 1997 when UO came out, but since then it's a non-issue. I can think of only two games that could allow grief-playing: Shadowbane and Anarchy Online (although in AO's instance things could have changed since I was there and maybe the grief has lessened a bit). Most MMORPG today restrict PvP to certain areas, or let you choose if you even want to participate at all... It's become a player's own decision to be submitted to grief or not, and as such it's put a stop to the argument.
quote:
Originally posted by Xanaki
I consider all the monthly fees similar as costs for any normal hobby. And one of my hobbies is to play these MMO games. If you enjoy your hobby you're ready to pay for continuing with your hobby.
Very good point! Someone painting small lead figurines, or building plastic models as a hobby could spend hundreds of dollars each month for it and it would be considered OK, yet apparently $10 to $15 is paying too much for a game.  I'm not saying that spending hundreds of dollars on lead figurines is ok, just illustrating a point... Some people have many different hobbies that are socially accepted that cost much more than the fees related to an MMORPG. There are limits to what an MMORPG should cost though, and I do agree that they are getting a little too high... But the fact remains that this hobby (if you can call it that) is far from being among the most expensive ones out there.
_________________
=Proud Father of a new gamer GIRL!=
=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Worshiper of the Written Word= |
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Mon Jul 21, 2003 2:15 pm |
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MoonDragon
High Emperor
Joined: 25 May 2002
Posts: 1254
Location: Waterloo, Canada |
| Re: Why I have never tried a MMORPG |
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quote:
Originally posted by ThouShaltNot
It’s not because of the lack of a story centred around the player. Although current MMORPGs lack in the story department (so I hear), developers will surely find some way to rectify this in the future.
This one will be long time coming and personally I don't think it ever will come. If you think about it... 100,000 players; 100,000 playstyles; 100,000 stories... who cares? Imagine if there was a game that had a unique and epic story for each player. Who would ever know? Other players? Who would ever bother reading through 100,000 "epic" stories? On the other hand, if there were only 10 "epic" stories to be had by players, that means that 999,990 players will go without one and feel they were slighted.
Personally, I think people expect too much from a game. These days, whenever I hear how some new MMOG will have an "epic" story in it, that will be affected by the players, I wince. That's the biggest scam since amusment parks started selling "a whole day of fun" for $30. Fun is not something you sell in buckets. And neither are involving "epic" stories. If you want an epic story, make your own. That's what RPG in MMORPG stands for.
quote:
Originally posted by ThouShaltNot
It’s not because of the griefers and l33t speakers. I’m sure there are groups and guilds out there who have an average mental age of greater than 12.
Honestly, I haven't seen l33t kiddies in a long time. I've seen some people called 'azz masta' and stuff like that, but I haven't really seen any social miscreants in a very long time. I don't think it's very fashionable any more. As far as griefers go... 1. no matter what you do with other people, there will always be a-holes and there isn't much you can do about that; 2. many games (SWG comes to mind readily) do a lot to reduce possible griefing quite successfully; 3. these days griefing is frowned upon and if you complain to the officials, you may actually have a leg to stand upon.
quote:
Originally posted by ThouShaltNot
I know I can go back to Fallout or Ultima VII or Quest for Glory whenever I feel the whim (as long as I can get them to work in whatever operating system I’m using at the time). But with MMORPGs, I cannot guarantee that they’ll still be around, because they are owned and controlled by other people, not me.
Does that mean you keep your old 486 or P1 machines around just so you can play an ancient game? The other day I popped my old DOS games CD in and wanted to play some XCOM. Hehehe... I was kind of sad I could not, but hey, it gave me many years of good service and a new game of the same style is in works, so I'll be ok. Point being, things get old. It's time to let them go. Some of the MMORPGs out there are as old as some of the games that don't play on my computer any more due to advances in technology. How far will you go just so you can 'own and permanently enjoy' your game?
quote:
Originally posted by ThouShaltNot
After paying hundreds of dollars and investing thousands of hours, all you will have is … memories. All I can say is, I will never let that happen to me.
A decent week long vacation costs a lot more and what do you have to show for it? Some seashells sitting in your bathroom? Some photographs in the family album?
Ugh... I was going to be constructive in my conclusion, but I have to run now. My appologies. I'll try to continue later on.
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Mon Jul 21, 2003 3:24 pm |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
I personally can't really relate to the idea of going back to old games (just my personal thing - I always have a list of new games I'm interested and I find old games often don't match my memories of them), but I think MMOG need to be seen differently.
As much as anything, these games are about an experience with other people - perhaps even good friends - and that same experience can't really be recreated years down the track, anyway. It can, however, be emulated: there are Ultima Online clans actively playing new games these days. In a sense, it doesn't matter to them what the game is because they move on together and simply play a new game but with the same friends. |
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Tue Jul 22, 2003 12:08 am |
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Davo
City Guard
Joined: 03 Sep 2002
Posts: 146
Location: Massachusetts, USA |
Thanks Hexy and Ekim for the information about the PvP griefing. I was not aware that you could opt out of that kind of playing. Now I'm intrigued about two upcoming MMORPGs: World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online. I'm pretty sure that I don't have the time for an MMORPG right now, but in about a year I'll have completed a very time consuming project and have more time on my hands. I can get over my distaste for monthly fees if a compelling-enough game is included in the package. I understand that developers have to charge monthly fees for MMORPGs. As someone else pointed out: bandwidth costs money. I just don't like the idea of paying so much money for a single game.
Having said that, could anyone who is interested in responding provide me with a little insight into the communal aspects of MMORPGs. Do you need to invest a thousand hours to experience the community aspects of this genre? If you don't play so often, and don't level up, are you kind of stuck without a group of adventurers to enjoy the game with? I have heard that solo play doesn't work very well in MMORPGs. Is that true?
Now I'm wondering whether I should take the plunge into the MMORPG world when World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online come out.
_________________
Apologize, v.i. To lay the foundation for a future offense.
Backbite, v.t. To speak of a man as you find him when he can't find you.
-- Ambrose Bierce, from The Devil's Dictionary. |
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Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:26 am |
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Hexy
High Emperor
Joined: 28 Jun 2002
Posts: 621
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quote:
Having said that, could anyone who is interested in responding provide me with a little insight into the communal aspects of MMORPGs. Do you need to invest a thousand hours to experience the community aspects of this genre? If you don't play so often, and don't level up, are you kind of stuck without a group of adventurers to enjoy the game with? I have heard that solo play doesn't work very well in MMORPGs. Is that true?
Now I'm wondering whether I should take the plunge into the MMORPG world when World of Warcraft and Warhammer Online come out.
Well, there will probably ALWAYS be people ranging from all kinds of levels, so you should THEORETICALLY often be able to find SOMEONE to group with... depending on where you are, time... etc.
You'll also probably be able to join a casual-guild if you don't invest much time. But count out the ubers.
The game may become a bit boring though, since leveling usually takes quite some time in an MMORPG.
I quit EverQuest because I thought it was too slow, since I couldn't invest that much time in it.
Many of the upcoming MMORPGs seem to adress soloing in a positive way. Sure, it'll probably always be more efficient to group or raid with lots of others, but you'll probably be able to solo quite well in games like World of Warcraft (which is the game I myself find most promising right now; Blizzard usually knows their stuff).
_________________
Like some bold seer in a trance;
Seeing all his own mischance |
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Tue Jul 22, 2003 5:52 am |
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Xanaki
Ghost of Asheron
Joined: 07 May 2002
Posts: 398
Location: Helsinki, Finland |
quote:
Originally posted by Davo
Having said that, could anyone who is interested in responding provide me with a little insight into the communal aspects of MMORPGs. Do you need to invest a thousand hours to experience the community aspects of this genre? If you don't play so often, and don't level up, are you kind of stuck without a group of adventurers to enjoy the game with? I have heard that solo play doesn't work very well in MMORPGs. Is that true?
It is true that you need to invest time to get into the community. But quite often that happens automatically if you play with other people. You tend to find those people you actually want to play with and spend time with. Especially if you play at regular times. And to my knowledge, NO MMORPG currently requires grouping. Grouping is just more efficient way to advance, and also (to me atleast) more fun because you have other people around you to talk with.
Games like EQ and DAoC are quite hard to play solo after you have reached certain level and want to advance further. You can do it but advancement is quite slow. They have death penalties and a single mistake can cause you to loose many hours of work. But then, some people refuse to group because of the same reason (Big group = more chances that someone does a mistake and causes the whole group to die I have one friend who soloed in DAoC from level 1 to level 50 and it took quite a bit of time, so it can be done
In games like Asheron's Call 1 you can solo from level 1 to level 126 if you want, and it is also very viable way to play AC (Of course, grouping is there too). This is because AC was designed to allow easy solo play I think. Asheron's Call 2 however is another story.
I myself prefer a choosing the way I want to play. Sometimes I want to solo and play alone but sometimes I want to group. I want that the both ways work good.
_________________
=Moderator of General MMORPG talk forum=
Senior Editor @ www.mmorpgdot.com |
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Tue Jul 22, 2003 6:29 am |
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ThouShaltNot
Eager Tradesman
Joined: 27 Feb 2003
Posts: 32
Location: New Zealand |
| Re: Why I have never tried a MMORPG |
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quote:
Originally posted by Ekim
By the way, ever thought of trying NeverWinter Nights? It's not an MMO, but it certainly is multiplayer, and it doesn't cost a thing after the initial purchase of the box. It's also player-drive in the sense that players operate servers, not Bioware, and even if they ever decide to stop supporting the game it will still be playable.
Actually I've already got NWN and SoU, and this is exactly the sort of business model that I think more games should emulate (although it's not really a replacement for MMORPGs). Because of the mod community, NWN has more longevity than your average non-MMO game, so people are likely keep buying expansions as long as Bioware continues making them. Rather than having customers pay regular fees just to keep playing, Bioware can receive ongoing income from regularly released expansions (like EA does with The Sims). This way those who keep paying will receive content updates, but those who don't will not lose what they already have. And when Bioware stops supporting NWN they won't be chased down by an angry mob demanding their money back (well actually they might, but I won't be among them).
That said, most MMOs charge ongoing subscription fees AND charge for content updates (expansions), don't they? Personally I think it should be one or the other, not both. With the current MMORPG business model they seem to make a large amount of money from a small number of people. If they adjusted their attitude, I think they could make the same amount of money but reach a much wider audience, thus making more people happy. Of course, I really don't know a thing about what's required to keep a MMO running, so this is probably just a pipe dream. |
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Tue Jul 22, 2003 11:27 am |
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Ekim
Eagle's Shadow
Joined: 27 May 2002
Posts: 2365
Location: Montreal, Canada |
quote:
Originally posted by Davo
Having said that, could anyone who is interested in responding provide me with a little insight into the communal aspects of MMORPGs. Do you need to invest a thousand hours to experience the community aspects of this genre? If you don't play so often, and don't level up, are you kind of stuck without a group of adventurers to enjoy the game with? I have heard that solo play doesn't work very well in MMORPGs. Is that true?
That really depends on the game... From experience I can honestly tell you that DAoC can be quite bad for casual players if you're the kind of person (like me) that like to group with the same crew because you get to know them. ALl of a sudden one day you wake up and log only to find out that during your two days of inactivity your friends are suddenly 10 levels higher than you are... They are also very reluctant to group with you because they'll sacrifice XP that is extremely hard to find already at their level...
But I think that developers are starting to recognize this problem. I won't make a campaign for SWG, but I can honestly tell you that SWG is a very solo-friendly game. Not only that, but since it's skill based and not level-based you never see the problem that you often see elsewhere (finding people to group with who are of similar levels). Your friends might have gained a few more skills than you did while you were away, but if you group you will still be able to help and you won't be cutting his share of XP.
Mind you, stay away from SWG until a few weeks still!!! I am not saying you should join SWG now... wait, because it's too buggy to whole-heartedly recommend right now. But keep an eye on it because as far as I'm concerned it's the most casual player-friendly MMORPG out there right now.
There's also Eve Online of which I heard that is friendly to casual gamers in the way you advance skill. But I haven't tried this one myself, so I can't really vouch for it. I think Xanaki is playing it right now, so he would be a better source about that game.
As far as future games are concerned, who knows what will happen to them before they come out. Avoid hype, don't expect anything Play the games that are out now, and see if the future ones cater to your needs when they actually come out. 
quote:
Originally posted by ThouShaltNot
That said, most MMOs charge ongoing subscription fees AND charge for content updates (expansions), don't they? Personally I think it should be one or the other, not both.
Actually, they don't charge for content updates. They charge for major content updates. And even though you could say that it looks like a play on words and doesn't really mean anything, it does. Developers will continually add content to their MMORPGs. All of those that have been released in the past, without exception, have added content on a regular basis through patches. When an expansion pack is released, it's usually for something that would be too big to download, like an engine upgrade, or an especially huge update that add completely new zones and landmass to the maps.
Those expansions are always optional, and the game can still be played without them, although the new zones/creatures/player races, etc. are not available to those who don't buy it.
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=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Worshiper of the Written Word= |
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Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:00 pm |
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Xanaki
Ghost of Asheron
Joined: 07 May 2002
Posts: 398
Location: Helsinki, Finland |
quote:
Originally posted by Ekim
There's also Eve Online of which I heard that is friendly to casual gamers in the way you advance skill. But I haven't tried this one myself, so I can't really vouch for it. I think Xanaki is playing it right now, so he would be a better source about that game.
I haven't been playing Eve very long (about a month or so total) but I can share few things that I have learned.
First of all, Eve Online is a space game. So if you don't like the space games then you won't like Eve either. But on the second hand, Eve Online is a RPG. You develop your character like in other RPGs, you just don't hunt experience to gain experience and eventually skills and/or levels for your character. There is no such thing as Experience hunting in Eve. Which is great.
Skills train automatically, you just make the choise which skills you want to train and which skills you want to buy. You start with a starter set (depending on your race and profession) of skills but eventually you will have to find more skills (There are over 100 skills in Eve I hear, you start with like 5-10 or so). Each skill has five mastery levels and the time to train to next mastery level roughly doubles on each step. Each skill also has a difficulty rank which multiplies the time needed to train the skill. So more advanced skills take longer to train.
To train a skill, you just select one skill to be trained and wait until it has completed training and then you can select another one and so fort. And of course only one skill can be trained at once *but* the skill trains even you are not logged in. Lets say that you are going to have a week holiday and can't play the game, you can start to train a skill that takes roughly that time to train and when you come back your skill is ready! No time wasted.
Of course, everything in Eve costs money and instead of the need of experience hunting you need to gain *money*. You need that for upgrading your equipment, ships (you can own multiple ships), skills and so forth. Eve is *all* about money and it provides many ways to gain that money (pirate, trade, kill NPC pirates, manufacture/sell....).
I would say that Eve is quite casual friendly game in terms of character development (only time matters how advanced your skills are). But in the other hand, the more advanced your character is, the more you again need money because for example, Insurances and clones cost quite a bit if your character is advanced (has many skills trained). If you don't have a clone and die -> your skills will be lost completely. Same goes for the ship, if you don't have insurance for the ship and it blows up -> good bye to the ship, no refund.
Starting to play Eve Online is pretty slow if you go the legal way and are playing solo. Gaining the cash for your first real ship might be frustrating, but it only needs some patience. Once you gain some better equipment it gets much easier to gain money.
Finally, in Eve Online is also pretty much about corporations (player guilds), they have a high role and eventually they can shape the universe of Eve (make space stations, control star systems and so forth). Like in any other game, corporations can help you get started much faster by providing equipment, protection and friends to play with. But anyway, soloing is a completely viable way to play in Eve, but prepare to stay longer at the asteroid fields mining for cash
uh, this became longer than I expected
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Last edited by Xanaki on Wed Jul 23, 2003 7:15 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Wed Jul 23, 2003 7:04 am |
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