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POLL - What type of game best suits your play style?
Teala
Member RarePosts: 7,627
Poll 1) What type of game best suits your play style?
1) Theme Park based game. Theme Park being a game like World of Warcraft, Aion, Rift - for example. These games have few, if any, sandbox game play elements or mechanics. No housing, no guild halls, may or may not have crafting, may or may not have player controlled economy, simple character customization(depends on game), lots of pre-scripted quest, static worlds, mostly class based character progression, end game consist of running raids and pvp battlegrounds, very gear oriented.
2) Hybrid Theme Park/Sandbox. Being that it combines aspects of both a theme park and sandbox. Example would be something similar to Star Wars Galaxies, Dark Age of Camelot, in their current form.
3) Sandbox. This would be a game like Ultima Online or EVE. Has player owned housing(ships, stations for EVE), guild halls, player controlled vendors, player controlled territory, player controlled economy, robust and often deep crafting element, resource gathering, lots of freedom for character customization, dynamic world, few pre-scripted quest, player made content, mostly skill based character progression, no real end game(end game is what you make of the game).
4) Other - If you choose other, please explain in some detail what you’d like to see.
This poll is part of my Project MMORPG 101 <<<<< click to read more
Comments
Sandbox for me.
I'm all for freedom of gameplay and players impacting the game and somehow leaving a mark. I don't need big, bright, shiny, flashing arrows, question, or exclamation marks telling me where to go and what to do.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
None?
I dislike most of the MMOs I play, period. There are only a few that I liked enough to play any amount of time.
All men think they're fascinating. In my case, it's justified
Going by your definitions I picked option 3. If for whatever reason option 3 was not available I'd go with option 2. Option 1 was never an option for me.
I too don't need giant exclamation or question marks and shiny sparkly arrows telling me where to go. I'm perfectly capable of finding my own way. I'm also tired of being an errand boy. Let me give you an example.
The other day I loaded up Neverwinter Nights (no not the old mmo, the one made by atari, predecessor to NWN2) and decided to go play on one of the "persistent world" servers. I walk in, talk to the first npc to see what the deal is and the npc was already asking me to fetch some statue she forgot to get because she was in a hurry and ran out the door. This annoyed me to the point that I actually used a sleep spell, knocked her out and then took out my dagger and "coup de grace"-d her, killing her instantly. Lo and behold, an admin shows up and asks me why I killed the npc and I tell them that I'm no errand boy and refuse to do her bidding. The fact that she had the gall to ask me something like that put her on my "must kill" list. I figured she was right there in front of me, and on the list so I did away with her. Sure enough I got banned.
In any case, the more I try the new games nowadays the more I see the stupid errands they send me on, asking me to deliver this, or bring back that, or kill so many of somesuch. This is not questing. My GF asks me to take out the garbage, or clean the dishes, or open a jar and it's no different then doing that crap in a game. The fact that people aplaud this kind of lack luster, unimaginative writing is what makes me sad for this genre.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
Sandbox. AAA all the way.
Once upon a time....
Depends on how into a game I plan on getting or am able to.
If i'll have lots of spare time to devote to something, and can really get into it (personal taste thing), than it's sandbox all the way.
But if I can only play casually, say a few hours throughout an entire month, than I preffer the on-rails themepark route, simply because that short time gets spent more wisely.
I'm not that demanding.
I'd like to see games as they were a while back. Explanation: Yeah, they were gear dependant. And yeah, they were level dependant as well. But they were also skill dependant, and not that frilly. They were complex in their way, like Ragnarok was when it started...
The fact that most games today are auto-stats is just ofensive. I mean, building your character adds immersion to the game.
Re-spec is also ridiculous, IMHO
The fact that I had to build another character to do something different and it was still fun made the game even better. Instead of the "1g resetting NPC"...
I'm not saying Ragnarok is the best game out there, but it was the game I had most fun with. Decent immersion, not that unbalanced, which means casters still could do 1on1 pvp's, something impossible nowadays.
In short, I'd like to see a game with no auto-stats, no re-specing and still not that time consumer. Heavy PvP influence with player ran economy.
lol I really laughed out loud at that. Anyways I voted 2 since I don't mind questing but hate to do just questing. My preferred game would have all the sandbox stuff listed, and quests that change as the world changes. Like if a town gets wiped out somehow the residents need new supplies/ people to make new houses for them or if you kill all the spiders there are no more in the area till something else happens etc.
the struggle to free myself from restraints becomes my very shackles
Hybrid. Easily. first MMO ever was SWG so of course it helped grow my tastes. But then I had a blast in FFXI and WoW and Vanguard and Lotro and love SOME aspects of Darkfall and Eve.
I no longer consider SWG to be anything like a "themepark". It may have been close pre-NGE but since, I just don't think so. Closest to a "hybrid" right now would probably be EVE Online. Even more so if and when that Dust 514 comes out (which I won't go into now). DoAC, maybe. Didn't play much of it so couldn't give a complete picture. Darkall, not at the moment but maybe sometime in the future. Fallen Earth, possibly.
Let's party like it is 1863!
i picked other... adapt to the game. i find either can be enjoyable if the game is good.
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
I picked sandbox, but really I like a little themepark in my MMO. I like to be about 3/4 sandbox 1/4 themepark. I like 2 major factions, but i don't think you should be locked in to them. I like dougoens that you have to beat in a group but they should give part for crafted weapons not full working weapons that are better then crafted ones. I like AHs but they should have a cap so that you have to go hunt for the best stuff on player vendors. I like couple major towns for newbies but I also want player towns. At the same time I don't want classes, I don't want levels. I want skill based level with a cap on max number of skills and you get abilities based on your skill level. Also no pvp money, dougoen money, raid money etcc..
I will not play a game with a cash shop ever again. A dev job should be to make the game better not make me pay so it sucks less.
I picked sandbox, even though the two games I'm currently playing are both sandbox games. I've played Eve, and loved almost everything about it, except for two things. One: I don't care much for the genre at all. Two: I have to have a physical avatar. I loved not having levels. I love the game being player driven. I love the vast, vast, vast (did I mention vast) universe. I loved the freeformness. And yet, I haven't been able to find a fantasy game yet that even approaches it.
I like the social and cooperative aspects of MMOs, that's why I play them. If I want story and mini-games, I have single player games that do this far, far better than any MMORPG can ever hope to do.
Saying WOW has few, if any, sandbox elements exhibits a lack of understanding of the core of what sandbox is.
Sandbox is player freedom. When you choose between 4 starting zones and 2-3 zones at any given level to quest in, that's player freedom. When you choose to run dungeons or craft or PVP or socialize, that's player freedom. When you choose to switch specs, that's player freedom.
Overall WOW doesn't offer a completely blank slate for players to do anything they want, and it's certainly a themepark MMORPG. But to say it offers few sandbox elements is a gross oversimplification. Every MMORPG out there involves both linear and nonlinear elements. It's just an overall tilt that determines whether players label it themepark or sandbox.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
I have been voting 3 Sandbox - but since my all-time favourite games are DAoC and Ryzom I'm probably more of a 2.5 guy.
Whatever the game is called - for my tastes make sure it's a believable virtual world where my character can "live".
However, I believe your poll misses an important 4th selection, namely the MMO action/shooter/e-sports variant that gets ever more popular, not for me, mind you, but for many people. Increasingly I believe that the themepark/sandbox differentiation becomes obsolete because the industry is moving away from the MMO and RPG combination towards an MMO action and arcade formula.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
Currently Playing:
......
I think I like what Vanguard was is that like a mixture of sandbox/themepark ?
People on this site should really pay attention to this quote
Other- It's complicated
Godspeed my fellow gamer
Really? I was just about to reply Axehilts post; This guy has no clue what 'player freedom' means. If your definition of player freedom is to choose on which zone you grind your exp, or when you choose to 'switch specs', you clearly have no idea what player freedom means.
No offense but if only game you have ever played is WoW, don't even bother to post about player freedom.
Edit:
Oh, forgot to tell I voted 'hybrid'. I'm not a total themepark hater but prefer some mix of themepark / sandbox.
I would argue that sandboxes are determined more by player driven content, not freedom. If you look at games like EvE and Ryzom, sure, you have plenty of freedom, but the defining aspect is that the players control the overall state of the game, not the developers.
Other - as long as I'm having fun it can be a Themebox, Sandpark or a Litterbox with kitty poo in it... Fun is the main purpose of my playstyle.
That is so true, most of todays gamers only play a few MMOs and WoW being thier primairy MMO, haven't really exprienced much.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/4065378/I-want-themepark-MMOs-because-I-fail.html#4065378
Don't mind me, I'll just leave this link here to answer your question...
By the way, I don't think this is a very well done poll. For one thing, your explanation of a themepark sounded more like an explanation of what it means to be WoW.
There's lots of bias-laden phrasing overall. I mean, you really talk up the good points of sandboxes, and emphasize the negative parts of themeparks.
I think the poll would be more interesting (If not any more balanced) if you described themeparks as "Well designed, structured and easy to enjoy efficiently, lots of carefully crafted content", and described sandbox with terms like 'Aimless gameplay, lots of wasted space, low budget', and so on.
I picked hybrid, because I play one....
There are days when I want to run missions, days when I want to explore, days when I want to scavenge/craft my butt off, and days when I feel like pwning face. Of course there are also days where I feel like doing all of the above, and do
I hate being restricted to a single "class" and not having freedom in how I build my character. I like player-driven content, but I like there to be PvE quests too, so I don't have to rely on others to help create my fun. I don't like tab-targetting or autoattack and GCDs give me ulcers...(I'm getting pickier as I get older) so the majority of themeparks leave me cold. OTOH, PK-ing is not my thing and full looting gives me a different type of ulcer...so many sandboxes don't do it for me either.
I'm happy where I am, playing in my theme-box (sand-park? Is there an official hybrid shorthand?) and everytime I try something new, I find I'm happier than ever to stay where I am.