Ive played a few now (Hero Online, Carpe Diem, KAL Online, Archlord, 9Drags) and they all seem to suffer the same problems.
- no craft, therefore no community interdependence, therefore not much ingame community
- and no RPing (hence MMO not MMORPG)
- no centralised auctuion house type thingy requires AFK shops or sell to npc for peanuts
- no / little character customisations - your char always ends up looking like everyone elses
- sure 9Dragons and Archlord have some, but chars still all tend look the same
- storyline / questing are all thin on the ground or unsatisfactory in terms of XP and providing reasons / answers to the point of the game, which limit the games to...
- grind, grind, grind - sooner, or even earlier than that, they all boil down to farming the same mobs over ond over again before moving on to the next lot to farm
- combat, whichever classes you play, the combat quickly becomes repetetive reducing players to automatons, so much so they are often replaced by....
- bots, as well as gold farmers and the rest of the MMO dregs that stick to these games like flies to sh1t
all that said, if u like Grindfests 9Dragons is the one to go for by a mile (at least till Archlord goes ftp, but you'll still need to pay for the client, or perhaps 2moons will break the mould [with swearing at least])
Comments
short answer: no
longer answer: i dont think there is one
You forgot to mention Lineage 2. Grind fest galore. Same stuff different level. RP?? lol not a chance. Casual gamers will quickly fall behind, and at that point your friends that are not hard core will leave the game. Lineage fits your points to a T. To sell you either NPC it for nothing, or you sit AFK in a shop. Lineage does have crafting and it is limited to Dwarves. The dwarf can set up a shop and charge whatever he wishes to for the clicks. Adena farmers are rampant (in game currency). but they also farm crafting materials, boss mobs, and other dungeon goods to the point they will PK you if you come and try to raid it yourself. (Lineage is open PvP)
I dont believe in FTP games, as they always attract immature players, so no advice on that.
To error is human, to forgive is devine. Neither are US Marine Corps doctrine.
Perhaps you are telling the truth, but as long people are playing and buying these games they wont stop creating them. Those game you named above are all succesful in Europe (and other continents as well) so maby people are still interested in silly storylines and endless grinding.
I think all players have the right to choose their own game. People on the MMORPG.com forum are making fun on those who like other games than you do. Why it is so ''ridiculous'' to have other interests?
PS: This does not have alot of value for you, but I just want to share my feelings with others who read this.
sven101 said:
"Perhaps you are telling the truth, but as long people are playing and buying these games they wont stop creating them. Those game you named above are all succesful in Europe (and other continents as well) so maby people are still interested in silly storylines and endless grinding."
The point is these games is that they are already created and being played in East Asia (Korea, China, Thailand, Malaysia etc), and companies are looking to convert them for Western audiences, thus getting an MMO for a tiny fraction of the cost of actually developing one. People are not buying them (hence Archlord backtracking on subscription, and client costs being slashed), they are generally free clients and ftp, with revenues coming from advertising and cash shops (premium items to increase xp rates / superior equiptment etc).
I havnt played Lineage2 or Rappelz, and probably never will such are my expectations of them. I might try 2Moons, just for the blood spatter and to freely enjoy my and other's unmodded use of foul and abusive language (assuming we can freely turn the air blue [though i do hope it is not a forum for racism, sexism, religious bigotry etc]). But i expect to be quickly bored of that because it is not a substitute for content and a decent combat system.
However, cultural tastes and expectations differ widely, and perhaps they dislike the look of western characters (despite chars in the MMO conversions all looking the same, they and their armours do look good), and laugh at our need to pay for the client, and then again for a subscription to play.
I thing the grindfest is an entirely Korean thing, maybe they just have too much time or their hands or something, but since the Korean MMORPG boom, grinding has ruined many if not all the MMORPGs ever made. Chinese games are mostly ripoffs from the Korean model so i won't comment further. But it seems the problem is really the grind wall, at a certain level the experience a player recieves from kills significantly drops away and the time required to gain level exponentially increases. This model seems to lack any sense at all. It seems that either the game developers dont want players to reach maximum level or they want to maintain grip on the player base. But it's rather having an opposite effect, and turning down many potential players.
An offshoot of the grindfest problem is the repetive action also mentioned by many people. The two work in conjunction as two of the biggest dissapointments and turn offs of MMORPG. In terms of 9Dragons, the gameplay system has potential to be a great game, but once again... the grind problem would restrict access to these great in game features. IIn the end it's rather sad
why people keep complaining about grindfest?
what is the game for?
just go in there kill the mobs and lvl up.....that's what all games are! jesus!
if there is no grind then what else to do on the game?
and what's the fun of playing mmorpg if the game lvl maxed out within a month? no not fun at all............i hate it!
9Dragons is a very good game..........it not just about leveling your character but its also about leveling your skills.
ITS F2P! Stop whining loosers!......if you don't like it then go develope your own game and play yourself.
My biggest complaint with Asian MMOs is the key mappings. I like games that allow me to use the keyboard to turn left or right. I remember the first time I tried L2 - thought it was going to be something I could get into. Had good graphics and I liked the game play but just as soon as I hit my arrow key to make a right turn I ended up doing some strange sideways run. At first was no big deal. Thought I'd simply go and remap the key but to my surprise it's just the way it is.
My wife and I went out and spent $60.00 each on the Final Fantasy MMO - My wife who it's very hard to get her to try something different than what she is currently playing was pretty jazzed, too until she got into the game with an elf and it looked nothing like it did when creating it - lets not even go into that stupid long neck they gave it. But in the end we both gave it about 2 days and simply could not get used to the movement keys.
Tried RF and was the exact same thing. I never have understood why they all seem to have the same movement types when trying to turn left or right. But for me, unless there is some type of try before you buy - I avoid Asian games.
Oh and do those people know anything else other than anime? Don't get me wrong I like some anime, but sheesh try something different for a change.
This really is the nub of the problem. The xp rate really falls off a cliff and you spend hours or days in one spot repetitivly grinding the same mobs over and over again just to make a single level.
Sure western MMOs have grinding too, but it never feels as pointless, or as mind numbingly mundane as in the titles i mentioned. It has only been the asian conversions (indeed everyone ive tried) where it has got to the point where i have thought ugh, enough is enough.
The other biggest annoyance i have with them is the player shop. First time i came across them i thought it was a good idea... but not for long. Why would i want to spend my gaming time sitting in 1 spot looking at my shop hoping someone will buy the crap i've looted when i could be out grinding (since questing or crafting arn't options)? Unless you have 2 computers, 1 as a constant AFK shop, you will need to leave your computer logged on overnite or when u are out at work (or school whatever), or you will be poor coz u npc the loot for peanuts. I now beleive this is the worst possible solution a dev could come up with to enable inter-player trade.
The complete lack of key mapping, and the inability to have multiple hotbars up simultaneously are also really annoying.
But as i said before, if u want a ftp MMO conversion, 9dragons is definately the one to go for - purely for the combat animations / variety, and superior combat mechanics when compared to the other Asian MMOs
First off, I dont think anyone called people names here as this is a discussion, so no need to refer to people as "losers" when you can not even spell the word properly.
The RPG in MMORPG means Role Playing Game. It was stated in this thread and other places that the Asian MMO's are just MMO and have no RPG in them. Some people play for the social values of a game. Casual gamers enjoy being able to socialize as well as hard core gamers. In games like L2 your too busy grinding for XP and money to be able to be social. There is not a story line and there is no RPG aspect at all. Leveling your character is the way to level your skills, so the second to last comment in your thread is redundant. We are customers, and most of us do not have a desire to develop a game. Once again the more casual gamer probably has more things to do than develop his/her own game. You have stated your opinion, which means you enjoy the challenge that Asian MMO's offer in the grind fest.
To answer your question on what else there is to do in a game, you have to open your mind and know that other people have their own play styles that differ from yours. In games you can socialize and role play, craft and creat items for your self and others, PvP, adventure and explore, and the list goes on. Please open your mind up and realize that not everyone plays for your reasons.
To error is human, to forgive is devine. Neither are US Marine Corps doctrine.
a somewhat idiotic post to break your cherry with calpham...
why people keep complaining about grindfest? just go in there kill the mobs and lvl up.....that's what all games are! jesus! if there is no grind then what else to do on the game?
i feel sorry for you if you have never played an MMORPG that offers more than just grind - perhaps playing some will show you
and what's the fun of playing mmorpg if the game lvl maxed out within a month? no not fun at all............i hate it!
the most successful MMO ever (no need to mention the name) level cap could be reached in a month, although, like many others i felt it was too simplistic (amoungst many other aspects i was disappointed by)
9Dragons is a very good game..........it not just about leveling your character but its also about leveling your skills
levelling the skills is one of the worst parts, to spend hour after hour just pressing the key to use the skill 100 -100000 times to get the buff to the next level (only to have to do it again and again each more times than the last) only encourages botting to avoid that tedium. although having the melee attack chains increase with new animations (as well as do more damage) is a nice touch though
ITS F2P! Stop whining loosers!......if you don't like it then go develope your own game and play yourself.
only an idiot child would consider that a reasonable point
I think we have a winner here folks.
The point of this forum topic is about the Asian MMO style. Other posters have noted that they intentionaly call it an MMO because there is no RPG aspect. FTP is not the only place the grind fest takes place. In other games, you may max out level, but their is sometimes more content beyond the grind.
Alot of people game for the social atmosphere, and they play with their friends. Alot of people dislike the same thing over and over and want content. In personal experience I have found games like Lineage 2 to have very little in the lines of content, but they have made many efforts to westernize their style. They just have alot of hard work for no reward in my opionion.
To error is human, to forgive is devine. Neither are US Marine Corps doctrine.
Personally i never got in to it since i have pretty specific ideas about character customization (something most Asian MMO's lacks.. You usually have 4 hairstyles and 3 faces) but 9 D has peeked my interest. It seems like a good setting, so i am gonna give it the benefit of a doubt.
90% of the Asian MMO's does not seems to be anything for me tho. To small, to ugly and way to much grind. (and yes i have peeked at many of them even if i never started playing.)
This have been a good conversation
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
to ALL: mix together, make a new game that is better than this one, until u all hasve doe this, shut up and stop writing such nonsense!
every when u dont like such thigns, stay away from them! and when u think 0.10% is low, play FLYFF on this lvl, there u get 0.03 for a monster on ur lvl!