The Guild Wars/DDO/(CoH?) model

spades07 · July 2009

There should be new mmorpgs along the lines both these games have opted for.
Why?
*Because they don't have the same old same old levelling campaign
*They are quickly accessible.
*People can quickly interact and find groups/do pvp. (unlike barren overly large worlds)
*Both have managed to do relatively well
*Both have managed to differentiate it's gameplay a little

The drawback is they are instance-based, but maybe they can be less instance orientated and be able to provide these perks. Ie. a quick pvp match or dungeon-crawl with friends.

Thoughts other than the swearing variety?

Wolfenpride · July 2009

I'll admit it does encourage grouping alot more for some reason rather than other games with persistent worlds.

I actually wouldn't mind games following such a model, so long as they continue to focus on grouping.

Still a persistent world focused on grouping would make me orgasm.

natuxatu · July 2009

Same here... that's why I enjoyed FFXI so much. It was mainly focused on groups.. with a few classes that could solo or whatever. Love Guild Wars too untill they added Heroes which ruined it for me.

Murdus · July 2009

Originally posted by spades07

There should be new mmorpgs along the lines both these games have opted for.

Why?

*Because they don't have the same old same old levelling campaign

*They are quickly accessible.

*People can quickly interact and find groups/do pvp. (unlike barren overly large worlds)

*Both have managed to do relatively well

*Both have managed to differentiate it's gameplay a little
The drawback is they are instance-based, but maybe they can be less instance orientated and be able to provide these perks. Ie. a quick pvp match or dungeon-crawl with friends.
Thoughts other than the swearing variety?

Agreed 100%

DDO all the way

EricDanie · July 2009

DDO? It's going to be re-released in August, if it's getting re-released it's because it was not doing well...

About Guild Wars, that's the winning model for me, and I really look forward Guild Wars 2. Why bother with item malls and subscription fees when they have shown it's possible to do it without any of these and rely only on box revenue.

Cartography · July 2009

Honestly, I don't see how DDO can't be one of the best F2P games on the market once it goes live. It is a very underrated game, and imo, is far superior to Turbine's true disaster known as LoTRO. It uses the Eberron setting, which I guess is fairly forgettable to DnD fans... understandably I would say. Anyways, DDO's in-depth grouping (easy as hell to join parties, and *gasp* people actually use the built-in LFG function) and character customization is unrivaled in the F2P market. As someone who has been playing FFXI since 2003, I'm looking forward to giving free DDO a spin.

GreenChaos · July 2009

CoH/CoV does have world areas. These do get split up if there are too many people in them. These aren't just lobbies, you can group/level up in them.

Although all missions are in instances.

This gives you a mission fitted to your group. They scale to the number of people in the group and difficulty levels can be changed.

But the mission architect has f'd up CoX IMHO

I'll think we'll be seeing more of this when we start getting more shooter MMOs, which can't handle massive numbers of people, due to aiming issues.

Murdus · July 2009

Originally posted by EricDanie

DDO? It's going to be re-released in August, if it's getting re-released it's because it was not doing well...
About Guild Wars, that's the winning model for me, and I really look forward Guild Wars 2. Why bother with item malls and subscription fees when they have shown it's possible to do it without any of these and rely only on box revenue.

What does it matter if it isn't doing well? It is a niche game that now is opening its doors to the non-niche players... it is just a really smart business move, the game could definetly survive without the change.

green13 · July 2009

Originally posted by spades07

There should be new mmorpgs along the lines both these games have opted for.

Why?

*Because they don't have the same old same old levelling campaign

*They are quickly accessible.

*People can quickly interact and find groups/do pvp. (unlike barren overly large worlds)

*Both have managed to do relatively well

*Both have managed to differentiate it's gameplay a little
The drawback is they are instance-based, but maybe they can be less instance orientated and be able to provide these perks. Ie. a quick pvp match or dungeon-crawl with friends.
Thoughts other than the swearing variety?

I've played CoH longer than any other mmo.

But I think its instance-based design is one of its biggest handicaps.

The randomly generated missions mean that you'll never do exactly the same mission twice - but you can only do so many of them before the mobs and locations start to feel repetitive. And "repetitive" is the word you'll hear most often from former CoH players when they say why they stopped playing.

CoH's strength, IMO, is in its gameplay mechanics. These factors combine to good effect:

players choose primary and secondary powersets
most powers have primary and secondary effects, and those effects can interact with each other in interesting ways

Put those two together, and each choice of primary/secondary powersets makes for a unique gaming experience. Further, every time you play in a team, it's a difference experience again because of the different powersets other players have. This makes gameplay less repetitive.

Had CoH been set in a more traditional EQ'esque world like WOW, i.e. mostly outdoor content with a few instances, then I think the game would have been even more popular.

green13 · July 2009

Originally posted by GreenChaos

But the mission architect has f'd up CoX IMHO

It has improved somewhat.

I was there when AE launched and witnessed the nigh-apocalyptic vacuum effect that AE had on the playerbase. It was both awful and fascinating to watch.

But I've gone back to check out issue 16 (the powerset combination stuff) which is due to go live soon. There's always a high number of players in the Atlas Park AE center, but there's also players out in the rest of the gameworld again.

It almost seems normal again.

Papadam · July 2009

The funny thing is that alot of people here say that games like DDO/GW isnt MMOs but there is alot more grouping and social interaction in DDO than in WoW/WAR/AoC/LotrO and so on

I think DDO have a good chance being pretty succesfull with their new buisness model.

rr2real · July 2009

Originally posted by natuxatu

Same here... that's why I enjoyed FFXI so much. It was mainly focused on groups.. with a few classes that could solo or whatever. Love Guild Wars too untill they added Heroes which ruined it for me.

are you kidding me?

there's nothing more annoying than getting stuck because you have no one to make a group in GW

the heroes saved the game

Sarr · July 2009

Originally posted by rr2real

Originally posted by natuxatu

Same here... that's why I enjoyed FFXI so much. It was mainly focused on groups.. with a few classes that could solo or whatever. Love Guild Wars too untill they added Heroes which ruined it for me.

are you kidding me?

there's nothing more annoying than getting stuck because you have no one to make a group in GW

the heroes saved the game

Reading such opinions (rather true indeed) makes me think it's good that Turbine hasn't allowed equipping hirelings, leveling them up, etc. DDO is focused on group play. You can solo, you can have great fun with it (I like to solo very often). But grouping in that game is absolutely unmatched experience. PvE is the best I've ever seen to date.

That said, I'd love it Turbine expanded and put efforts into expanding and balancing PvP more. New Challenge system is one of the most fun things in this game, and that means a lot. Only 2 new arenas (deathmatch or capture the flag), but it plays like a mix between Quake III's fun with Hexen's style. Also, in one of those arenas there are mechanical traps which you can find in PvE dungeons.

I know it's weird, but I'm starting love PvP in DDO... and want more and more of it!

Solo video of DDO in place beyond my level

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxc6XI0Y74I

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The Guild Wars/DDO/(CoH?) model

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