This really is a tough question to answer. I am 39 years old now and for the last few years I've questioned whether I am "outgrowing" being a gamer. Mostly because I find myself increasingly picky about the games I play.
I look for playability and immersion in an online game. And by immersion I don't mean just storyline, I want to play the game and lose all sense of time. I enjoy looking up at the clock and being floored by the seven hours that have passed that only felt like two. I haven't had that happen in a long time...
I understand that this is a vague answer and what the OP intended was to glean details about what makes a game desirable but I am not at all sure I can quantify the facets of a game that draw me in anymore. One of the big things about SWG when it released that nowadays often gets overlooked in Vet animosity (points at myself) is that aside from a couple cities per planet it was a completely virgin world. All items were crafted by the players themselves for the most part and you could veer off into the wilderness and not see another player for hours if you chose.
I would dearly love to see the ability to take control of more than just a beast or elemental. I have a vision of starting a new character on release day, marching off into the wilderness of a virgin world and not being seen again.. Until I come back a month later leading a dozen humanoids in an attack against the starting city I spawned from. I'm an amateur game developer myself (by no means professional grade) and even with my limited skills I know these things are possible to implement, just time-consuming and therefore costly. But I put forth that if you don't set out to make the best game conceivable or you allow yourself to deviate from the vision you had when you started development then the game is inherently flawed, and the devs will grow to resent what they've created. Generally, it's Marketing or investors that cause this deviation. Another recommendation from me is don't hire a Marketing department until you're in Beta and make sure investors sign off on no release date sooner than 3 years after development starts.
I know not all I said pertained directly to the thread, but it's all tied in together for me. Forgive the tangent.
For me, things are looked at, pretty much in the following order:
1. Atmosphere/Potential for Immersion
The first thing I do is look at screenshots to determine if this is an environment it appears I could "get lost" in. That doesn't mean it has to be pretty, or an particular STYLE of art and design. It DOES mean, it has to look like someplace I would want to spend TIME....a LOT of time. It has to have some sort of "Oooo ahhhh" factor to it. Whether that is the most beautifully rendered forests I've ever seen....or the most stunning night skies...OR....just an overall CHARM factor that has nothing to do with DX10 or beastly gaming machines. I am able to find immersion in varied environments, but there has to be SOMETHING specifically...a moment...that makes me go, "Oooooo!"
2. Features
I read about the game's features. What is the vision of the developer for what they want the game to "do", for lack of a better word. Sadly, this particular item has gotten me suckered into a few games that were NOT at all what I envisioned. Warhammer, is a good example of this. On the other hand, there are games up and coming like Alganon, that I really can get into the developer's vision for that game. Time will tell on this first factor I look for though. ACTIONS mean more than words to me, from developers, so while this is one of the FIRST things I look at, it's often the last thing I can actually measure.
Amongst the features, I want to see....
a. Crafting that is actually interesting in some way (EQ2 and LotRO succeed here, for me)
b. PvE > PvP but I do prefer the CHOICE to do BOTH (LotRO kind of fails with this for me, WoW kind of succeeds)
c. Player Housing has to compete with the likes of EQ2, and so far...I just haven't found better. Examples: LotRO's player housing is, in my opinion....abysmal. WoW's, since there IS none, is worse. I would rather have NO player housing, than very very poorly designed housing. Runes of Magic is about the same as LotRO's housing...just...ewww. Those are examples of player housing...done all wrong, imo.
d. Community - If I go to the game's forums and it appears that everyone playing the game is an immature drama queen (age has very little to do with this, by the way) then I will NOT choose that game unless I have an established group of people I know that are playing it that I can hang out with.
e. Quests and Lore - I know some people consider questing to be nothing more than a well-disguised grind, that is fine. If I have to "grind"....it damn well BETTER be well-disguised. And with these quests I want a STORY. I want lore that I can read so that I have a REASON to "be a person" in this "world" I'm considering. I LOVE questing. I am a quest HO.
f. P2P > F2P to me. My parents always told me that you get what you pay for, and I have RARELY found that to be untrue. So while I will consider f2p games.....the likelihood of them holding my attention while they're peddling their cash shops....is pretty slim.
g. World Events - I am a GREAT fan of world events. I think they're exciting, fun, often funny, and a great socially bonding aspect of an mmoRPG. Example: I LOVED the Scourge Invasion in WoW. LOVED it. While soooo many people were complaining...I was having the time of my life (as far as games go). Granted, when "shopping" for your next MMO, this isn't always something you can even know whether you'll have in a game, generally.
3. Reviews
I am NOT going to say here what most people would probably say. If a game has good reviews....I will at least give it a look. However.....I never just discount a game's potential based ONLY on reviews. I will try a game that has had BAD reviews if the developer's VISION (see point 1) seems to fit within my idea of what could make a great game. A good review will get me to look......a bad review will probably get me to look MORE CAREFULLY. This has often led me to some great games that were maybe niche games, that I would have otherwise MISSED if I just played "follow the lemmings."
4. Trials and Open Betas - If there's a trial, for pretty much ANY MMO....I will give it a try before deciding. I subscribe to anywhere from 1 to 4 MMOs at a time, so trials are important to me. I'm getting ready to spend MONEY. I want an idea of what I'm going to be spending it ON.
Note I said "OPEN betas," not betas. I work in closed beta testing of a lot of games, most of which I don't end up playing long term. Closed beta, for me, is more done out of a love for the progress of the genre, and not a real determining factor in what games I ultimately PLAY. I think there should be as many TYPES of MMOs as there are types of gamers. So I think of closed beta testing as one singular way that I can contribute to the good of other gamers, not just myself.
5. IS IT FUN?
More specifically....is it fun to ME? I don't care if it's fun for 11 million other people, if it's not fun...TO ME. Conversely, I don't care if it IS fun to 11 million other people...if it's ALSO fun to ME....I'll play!
1. Look at who is making it. If it says SOE anywhere, I move on. If it doesn't, I continue reading.
2. Look to see the theme: high fantasy, low fantasy, established IP, new IP. I'm kind of burnt out on Fantasy (high or low) as well as established IPs now. At this point I read on but am only truly considering buying/investing time in it if it's a new IP.
3. Look at their plans for crafting and player housing. If it "doesn't interfere with being heroic" like Vogel plans for SW:TOR, I'm out. If it plays a key role in gameplay and the gameworld (FE, MO, SWG:PNGE, Ultima Online), I'm another step in.
4. Look to see if it's group centered or solo heavy. I prefer games that are group focused, but not raid focused.
5. Look to see how active the company is within the community. A level of interaction that Fallen Earth has, or Asheron's Call had with monthly events is a huge plus.
6. Look at PvP. I prefer PvP with a purpose (as opposed to the "because I can" approach that most developers take). SWG had good elements with people defending cities/forts they built. DAoC was good with respect to my realms versus the others. Not a fan of FFA/loot PvP and neither do I like instanced arenas or battlegrounds.
7. Look high and low for the terms "RMT", "Microtransaction", "Item Mall or Shop" or <insert company name> dollars, potatoes, currency, shines, etc. If any of this or anything related to this not listed is in the plans, the game is written off immediately.
8. Look up the key players on their dev team. If there is anyone in a super influential position that had similar reigns on another game I didn't enjoy or have read detailed depictions of them charlie foxtrotting it, I start looking for the tell-tale signs of them doing it again.
9. Hopefully get in beta (I've sucessfully made it into every beta since 2003/4 that I've applied to) and get a sense of the game while getting a look at how well it is put together (i.e., how darn buggy it is- and yes, I report them, lol).
10. If satisfied with the above, I alert my "crew" to which new game they will be purchasing (I'm the MMO point-man) and buy the game.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
The first thing that will catch my eye is the name... naturally.If it sounds interesting enough Ill give it a look, secondly the first thing I check always is the genre and then the class system (if present) and general character customisation, Seriously all those f2p games really need to learn to be creative with their classes, I think warrior, rogue ranger, mage have been used to death. And from there on if Im still interested, gameplay mechanics and player comments, then screenshots.
1. Look at who is making it. If it says SOE anywhere, I move on. If it doesn't, I continue reading. 2. Look to see the theme: high fantasy, low fantasy, established IP, new IP. I'm kind of burnt out on Fantasy (high or low) as well as established IPs now. At this point I read on but am only truly considering buying/investing time in it if it's a new IP. 3. Look at their plans for crafting and player housing. If it "doesn't interfere with being heroic" like Vogel plans for SW:TOR, I'm out. If it plays a key role in gameplay and the gameworld (FE, MO, SWG:PNGE, Ultima Online), I'm another step in. 4. Look to see if it's group centered or solo heavy. I prefer games that are group focused, but not raid focused. 5. Look to see how active the company is within the community. A level of interaction that Fallen Earth has, or Asheron's Call had with monthly events is a huge plus. 6. Look at PvP. I prefer PvP with a purpose (as opposed to the "because I can" approach that most developers take). SWG had good elements with people defending cities/forts they built. DAoC was good with respect to my realms versus the others. Not a fan of FFA/loot PvP and neither do I like instanced arenas or battlegrounds. 7. Look high and low for the terms "RMT", "Microtransaction", "Item Mall or Shop" or <insert company name> dollars, potatoes, currency, shines, etc. If any of this or anything related to this not listed is in the plans, the game is written off immediately. 8. Look up the key players on their dev team. If there is anyone in a super influential position that had similar reigns on another game I didn't enjoy or have read detailed depictions of them charlie foxtrotting it, I start looking for the tell-tale signs of them doing it again. 9. Hopefully get in beta (I've sucessfully made it into every beta since 2003/4 that I've applied to) and get a sense of the game while getting a look at how well it is put together (i.e., how darn buggy it is- and yes, I report them, lol). 10. If satisfied with the above, I alert my "crew" to which new game they will be purchasing (I'm the MMO point-man) and buy the game.
Will you marry me?
LOL j/k BUT....I do like your list there! I would let you be "MMO point man" in my "crew" too!
1. Look at who is making it. If it says SOE anywhere, I move on. If it doesn't, I continue reading. 2. Look to see the theme: high fantasy, low fantasy, established IP, new IP. I'm kind of burnt out on Fantasy (high or low) as well as established IPs now. At this point I read on but am only truly considering buying/investing time in it if it's a new IP. 3. Look at their plans for crafting and player housing. If it "doesn't interfere with being heroic" like Vogel plans for SW:TOR, I'm out. If it plays a key role in gameplay and the gameworld (FE, MO, SWG:PNGE, Ultima Online), I'm another step in. 4. Look to see if it's group centered or solo heavy. I prefer games that are group focused, but not raid focused. 5. Look to see how active the company is within the community. A level of interaction that Fallen Earth has, or Asheron's Call had with monthly events is a huge plus. 6. Look at PvP. I prefer PvP with a purpose (as opposed to the "because I can" approach that most developers take). SWG had good elements with people defending cities/forts they built. DAoC was good with respect to my realms versus the others. Not a fan of FFA/loot PvP and neither do I like instanced arenas or battlegrounds. 7. Look high and low for the terms "RMT", "Microtransaction", "Item Mall or Shop" or <insert company name> dollars, potatoes, currency, shines, etc. If any of this or anything related to this not listed is in the plans, the game is written off immediately. 8. Look up the key players on their dev team. If there is anyone in a super influential position that had similar reigns on another game I didn't enjoy or have read detailed depictions of them charlie foxtrotting it, I start looking for the tell-tale signs of them doing it again. 9. Hopefully get in beta (I've sucessfully made it into every beta since 2003/4 that I've applied to) and get a sense of the game while getting a look at how well it is put together (i.e., how darn buggy it is- and yes, I report them, lol). 10. If satisfied with the above, I alert my "crew" to which new game they will be purchasing (I'm the MMO point-man) and buy the game.
Will you marry me?
LOL j/k BUT....I do like your list there! I would let you be "MMO point man" in my "crew" too!
LOL! I'll have to check with the wife. I don't think she'd mind as long as she continued to be first wife, lol!
Seriously, though, I think our lists reflect a large portion of the MMO gaming audience that sends 1 or a few people to battle on these forums. Some call us "old school" and say we aren't a large portion, but in truth we just, for the most part, don't like to engage in shouting contest on forums with the so-called "new school gamers". That may be to our detriment, but we are here and we would like to see more variety in the types of MMOs being made.
Energizing some of the concepts in those older games and infusing them into modern efforts is long overdue.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
1. Look at who is making it. If it says SOE anywhere, I move on. If it doesn't, I continue reading. 2. Look to see the theme: high fantasy, low fantasy, established IP, new IP. I'm kind of burnt out on Fantasy (high or low) as well as established IPs now. At this point I read on but am only truly considering buying/investing time in it if it's a new IP. 3. Look at their plans for crafting and player housing. If it "doesn't interfere with being heroic" like Vogel plans for SW:TOR, I'm out. If it plays a key role in gameplay and the gameworld (FE, MO, SWG:PNGE, Ultima Online), I'm another step in. 4. Look to see if it's group centered or solo heavy. I prefer games that are group focused, but not raid focused. 5. Look to see how active the company is within the community. A level of interaction that Fallen Earth has, or Asheron's Call had with monthly events is a huge plus. 6. Look at PvP. I prefer PvP with a purpose (as opposed to the "because I can" approach that most developers take). SWG had good elements with people defending cities/forts they built. DAoC was good with respect to my realms versus the others. Not a fan of FFA/loot PvP and neither do I like instanced arenas or battlegrounds. 7. Look high and low for the terms "RMT", "Microtransaction", "Item Mall or Shop" or <insert company name> dollars, potatoes, currency, shines, etc. If any of this or anything related to this not listed is in the plans, the game is written off immediately. 8. Look up the key players on their dev team. If there is anyone in a super influential position that had similar reigns on another game I didn't enjoy or have read detailed depictions of them charlie foxtrotting it, I start looking for the tell-tale signs of them doing it again. 9. Hopefully get in beta (I've sucessfully made it into every beta since 2003/4 that I've applied to) and get a sense of the game while getting a look at how well it is put together (i.e., how darn buggy it is- and yes, I report them, lol). 10. If satisfied with the above, I alert my "crew" to which new game they will be purchasing (I'm the MMO point-man) and buy the game.
Excellent list Khalathwyr! I dont normally go as far as looking up the dev team, but the others are spot on.
1. Needs to have PVP like DAoC had on their PVP servers. Which you don't see at all WAR tried and failed. Also no pvp gear, and no pvp stats. I don't care if there is a good spec for pvp and a good spec for pve as long as the deciding factor is skill.
2. Needs to have good PVE and it shouldn't take you 3 weeks to hit max lvl. It also shouldn't take you 1 year to hit max lvl. Whether the lvling is through questing like in WoW or it is done through running instances and grinding mobs doesn't matter to me so I say why not have both. Just as long as both will take roughly the same amount of time to hit max lvl. The lvl cap should be a minimum of 50 max of 100.
3. Needs to have good Crafting system. Almost exactly like DAoC's crafting system. The way I see it is the highest crafted items should be just as good or just short of being just as good as the highest dropped items in the highest raid instances.
4. Needs to have good Gameplay. I don't care about the story if they can give it a good story cool if not thats cool too as long as the gameplay is good.
5. NO DAILIES. Money should be made through lvling, instances, raids, crafting, and just killing mobs. It should also be able to be made at a reasonable rate.
6. Needs to have Mounts. Land mounts are just fine but flying would be a lot better.
7. Last thing on my mind is a small influence and that is whether or not I have friends playing or not.
This pretty much is my ideal MMO. I have played some MMO's since I quit DAoC but they just couldn't give me a similiar play experience.(Lineage II, EQ2, Guild Wars, and WoW). Because these MMO's fail and the ones that have been released recently have been said to copy the ones I named I will wait to play another MMO untill something worthwhile is released.
I pick a game that doesn't cost more than $0 initially and $8 a month. If it fulfills that requirement then I'll try it and compare it to the generic Korean MMORPGs, which are almost all copies of world of warcraft. If the game has enough new elements that I consider it something "different", then I will continue to play it. If I end up a certain level and find myself grinding on the same enemies for hours on end, with nothing else to do, then I will get bored and quit. Money really is the primary way that I judge a game. If I have to pay $50 just to download it then they know that I wouldn't play long enough to put more money into the game, making it obviously not worth playing because it most likely has a 1 week lifespan. Or possibly they charge $50 so that people will think of quitting, then realize "wait, I paid $50, I can't stop now."
And now pls make a MMO where ALL theese things said here come together!
I guess finding the Grail or making the Philosophers Stone is easy compared to that. XD
EDIT: Sorry, but I have to say it: people who say they don't play a SOE game still just... piss me off. Not that Cryptic, Mythic, Funcom and whoever all made gold in buckets. Tsk... *shakes head* Seriously, get the heck over it. I bet you repeat your SOE hate mantra even with 80 years to your Grandkids... *__*
I can't really say I have a specific plan of attack each time, so I'll start by taking a look at what games I've played and what made me interested in them:
1st: EQ2. A friend of mine got two free lifetime accounts and offered me one. Free trumps all other factors, so I tried it out. Stopped playing after two days.
2nd: Vanguard. Two of my friends wanted to try this one out, and Sony was offering 10-day free trials, so we hopped on and tried them out. We got bad info from a CSR at Sony, however, when our trial was up - we asked if we could still get 30 days free if we bought the game, and were told no because of our free trial, so we all moved on. Again, the key was "free."
3rd: Guild Wars. This was the first MMO that I paid full price for, but again the nominal factor here was in its pricing plan. By preordering, I was able to play in the beta for free, which let me see the game and decide whether or not I wanted to play it. I decided yes, bought the game, and played for quite a while. Eventually, the grind at lvl 20 got to be too much, as well as the lack of customization, and I left again.
4th: I don't even remember the name of it now, but there was a space game that offered a free trial (not EVE). I enjoyed this game greatly, but couldn't get past the monthly cost.
5th: Lord of the Rings. This MMO was on sale for $9.99 at the store, and I thought "hey, I get a free month of play out of it, so why not." When my month of play was up, I left. However, I was constantly jonesing for a gaming experience, and I always felt like LotRO was a fun game with a huge world to explore, and more importantly I loved my guild, so I went back over a year later. We had our starts and stops, but I am now a lifetime member. Understand that this was over the course of 2 years, so the remaining games happen interspersed with LotRO.
6th: World of Warcraft. This again was the result of a free trial offer, and after the free trial, I walked away. But my friends (the ones who had gotten me into Vanguard) were playing, and several other friends who I hadn't played with before were playing, and were rather insistent on playing with me, so I eventually bought the game and played for a month. For some reason, it was still just too boring, so I finally left.
7th: Pirates of the Burning Sea. Yeah, this one sounds silly, I know, but I had left LotRO and had nothing to play, was desperate for something decent. I saw it on MMORPG, thought it sounded silly, but I also thought it might have some good RP in it and, after researching it extensively, decided to give it a shot shortly after it came out. I was incredibly impressed right away - despite some horrible graphics, the ship combat was phenomenal and the RP was excellent, too. I got into a great guild right away, and we had a ton of fun, so I actually renewed for 2 months (the first game I bought and renewed right away). Then we underwent a server merge, my society fell apart, the RP died to nothing, and .. well... c'est la vie. I tried going back a few months ago, because I missed this game so much, but I still could not attain the nearly-perfect experience I had had on the RP server.
8th: EVE. I happened to meet one of the three heads of Adventurine (Darkfall guys), and he invited me to join his guild. At the time, they were playing EVE, so I tried the free trial. But, just as we got started, the guild gave up on EVE, and it didn't really have enough to keep me around. Gameplay was nice, but quests were repetitive, and if you're going to be grinding quests for quite a while, they need to not be...
9th: Age of Conan. Now, this game I had no interest in, personally, but my guild wanted to play it and I wanted to experience a game with them, so I bought it on release. I actually had more sticktuitiveness than the rest of them did, as I renewed for a month while they all dropped from the game. I liked Age of Conan, despite all its faults... but eventually, I just couldn't take them anymore, either.
10th: Warhammer. This held the same problem for me as Age of Conan - while it was an interesting-looking game, I was there really only for my guild. But the game was far worse than AoC, despite some amazing innovations, and I left when several others did (although the whole guild pulled out shortly thereafter). I didn't even renew my subscription to this one.
11th: Darkfall. I played in beta for this one, and that was enough to keep me from actually paying for it. While the concept was neat, there were some fundamental flaws that, no matter what kind of minor influence I might have had with one of the leads at the studio, could not be addressed. I had to leave my guild to leave this game... that's how much I hated the game.
12th: CitiesXL. I tried to love this one, I really did. Got the beta key from MMORPG.com, played for a week. Gave up, because ultimately I didn't like having to trade for resources. That part of the game was badly designed, even though the rest of it was great.
13th: DDO. Theoretically free. I ended up paying more in the first month than I would have if it were not free, because you have to pay to get access to just about everything. I left after that first month.
And, as I mentioned in my description of LotRO, I'm back there and purchased a lifetime subscription. So, to sum up what attracts me to a game:
1. I can try it out for free. I prefer it if this is while the game is in beta, as when the game launches, I want to be there for the launch (launch is an incredibly fun atmosphere, for some reason). If I try it and like it, I'll probably pay for the game and play it a while longer, at least. If I try it and don't like it, then I don't feel like I've wasted my time, or my money.
2. I have friends who play. This is enough to get me to try the game at least., if it's not free.
3. I have nothing better to do. At least until LotRO takes a turn for the worse, this won't be the case.
4. The game has a unique concept. Now, this hasn't come into play so far, except in the case of Guild Wars, PotBS, and CitiesXL.
5. The game is an IP I like. This hasn't been the case at all yet, but there are 3 upcoming titles which I will be purchasing (unless I get to try them out for free and don't like them. It is, after all, a double-edge sword.) Those properties are: SWTOR (I love Bioware and Star Wars), Star Trek (I love Star Trek. Couldn't care less about Cryptic.), and NWNO (I loved NWN. Still couldn't care less about Cryptic.)
Initially I check out screenies. If I am interested I set out to find out whatever I can about the game and the people behind it.
The main aspects I look for pretty much in order:
Medievol setting to the game world with realism - Realistic looking world (characters, grass,tress,animals, buildings and rivers etc).
Atmosphere - It has to have that world atmosphere where anything can happen at any time. Immersion is linked to atmosphere whereby, if the atmosphere has that; " Holy shit, this is amazing " feel to it, you will be/get yourself immersed in the world.
Options - Lots of options... from Race to class, clothes to armour, solo to group, lots of skills to choose to use, how and where to best place my easy-to-use UI.
Community - What can I say. A great community is the embodiment of a great gaming experience.
Thats pretty much it for me.
On a side note:
Every game has at least 1 good aspect in it and some games have more than 1. Some have several.
If there was a company out there that could/would take all the good aspects from all these games and put them all into one game they would have made a monster game.
Lets hope someone has some intelligence out there and will do exactly that... sooner rather than later.
When it comes right down to it, the first thing anyone should look at is story line. If you stop and think about it, the best graphics in the world can only hide the fact a game is hack and slash trash(ie World of Warcraft, which has a thin, if not nonexistant storyline from my experience). I pick a game the way I do a movie. It has to have a strong storyline to catch my interest. The gaming industry and the film industry are very closely link and often the actors they use for the game voiceovers are professional film actors. After story line I ask myself if I can afford it and then try a demo first chance I get.
(1) Internet marketing ads catch my eye (before the internet, this was box art/game title). This could be a sexy lady with the name of the game thrown across her chest, any game-inspired art that looks cool, or a title for your game that interests me.
(2) The next thing I'll do is look for more information on the game (if I'm interested by looking at the advertisement). A solid website with concise info on races, classes, crafting, and other gameplay systems is the next thing I look into. Most games lose me here, because most games don't give good info.
(3) If a game makes it past step 2, step 3 is testing/buying the game for a trial month. At the end of the first week, I know if I'm gonna play it or not. If while I'm playing your game I feel like, "Hey, I could be playing World of Warcraft right now," then I'm not going to pay the monthly subscription and I'm done.
(4) At this point, I would play the game. However, since WoW came out in 2004...no game has made it to point 4 with me. Honorable mention to Age of Conan and Lineage II though. I could definitely play one of those games if WoW had never been released, but they aren't as technically engaging as WoW is to me. Plus I'm invested in my WoW character now...can't just give up on them so easily.
1. Genre. Is it fantasy? Sci-fi? Modern? Horror? etc... There's a million different fantasy MMO's, so starting there will usually raise the bar for the type of quality I'm going for.
2. Gameplay. Specifically, the combat. The combat MUST be fun, because that's what I'm going to spend nearly all of my time doing. Is it auto-attack? Is it more like an FPS? Does it do something new entirely? Does it flow well? Does it fit the feel of the game? Are the controls tight, or is does it feel off?
3. Features. Strictly speaking, MMO's define themselves by what they do that no other MMO does. Well...that's fine, but they also need to make sure that all the little features that they add mesh well. It's one thing to have a great travel system and a great quest log and great grouping options, but sometimes they get so caught up in all those things, that they just clash together when you play. It should look good, but it should also FEEL good.
4. "Bragging." Usually dev teams get so caught up with the excitement of their game, that they talk it up to make it sound like God's gift to gamers, and that is usually what starts to turn me off to the game as a whole, because all of the developer videos I watch or the articles I read before the release all talk about how great it's going to be and how unique it is and all of the tons of things they are adding, but then when you read articles or watch videos after the release, they all seem to agree that they aimed too high and that they should've concentrated on releasing a quality product, instead of just trying to pack as many features and great systems together as they could. Usually content and stability suffers the most as a result. Granted, companies like Blizzard don't have to worry so much about that (not to say that they don't at all, because even their funds are not unlimited), because they can afford to put the project off until it's "finished", but companies like, say, Flagship cannot afford to put off the release in order to fix a lot of the issues, and it's the "bragging" and the short time frame that ultimately led to Flagship's downfall. If the developers can maintain that excitement, but at the same time try and limit the number of new/unique things they try and do with it so that it all meshes together and feels good, I think it goes a very long way.
5. Updates. I think we can all agree that the first 6 months - 1 year after the release of the game is not always the smartest time to start playing. I like to wait and see what kind of updates the developement team is working on as far as bugs being fixed, balancing going on, and then, of course, plans for new content. If they update too slowly, or they have too much trouble trying to balance their system, or if the new content just doesn't seem to fit right with the game, then that might be a big turnoff to wanting to try it.
6. I have to play it. I can read all the articles and the reviews and watch all the videos that I want, but until I actually play it, I have no idea how much I like or dislike it. To that end, I usually just wait until I get my hands on a free trial of some sort. Betas can work, but as we saw with Age of Conan, betas can be very deceiving...
Not exactly sure how one would define WoW as technical. It is pretty much hack and slash with not semblance of strategy or story line from what I can tell. Plus I noticed the quests seem to end abruptly and jump into another set with no transition.
First thing I do is look who is making it. I have a list of folks that if they made it I would never try it. I have current list of folks who are making stuff right now that is on my bad side and getting worse by the day.
I then look at the story line. If it is something I like then I try it.
I keep finding myself back at EQ2, then Fallen earth fallowed in last place LOTRO.
Story that gets me immediately immersed (guild wars for example even though i hate fantasy)
Friends already playing (was what caused me to try SWG, eq, eq2, COH, guild wars, etc etc)
I also tend to lean toward Sci-fi but so few out there compared to fantasy.
I didn't say company because take NC-Soft for example, love GW, hated Aion & COH.
Long List:
Mainly, if it is an IP I know, or if the developers do such a good job to get me quickly immersed in a game without extensive reading of some half-baked story (guild wars for example MMO or not). I want to know there is a good reason I am killing 10 rats for example.
The first MMO i played was SWG, and SW IP is probably the only reason I would have ever started playing MMO's. Not a big fantasy fan, though I played the paper and pen D&D growing up. I do like guild wars and I have tried nearly every other MMO on the market, but guild wars is the only fantasy game I seem to go back to.
I like to RP, but I have no idea what two elves or orcs would talk about...you know, chitchat. We have the lord of the ring movies to give us some ideas about how an elves would interact, but other than that, I have no idea how to make small talk with another elf. I often cofuse the elves of the movie Elf with fantasy roleplaying elves (not really compatable). Though, an IP I've known since I was a kid (Star Wars), well I can RP and understand how to act like a jedi or storm trooper, etc. In guild wars, i just look at it as more of an action adventure game and don't group because I am not in a guild and hate PUGs. I enjoy just PvEing by myself trying every profession as I think the devs got a lot of things right in that game, especially the skill system and story element.
Another example is Aion, i bought the CE pre-order based on hype, thinking it is from the same company as GW, i would give it a shot, but absolutely hated it (same with WoW, Eq, Eq2, etc etc). Where guild wars got me immediately invested in the story, I cannot even begin to tell you what the hell the purpose of Aion or WoW is. I know the world in Aion is cracked in half and there are good and bad people with wings, but that is about it. I liked the fact that guild wars had an end to each of the campaign's stories, though I know some do not like that fact. PvP in GW is also well done though I am not a big PvPer I felt at least I could do it and have fun.
Thought I would like EVE but started too late, the core players were already too entrenched and just didn't feel like trying to catch up and had a hard time just being a starship with no ground avatar. I had a lot of hope for FE, but tried beta and for some reason it reminded me a lot of Pre-CU SWG, and having now tried so many other games, found it lacking (just as I would pre-cu SWG if it was just released , probably), though I hope after a year or so FE improves and maybe try again then.
While I know EQ and EQ2 started this whole fantasy mmo craze, since it was the first breakout one, I have to say LOTRO has the nice advantage of having a solid story built with some strong cutscenes. Also, each race is completely unique. I will say Aion and LOTRO have similar setups as far as the mechanics of game play and plot development go, but LOTRO wins on how they develop the race stories. They totally differentiate each race while integrating them. Tolkein would be proud. Besides, whether people like it or not every fantasy game on the market or not is based of of Dungeons & Dragons which was based on the Lord of the Rings books. Simply put, Lord of the Rings is the origin of all fantasy. I am sure even Dark Ages of Camelot borrowed from the books, though clearly would have been based on Arthurian legend as well.
How can someone hate Aion and City of Heroes? For the time periods they were made, they were two of the best games in their respective genres. I would even argue that Aion is the best MMORPG out there, even over WoW(too commercial).
How can someone hate Aion and City of Heroes? For the time periods they were made, they were two of the best games in their respective genres. I would even argue that Aion is the best MMORPG out there, even over WoW(too commercial).
I don't know, they just didn't appeal to me :-/ To each their own I suppose.
Well, I suppose each person has their own favorite storylines and gameplay type, though undoubtedly both of the aforementioned games simply will have a place in gaming history.
Comments
This really is a tough question to answer. I am 39 years old now and for the last few years I've questioned whether I am "outgrowing" being a gamer. Mostly because I find myself increasingly picky about the games I play.
I look for playability and immersion in an online game. And by immersion I don't mean just storyline, I want to play the game and lose all sense of time. I enjoy looking up at the clock and being floored by the seven hours that have passed that only felt like two. I haven't had that happen in a long time...
I understand that this is a vague answer and what the OP intended was to glean details about what makes a game desirable but I am not at all sure I can quantify the facets of a game that draw me in anymore. One of the big things about SWG when it released that nowadays often gets overlooked in Vet animosity (points at myself) is that aside from a couple cities per planet it was a completely virgin world. All items were crafted by the players themselves for the most part and you could veer off into the wilderness and not see another player for hours if you chose.
I would dearly love to see the ability to take control of more than just a beast or elemental. I have a vision of starting a new character on release day, marching off into the wilderness of a virgin world and not being seen again.. Until I come back a month later leading a dozen humanoids in an attack against the starting city I spawned from. I'm an amateur game developer myself (by no means professional grade) and even with my limited skills I know these things are possible to implement, just time-consuming and therefore costly. But I put forth that if you don't set out to make the best game conceivable or you allow yourself to deviate from the vision you had when you started development then the game is inherently flawed, and the devs will grow to resent what they've created. Generally, it's Marketing or investors that cause this deviation. Another recommendation from me is don't hire a Marketing department until you're in Beta and make sure investors sign off on no release date sooner than 3 years after development starts.
I know not all I said pertained directly to the thread, but it's all tied in together for me. Forgive the tangent.
1. Can I try before I buy? (Beta or free trial)
2. Does my initial "feel" tell me it will last? I am sill playing EQ1 and 2...
3. Is PvP forced or the point of the game? If YES then I have no interest, not interested in the personalities involved in PvP games.
3. Is solo gameplay available? I don't always team and want the choice if possible.
4. Are the graphics compelling? (They don't need to be great but this is 2009...)
Easy criteria to measure for me.
For me, things are looked at, pretty much in the following order:
1. Atmosphere/Potential for Immersion
The first thing I do is look at screenshots to determine if this is an environment it appears I could "get lost" in. That doesn't mean it has to be pretty, or an particular STYLE of art and design. It DOES mean, it has to look like someplace I would want to spend TIME....a LOT of time. It has to have some sort of "Oooo ahhhh" factor to it. Whether that is the most beautifully rendered forests I've ever seen....or the most stunning night skies...OR....just an overall CHARM factor that has nothing to do with DX10 or beastly gaming machines. I am able to find immersion in varied environments, but there has to be SOMETHING specifically...a moment...that makes me go, "Oooooo!"
2. Features
I read about the game's features. What is the vision of the developer for what they want the game to "do", for lack of a better word. Sadly, this particular item has gotten me suckered into a few games that were NOT at all what I envisioned. Warhammer, is a good example of this. On the other hand, there are games up and coming like Alganon, that I really can get into the developer's vision for that game. Time will tell on this first factor I look for though. ACTIONS mean more than words to me, from developers, so while this is one of the FIRST things I look at, it's often the last thing I can actually measure.
Amongst the features, I want to see....
a. Crafting that is actually interesting in some way (EQ2 and LotRO succeed here, for me)
b. PvE > PvP but I do prefer the CHOICE to do BOTH (LotRO kind of fails with this for me, WoW kind of succeeds)
c. Player Housing has to compete with the likes of EQ2, and so far...I just haven't found better. Examples: LotRO's player housing is, in my opinion....abysmal. WoW's, since there IS none, is worse. I would rather have NO player housing, than very very poorly designed housing. Runes of Magic is about the same as LotRO's housing...just...ewww. Those are examples of player housing...done all wrong, imo.
d. Community - If I go to the game's forums and it appears that everyone playing the game is an immature drama queen (age has very little to do with this, by the way) then I will NOT choose that game unless I have an established group of people I know that are playing it that I can hang out with.
e. Quests and Lore - I know some people consider questing to be nothing more than a well-disguised grind, that is fine. If I have to "grind"....it damn well BETTER be well-disguised. And with these quests I want a STORY. I want lore that I can read so that I have a REASON to "be a person" in this "world" I'm considering. I LOVE questing. I am a quest HO.
f. P2P > F2P to me. My parents always told me that you get what you pay for, and I have RARELY found that to be untrue. So while I will consider f2p games.....the likelihood of them holding my attention while they're peddling their cash shops....is pretty slim.
g. World Events - I am a GREAT fan of world events. I think they're exciting, fun, often funny, and a great socially bonding aspect of an mmoRPG. Example: I LOVED the Scourge Invasion in WoW. LOVED it. While soooo many people were complaining...I was having the time of my life (as far as games go). Granted, when "shopping" for your next MMO, this isn't always something you can even know whether you'll have in a game, generally.
3. Reviews
I am NOT going to say here what most people would probably say. If a game has good reviews....I will at least give it a look. However.....I never just discount a game's potential based ONLY on reviews. I will try a game that has had BAD reviews if the developer's VISION (see point 1) seems to fit within my idea of what could make a great game. A good review will get me to look......a bad review will probably get me to look MORE CAREFULLY. This has often led me to some great games that were maybe niche games, that I would have otherwise MISSED if I just played "follow the lemmings."
4. Trials and Open Betas - If there's a trial, for pretty much ANY MMO....I will give it a try before deciding. I subscribe to anywhere from 1 to 4 MMOs at a time, so trials are important to me. I'm getting ready to spend MONEY. I want an idea of what I'm going to be spending it ON.
Note I said "OPEN betas," not betas. I work in closed beta testing of a lot of games, most of which I don't end up playing long term. Closed beta, for me, is more done out of a love for the progress of the genre, and not a real determining factor in what games I ultimately PLAY. I think there should be as many TYPES of MMOs as there are types of gamers. So I think of closed beta testing as one singular way that I can contribute to the good of other gamers, not just myself.
5. IS IT FUN?
More specifically....is it fun to ME? I don't care if it's fun for 11 million other people, if it's not fun...TO ME. Conversely, I don't care if it IS fun to 11 million other people...if it's ALSO fun to ME....I'll play!
And that's my 1 platinum opinion on the matter.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
1. Look at who is making it. If it says SOE anywhere, I move on. If it doesn't, I continue reading.
2. Look to see the theme: high fantasy, low fantasy, established IP, new IP. I'm kind of burnt out on Fantasy (high or low) as well as established IPs now. At this point I read on but am only truly considering buying/investing time in it if it's a new IP.
3. Look at their plans for crafting and player housing. If it "doesn't interfere with being heroic" like Vogel plans for SW:TOR, I'm out. If it plays a key role in gameplay and the gameworld (FE, MO, SWG:PNGE, Ultima Online), I'm another step in.
4. Look to see if it's group centered or solo heavy. I prefer games that are group focused, but not raid focused.
5. Look to see how active the company is within the community. A level of interaction that Fallen Earth has, or Asheron's Call had with monthly events is a huge plus.
6. Look at PvP. I prefer PvP with a purpose (as opposed to the "because I can" approach that most developers take). SWG had good elements with people defending cities/forts they built. DAoC was good with respect to my realms versus the others. Not a fan of FFA/loot PvP and neither do I like instanced arenas or battlegrounds.
7. Look high and low for the terms "RMT", "Microtransaction", "Item Mall or Shop" or <insert company name> dollars, potatoes, currency, shines, etc. If any of this or anything related to this not listed is in the plans, the game is written off immediately.
8. Look up the key players on their dev team. If there is anyone in a super influential position that had similar reigns on another game I didn't enjoy or have read detailed depictions of them charlie foxtrotting it, I start looking for the tell-tale signs of them doing it again.
9. Hopefully get in beta (I've sucessfully made it into every beta since 2003/4 that I've applied to) and get a sense of the game while getting a look at how well it is put together (i.e., how darn buggy it is- and yes, I report them, lol).
10. If satisfied with the above, I alert my "crew" to which new game they will be purchasing (I'm the MMO point-man) and buy the game.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
The first thing that will catch my eye is the name... naturally.If it sounds interesting enough Ill give it a look, secondly the first thing I check always is the genre and then the class system (if present) and general character customisation, Seriously all those f2p games really need to learn to be creative with their classes, I think warrior, rogue ranger, mage have been used to death. And from there on if Im still interested, gameplay mechanics and player comments, then screenshots.
Will you marry me?
LOL j/k
BUT....I do like your list there! I would let you be "MMO point man" in my "crew" too!
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
From high to lower interest:
- Customization. (Bazzilion of skills, fully customized characters and other ways to make your character unique.)
- Immersion. (A freaking huge world / world, npc and whatnot extra features, etc)
- Features. (Because a game made with colored epic sets and endless raids isn't enough for me)
- Sound effects / sound track. (Realistic sounds, epic background battle musics is a must.)
- PvP balance. (What is the point on playing a MMO that doesn't offer any interaction with other players?PvP is a must.)
- Overall animations. (Because It's relaxing.)
- Graphics. (To relax a little/forget about grinding/ etc.)
Will you marry me?
LOL j/k
BUT....I do like your list there! I would let you be "MMO point man" in my "crew" too!
LOL! I'll have to check with the wife. I don't think she'd mind as long as she continued to be first wife, lol!
Seriously, though, I think our lists reflect a large portion of the MMO gaming audience that sends 1 or a few people to battle on these forums. Some call us "old school" and say we aren't a large portion, but in truth we just, for the most part, don't like to engage in shouting contest on forums with the so-called "new school gamers". That may be to our detriment, but we are here and we would like to see more variety in the types of MMOs being made.
Energizing some of the concepts in those older games and infusing them into modern efforts is long overdue.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
If a game looks interesting to me i try it out, pretty simple for me really.
I don't over analyze stuff, as long as a game captures my attention fairly quick and keeps it, and is fun then its gets some of my time
"The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand."
- Lewis Thomas
Excellent list Khalathwyr! I dont normally go as far as looking up the dev team, but the others are spot on.
1. Needs to have PVP like DAoC had on their PVP servers. Which you don't see at all WAR tried and failed. Also no pvp gear, and no pvp stats. I don't care if there is a good spec for pvp and a good spec for pve as long as the deciding factor is skill.
2. Needs to have good PVE and it shouldn't take you 3 weeks to hit max lvl. It also shouldn't take you 1 year to hit max lvl. Whether the lvling is through questing like in WoW or it is done through running instances and grinding mobs doesn't matter to me so I say why not have both. Just as long as both will take roughly the same amount of time to hit max lvl. The lvl cap should be a minimum of 50 max of 100.
3. Needs to have good Crafting system. Almost exactly like DAoC's crafting system. The way I see it is the highest crafted items should be just as good or just short of being just as good as the highest dropped items in the highest raid instances.
4. Needs to have good Gameplay. I don't care about the story if they can give it a good story cool if not thats cool too as long as the gameplay is good.
5. NO DAILIES. Money should be made through lvling, instances, raids, crafting, and just killing mobs. It should also be able to be made at a reasonable rate.
6. Needs to have Mounts. Land mounts are just fine but flying would be a lot better.
7. Last thing on my mind is a small influence and that is whether or not I have friends playing or not.
This pretty much is my ideal MMO. I have played some MMO's since I quit DAoC but they just couldn't give me a similiar play experience.(Lineage II, EQ2, Guild Wars, and WoW). Because these MMO's fail and the ones that have been released recently have been said to copy the ones I named I will wait to play another MMO untill something worthwhile is released.
I pick a game that doesn't cost more than $0 initially and $8 a month. If it fulfills that requirement then I'll try it and compare it to the generic Korean MMORPGs, which are almost all copies of world of warcraft. If the game has enough new elements that I consider it something "different", then I will continue to play it. If I end up a certain level and find myself grinding on the same enemies for hours on end, with nothing else to do, then I will get bored and quit. Money really is the primary way that I judge a game. If I have to pay $50 just to download it then they know that I wouldn't play long enough to put more money into the game, making it obviously not worth playing because it most likely has a 1 week lifespan. Or possibly they charge $50 so that people will think of quitting, then realize "wait, I paid $50, I can't stop now."
And now pls make a MMO where ALL theese things said here come together!
I guess finding the Grail or making the Philosophers Stone is easy compared to that. XD
EDIT: Sorry, but I have to say it: people who say they don't play a SOE game still just... piss me off. Not that Cryptic, Mythic, Funcom and whoever all made gold in buckets. Tsk... *shakes head* Seriously, get the heck over it. I bet you repeat your SOE hate mantra even with 80 years to your Grandkids... *__*
I can't really say I have a specific plan of attack each time, so I'll start by taking a look at what games I've played and what made me interested in them:
1st: EQ2. A friend of mine got two free lifetime accounts and offered me one. Free trumps all other factors, so I tried it out. Stopped playing after two days.
2nd: Vanguard. Two of my friends wanted to try this one out, and Sony was offering 10-day free trials, so we hopped on and tried them out. We got bad info from a CSR at Sony, however, when our trial was up - we asked if we could still get 30 days free if we bought the game, and were told no because of our free trial, so we all moved on. Again, the key was "free."
3rd: Guild Wars. This was the first MMO that I paid full price for, but again the nominal factor here was in its pricing plan. By preordering, I was able to play in the beta for free, which let me see the game and decide whether or not I wanted to play it. I decided yes, bought the game, and played for quite a while. Eventually, the grind at lvl 20 got to be too much, as well as the lack of customization, and I left again.
4th: I don't even remember the name of it now, but there was a space game that offered a free trial (not EVE). I enjoyed this game greatly, but couldn't get past the monthly cost.
5th: Lord of the Rings. This MMO was on sale for $9.99 at the store, and I thought "hey, I get a free month of play out of it, so why not." When my month of play was up, I left. However, I was constantly jonesing for a gaming experience, and I always felt like LotRO was a fun game with a huge world to explore, and more importantly I loved my guild, so I went back over a year later. We had our starts and stops, but I am now a lifetime member. Understand that this was over the course of 2 years, so the remaining games happen interspersed with LotRO.
6th: World of Warcraft. This again was the result of a free trial offer, and after the free trial, I walked away. But my friends (the ones who had gotten me into Vanguard) were playing, and several other friends who I hadn't played with before were playing, and were rather insistent on playing with me, so I eventually bought the game and played for a month. For some reason, it was still just too boring, so I finally left.
7th: Pirates of the Burning Sea. Yeah, this one sounds silly, I know, but I had left LotRO and had nothing to play, was desperate for something decent. I saw it on MMORPG, thought it sounded silly, but I also thought it might have some good RP in it and, after researching it extensively, decided to give it a shot shortly after it came out. I was incredibly impressed right away - despite some horrible graphics, the ship combat was phenomenal and the RP was excellent, too. I got into a great guild right away, and we had a ton of fun, so I actually renewed for 2 months (the first game I bought and renewed right away). Then we underwent a server merge, my society fell apart, the RP died to nothing, and .. well... c'est la vie. I tried going back a few months ago, because I missed this game so much, but I still could not attain the nearly-perfect experience I had had on the RP server.
8th: EVE. I happened to meet one of the three heads of Adventurine (Darkfall guys), and he invited me to join his guild. At the time, they were playing EVE, so I tried the free trial. But, just as we got started, the guild gave up on EVE, and it didn't really have enough to keep me around. Gameplay was nice, but quests were repetitive, and if you're going to be grinding quests for quite a while, they need to not be...
9th: Age of Conan. Now, this game I had no interest in, personally, but my guild wanted to play it and I wanted to experience a game with them, so I bought it on release. I actually had more sticktuitiveness than the rest of them did, as I renewed for a month while they all dropped from the game. I liked Age of Conan, despite all its faults... but eventually, I just couldn't take them anymore, either.
10th: Warhammer. This held the same problem for me as Age of Conan - while it was an interesting-looking game, I was there really only for my guild. But the game was far worse than AoC, despite some amazing innovations, and I left when several others did (although the whole guild pulled out shortly thereafter). I didn't even renew my subscription to this one.
11th: Darkfall. I played in beta for this one, and that was enough to keep me from actually paying for it. While the concept was neat, there were some fundamental flaws that, no matter what kind of minor influence I might have had with one of the leads at the studio, could not be addressed. I had to leave my guild to leave this game... that's how much I hated the game.
12th: CitiesXL. I tried to love this one, I really did. Got the beta key from MMORPG.com, played for a week. Gave up, because ultimately I didn't like having to trade for resources. That part of the game was badly designed, even though the rest of it was great.
13th: DDO. Theoretically free. I ended up paying more in the first month than I would have if it were not free, because you have to pay to get access to just about everything. I left after that first month.
And, as I mentioned in my description of LotRO, I'm back there and purchased a lifetime subscription. So, to sum up what attracts me to a game:
1. I can try it out for free. I prefer it if this is while the game is in beta, as when the game launches, I want to be there for the launch (launch is an incredibly fun atmosphere, for some reason). If I try it and like it, I'll probably pay for the game and play it a while longer, at least. If I try it and don't like it, then I don't feel like I've wasted my time, or my money.
2. I have friends who play. This is enough to get me to try the game at least., if it's not free.
3. I have nothing better to do. At least until LotRO takes a turn for the worse, this won't be the case.
4. The game has a unique concept. Now, this hasn't come into play so far, except in the case of Guild Wars, PotBS, and CitiesXL.
5. The game is an IP I like. This hasn't been the case at all yet, but there are 3 upcoming titles which I will be purchasing (unless I get to try them out for free and don't like them. It is, after all, a double-edge sword.) Those properties are: SWTOR (I love Bioware and Star Wars), Star Trek (I love Star Trek. Couldn't care less about Cryptic.), and NWNO (I loved NWN. Still couldn't care less about Cryptic.)
Initially I check out screenies. If I am interested I set out to find out whatever I can about the game and the people behind it.
The main aspects I look for pretty much in order:
Medievol setting to the game world with realism - Realistic looking world (characters, grass,tress,animals, buildings and rivers etc).
Atmosphere - It has to have that world atmosphere where anything can happen at any time. Immersion is linked to atmosphere whereby, if the atmosphere has that; " Holy shit, this is amazing " feel to it, you will be/get yourself immersed in the world.
Options - Lots of options... from Race to class, clothes to armour, solo to group, lots of skills to choose to use, how and where to best place my easy-to-use UI.
Community - What can I say. A great community is the embodiment of a great gaming experience.
Thats pretty much it for me.
On a side note:
Every game has at least 1 good aspect in it and some games have more than 1. Some have several.
If there was a company out there that could/would take all the good aspects from all these games and put them all into one game they would have made a monster game.
Lets hope someone has some intelligence out there and will do exactly that... sooner rather than later.
Axxiss
When it comes right down to it, the first thing anyone should look at is story line. If you stop and think about it, the best graphics in the world can only hide the fact a game is hack and slash trash(ie World of Warcraft, which has a thin, if not nonexistant storyline from my experience). I pick a game the way I do a movie. It has to have a strong storyline to catch my interest. The gaming industry and the film industry are very closely link and often the actors they use for the game voiceovers are professional film actors. After story line I ask myself if I can afford it and then try a demo first chance I get.
(1) Internet marketing ads catch my eye (before the internet, this was box art/game title). This could be a sexy lady with the name of the game thrown across her chest, any game-inspired art that looks cool, or a title for your game that interests me.
(2) The next thing I'll do is look for more information on the game (if I'm interested by looking at the advertisement). A solid website with concise info on races, classes, crafting, and other gameplay systems is the next thing I look into. Most games lose me here, because most games don't give good info.
(3) If a game makes it past step 2, step 3 is testing/buying the game for a trial month. At the end of the first week, I know if I'm gonna play it or not. If while I'm playing your game I feel like, "Hey, I could be playing World of Warcraft right now," then I'm not going to pay the monthly subscription and I'm done.
(4) At this point, I would play the game. However, since WoW came out in 2004...no game has made it to point 4 with me. Honorable mention to Age of Conan and Lineage II though. I could definitely play one of those games if WoW had never been released, but they aren't as technically engaging as WoW is to me. Plus I'm invested in my WoW character now...can't just give up on them so easily.
1. Genre. Is it fantasy? Sci-fi? Modern? Horror? etc... There's a million different fantasy MMO's, so starting there will usually raise the bar for the type of quality I'm going for.
2. Gameplay. Specifically, the combat. The combat MUST be fun, because that's what I'm going to spend nearly all of my time doing. Is it auto-attack? Is it more like an FPS? Does it do something new entirely? Does it flow well? Does it fit the feel of the game? Are the controls tight, or is does it feel off?
3. Features. Strictly speaking, MMO's define themselves by what they do that no other MMO does. Well...that's fine, but they also need to make sure that all the little features that they add mesh well. It's one thing to have a great travel system and a great quest log and great grouping options, but sometimes they get so caught up in all those things, that they just clash together when you play. It should look good, but it should also FEEL good.
4. "Bragging." Usually dev teams get so caught up with the excitement of their game, that they talk it up to make it sound like God's gift to gamers, and that is usually what starts to turn me off to the game as a whole, because all of the developer videos I watch or the articles I read before the release all talk about how great it's going to be and how unique it is and all of the tons of things they are adding, but then when you read articles or watch videos after the release, they all seem to agree that they aimed too high and that they should've concentrated on releasing a quality product, instead of just trying to pack as many features and great systems together as they could. Usually content and stability suffers the most as a result. Granted, companies like Blizzard don't have to worry so much about that (not to say that they don't at all, because even their funds are not unlimited), because they can afford to put the project off until it's "finished", but companies like, say, Flagship cannot afford to put off the release in order to fix a lot of the issues, and it's the "bragging" and the short time frame that ultimately led to Flagship's downfall. If the developers can maintain that excitement, but at the same time try and limit the number of new/unique things they try and do with it so that it all meshes together and feels good, I think it goes a very long way.
5. Updates. I think we can all agree that the first 6 months - 1 year after the release of the game is not always the smartest time to start playing. I like to wait and see what kind of updates the developement team is working on as far as bugs being fixed, balancing going on, and then, of course, plans for new content. If they update too slowly, or they have too much trouble trying to balance their system, or if the new content just doesn't seem to fit right with the game, then that might be a big turnoff to wanting to try it.
6. I have to play it. I can read all the articles and the reviews and watch all the videos that I want, but until I actually play it, I have no idea how much I like or dislike it. To that end, I usually just wait until I get my hands on a free trial of some sort. Betas can work, but as we saw with Age of Conan, betas can be very deceiving...
Not exactly sure how one would define WoW as technical. It is pretty much hack and slash with not semblance of strategy or story line from what I can tell. Plus I noticed the quests seem to end abruptly and jump into another set with no transition.
First thing I do is look who is making it. I have a list of folks that if they made it I would never try it. I have current list of folks who are making stuff right now that is on my bad side and getting worse by the day.
I then look at the story line. If it is something I like then I try it.
I keep finding myself back at EQ2, then Fallen earth fallowed in last place LOTRO.
Short list:
I didn't say company because take NC-Soft for example, love GW, hated Aion & COH.
Long List:
Mainly, if it is an IP I know, or if the developers do such a good job to get me quickly immersed in a game without extensive reading of some half-baked story (guild wars for example MMO or not). I want to know there is a good reason I am killing 10 rats for example.
The first MMO i played was SWG, and SW IP is probably the only reason I would have ever started playing MMO's. Not a big fantasy fan, though I played the paper and pen D&D growing up. I do like guild wars and I have tried nearly every other MMO on the market, but guild wars is the only fantasy game I seem to go back to.
I like to RP, but I have no idea what two elves or orcs would talk about...you know, chitchat. We have the lord of the ring movies to give us some ideas about how an elves would interact, but other than that, I have no idea how to make small talk with another elf. I often cofuse the elves of the movie Elf with fantasy roleplaying elves (not really compatable). Though, an IP I've known since I was a kid (Star Wars), well I can RP and understand how to act like a jedi or storm trooper, etc. In guild wars, i just look at it as more of an action adventure game and don't group because I am not in a guild and hate PUGs. I enjoy just PvEing by myself trying every profession as I think the devs got a lot of things right in that game, especially the skill system and story element.
Another example is Aion, i bought the CE pre-order based on hype, thinking it is from the same company as GW, i would give it a shot, but absolutely hated it (same with WoW, Eq, Eq2, etc etc). Where guild wars got me immediately invested in the story, I cannot even begin to tell you what the hell the purpose of Aion or WoW is. I know the world in Aion is cracked in half and there are good and bad people with wings, but that is about it. I liked the fact that guild wars had an end to each of the campaign's stories, though I know some do not like that fact. PvP in GW is also well done though I am not a big PvPer I felt at least I could do it and have fun.
Thought I would like EVE but started too late, the core players were already too entrenched and just didn't feel like trying to catch up and had a hard time just being a starship with no ground avatar. I had a lot of hope for FE, but tried beta and for some reason it reminded me a lot of Pre-CU SWG, and having now tried so many other games, found it lacking (just as I would pre-cu SWG if it was just released , probably), though I hope after a year or so FE improves and maybe try again then.
While I know EQ and EQ2 started this whole fantasy mmo craze, since it was the first breakout one, I have to say LOTRO has the nice advantage of having a solid story built with some strong cutscenes. Also, each race is completely unique. I will say Aion and LOTRO have similar setups as far as the mechanics of game play and plot development go, but LOTRO wins on how they develop the race stories. They totally differentiate each race while integrating them. Tolkein would be proud. Besides, whether people like it or not every fantasy game on the market or not is based of of Dungeons & Dragons which was based on the Lord of the Rings books. Simply put, Lord of the Rings is the origin of all fantasy. I am sure even Dark Ages of Camelot borrowed from the books, though clearly would have been based on Arthurian legend as well.
How can someone hate Aion and City of Heroes? For the time periods they were made, they were two of the best games in their respective genres. I would even argue that Aion is the best MMORPG out there, even over WoW(too commercial).
I don't know, they just didn't appeal to me :-/ To each their own I suppose.
Well, I suppose each person has their own favorite storylines and gameplay type, though undoubtedly both of the aforementioned games simply will have a place in gaming history.