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What do you want in an MMO?
NostrusUK
Member UncommonPosts: 5
As stated in the subject, what would be the top five criteria you look for in an MMO you'd want to play?
For this theoretical question, let's assume development is done so you're looking at a finished product.
For this theoretical question, let's assume development is done so you're looking at a finished product.
Comments
1. Open world
2. Combat system other than tab targeting
3. Interesting theme/setting
4. No WoW-style gear grinding
5. Fun
1) Not sword and sorcery
2) Big open and seamless world/galaxy
3) Spaceships
4) Decent background story (I liked the older Wing Commander stories and how they were told)
5) An avatar that can walk around outside of the spaceship. One of the few things I miss from E&B. I don't miss killing/grinding giant space shrimp in that game though.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
2) Good exploration (like randomly generated world)
3) Adult themes, not cartoony
4) A story that's presented in a way that makes you want to find more. Not absent but not in your face.
5) I'm not the chosen one but I'm also not a random garbage recruit.
6) Sexy chicks
2. Slower pace, less button spam
3. No arrows pointing me where to go
4. Notorious monsters (like in ffxi)
5. No party group finder
Big Plus: Don't have to use a mouse while playing. All keyboard.
1. No Trials
2. No Tricks
3. No Traps
Sounds familiar, eh?
When you don't want the truth, you will make up your own truth.
2. Open world, not required but preferred.
3. Sci-Fi or Post-Apocalyptic or Western setting.
4. Not Arena PvP, i want the random chance and the feeling of not knowing what will happen, just dont get that when you know the match is always going to be 5v5 or 30v30 or whatever.
5. Levelling system that allows you to allocate points as you wish.
They are not in particular orded except the number one which these days is the thing i want the most in an MMORPG.
1. A better way to handle character development. I am rather tired of games that rip off AD&D but with more levels. If you must rip off P&P games look on Shadowrun, Runequest/BRP or World of darkness instead.
2. A setting that just doesn't feel as stereotypical as the usual we see (bad copies of Forgotten realms gets boring eventually). If you must have a fantasy setting at least have a low fantasy setting, those are rare for MMOs (and games like AoC wusses out and add more high fantasy then the lore actually have). There are many popular low fantasy setting like GOT, Conan, The name of the Wind (awesome books) and a rather large bunch of others. But historical games, steampunk, cyberpunk or something else entirely. Why can't you make a Sherlock MMOs where players are cops and PIs in victorian England? French musketeers? You get the point.
3. Open world. Yeah, many others have said it but an active open world makes the game feel far more alive then when everyone just run their own instances.
4. New group dynamics. The trinity have had it's time, but the systems trying to replace it have so far failed to offer good enough group dynamics. Players should work together if they want to beat tough challenges. A static system where each player just focus on a single thing is rather boring, players should have to think quickly to win a fight and to constantly work as a team.
5. Less predictable opponents. Stupid mob AIs means most fights are almost exactly the same with a few things you should learn before a raid or dungeon. Players need to react to mobs and in term force the mob to react to them like they do in PvP. I ain't saying all mobs need to be super smart and almost impossible to beat but there must be a middle way between that and they all being drooling idiots.
• The game must have deep game mechanics (not superficial, nor mediocre)
• The game must display an understanding of aesthetics (no cartoony and mass produced bs SWTOR assets)
• The game must show an understanding of fantasy as not being genre specific, but instead being a foundation for try suspending ones disbelief when playing the game, such that this understanding of fantasy, not involve genre gimmicks, but instead incorporate a deeper understanding of fiction in general.
• The game must try use best practices or better, for avoiding glitches in game, and for dealing with exploits in the game.
• The game must not have a pay to advance (so called pay to win) feature, though purchasing cosmetic items is ok.
Vertical progression has proven itself to be great for single player games but terrible for massively-multiplayer games. I don't want my community to be segregated by levels / gear etc. It makes playing with your friends so much harder than it needs to be! In most MMOs, it also masks the fact you're not actually progressing - your stats may be increasing but so does the enemies, so relative difficulty and tactics stay the same. That is boring. Horizontal progression is misunderstood by most people as they've never seen it implemented properly, but I firmly believe it is the future for MMOs and is one of the biggest things that would improve the genre.
2) Deep Combat
I want my brain to be engaged during combat. I want there to be multiple approaches to fights, not just tank and spank. If I fight someone, I want to win because I'm a better player and made better choices during combat, not just winning due to quicker reflexes or better gear. Action combat games don't have deep combat, generally due to lack of character skills, but going back to tab-target doesn't guarantee depth either. LotRO and WoW both had good depth, whereas SW:TOR was really shallow.
3) Objective-based World PvP
I love MMO PvP, despite all the imbalances. However, it needs to have a point, not just a free for all. This is why I love fighting over keeps and other objectives. It's still open world, but combat is focused on certain areas. I love defending and attacking keeps. I love the extra motivation provided by objectives, it makes people fight more bravely rather than just farming renown. PvP must be consensual, so have flagging system or specific zones for pvp (I think WAR's pvp lakes were easiest to understand and implement).
4) Strong IP
When I play an MMO, I hope to be there for years. It means that the world I inhabit has to be one I enjoy. I prefer IPs that I already know so that I can get excited about exploring - my main MMOs have been SWG, LotRO, WAR, SW:TOR - but even if I don't know the IP already it still has to be something that appeals. I hate generic IPs, such as RIFT for western styles or Aion for eastern styles. That sort of thing is an instant turnoff for me.
5) Interesting Classes - Not Just Trinity
The holy trinity is boring. However, classless systems also tend to end up boring as well. Both result in dull tactics for fights and usually quite strict group setups. In my opinion, LotRO has the best classes of any MMO I've played. At launch, there was 1 tank, 1 healer, 2 dps and 3 support classes. The presence of 3 dedicated support classes opened up so many new options for tactics. You could just brute force it (tank, healer, 4 dps) or going for more balanced approaches (tank, healer, 2 dps, 1 buffer, 1 cc/debuffer) or go for really wacky setups (6 buffers, 2dps + 2buffers + 2debuffers/cc). Not only does this make the content more interesting, it also made putting together groups much easier as just about everything was viable, you just had to alter tactics and some setups required more skill to pull off.
2. PvE server or PvE-only game or PvP only in battlegrounds/dueling arenas.
3. Heavy crafting emphasis, players should be able to do at least one of build their own buildings or breed pets or mounts. Bonus points for good crating minigames.
4. No loot penalties for soloing, no dungeons that don't scale down for small groups, no emphasis on raids or realm v. realm. I am a soloer, the game must be solo-friendly or it's not welcoming to me.
5. 3rd person view should be a functional option for play and wasd movement must be an option, graphics may NOT be top-down or pixels, and I've yet to see attractive voxel art unless Landmark counts. Classes should NOT be gender-locked. Guns should either not be in the game at all or should be limited to one class.
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
With a sandbox free progression, pretty much a long-term skill / xp system per type of gameplay or skill giving depth to the different types of gameplay instead of being the game leading you where to go and what to do, and make such different paths equality as rewarding on their own ways.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey