5 MMORPG Gameplay Features We Absolutely Hate

System · May 2022

MMORPGs have changed in many ways, both positive and negative, but in this article, Steven tackles 5 gameplay features MMORPGs have that players absolutely hate.

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Slapshot1188 · May 2022

Totally agree on 1 and 2. Not so much on 3 and 4. Absolutely disagree on 5. I love racial, gender and "realm" locked classes. Always have and always will.

Sovrath · May 2022

I agree with most of this though I prefer "kill x wolves" over just running around and reading text and delivering nonsense.

I prefer if "kill x wolves" was something like "kill 100 wolves" over kill one wolf. Unless that wolf is very powerful and takes some doin'.

Essentially I prefer doing things than just running around like a relay race.

I don't agree with the last one. Gender locked or race locked classes is fine with me as long as it fits the world.

I would offer that if there is a gender or race locked class that there should be an alternative class that is a bit different.

Really REALLY hate multiple currencies. EDIT: Also, what mmorpg is that first picture taken from? The one with the dragon?

SKurj · May 2022

dailies... 1st step to turning games you love into a job

ultimateduck · May 2022

1 and 2 for sure.

I don't know how much I dislike time gates if the event happens enough that everyone can have access to it. If it happens once a day and I can't play during that time then yeah, it sucks. If it happens every 2 or 3 hours, then I think it's kind of cool.

Oddly enough, I don't mind monotonous questing unless the entire game is nothing but monotonous questing and monotonous zones.

I also do not like gender locking. Then again, I'm not one of those dudes that likes to run around as a female.

I'd like to add an honorable mention.

Overy stylized Asian art. BDO and Lost Ark is a good example. I don't want a sword that is three times bigger than me. I don't want a costume that makes me look like a gay sailor or Liberaces butler (I have no problems with gay sailors or Liberace). Nothing will ruin a game for me faster than this style of art.

Asturios · May 2022

Sovrath said:

I agree with most of this though I prefer "kill x wolves" over just running around and reading text and delivering nonsense.

I prefer if "kill x wolves" was something like "kill 100 wolves" over kill one wolf. Unless that wolf is very powerful and takes some doin'.

Essentially I prefer doing things than just running around like a relay race.

I don't agree with the last one. Gender locked or race locked classes is fine with me as long as it fits the world.

I would offer that if there is a gender or race locked class that there should be an alternative class that is a bit different.

Really REALLY hate multiple currencies.

EDIT: Also, what mmorpg is that first picture taken from? The one with the dragon?

Picture is from the new Ni No Kuni Mobile game.

Scot · May 2022

Lets start with Raid gear currencies. We used to just get the gear dropped in raids no need for yet another cash shop currency. Now that method did have issues, but rather than addressing those issues they went with a cash shop model that so excites marketing. Drops had issues though the randomness being the main one.

Nothing wrong with a raid gear currency and PvP gear currency as long as that's all they are used for and you can't buy the currency. What MMOs have done is take that idea to silly extremes. Here is an example of old school being worse, but a lot would depend on how the outfits were costed and tiered.

Upgrading gear being a time sink is fine, it is just a matter of how much of a time sink, what you need the upgraded gear for and how many other time sinks there are. Get the balance right and there is no issue. Where this has gone wrong is in too much complexity, too many items needing upgrades, too many ways of upgrading.

I am not keen on Gender locking, but of all the issues here this of the least concern to me.

Again there is nothing wrong with time gating just how much and what it covers. That is the theme here, MMOs particularly Far Eastern ones take this all too far. But if we buy and play them, guess what? That game play will become ubiquitous across MMOs because it sets up huge P2W opportunities and needs far less content. If you want this to not become the norm don't play them.

Sovrath · May 2022

Asturios said:

Sovrath said:

I agree with most of this though I prefer "kill x wolves" over just running around and reading text and delivering nonsense.

I prefer if "kill x wolves" was something like "kill 100 wolves" over kill one wolf. Unless that wolf is very powerful and takes some doin'.

Essentially I prefer doing things than just running around like a relay race.

I don't agree with the last one. Gender locked or race locked classes is fine with me as long as it fits the world.

I would offer that if there is a gender or race locked class that there should be an alternative class that is a bit different.

Really REALLY hate multiple currencies.

EDIT: Also, what mmorpg is that first picture taken from? The one with the dragon?

Picture is from the new Ni No Kuni Mobile game.

Thanks!

Scot · May 2022

Sovrath said:

I agree with most of this though I prefer "kill x wolves" over just running around and reading text and delivering nonsense.

I prefer if "kill x wolves" was something like "kill 100 wolves" over kill one wolf. Unless that wolf is very powerful and takes some doin'.

Essentially I prefer doing things than just running around like a relay race.

I don't agree with the last one. Gender locked or race locked classes is fine with me as long as it fits the world.

I would offer that if there is a gender or race locked class that there should be an alternative class that is a bit different.

Really REALLY hate multiple currencies.

EDIT: Also, what mmorpg is that first picture taken from? The one with the dragon?

Looks more like it is a cartoon still?

shetlandslarsen · May 2022

Gender locked classes bug me the most.

I want to play a ugly fat female orc like mage kind of person. and a should be allowed to.

Why most everything be so pretty? I always try to make them as ugly and old as possibly.
Quite hard in most games.

[Deleted User] · May 2022

The user and all related content has been deleted.

ultimateduck · May 2022

I'd like to add lazy loot tables to the list.

I don't know when this began, but my first experience with it was in WHO. I don't want my next great piece of loot to be a "Tier 2" version of my current piece which just happens to be the exact same loot everyone else in my class has.

I love a diverse loot table. BIS gear should be about playstyle from countless items to choose from, not because it's the only best items to have until you can get the next tier of the same item.

[Deleted User] · May 2022

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Iselin · May 2022

1, 2 and 3 I agree with.

I detest all the silly currencies F2P games use to obfuscate the cash for digital goods or services reality. They're nothing but sleazy devices to make the cash transaction less real and induce you to buy more simply because it's funny money you're spending.

Some complexity in gear upgrades is fine but many MMOs just use it as another spot to add unnecessary grind for the sake of grind.

I also hate time gates. They're annoying, artificial roadblocks to progression.

I'm not a fan of gender locking but it's not a biggie for me. In games that are 100% unlocked I always seem to end up with an even mix of male and female characters anyway. But more choices are a better thing.

I have a high tolerance for quests and I prefer even the worst of them to mindless grind. But the questing and storytelling part of MMOs is a biggie for me and can be a determining factor in whether I play the game at all or just pass. I tend to only play the MMOs that have good and engaging stories with good quest design so it's rare that I would even run into obnoxious superficial quests. I just don't play those games at all.

NedeljskiH60 · May 2022

The worst feature is auto everything, which is now on every mobile mmorpg. BRUUUH.

Brainy · May 2022

Agree with all 5.

Kyleran · May 2022

Slapshot1188 said:

Totally agree on 1 and 2. Not so much on 3 and 4. Absolutely disagree on 5. I love racial, gender and "realm" locked classes. Always have and always will.

I agree with you though I don't necessarily love gender locked classes, but racial and realm locked give games some necessary variety.

Gender locked makes sense for races of Amazon's, sirens, witches or other lore based reason, but at days end I'll play whatever is available as avatars are just tools, not an embodiment of my personality.

Slapshot1188 · May 2022

Kyleran said:

Slapshot1188 said:

Totally agree on 1 and 2. Not so much on 3 and 4. Absolutely disagree on 5. I love racial, gender and "realm" locked classes. Always have and always will.

I agree with you though I don't necessarily love gender locked classes, but racial and realm locked give games some necessary variety.

Gender locked makes sense for races of Amazon's, sirens, witches or other lore based reason, but at days end I'll play whatever is available as avatars are just tools, not an embodiment of my personality.

Yes there should be a backstory/lore around all the restrictions.

Maybe it's related to serving a particular deity... Maybe certain races just do not have a talent/ability/organ...

I want to see variety and differences between the cultures/realms/locations in the world.

Mendel · May 2022

Kyleran said:

Slapshot1188 said:

Totally agree on 1 and 2. Not so much on 3 and 4. Absolutely disagree on 5. I love racial, gender and "realm" locked classes. Always have and always will.

I agree with you though I don't necessarily love gender locked classes, but racial and realm locked give games some necessary variety.

Gender locked makes sense for races of Amazon's, sirens, witches or other lore based reason, but at days end I'll play whatever is available as avatars are just tools, not an embodiment of my personality.

I used to think of my character as a reflection of myself. Then I decided (imagined?/role played?) that I was more complex than I had originally thought, and altitus set in. With that, all manner of races and sexes were fair game.

Slapshot1188 · May 2022

Mendel said:

Kyleran said:

Slapshot1188 said:

Totally agree on 1 and 2. Not so much on 3 and 4. Absolutely disagree on 5. I love racial, gender and "realm" locked classes. Always have and always will.

I agree with you though I don't necessarily love gender locked classes, but racial and realm locked give games some necessary variety.

Gender locked makes sense for races of Amazon's, sirens, witches or other lore based reason, but at days end I'll play whatever is available as avatars are just tools, not an embodiment of my personality.

I used to think of my character as a reflection of myself. Then I decided (imagined?/role played?) that I was more complex than I had originally thought, and altitus set in. With that, all manner of races and sexes were fair game.

Yeah for me I get more into my single RPG characters. Online is harder because I'm always on Discord (or Ventrillo... teamspeak... etc...) bullshitting with my friends while playing.

I'd like to give PnP roleplaying a shot again... someday.

Quizzical · May 2022

tzervo said:

1) Dailies
2) Dailies
3) Dailies
4) Dailies
5) Time gating

In order for your opposition to dailies to be effective, you must come back and register it once per day, not four times in one day.

Theocritus · May 2022

Of the 5, the fifth one is the one that bothers me the least...The currencies can be a nightmare for sure.....Monotonous questing, especially if it involves constantly running back and forth, drives me nuts (that is what ended my time in both LoTRO and ESO)....Dailies of course are a pain too...I dont think I currently play any games that have dailies. Gender/race locked classes have never bothered me...

k61977 · May 2022

I think for me time gating is the worst one, but in a different way than explained here. More of a mob only spawns at this certain time which is normally when I should be asleep. Having mobs only spawn once a day or week is a horrible design where they don't think about players living across the world or those that work different hours.

Another example of this is something where an event only opens up every 4 hours, but you have to have this many people to actually make it trigger. So you could literally log in wait to do it but if enough people don't come you miss it completely. So it is gated by other people and time, just horrible game design even in MMO's.

Xiaoki · May 2022

I agree with all 5 but monotonous quests are the least troubling.

The first 3 are used by developers as they usually involve real money (paid currencies, paid upgrade items and paid time gate skips).

They also slow down the players. MMO developers are so deathly afraid of players getting gear upgrades too fast and immediately quitting the game. Bad RNG for loot isnt enough anymore.

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If the gender locking category is just gender locking then I dont like it. Some people have said its fine if there are lore reasons but you can come up with lore reasons to not have gender locking as well.

Race locked classes are fine and I prefer them. It gives classes a bit of flavor.

You could also have a class be available to all races but in different forms. Like some races have a Necromancer class and some races have a Spirit class. They function the exact same except one summons undead and one summons animal spirits.

KSib · May 2022

Perfect list. Nothing to add here.

Slapshot1188 · May 2022

Quizzical said:

tzervo said:

1) Dailies
2) Dailies
3) Dailies
4) Dailies
5) Time gating

In order for your opposition to dailies to be effective, you must come back and register it once per day, not four times in one day.

Perfect. Then we can report him for spamming! Or overly negative posting…. Or something like that.

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5 MMORPG Gameplay Features We Absolutely Hate

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5 MMORPG Gameplay Features We Absolutely Hate

Comments

거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV