why is a decent MMO impossible to find?

[Fanatical Meat]

I was reading this while I did't like WAR at all (I thought the same about DAoC, souless, no feeling of love from developers)
http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-b...thread&threadid=102384
It made me think why is it so hard for a game company to accept the fact that they will not beat WOW numbers but still do quite well with fewer subscribers? Also why is every MMO $15 per month why not $10 or $8.50?
All I am looking for is a game that has PVE and PVP content, make it zones for each. Allow some loot from players but not everything, like original EQ one item.
GM events that involve large groups of people
Voip built in like EQ2
Big world that evolves.
Thanks for reading my rant.

 

[FuryofFive]

Originally posted by: Fanatical Meat
I was reading this while I did't like WAR at all (I thought the same about DAoC, souless, no feeling of love from developers)
http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-b...thread&threadid=102384
It made me think why is it so hard for a game company to accept the fact that they will not beat WOW numbers but still do quite well with fewer subscribers? Also why is every MMO $15 per month why not $10 or $8.50?
All I am looking for is a game that has PVE and PVP content, make it zones for each. Allow some loot from players but not everything, like original EQ one item.
GM events that involve large groups of people
Voip built in like EQ2
Big world that evolves.
Thanks for reading my rant.

sounds more like a whine? dude theres like a 100+ MMO's out there. not all are WoW'esk or War'esk. There is champion's online or City of hero's(made by same company)

15$ is a base cost i thnk. there are some that do have 10$ as it's price. Lord of the rings online i believe is 10$

 

[ViviTheMage]

Personally, I like the Korean MMO's...hug egrindfests, but I like it

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

"Decent" is in the eye of the beholder. WOW is just fine in my eyes, thanks.

Perhaps Ultima Online is more to your liking? I hear it's still around...

 

[nageov3t]

LOTRO is $10/month, isn't it?

in any event, I'd be surprised if we ever saw a truly unforgiving MMO ever again (lootable players, de-leveling, etc). it's just not where the $ is.

 

[TankGuys]

Originally posted by: loki8481
LOTRO is $10/month, isn't it?

in any event, I'd be surprised if we ever saw a truly unforgiving MMO ever again (lootable players, de-leveling, etc). it's just not where the $ is.

Yep, don't see it happening. I played EQ quite a bit, and yes, there was a certain thrill and excitement about the bigger risk of death. Made you be more careful, and you had to play your class better.

My wife and I play EQ2 now, which is far, far more forgiving. And honestly, it's a lot more fun. I don't miss those obnoxious corpse runs. My wife would *never* have the patience for it, and that's not a "fun" way to spend your evening. The trade off of hours of frustration if you died at the bottom of a dungeon, vs. the little bonus in excitement just isn't there.

EQ2 is definitely far easier than the orignal EQ was. It is, however, a lot less wasted time running across the world or trying to retrieve your body, and a lot more time doing actual FUN stuff.

 

[Beev]

Part of the problem is people remember features from games like UO (full loot, etc) as being FAR better than they actually were. Or they're elitist and feel like since they played 10 years ago that they "deserve" an MMO catered to them.

 

[Sureshot324]

Aion is coming out tomorrow and looks like it could be a pretty sweet MMO.

 

[Martimus]

Eve is the only MMO that I enjoy, but it is because it tries to keep out of those rules that break immersion just to add balance. (like getting to keep stuff after you die, or everythin getting looted, when some stuff would realistically get destroyed with the ship.) I have never been a fan of game mechanics that are there just because it makes something more "fair" - at least when it doesn't make real sense (thus breaking any immersion in the game). Things work themselves to equilibrium on their own, we don't need outside influences to do that.

 

[FuryofFive]

Originally posted by: Sureshot324
Aion is coming out tomorrow and looks like it could be a pretty sweet MMO.

ive heard that AION is just guild wars with better graphics...i was interested in it, it looked good(graphically) i typically dont care much for story.
Have you considered Champions online, it feels much better than its predecessor(city of heros/villians) cryptic made it. Feels like it as much much more to it.

 

[MStele]

Originally posted by: Fanatical Meat
I was reading this while I did't like WAR at all (I thought the same about DAoC, souless, no feeling of love from developers)
http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-b...thread&threadid=102384
It made me think why is it so hard for a game company to accept the fact that they will not beat WOW numbers but still do quite well with fewer subscribers? Also why is every MMO $15 per month why not $10 or $8.50?
All I am looking for is a game that has PVE and PVP content, make it zones for each. Allow some loot from players but not everything, like original EQ one item.
GM events that involve large groups of people
Voip built in like EQ2
Big world that evolves.
Thanks for reading my rant.

I agree with you I wish they would create some high quality alternatives, but lets break down your post.

1. "All I am looking for is a game that has PVE and PVP content, make it zones for each. Allow some loot from players but not everything, like original EQ one item."

Wow has PVE and PVP contents, and both have their own zones. Battlegrounds, Arenas, etc.

2. "GM events that involve large groups of people"

Wow has tons of events throughout the year that are scheduled...Brewfest and Lunarfest are a couple...oh....and Blizzcon

3. "Voip built in like EQ2"

Wow has voip built in

4. Big world that evolves.

In wow the world is evolving. The new expansion is bringing a complete change to old world, as well as bring new lore.

BTW, i'm not pro Warcraft. I'm simply pointing out that the reason Warcraft has so many subscribers, is because they do in fact offer most of what ever gamer wants in a time sink. Whether its fun after you'd played for a period a time is always arguable, but I think many people who thought Everquest was fun also didn't have any real alternatives to the pain. Those games have evolved into what you see now, and most gamers don't want to see their gameplay regress.

 

[VashHT]

Originally posted by: FuryofFive

Originally posted by: Sureshot324
Aion is coming out tomorrow and looks like it could be a pretty sweet MMO.

ive heard that AION is just guild wars with better graphics...i was interested in it, it looked good(graphically) i typically dont care much for story.
Have you considered Champions online, it feels much better than its predecessor(city of heros/villians) cryptic made it. Feels like it as much much more to it.

I don't see how anyone could make that comparison, Aion is absolutely nothing like Guild Wars. I love both games, but they really are nothing alike.

 

[Via]

I remember staying online in AC after the rest of my group logged off (and after one too many beers) and just sort of pointing my character towards the unknown and fighting whatever I came across.

Those adventures usually ended up with 4 or 5 corpses to collect :laugh:

and me thinking "you IDIOT"

Those corpse runs whould keep me up an extra hour or two.

Good times. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[ChickenShwarma]

That was a nice little article, it made good sense to me.

I did enjoy DAoC since the begining, and the 3 faction break up definitely added more dynamic between realm's balance.

 

[Newbian]

I just miss the corpse drag command EQ had and getting it so you were dragging multiple corpses of the same person around.

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: Via
I remember staying online in AC after the rest of my group logged off (and after one too many beers) and just sort of pointing my character towards the unknown and fighting whatever I came across.

Those adventures usually ended up with 4 or 5 corpses to collect :laugh:

and me thinking "you IDIOT"

Those corpse runs whould keep me up an extra hour or two.

Good times. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

GOOOD times.

Hours trying to learn new spells, or testing bows that dropped hoping for the higher damage bonus.

 

[Arglebargle]

Nostalgia's golden glow....

People like different things. I watched my friends play Ultima Online and Everquest, and it put me off MMOs for years.

 

[FuryofFive]

Originally posted by: VashHT

Originally posted by: FuryofFive

Originally posted by: Sureshot324
Aion is coming out tomorrow and looks like it could be a pretty sweet MMO.

ive heard that AION is just guild wars with better graphics...i was interested in it, it looked good(graphically) i typically dont care much for story.
Have you considered Champions online, it feels much better than its predecessor(city of heros/villians) cryptic made it. Feels like it as much much more to it.

I don't see how anyone could make that comparison, Aion is absolutely nothing like Guild Wars. I love both games, but they really are nothing alike.

i dunno, im just going off what i read. i mean AION looks nice and all. but i missed the beta by a few days. otherwise i would have tried it. i still may someday

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I agree sometimes I wonder if I would really like EQ again. I think it was my first so it holds a very special place in my heart like all firsts. I am not too sure I'd like the auto combat or messing up your character with a bad attribute choice ect...

 

[Arglebargle]

There's a thing amongst woodwind and horn players called 'home instrument bias'. Basically, whatever instrument you start on (flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, etc) becomes the 'natural' way, colours your thinking about playing. Other instruments' variations are more likely to feel like errors or problems.

I think that probably applies to lots of situations, and especially MMOs. Not to say you can't get over it, but just that it probably exists and colors your thoughts.

It certainly seemed evident in the discussions of Bethesda's Oblivion, where people who started out on Morrowind or Daggerfall tended to not like it. But the Daggerfall starters thought Morrowind was a wimp as well. And people who'd started out on Oblivion tended to like it more.

Because every game company wants to be the WoW heavy in the field, they are no longer satisfied with the previous successful levels of, say, 100k subscribers. When it becomes possible to develop and run MMOs for reasonable sums, there should be a lot more niche MMOs that cater to a particular style, and then we'll see the delivery and support of decent MMOs for more varied tastes.

 

[Juddog]

Having a big world that evolves with GM events will cost a lot of money and a lot of players will bitch about it.

People like to fantasize about the EQ days of running GM events, but to be honest playing EQ these events often sucked. Typical GM event would go like this: GM shows up, starts killing players as an NPC. Mass shouts go out, suddenly zone is crawling from hundreds of players swarming in to get loot. Super high level players come in, kill the mobs, get the loot, everybody who didn't get loot just bitches for another hour or two about how the whole thing sucked.

People seem to have rose tinted glasses when looking at the old EQ days, and tend to forget about the REALLY sucky parts of EQ. Same thing goes for UO. In UO you could get ganked out of nowhere, no roleplay etc., and someone comes and grabs all your stuff. Let me detail out my first PVP experience in UO, which lead to me leaving the game a month or two later.

* I'm gathering, visiting towns, experience a dungeon, getting good loot and making buddies. I'm roleplaying like crazy. So I decide to take a stroll from one town to another, notice some guy standing in the middle of the road. "How art thee today" I begin to type out, eagerly awaiting a chance at roleplay. *BOOM* I'm dead. No roll to save, no chance to survive. WTF I'm thinking. So I run back and all my stuff is gone, and same guy is standing in middle of the road again. *BOOM* I'm dead again.

Cursing and thrashing my fist into the air, I look up the spell he used. Back then you see they didn't balance out PVP like nowadays. His spell literally did more damage (at that time, they later balanced it) than it was possible to have life hit points with no chance of save. So basically it was an instant "you're dead" spell. Later on the road pillaging became worse. People figured out if you hide behind the shadow of a house you can use the spell without anybody having the chance to even click on you to fight back. So basically it was free loot for these guys for a while. Let me tell you - it sucked to be on the receiving end.

So I ended up quitting UO because it had gone from a multiplayer RPG to a gankfest if you leave town scenario. It wasn't fun, it was just stupid. The entertainment model simply doesn't fit when you have a couple jackasses sitting at the top of the food pyramid and everybody else lurking underneath.

 

[Newbian]

Well the events in EQ really depended on the server you were playing since some had great ones with their gm's and others never had any.

 

[Pelu]

Guild Wars is getting old... no new content.... since august of 2007,, maybe an armor set or two... but nothing more.... Guild Wars is cool because of the features of gameplay and such.... but it feels like something is missing... i guess is a trade off, u cant have both...

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: Pelu
Guild Wars is getting old... no new content.... since august of 2007,, maybe an armor set or two... but nothing more.... Guild Wars is cool because of the features of gameplay and such.... but it feels like something is missing... i guess is a trade off, u cant have both...

It is missing the MMO part.

To the OP: It is because your standards are too high.

 

[Elcs]

Fallen Earth?