Gee we had no raids in UO and it was an MMO. We had no raids in Ascheron's Call and it was an MMO.
Odd that...
Well raiding is dying in MMO's. The logistics of keeping a group together has become too difficult a task given today's MMO landscape. Wow inches towards pure PVP every day, Rift is dying, and LOTRO just announced the weakest end-game content for an expansion yet.
I loved it in Vanguard, LOTRO, and Wow pre-Lich King but just don't care for it anymore. Just to much drama and to many problem players online now days. Its all about getting the most, or the best and the quickest... the days of enjoying the ride are long gone.
I got so fed up with MMO's at one point I took a break and wound up hosting a pnp D&D session at my house once a week.
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mosnacky01Banned Users, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
I agree. This is more a normal "multiplayer" game, but that can be played even as single player (at least this is what we know).
The lack of raids actually makes the "massive" adjective really unappropriate.
Playing with thousands of other people makes it massive, Raids are boring e-peen fest and I love the fact that they will never ever ever darken this game.
If you want to raid there is always wowzorz. :rolleyes:
No woman should marry before she has slain her tenth man.-:Vartha Do'Urden
Playing with thousands of other people makes it massive, Raids are boring e-peen fest and I love the fact that they will never ever ever darken this game.
If you want to raid there is always wowzorz. :rolleyes:
Umm they very well may. There has been talk of 10 man raids being put in. There is nothing wrong with raids in and of themselves. It is the self important people that waggle their jaws about how awesome they are that create the problem. Even if there aren't raids those people are still going to be around jaw waggling, just about something else.
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iamtruthseekerMember, Moonstars, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited February 2013
There will be company-official content and user content that can be done solo or up to 5 person teams.
Events are done by entering in groups, or solo and getting a team together (like an defend the area mission.)
Contests by their very nature are solo but can also be done in a group if you understand the ranking is for the best in an individual person and you will still be competing against group members also. Not seeing public info on rewards so have to stop here.
Only delves at the and of a zone's quest chain (or sometimes able to be recruited before that) are requiring a five person group. I can't detail it but there should be no reason one couldn't arrange a private or PUG group for these.
PvP will also be done, but don't see public info here so I will say expect instances over open world and imagine what you will until beta weekends later.
I hope this answers your questions what 'this game's multiplayer" means to you. Not saying right or wrong, just what it is based on other Cryptic games and released public information on events.
Playing with thousands of other people makes it massive, Raids are boring e-peen fest and I love the fact that they will never ever ever darken this game.
If you want to raid there is always wowzorz. :rolleyes:
Aaand here's another post that wins the daily "i couldn't care less" reply. As i already wrote three times in this thread.
P.S. Raids and structured PvP are what defines a good player. I'll be glad to show my "epeen" in normal 5 men dungeons, as long as they're hard.
P.P.s this is my last post in this thread. I don't really care if it's a MMO or whatever, as long as i can play it. Please, don't quote my messages, you won't have a reply.
Dilige, et quod vis fac (Love, and do what you will)
St. Augustinus
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elveMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 336
It's not a mis-conception, but a change of conception, which is not surprising. Words are made by usage, and are not static in society. Since MMORPG is a word, it may have different definitions that change from time to time, especially in a fast-changing world as gaming industry.
Anyway, if you like it to be a MMO... it's a MMO. If you don't, it's not. I wholly agree with DevotedOfTempus when he says this is a debated concept.
If you do not care about other people's opinion then how do you expect for them to care about yours. And as I said before:
Neverwinter is a MMORPG and being one has nothing to do with raids. In fact I find it silly that some people find 20 people in a group "massive". You should check out Battlefield then - these 64 vs 64 battle will really shake you up.
In fact I find that finding 5 random people to do a dungeon for an hour is much more "massive" than putting myself in a group of the same 20 people every week for 5-10 hours killing the same bosses and having the same stupid problems over and over again.
I think coop should be part of the MMORPG genre but it should not be forced upon people and organized coop is the worst kind of coop ever as you never meet new people doing it. I think that there should be zone events like in GW2 and Rift and Cryptic already confirmed that there will be events like that in Neverwitner. The other thing that will promote "good" coop is having open world zones where the monsters are really tough to handle on your own. That way you will have natural grouping for players that want to get through this zone. Open a world PvP areas - mix PvP and PvE and you will have even more natural grouping happen on it's own.
For poeple that can remember beta WOW and when WOW first released, it did not actually have a raids as such, There was just a few epic and technically 5 man dungeons that could have 2 groups in at the same time to attempt them, no real raid interface, nothing else. It was still a MMO.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] I am not evil, I am just cursed.
As some posters have said MMO's is just a denomination to the amount of players in the world.
This idea of raids and hundreds of players fighting at single goals came along years after MMO's hit the field. Even WoW didn't initially have raids.
That is very much a player grown expectation and misunderstanding. As far as a lot of D&D players are concerned they couldn't care about raids. D&D itself is designed to operate between 4-6 members in a party so while the idea of raids works well in something like sieges typical D&D doesn't involve hundreds of players.
They have never said that they won't ultimately add something similar to raids into the game but the concept of raids being an MMO requirement is completely a Post-WoW misconception.
not true everquest had raids almost from the start they were added shortly after iirc, and eq came b4 wow
I can ground up coffee beans, dump them into my french press, pour steaming hot water over them and then strain the resultant liquid into my coffee cup and call it steak. It will still be referred to as a cup of coffee by the other people in my community no matter how obstinate I remain in calling a cup of coffee a steak.
hmmmm steak coffee!
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muzrub333Member, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
not true everquest had raids almost from the start they were added shortly after iirc, and eq came b4 wow
Semi correct. EQ had a few very tough mobs, that required large groups of people to take down. "Raids" developed organically over time, but were not originally intended by the devs. Of course, it was such a big deal to take down one of the big ones, and such a rush, that that became the focus of all future expansions. And with those expansions came all the functionality we take for granted in raids now.
LOL, Naggy with 30 people, all in separate groups, using /ooc /shout to communicate, getting buffed, having to log off while others were buffed because it took longer to buff everyone than the buffs actually lasted, sitting in the log in chat waiting to be told to log back in,....figuring out how to split pull the giants, and finally, after hours, getting beat down by Naggy, like you were all a bunch of Gnats. Corpse Runsss! Good times, only trumped by the 60+ man raids that came later...oh the humanity!
not true everquest had raids almost from the start they were added shortly after iirc, and eq came b4 wow
Actually the statement was basically true. "This idea of raids and hundreds of players fighting at single goals came along years after MMO's hit the field. Even WoW didn't initially have raids." Everquest came along years after MMOs hit the field. Meridian 59 regarded by many as the first MMO and it came out 3 years before EQ.
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teknykkMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited February 2013
To answer the OP's question in my own opinion...yes it is an MMORPG. Massively isn't defined by the systems or mechanics of the game, it's defined by the fact that it is has a large open PvE world where thousands of players can experience it together.
It doesn't have to have parties larger than 4-6...it doesn't have to have raids, and it doesn't have to have world-based pvp to be open world, or be an MMORPG.
It is one, as defined by the details from the developers regarding the size and scope of the world, and the way the server(s) are. Originally it wasn't going to be, obviously, for those who've been following it from the start...would know that prior to Perfect World's involvement, it was intended to be a cooperative multiplayer game, small groups of 2-6...playing it out much like a pencil and paper D&D session.
That changed when Perfect World joined in, though the essence of the original game is still preserved to a degree from what I gather...but they've simply added MMORPG features, opened the world up more and given it a scheme (free-to-play all the way).
MMO A multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously.
RPG In which players act out the roles of characters in a narrative game.
Current standard definition of mmorpg via Wikipedia.
So by current standard definition, If Bob the construction worker is online pretending to be an armor wearing, sword-swinging knight, and he is playing with Susie the nurse who is pretending to be a Wizard and Nick the pizza delivery guy who is pretending to be a dagger wielding thief, and they are in the same world as at least 100 other people pretending to play similar roles... they are playing an mmorpg.
It really is a very simple definition that can have many many different applications. Does NWO fall into that definition? Yes.
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iamtruthseekerMember, Moonstars, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
*Facepalm* Expect arena PvP as in instances, but there is NO open world PvP at this time. Cryptc is wishlisting both Foundry PvP missions and User Foundry persistent areas, but it's not implemented at this time. Craig misspoke in regards to launch, but it was a while ago then, and they might have thought it was doable at that time. Since we're launching Beta weekends this weekend, I don't mind tapdancing around the NDA, but all of this was public info, and nowhere ELSE does he ever state open world PvP...thank the gods.
It doesn't seem like it's going to be massively multiplayer.. it seems more like it's just smaller groups or parties going through premade DM scenarios or quests ?
Well as the game was originally a coop multiplayer game and never an MMO then converted MMO, that's why it snot looking like world of warcraft.
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muzrub333Member, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
*Facepalm* Expect arena PvP as in instances, but there is NO open world PvP at this time. Cryptc is wishlisting both Foundry PvP missions and User Foundry persistent areas, but it's not implemented at this time. Craig misspoke in regards to launch, but it was a while ago then, and they might have thought it was doable at that time. Since we're launching Beta weekends this weekend, I don't mind tapdancing around the NDA, but all of this was public info, and nowhere ELSE does he ever state open world PvP...thank the gods.
Thank the gods!
I was hoping he just put his foot in his mouth.
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lanessar13Member, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, SilverstarsPosts: 8Arc User
edited February 2013
Honestly, no PvP appeals to me. The game is designed around playing with others, the power balance is geared toward killing foes, and I just imagine all the dev time that can go toward enemy AI or challenging content and Foundry as opposed to l33t killz0rz.
I know it's a big thing in most MMOs, but (as an example) City of Heroes pre-PvP patch was fun to play. Post-PvP, not as much. Lots of nerfing going on, and you felt more like an overglorified water-boy rather than a super hero (I'm looking at you, ED). However, I've resigned myself that it seems to be a "given", and that it has to be implemented, despite my wishes on the matter.
Honestly, games without world pvp are a bore. I like the idea of someone ganking me while I am on a mob and having to constantly look over my shoulder!
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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iamtruthseekerMember, Moonstars, Neverwinter Beta UsersPosts: 0Arc User
aevicMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero UsersPosts: 29Arc User
edited February 2013
Quoting Barney Stinson, "Watch your step when you get up kids, 'cause I'm 'bout to drop some knowledge!" (le chuckle)
So anyways, the Kirmse brothers and the Sellers brothers along with John Hanke have played the <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> outta some MUDs, and create Archtype Interactive to code the first 3D MUD and move away from BBS to a launcher type executable gateway into the 3D MUD with tons of players. Circa '96 3DO Studios purchases Archtype and later publishes Meridian 59. At the time of the purchase, testing and leading up to the release, the game is marketed as a MMPCRPG, or Massive Multiplayer Computer Role Playing Game. Being developed at the same time but released later is UO, from which Richard Garriott coins MMORPG. Garriott's acronym is far more popular and basically sticks, and yes developers and players alike have since attributed different ideas to the "definition" of MMO.
I'm not arguing or attempting to poke anyone in the ribs here, just enjoyed this thread and thought I'd throw some more text into the reading pot. Here are some quotes from a good read, Damion Schubert reminiscing the creation and history of Meridian 59: edit: Before I got carried away, I was originally going with a quote or two here, to show that M59 with servers that held 100+ and sometimes 200+ players was still originally considered "massive" in terms of playerbase.
"Meridian 59 hits alpha. It can hold a scant 35 people. It has 7 ‘rooms’, 2 spells, no skills, three monsters (all giant insects), 1 quest, and no form of PK control whatsoever. The newbie spawn point is a sea of bodies. The game is so full that we have to (randomly and without warning) kick people off the server to debug our own game."
"In a time when we are desperately trying to impress investors, the original NeverWinter Nights closes down. Without warning, we are flooded with MMPRPG-starved fans. And they all want every single NWN feature." - referencing NWN Online via AOL back in the day.
"Running on fumes, we convince 3DO to buy us. They may still hate us for that. My salary was tripled overnight – and I was still grossly underpaid." - hahahaha
"In what may be the single worst ad in gaming history, we tell PCGamer readers that Meridian 59 is “The single most fun thing you can do with hundreds of other people without wearing anything made of latex."
"Within one day of being live, Meridian has its first virtual prostitute, making that Meridian’s oldest profession." - o.O
"We ban a guild for duping, as we finally catch on that the 10 bucks a jerk gives you is NOT worth as much as the 10 bucks a peaceful player gives you. The guild en masse writes to PCGamer.com, which promptly reports of our vindicative, evil Customer Service department on the front page. Our policy on not commenting on account cancellation prevents us from responding."
Another good one about MMO terminology, before it existed! "We perform our first major ‘nerf’. Meridian 59 has a political system which gives bonuses to you based on what faction you are in and how powerful it is. The duke is too powerful, and so we (accidentally) overcompensate by making the princess too powerful. However, the term ‘nerf’ has not been popularized by UO and EQ yet, so instead I get an angry email complaining that we ‘castrated the duke’. I often wonder what the mail would have read if we had nerfed the princess."
One of my favorites about the first time an MMO game representative screws over the playerbase, with comical consequences: "The infamous GuideWozzle episode: a player volunteer Guide goes crazy. He goes to the Ghost room, and uses a bug to spawn several ghosts (by far the hardest monsters in the game). He then marches down the who list, teleporting people in the room one at a time. They have enough time to say ‘wtf’ before being cut down like weeds to a weedwhacker. I teleport into a room full of hundreds of corpses. I ban GuideWozzle. The last two people teleported into the room (who were saved by my intervention) immediately begin looting the corpses of all the other players."
Personally remember this one, great fun. I miss 109 so much heh. "The entirety of server 109 gets bored, and raids server 108. They don’t player kill. Instead, they all choose names starting with clone, as in ‘clone1’, ‘clone2’, ‘clone3’, ‘clone4’, etc. They all use the same character model and they only speak in binary. One person, the master, does all the talking for the group. Server 108 freaks the hell out. They blame us. We try to explain that we aren’t that smart. In an admirable example of the community defending itself, a player on server 108 starts a new character, calls it ‘Clone16’, and joins the game. Immediately, the other clones include him in the clone’s in-game chat channel, and start talking normally, saying things like ‘ha ha ha! I can’t believe they R so freakd!’ He quietly listens. The next day, he posts a log on the message board complete with a listing of which clone is which 109 player, and which clone guy is cheating on which clone woman with which other clone woman."
"I log into the EQ chat rooms with my Meridian 59 name, while waiting for the servers to open for phase 4 beta. Humorously, enough people recognize me and start chatting Meridian old times that the volunteer in the room has trouble answering EQ questions. EverQuest goes live. Given that the gameplay is similar but much, much deeper, it devastates the Meridian community. The diehards cling to the notion that EQ sux and M59 will rule forever, but numbers dwindle quickly. While strolling through EQ with my Meridian name, someone gives me free healing, SoW and buffs because “your chat system didn’t suck like this one does."
This game is open source and free btw, and server 101 rocks. ;p I do also remember "raiding" in EQ before any actual raid group mechanics were implemented. My two favorite memories of EQ raiding are fighting other guilds to be the first to down Innoruuk, and as I was the Shaman I had to do the pull with Torpor. As my disease resist debuff then Torpor land, Inny calls my name for Death Touch and I resist it. Most of the raid fails to act immediately as they are all spamming guild chat with "OMFG You resisted death touch!" and the like.
But by far my most favorite EQ Raid memory of all time is when Cazic Thule got his initial huge boost in power and was vastly more difficult, with a new loot table and all sorts o' goodies. Our guild was clearing the Plane of Fear and racing two other guilds in the zone at the same time, Black Company (actually from server 103/109 of Meridian 59 which is cool, lead by Ixit at the time) and Enlightened Dark of later internet fame. We pulled CT first and wiped, Black Company moved in and also wiped. ED sat that round out and watched. Eventually CT was downed on a pull by ED that wiped with BC taking over and wiping then us third in line finishing him off. I still remember that I died 47 times in that fight, each time running naked from my bind spot on the mountainside to grab all of my gear spamming that I needed clarity. :-)
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gyloirMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited February 2013
LOL, I had a blast reading that.
That's something that seems to be missing lately from modern mmo's. Back in the late 90's with Meridian/UO/EQ/AC days there was a whole sense of community and all of these little events and things happening that still brings back great memories to me.
Comments
Well raiding is dying in MMO's. The logistics of keeping a group together has become too difficult a task given today's MMO landscape. Wow inches towards pure PVP every day, Rift is dying, and LOTRO just announced the weakest end-game content for an expansion yet.
I loved it in Vanguard, LOTRO, and Wow pre-Lich King but just don't care for it anymore. Just to much drama and to many problem players online now days. Its all about getting the most, or the best and the quickest... the days of enjoying the ride are long gone.
I got so fed up with MMO's at one point I took a break and wound up hosting a pnp D&D session at my house once a week.
Playing with thousands of other people makes it massive, Raids are boring e-peen fest and I love the fact that they will never ever ever darken this game.
If you want to raid there is always wowzorz. :rolleyes:
Umm they very well may. There has been talk of 10 man raids being put in. There is nothing wrong with raids in and of themselves. It is the self important people that waggle their jaws about how awesome they are that create the problem. Even if there aren't raids those people are still going to be around jaw waggling, just about something else.
Events are done by entering in groups, or solo and getting a team together (like an defend the area mission.)
Contests by their very nature are solo but can also be done in a group if you understand the ranking is for the best in an individual person and you will still be competing against group members also. Not seeing public info on rewards so have to stop here.
Only delves at the and of a zone's quest chain (or sometimes able to be recruited before that) are requiring a five person group. I can't detail it but there should be no reason one couldn't arrange a private or PUG group for these.
PvP will also be done, but don't see public info here so I will say expect instances over open world and imagine what you will until beta weekends later.
I hope this answers your questions what 'this game's multiplayer" means to you. Not saying right or wrong, just what it is based on other Cryptic games and released public information on events.
Aaand here's another post that wins the daily "i couldn't care less" reply. As i already wrote three times in this thread.
P.S. Raids and structured PvP are what defines a good player. I'll be glad to show my "epeen" in normal 5 men dungeons, as long as they're hard.
P.P.s this is my last post in this thread. I don't really care if it's a MMO or whatever, as long as i can play it. Please, don't quote my messages, you won't have a reply.
St. Augustinus
If you do not care about other people's opinion then how do you expect for them to care about yours. And as I said before:
They postponed the game 2 years to make it more MMO'ish, they original planned no pvp as far as I know.
some claim that co-op games are not MMO
Neverwinter will have at least 12 huge open world zones, so its not lobby.
Neverwinter will have pvp, both open world and Arenas.
Co-op games are still MMO though.
Source for the open world? My understanding is PvP will be limited to Arenas/Battle Grounds, with no non-consensual ganking.
not true everquest had raids almost from the start they were added shortly after iirc, and eq came b4 wow
hmmmm steak coffee!
Semi correct. EQ had a few very tough mobs, that required large groups of people to take down. "Raids" developed organically over time, but were not originally intended by the devs. Of course, it was such a big deal to take down one of the big ones, and such a rush, that that became the focus of all future expansions. And with those expansions came all the functionality we take for granted in raids now.
LOL, Naggy with 30 people, all in separate groups, using /ooc /shout to communicate, getting buffed, having to log off while others were buffed because it took longer to buff everyone than the buffs actually lasted, sitting in the log in chat waiting to be told to log back in,....figuring out how to split pull the giants, and finally, after hours, getting beat down by Naggy, like you were all a bunch of Gnats. Corpse Runsss! Good times, only trumped by the 60+ man raids that came later...oh the humanity!
Sorry reliving fun MMO times.
Actually the statement was basically true. "This idea of raids and hundreds of players fighting at single goals came along years after MMO's hit the field. Even WoW didn't initially have raids." Everquest came along years after MMOs hit the field. Meridian 59 regarded by many as the first MMO and it came out 3 years before EQ.
It doesn't have to have parties larger than 4-6...it doesn't have to have raids, and it doesn't have to have world-based pvp to be open world, or be an MMORPG.
It is one, as defined by the details from the developers regarding the size and scope of the world, and the way the server(s) are. Originally it wasn't going to be, obviously, for those who've been following it from the start...would know that prior to Perfect World's involvement, it was intended to be a cooperative multiplayer game, small groups of 2-6...playing it out much like a pencil and paper D&D session.
That changed when Perfect World joined in, though the essence of the original game is still preserved to a degree from what I gather...but they've simply added MMORPG features, opened the world up more and given it a scheme (free-to-play all the way).
source:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vNMqSWF1aU&t=27m00s
Thanks, had never seen this, I'll watch it on my lunch break.
Edit> Thanks for setting to the actual comment +5 interwebs for you.
Now, I get to ponder the meaning of "open world" PvP as it pertains to NWO. >:(
RPG In which players act out the roles of characters in a narrative game.
Current standard definition of mmorpg via Wikipedia.
So by current standard definition, If Bob the construction worker is online pretending to be an armor wearing, sword-swinging knight, and he is playing with Susie the nurse who is pretending to be a Wizard and Nick the pizza delivery guy who is pretending to be a dagger wielding thief, and they are in the same world as at least 100 other people pretending to play similar roles... they are playing an mmorpg.
It really is a very simple definition that can have many many different applications. Does NWO fall into that definition? Yes.
Actually 1 year, not two. But yes on the no PvP then.
*Facepalm* Expect arena PvP as in instances, but there is NO open world PvP at this time. Cryptc is wishlisting both Foundry PvP missions and User Foundry persistent areas, but it's not implemented at this time. Craig misspoke in regards to launch, but it was a while ago then, and they might have thought it was doable at that time. Since we're launching Beta weekends this weekend, I don't mind tapdancing around the NDA, but all of this was public info, and nowhere ELSE does he ever state open world PvP...thank the gods.
Well as the game was originally a coop multiplayer game and never an MMO then converted MMO, that's why it snot looking like world of warcraft.
Thank the gods!
I was hoping he just put his foot in his mouth.
I know it's a big thing in most MMOs, but (as an example) City of Heroes pre-PvP patch was fun to play. Post-PvP, not as much. Lots of nerfing going on, and you felt more like an overglorified water-boy rather than a super hero (I'm looking at you, ED). However, I've resigned myself that it seems to be a "given", and that it has to be implemented, despite my wishes on the matter.
So anyways, the Kirmse brothers and the Sellers brothers along with John Hanke have played the <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> outta some MUDs, and create Archtype Interactive to code the first 3D MUD and move away from BBS to a launcher type executable gateway into the 3D MUD with tons of players. Circa '96 3DO Studios purchases Archtype and later publishes Meridian 59. At the time of the purchase, testing and leading up to the release, the game is marketed as a MMPCRPG, or Massive Multiplayer Computer Role Playing Game. Being developed at the same time but released later is UO, from which Richard Garriott coins MMORPG. Garriott's acronym is far more popular and basically sticks, and yes developers and players alike have since attributed different ideas to the "definition" of MMO.
I'm not arguing or attempting to poke anyone in the ribs here, just enjoyed this thread and thought I'd throw some more text into the reading pot. Here are some quotes from a good read, Damion Schubert reminiscing the creation and history of Meridian 59: edit: Before I got carried away, I was originally going with a quote or two here, to show that M59 with servers that held 100+ and sometimes 200+ players was still originally considered "massive" in terms of playerbase.
"Meridian 59 hits alpha. It can hold a scant 35 people. It has 7 ‘rooms’, 2 spells, no skills, three monsters (all giant insects), 1 quest, and no form of PK control whatsoever. The newbie spawn point is a sea of bodies. The game is so full that we have to (randomly and without warning) kick people off the server to debug our own game."
"In a time when we are desperately trying to impress investors, the original NeverWinter Nights closes down. Without warning, we are flooded with MMPRPG-starved fans. And they all want every single NWN feature." - referencing NWN Online via AOL back in the day.
"Running on fumes, we convince 3DO to buy us. They may still hate us for that. My salary was tripled overnight – and I was still grossly underpaid." - hahahaha
"In what may be the single worst ad in gaming history, we tell PCGamer readers that Meridian 59 is “The single most fun thing you can do with hundreds of other people without wearing anything made of latex."
"Within one day of being live, Meridian has its first virtual prostitute, making that Meridian’s oldest profession." - o.O
"We ban a guild for duping, as we finally catch on that the 10 bucks a jerk gives you is NOT worth as much as the 10 bucks a peaceful player gives you. The guild en masse writes to PCGamer.com, which promptly reports of our vindicative, evil Customer Service department on the front page. Our policy on not commenting on account cancellation prevents us from responding."
Another good one about MMO terminology, before it existed! "We perform our first major ‘nerf’. Meridian 59 has a political system which gives bonuses to you based on what faction you are in and how powerful it is. The duke is too powerful, and so we (accidentally) overcompensate by making the princess too powerful. However, the term ‘nerf’ has not been popularized by UO and EQ yet, so instead I get an angry email complaining that we ‘castrated the duke’. I often wonder what the mail would have read if we had nerfed the princess."
One of my favorites about the first time an MMO game representative screws over the playerbase, with comical consequences: "The infamous GuideWozzle episode: a player volunteer Guide goes crazy. He goes to the Ghost room, and uses a bug to spawn several ghosts (by far the hardest monsters in the game). He then marches down the who list, teleporting people in the room one at a time. They have enough time to say ‘wtf’ before being cut down like weeds to a weedwhacker. I teleport into a room full of hundreds of corpses. I ban GuideWozzle. The last two people teleported into the room (who were saved by my intervention) immediately begin looting the corpses of all the other players."
Personally remember this one, great fun. I miss 109 so much heh. "The entirety of server 109 gets bored, and raids server 108. They don’t player kill. Instead, they all choose names starting with clone, as in ‘clone1’, ‘clone2’, ‘clone3’, ‘clone4’, etc. They all use the same character model and they only speak in binary. One person, the master, does all the talking for the group. Server 108 freaks the hell out. They blame us. We try to explain that we aren’t that smart. In an admirable example of the community defending itself, a player on server 108 starts a new character, calls it ‘Clone16’, and joins the game. Immediately, the other clones include him in the clone’s in-game chat channel, and start talking normally, saying things like ‘ha ha ha! I can’t believe they R so freakd!’ He quietly listens. The next day, he posts a log on the message board complete with a listing of which clone is which 109 player, and which clone guy is cheating on which clone woman with which other clone woman."
"I log into the EQ chat rooms with my Meridian 59 name, while waiting for the servers to open for phase 4 beta. Humorously, enough people recognize me and start chatting Meridian old times that the volunteer in the room has trouble answering EQ questions. EverQuest goes live. Given that the gameplay is similar but much, much deeper, it devastates the Meridian community. The diehards cling to the notion that EQ sux and M59 will rule forever, but numbers dwindle quickly. While strolling through EQ with my Meridian name, someone gives me free healing, SoW and buffs because “your chat system didn’t suck like this one does."
This game is open source and free btw, and server 101 rocks. ;p I do also remember "raiding" in EQ before any actual raid group mechanics were implemented. My two favorite memories of EQ raiding are fighting other guilds to be the first to down Innoruuk, and as I was the Shaman I had to do the pull with Torpor. As my disease resist debuff then Torpor land, Inny calls my name for Death Touch and I resist it. Most of the raid fails to act immediately as they are all spamming guild chat with "OMFG You resisted death touch!" and the like.
But by far my most favorite EQ Raid memory of all time is when Cazic Thule got his initial huge boost in power and was vastly more difficult, with a new loot table and all sorts o' goodies. Our guild was clearing the Plane of Fear and racing two other guilds in the zone at the same time, Black Company (actually from server 103/109 of Meridian 59 which is cool, lead by Ixit at the time) and Enlightened Dark of later internet fame. We pulled CT first and wiped, Black Company moved in and also wiped. ED sat that round out and watched. Eventually CT was downed on a pull by ED that wiped with BC taking over and wiping then us third in line finishing him off. I still remember that I died 47 times in that fight, each time running naked from my bind spot on the mountainside to grab all of my gear spamming that I needed clarity. :-)
That's something that seems to be missing lately from modern mmo's. Back in the late 90's with Meridian/UO/EQ/AC days there was a whole sense of community and all of these little events and things happening that still brings back great memories to me.
It would be fantastic to see open world PvP in this game but I'm not sure how it could be done with the single server system Cryptic usually uses.
Perhaps just by flagging your character for open-world PvP tho.