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MMOs, sandbox and you.
hawkwing43
Member Posts: 1,701 Arc User
I would like to open a general topic on MMOs as a whole. I don't care about the best or the worst you have played, who is doing it right or wrong, how one sucks vs others.
This topic is just what do you look for when your playing any MMO? what hooks you, what's important to you?
Is it a huge sandbox type MMO you want, or are you just as happy with the grind and kill types you see.
What is a sandbox type? Mainly one that lets you do things within the game world, like effect what it looks like, or you can craft and gather resources, even build homes if that's what part of the game.
Are you looking to be a king of your own army, or are you happy just fighting one on one? Do you want to be the riches merchant in the world, or just a gun for hire with the best gear?
Lets talk about MMOS in general. Maybe someone will read this and make the next great MMO based off these answers and discussion.
This topic is just what do you look for when your playing any MMO? what hooks you, what's important to you?
Is it a huge sandbox type MMO you want, or are you just as happy with the grind and kill types you see.
What is a sandbox type? Mainly one that lets you do things within the game world, like effect what it looks like, or you can craft and gather resources, even build homes if that's what part of the game.
Are you looking to be a king of your own army, or are you happy just fighting one on one? Do you want to be the riches merchant in the world, or just a gun for hire with the best gear?
Lets talk about MMOS in general. Maybe someone will read this and make the next great MMO based off these answers and discussion.
Post edited by hawkwing43 on
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If you have a system that lets you be the King in the land, how should that system work? or Will it never work in your mind?
Ironically, it is also time commitment that often keeps me as a solo act, rather than working in a guild.
I also want to see less "wait in line" quests. Technically a subset of time commitment, it is poor design when I have a limited time and I have to wait 10 minutes for a unique NPC to reset so I can kill him, or start an escort quest, etc. Worse when I'm like 3rd or 4th in line. Its also bad if I fail the quest somehow, and the next guy pounces on it, and I'm shoved to the back of the line to retake the quest.
Next, I suppose, is originality. If it is yet another "elves, dwarves, orcs" game, it will have to do a lot to demonstrate it is original. In fact, the first one of those to catch my eye in a long while is Everquest Next, and that is because of its many, currently unique, changes to the MMO concept.
Character customization is also important. I'm going to be playing these character for possibly hundreds of hours. They are, in a sense, a representation of me, and I'll have an emotional connection to them on some level. I don't want just the name to be unique.
I like having a real effect on the game environment. I like having to wrest control from enemies in order to open up shops & a quest hub. I like having sections of the world open up when certain requirements were met by the community as a whole. I'd prefer the developers find some other way of accomplishing this than pure grind. I'm particularly excited with some ideas advanced by Everquest Next which suggest that whole cities could be constructed, occupied, used as quest/store hubs, and destroyed where there were no cities actually planned. To balance, so that no single faction overruns the game, the NPC resistance should increase in counterpoint to the amount of territory taken, eventually re-establishing a balance. I could easily see this beginning to mimic real-world scenarios where a fort or town is placed base on elevation, water supply, trade routes, geographical protection, and resource harvesting.
UI and game tool customization. This is one area I enjoyed more in WoW than any other game. By allowing the game community to design and publish customized UI's and tools, I felt like I could have, with a bit of effort, just the right arrangement for my play style. On the downside, this does mean that certain tools will eventually go away as designers leave the game. So ultimately, I think the best way would be to get a cooperation between the developer and a select committee of gamers who can steer them to the best flexible design of a UI.
Flagged PvP in strongholds- I prefer letting players strike into the heart of an enemy stronghold rather than just scuffles on a no-man's land border, or other designated PvP areas. In a sense, this is a variation on "effects on the game environment". I'd like the developers to find a way that all could flag and jump in at some level of effect. If I could flag at halfway through leveling, and with only half the powers of the top guys, but could use those limited resources to at least some effect in the confrontation, that would be great. Most every gamer would relish the chance to be the slingshot-wielding David that slew the Goliath at some point.
-Either medieval fantasy or sci-fi. I don't think I'm interested in much else.
-The ability to customize unique characters over choosing preset characters. I want the game to feel like it's letting me actually create a fictional person with an identity. I don't just want to be handed one.
-The number of uni-sex classes in relation to all classes in the game. If all classes in a game are sex-locked, I avoid the game like the plague.
-Control scheme and UI. I want to feel free in a game. I can't accomplish this is my camera can't rotate fast enough or if the controls are unresponsive. Also, the ability to jump, or lack thereof is sometimes a deciding factor as well.
-The volume of character customization. The more I can control what my character looks like, the better. If I can control what color my gear is, even better.
-Good-looking characters of either sex. I tend to prefer to play characters of both sexes equally, and I'd rather not have any of them looking derp.
-If the game lets characters choose their own role regardless if it's life skills, combat, sports etc. I do not want to be limited to needing to kill things to advance in the game. I want the game to feel like a virtual world.
-If said life skills, combat, sports, etc are presented equally gameplay-wise within the same persistent world, that's a HUEG plus for me. Something that I'd accept is a sand world. The ultimate game type IMO. Unfortunately, I haven't found a fantasy or scifi game that accomplishes this, nor any dev team even willing to try...
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- Is it Star Trek?
If yes, play the MMO. If no:
- Is there a new Star Wars game out on the market that looks interesting?
If yes, play the new Star Wars game. If no:
- Is there any game coming out you have been waiting for (looking at you Arkham)?
- If yes, play that game. If no: play strategy games.
Yeah, I'm not into MMO. Just STO. Never have been, never will be interested in other stuff. I prefer other games usually.
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Step 1. Reviews. Very important. Always check the reviews and initial impressions of a game before considering giving it a go.
Step 2. Developer Research. I look up information on the developer to check for red flags. If the developers pass in the honestly, competency, and commitment areas, move on to step 3.
Step 3. I check microtransactions for more red flags. If there is more focus on optional, vanity, and service options as opposed to pay two win and gambling items, I moved to step 4.
Step 4. Story and Immersion. The game needs to have an interesting story and background to it, and a game world built to immerse the player.
Step 5. Gameplay. Game's gotta be fun to play.
Step 6. Time commitments and endgame. I investigate any grinds and determine the time and effort needed to complete them. Endgame also must be present. However, if the only endgame is raid content, I stop playing.
Step 7. Trial run. Last step. I usually play the game for a few more weeks and ultimately decide whether or not it is worthy to commit time to on a regular basis.
All I can say is I keep logging in every day becouse its star trek and I get my fix even if im grinding my life away im still in the star trek universe.
Just my two cents.
Looking ahead, does an MMO have to be tied to a pre-established franchise to even be considered? If so, that seems to negate, or at least get in the way of a lot of what the OP was shooting for. Though maybe it really is the most important consideration for most.
The games I have spent the longest with were games where I had a lot of freedom to customize my character build or had multiple ways to engage the game world itself outside of, or in addition to, simple combat. Getting access to new and varied equipment and power, and having interesting places to try it out also helps. Crafting systems can be fun if they aren't too grindy.
Sometimes, though, all I really want is a bit of pointless abnegation, to do some simple, repetitive task for a while so I can decompress.
STO can bog down, with new and interesting things taking weeks of off-and-on time investment to open up, so I only tend to play in spurts, but it's held my interest, more or less, for a few years now.
EVE was fun up until it reached the point where doing anything new or interesting would require either putting up with a bunch of jabbering military-wannabe a-holes or waiting a month for a new skill to finish training.
I really got into Guild Wars 2 for a while, simply because they reduced much of the tedium involved in that sort of theme-park MMO, but did eventually get bored.
Archeage looks to be my next time-sink, but I don't have the time to wait in line to get in. Another MMO, called Feudal Life, might end up drawing my interest. I'll have to wait for it to leave early access before I bother investing any time in it.
Federation: First duty of a captain is to her ship and her crew.
Klingon: did you die in glories Battle
So on and so
Fleets would work to gather to stay alive , gather resousources and Intelligence
Its all Their in story's of Star Trek all the mechanics are there. and true sand box would make it Player controlled
you would have to do research to upgrade weapons not just buy them on a market, Fleets would do research together, to upgrade members in the fleet ships, there would be no levels , everyone starts at Captain and stays their innless your promoted with in a fleet. or start a fleet. Ships are built not bought , takes recourses to build ships,
It would almost be Like EVE , but all star trek lore and mechanics, no Concord , just your Factions NPC and players to hunt you down when you go rouge. Other Factions wouldn't be Involved with Internal affairs of each faction. It could be done all the content is already their. make it happen Cryptic , if you did that it would the Hostest MMO ever and It would be that way for years to come.
I think "theme park" gets a bad rap in "sandbox vs. theme park" discussions, mainly because the people who coined the terms seem to have made up their minds in advance. Although the funny thing is, in real life, most people over the age of 5 would probably prefer a real life theme park to a real life sandbox.
This boils down to ludological vs. narratological debate in game design.
Which is ALSO a stacked deck in debate generally but boils down to play vs. story. And what happens is, folks from narrative disciplines tend to get befuddled by or look down on game design, sometimes without meaning to. They say, basically, where's the deeper emotion or context for action or story structure? Meanwhile, the ludological folks argue that narrative folks are colonizing their anarchic playspace and take a condescending view of theme parks as rides; anything not interactive is inferior.
I think in the end, the best solution I've seen was somewhere inbetween. Simulationist. Which takes on both sides by contending that literature and stories of all kinds are best understood as simulations (particularly from a closer reading of Aristotle) but simulations which serve a purpose, to make a point or evoke feelings. Meanwhile, the simulationist perspective challenges pure emergent gameplay too by arguing that it isn't enough to be mechanically fun; games should be simulating SOMETHING and that the something should have some kind of human meaning to it.
So they're all simulations. Books, games, movies. And that doesn't mean realistic simulations. It often means stuff with behavioral, technological, and stylistic conventions which are unrealistic in some way. But the unreality should service something: the need or question that drives us to simulate the reality in the first place.
But coming back down to earth, I think theme parks (as games or actual theme parks) are wonderful. They're a big part of the service and experience economy model that's emerging for a lot of products.
A sandbox is player constructed.
But a theme park is not just a carnival with rides either. Theme parks use branding and immersion and gimmicks like smell, air flow, video segments, and other experiences to take what COULD BE a simple carnival ride and elevate it. So I wouldn't knock theme parks.
fun, risk vs reward and having to be worth it, how well built/constucted it is, storyline elements, balance of play, amount of negative issues, ex.; bugs, graphical glitches, internet server connection, sound problems and stuff like that. customer service and developer service of good quality (being reasonable, not going to the point of accepting any point for consideration but willing to look into specific matters if its not quite right to each and willing to accept the possibility for different content based on a majority call of the community), it cant be too grindy, needs to be time efficient.
a good number of other factors at work, there is no one thing that is "the" most important, each one of them are just as needed.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
The dream so frail to but whisper it and it fades away....
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