GW2 and SW:TOR at the forefront of MMORPG?

[RD]

I still think the "multiple players beating on one enemy" thing is taken out of context. People always follow that up with a boss clip when, in most of the game, you really don't have a huge group beating on one enemy.

[Alaris]

It's out of context indeed, because afaik most fights are you and your hence vs a small mob (5-10 foes?), which sounds a lot more exciting than the usual 1vs1 that is common of MMOs.

OT: I am making a "kill 10 rats" quest in my game.

[RD]

OT: I am making a "kill 10 rats" quest in my game.

As a joke quest?

[Shrandar]

Well, not just personal taste. There is not much choice in combat mechanics in the MMORPG genre, not nearly as much as there is in the RPG genre. In RPGs, I can pick an action RPG like Diablo 2, or a team action RPG like Dungeon Siege or GW, or I can go turn-based (which I don't care for, but some love it).

Even the fps genre offers a lot more variety, going from shoot-em-ups Duke Nukem et al or more strategy like Ghost Recon or more stealth like Thief or Splinter Cell.

It seems to be a standard in MMOs to slow down the gameplay, giving you access to one skill at a time, few skills that can be used on the move, and really limit the utility of moving in the first place during combat. I mean, I can actually see that they are trying to reduce bandwidth. Is this worth 15$ a month?

Give me Diablo 2-like action in an MMORPG and I'll gladly pay that 15$. So far, it looks like I have to wait for GW2.

In terms of quantity, there's no question that MMOs is the place to go. I can complain that a lot of it is cut & paste, but then what isn't?

I think its not just a matter of personal taste either. There is a distinct lack of choice indeed but thats exactly because a lot of it is cut & paste. For me the combat is not the most important thing but it inevitably ties in to a whole lot of other mechanics (progression, character development, world and encounter design etc) that are. MMO's just do not offer enough variety, there are some that do but they have unfortunately more often then not suffered from a too early release, bugs and what not.

[Alaris]

@RDarken: I don't want to spoil it.

@Shandar: combat is very important for me, so if combat mechanics are too simplistic, I go play something else. I understand that this is a lesser issue for many (even a non-issue for some) that look to MMORPGs for other reasons. In fact, for some, too complex combat = drop out before learning to play. I also enjoy in GW sometimes doing stuff I know is not really challenging, just to have fun with it. I like a challenge, but not all the time. Also, simplistic combat equalizes people, so they're more on equal footing. So I can understand how it works for many people, it's just not appealing for me.

[RD]

I always think if I were to make a game, I would make the last boss unbelievably easy or something silly like that. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense that you've been pursuing the same enemy the entire game, he's been sitting around in a castle, you've been out killing things, practicing, honing your skills, getting stronger, getting better equipment, and the difficulty level is the same the whole game.

But I wonder if it would be really annoying or really funny.

[sorudo]

in my anime game you practically clean up the mess that gone wrong 1000 years earlier, things can change in 1000 years

[Alaris]

@RDarken:

Have the end boss real easy, especially if he's a normal guy like an evil king or something. The start the cinematic etc, and while the player is all like wtf disappointing, throw a real hard boss on him for lulz. Bonus if the real boss appears while the credits are rolling.

The Matrix: Path of Neo had some real wtf moments in the end, you either find it really funny or you think it's stupid. Either way it left me with a lasting impression.

Spoiler

[Guided Daggers]

Haha, sounds like a great and crazy idea.

[Shrandar]

@Shandar: combat is very important for me, so if combat mechanics are too simplistic, I go play something else. I understand that this is a lesser issue for many (even a non-issue for some) that look to MMORPGs for other reasons. In fact, for some, too complex combat = drop out before learning to play. I also enjoy in GW sometimes doing stuff I know is not really challenging, just to have fun with it. I like a challenge, but not all the time. Also, simplistic combat equalizes people, so they're more on equal footing. So I can understand how it works for many people, it's just not appealing for me.

WoW was my first game that actually had avatar based combat, before that I had been playing mostly RTS (and an occasional fps). I grew up with 'low standards" so to say. That said I have seen other ways of doing it and I also crave for a more interactive form of combat now, especially since I started to despise the stats based dice roll combat in WoW that only resulted in a huge gear grind/threadmill.