yottabit
Golden Member
- Jun 5, 2008
- 1,671
- 874
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Feedback from PAX seems to indicate it's much more of an "Oblivion online with friends" experience than WoW clone (which I would interpret as a good thing)
http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/08/30/weve-played-the-elder-scrolls-online
Personally the things I'm looking for in a next-gen MMO are:
Huge server or shared realm
Distinctly different gameplay for different classes/roles
Balanced endgame
No pay-to-win or even pay-for-convenience aspects
Lots of content for small numbers of people (endgame you can play with 3-5 people) so you can play with close friends
Ability for high and low level chars to interact meaningfully
I play WoW quite a bit, and the only thing it seems to always exceed in is having things relatively balanced and no pay-to-win aspect. This should be such a simple thing but I think that's where so many other MMOs are failing. The downsides of WoW are it's still got a brutal rampup time for getting level capped/geared (for new players) along with outdated graphics/gameplay that really deter anyone new from trying it. Also all the serious endgame content is 10-25 players so it's not exactly something I could do with a few real life friends (which is most of the fun IMO)
I've recently played (and blew some RL money) on Neverwinter Online and really liked certain aspects of the game: the combat/gameplay, leveling experience, ability to duo a lot of the quests/foundry even with big level gaps between friends, and 5 man endgame content. Making you pay for inventory bags and mounts is sleezy though, not to mention it's got a pretty huge pay to win aspect for actual gear and enchants.
I could care less about that for casual play but the inventory space and mounts really effect even the leveling experience. The gameplay for the different classes is really different, however this came at the expense of huge imbalance. I created a tank and came to find out that most dungeons were being run with no tank and all DPS because tank DPS was so low and trickster rogues could effectively glitch out bosses. Plus there were tons of dungeon exploits going on resulting in top tier gear being cheaper than low level gear in the AH. It's a game I'll still play for fun but very casually until the unlikely scenario they ever get it balanced.
WoW is the complete opposite, none of the classes or roles really feel different, it's just clicking buttons, but at the same time it's really balanced (compared to all these other MMOs) which makes endgame meaningful. I feel like the story arc and quests have become so broad-appealing that nothing feels meaningful though. I want story/quest decisions to mean something and have an impact.
There's basically a huge list of things WoW devs themselves wish they could change about the game, but can't because its too far down the line. They've said having less classes, more distinctly different, better inventory system, less linear questing, etc. If some competitor could just compile this list, pull off the balance, and create cool gameplay and social environments it would be a win and I think people will pay $15/mo for that. It'll be interesting to see how ESO stacks up but I don't have my hopes too high right now.
Another thing that ruins games with microtransactions, particularly MMOs, is it circumnavigates the entire grind of the MMO, which is what keeps most people playing. For instance in WoW to obtain the coolest and most prestiguous mounts, you have to grind tough instances or farm certain things. It's brutal, and because of that, it's rare and prestigious. It gives starting out players things to look forward to and be inspired toward- a reason to keep playing
In games with microtranscations, the coolest stuff is always the things you buy with RL money, which provides no motivation at all and really undermines the thing that would keep subscribers locked in IMO.
http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/08/30/weve-played-the-elder-scrolls-online
Personally the things I'm looking for in a next-gen MMO are:
Huge server or shared realm
Distinctly different gameplay for different classes/roles
Balanced endgame
No pay-to-win or even pay-for-convenience aspects
Lots of content for small numbers of people (endgame you can play with 3-5 people) so you can play with close friends
Ability for high and low level chars to interact meaningfully
I play WoW quite a bit, and the only thing it seems to always exceed in is having things relatively balanced and no pay-to-win aspect. This should be such a simple thing but I think that's where so many other MMOs are failing. The downsides of WoW are it's still got a brutal rampup time for getting level capped/geared (for new players) along with outdated graphics/gameplay that really deter anyone new from trying it. Also all the serious endgame content is 10-25 players so it's not exactly something I could do with a few real life friends (which is most of the fun IMO)
I've recently played (and blew some RL money) on Neverwinter Online and really liked certain aspects of the game: the combat/gameplay, leveling experience, ability to duo a lot of the quests/foundry even with big level gaps between friends, and 5 man endgame content. Making you pay for inventory bags and mounts is sleezy though, not to mention it's got a pretty huge pay to win aspect for actual gear and enchants.
I could care less about that for casual play but the inventory space and mounts really effect even the leveling experience. The gameplay for the different classes is really different, however this came at the expense of huge imbalance. I created a tank and came to find out that most dungeons were being run with no tank and all DPS because tank DPS was so low and trickster rogues could effectively glitch out bosses. Plus there were tons of dungeon exploits going on resulting in top tier gear being cheaper than low level gear in the AH. It's a game I'll still play for fun but very casually until the unlikely scenario they ever get it balanced.
WoW is the complete opposite, none of the classes or roles really feel different, it's just clicking buttons, but at the same time it's really balanced (compared to all these other MMOs) which makes endgame meaningful. I feel like the story arc and quests have become so broad-appealing that nothing feels meaningful though. I want story/quest decisions to mean something and have an impact.
There's basically a huge list of things WoW devs themselves wish they could change about the game, but can't because its too far down the line. They've said having less classes, more distinctly different, better inventory system, less linear questing, etc. If some competitor could just compile this list, pull off the balance, and create cool gameplay and social environments it would be a win and I think people will pay $15/mo for that. It'll be interesting to see how ESO stacks up but I don't have my hopes too high right now.
Another thing that ruins games with microtransactions, particularly MMOs, is it circumnavigates the entire grind of the MMO, which is what keeps most people playing. For instance in WoW to obtain the coolest and most prestiguous mounts, you have to grind tough instances or farm certain things. It's brutal, and because of that, it's rare and prestigious. It gives starting out players things to look forward to and be inspired toward- a reason to keep playing
In games with microtranscations, the coolest stuff is always the things you buy with RL money, which provides no motivation at all and really undermines the thing that would keep subscribers locked in IMO.
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