Nice read:
www.wolfsheadonline.com - Unintended Consequences of Quest Directed MMO’s...
Makes me think the key to all this includes how Brad handles grouping in Pantheon. After all, if he watns to focus on it so badly then he better make sure it works for as many players as possible.
Figure out a way to make grouping easy and not a pain. Make it so we can AFK as easily as we do when we're soloing. Make it so we can get story while at the same time being pulled on by group members. Don't make it hard for people with different classes to group effectively. Make grouping easy and people like it. AT the end of the day, a group game has to make us feel like hero
ES and also not make soloing more attractive.
In my experience, grouping has a long ways to go. Soloing is so popular because of its convenience. You can play at your own pace which is crucial to not falling behind or not losing interest.
Can we have a group-based MMORPG without all of the negatives people attach to EQ and Vanguard? Can there be a casual group-based MMORPG that did what WoW did for MMORPGs?
I'll end with the concluding remarks by the commentary writer linked at the beginning of this post:
Quote:
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While it’s doubtful that in the near future we’ll see a return to open-ended sandbox games like EverQuest and Star Wars Galaxies, there has to be a way to put the power back in the hand of the players and give them control over how they experience the game world. New mechanics can and need to be created that inject a healthy dose of dynamism and immediacy back into virtual worlds. Players need to wrestle control over their avatar’s destiny from the clutches of micromanaging developers. Regrettably that will never happen until MMO companies find the courage to go beyond the WoW success formula. They need to start trusting their players with more freedom and tempered by mechanics that ensure in game accountability. We need to get beyond incentivized gameplay and move to a system that allows its participants to be more then just trained monkeys and let them take an active role in the virtual worlds they inhabit. - See more at: http://www.wolfsheadonline.com/unint...ed-mmos/#53d10
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