Quote:
Originally Posted by Stormlight
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I think people call it "hard" because it's a simple way to describe it, even though it doesn't do a very good job. EQ doesn't pander to you the way most MMOs do, so you have to work more. People actually care if they die in EQ. Experience loss and travel time mean you have to be more careful when you're deep in a dungeon. This type of thing is what they mean when they say it's hard. Hardcore is a more appropriate term probably.
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I have another way of describing it. Did anyone here play the old nintendo games from the 80's and early 90's? The ones where you'd play and die repeatedly, trying to figure out the way to beat a level? And you had to redo the WHOLE level when you died? That's kind of like what EQ is for an MMO.
It's kind of like throwing a noob into an arena with other veteran opponents and strong but hungry lions. The noob WILL die oftener than if they were up against noob opponents and weak (but presently well fed) lions. If one supposes that the strategies one can learn in the arena are the same irregardless of veteran or noob opponents then one is much closer to defining what EQ is trying to do. In effect, all that one can learn to avoid death is squeezed into a much smaller space, so the time a player has to learn them in order to prevent death is very small. This means the inevitable result is a lot of deaths.
Peolpe who don't like these games will descrbie them as "If you didn't die you'd beat the game in a week." These people want challenge which is based on intelligence, not threat.
So when people say EQ is hard they mean the THREAT is higher, thus, the need to be aware of what's going on is higher. They do not mean the game requires more intelligence.
Of course, EQ can be very tedious when camping something. That's probably when EQ shows its worst. When camping becomes a science, all threat is gone, and thus the whole reason for EQ being fun is also gone. EQ's threat meter is highest when you're delving into a dungeon and moving around, not staying in one place. And this is even more true if you're going to NEW places, as opposed to ones you already know well.
To like a game like htis one must want THREAT, not necessarily intellectual challenges. I'd compare this to climbing cliffs WITHOUT gear versus just playing basketball. While basketball is probably more intellectually and socially challenging, climbing cliffs without gear is more of a THREAT.
I am saying the principle difference between this game and modern MMO's is death has a much higher consequence. You can lose hours of time in terms of experience and travel time. There're even cases where you'll be unable to retrieve your corpse without a lot more help then is currently available to you. The game does not have more things to learn, but the threat level is increased.
Thbis is kind of like hte "hardcore" characters in Diablo 2. Death was permanent.