Quote:
Originally Posted by Lune
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
Don't fall into the common trap of believing challenge is what is missing from things like WoW and gives EQ its soul. WoW is a more "challenging" game than EQ in nearly every way. PvP is necessarily more challenging than anything on Blue because your opponent has the capacity to be smarter than you. WoW's raiding is far more complicated from a tactical standpoint.
What EQ has is tedium, and delayed gratification. It takes a long time to achieve something, and your achievements generally feel good. Also, the sense of community that comes from the absolute need to rely on other people (to travel, to barter items, to level (for most classes)). The destruction of WoW's community that occurred during Wrath is what really, more than any other single thing, destroyed WoW for millions. You were no longer in a cohort with your fellow players, had any reason to interact with or rely on them, etc.
Every MMO since has had the same problem. The extreme on-the-rails nature of their content, soloability, and convenience has resulted in an experience where social bonds seldom formed organically the way they do on P99, and meaningful interaction is really what ultimately fuels enjoyment of an MMO for many people.
|
QFT! I completely agree with this, in WoW you didn't just have encounters where a CHeal rotation was required in every raid. You had specific roles that individual classes needed to play. The raid encounters were very unique and fun to learn, it did take a certain discipline to achieve success.
I also agree with the delayed gratification, I could get up to level 60 in a month on WoW and just solo to boot. It was very easy to reach the top level. Also not losing exp later in wow was a big mistake that catered to all the babies. Every patch stuff became easier and easier. Reagents weren't needed anymore, cool downs decreased, combat damage wouldn't break crowd control, etc. When new expansions came out in just a day you would get the server wide message 'Server First! <guild xyz> Killed the top boss in the game!'. It was very disheartening.
EQ was tough, people needed to know how to play their character effectively to advance, whereas WoW you could have a snot nosed kid that doesn't know how to use his spells yet is epic geared. I took a lot of pride in the achievement of making it to the top in EQ vs. WoW. Is why I came back to p99.