Quote:
Originally Posted by roadmixer
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And thus we see the conflict. Some want to spend insane amounts of time on a game, and some do not or can't.
No game can meet everyone's needs anymore.
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It's entirely possible for a single game to cater to both casual and heavy-playtime, offer various different styles of playing, and even support many forms of PvP, some of which can become popular e-sports.
I'm not sure how someone can say "I want an MMORPG where I don't have to devote as much time and thought. And that's a big reason why I'm on P99." -- The time requirement in this game is very high as compared to others. Perhaps this person means they like this game for being able to solo camp things that are on long respawns, thus they minimize the game and go do other things. Well, okay, but that's hardly playing the game if that's all you're going to do. You could do that regardless even if the game allowed for faster paced gameplay.
There's a big difference in talking about "casual vs. hardcore" than talking about "fast-food vs. enriching, immersive" gameplay. You can have a game that isn't fast-food junk while still catering part of it to casual gamers. For example, you could easily reduce downtime in EQ while still requiring the best group setups in order to beat the most difficult content and be the most efficient. That way anyone who logs on for an hour can feel they are doing something meaningful while they are on, in comparison to just "looking for healer". Random groups could form and be at least semi-effective with whatever they pick up.
Additionally, you can set the game world up better so that a wide level range of content is always within a reasonable walk. You don't need a stupid method like some portal hub and portals all over the place either, just have more interconnected zones (including interconnected dungeons that connect to above-ground zones) and place a wider range of content in the outdoor zones. You can also put a hard cap on how quickly people can level, such that nobody is rushing and instead enjoying the game experience. Those who want to play a lot can work on multiple characters or do various other things with their time, including PvP. If you set a game world up so that PvP is even required to unlock certain content and/or provides PvE rewards, then you will draw more people into that area of the game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Calthaer
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I definitely recall Horizons: Empires of Istaria. Played the beta, even. David Allen was definitely a visionary but I seem to recall he didn't really have the project management skills required to pull this whole thing off.
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Well the beta, and the eventual game, was nothing like it was supposed to be. The downfall of the game had much less to do with David Allen's project management and mostly to do with how investors and other people in the company literally stole the company and the project from him -
http://webz.us/hz/htm/wrh.htm