HARDCORE Server

[stormlord]

Originally Posted by JerSar [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

How cool would this be:

PVP enabled for all levels. Coin loot + one item of choice excluding bags. All items barring Epic/Certain items are tradable.

Leveling is x3 times as hard as the current classic leveling is, no EXP loss on death.

No buy-outs, gratification is thanked and that's it.

I would play it.

Sorry, buddy, but it ain't that easy.

I played exclusively on Sullon Zek from 2001-2005. So, I get where you're coming from.

What I'd like to see is something that scales back on its PvP ambitions and goes in the PvE direction. The problem with PvP is, well, players. Players are too smart for their own good. They end up making the game far worse for others than it would otherwise be. While I like PvP and think it's as competitive as it gets, I think that, in general, for population to stay high(er) the game has to focus on its PvE instead because PvE can be controlled and balanced, whereas players will hack/cheat/steal/etc and resist containment. Of course, I think PvP should always be an option. All I'm arguing for is some servers that're hardcore PvE.

To make a challenging game you have to do more than just up the experience needed to reach the next level. See, there're so many factors when they design a game. Everything is interlocked. When you change one thing, you can break the game. It's like you're doing surgery on a patient and if you break the wrong vein you kill them. Rather than jumping into your patient, you have to intelligent and methodical. It's the same with games. You have to be well aware of what you're doing before doing it.

Let me explain... If you only increase the experience requirements to level and do nothing else, what you effectively do is require the player to spend more time leveling. Without increasing the amount of content for players to do this will probably create a situation where things become more repetitive for players. They'll be doing things more than once more often. This is not good for the health of the game. However, I have to admit that SOME repetition is healthy. For example, when you're learning a new area you require some repetition to memorize the landmarks. It's the same for dungeons because you have to learn all their twists and turns to navigate. However, if there's too much repetition it will not facilitate learning, it'll stunt it. The key to knowing when this happens is sort of subjective, it's not a perfect science. Turning to my own experience as a player in different games, i can attest that repetition is not always bad, but it sure can be.

Challenge is not in how hard something hits, it's in all the many ways you can survive the blow. In the same manner of speaking, challenge is not in how long it takes for you to level, it's in the many ways you can alter your rate of advancement. In brief, challenge is not a rule, it's a choice. The area between making the wrong choice and making the right choice can spell the difference between challenge and its absence.

So if we want to make a "hardcore" server we need to focus our efforts on a broad array of choices for players to make so that the game can be compelling to them. This requires more time than just changing a couple generic rules. It's the difference between searching for something half drunk in a thick fog and searching for something in the bright of the midday sun with a fine tooth comb.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't favor big hits or penalties. As a matter of fact, if the bad guy that you fear hits like a scared baby then that's going to detract from the enjoyment, no? The big bad guy has to hit like a horned giant that come out of satan's excrement. But if his/her big hits don't come with big smarts and engaging gameplay then all it's going to do is send everybody home in a body bag.

People can't have fun if they can't sometimes win. That's the key.

So we focus on a mixed and broad array of choices and big hits and big smarts and we leverage our balance sheet by ensuring players can at least win sometimes. And this is going to require a lot of time to create. 100's, maybe thousands of hours. And this is only the conceptual stage. Then we have to implement and that will require 100's or 1000's more hours to finalize and have ready for the player.

Let me add that when I say "hardcore" and "ensuring everybody can win sometimes" in the same sentence, I don't mean hand outs or giveaways! I don't mean cupcakes and rainbows. I mean that to win you really got to think and pay attention or you get run over by the 400-ton tank from hell. All I'm trying to get across is that if nobody can win then it can't be fun. Winning by default is NOT what I'm talking about.

As a MMORPG player, I don't like in-game maps and favor games that don't have them. I like some penalties. I like complex aggro mechanics; trains, adds, etc. I like kiting. I don't have any major disagreements with corpse runs other than that I think the average player needs a couple more tools (notice I said tools, not freebies!). I don't like games that have simple statistics for equipment and other things (to satisfy those people who're not number-friendly). I like to be thrust into a dangerous world that doesn't go out of its way to save me or protect me from harm. I like a game when it's not afraid to hurt me or even crush me under its extreme weight.

Generally, I like a game that is what it's (it doesn't baby me) and doesn't feel too repetitive. I think what bothers me more than anything else in a game is when it WON'T let me get hurt or make a bad choice.