What would it take for a new mmo to recapture the feeling of eq?

[Blap]

- non instanced zones (group/raids) challenging runs against other guilds
- naked corpse run
- epic quests
- hard time traveling
- difficulty to mastering your class

[Aeaolena]

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

I love eq. Love the game and mean it, when I play it I really appreciate the game even exists at all and I can play it in its original form and enjoy it. Love the entire game world and all the zones and everything. However sometimes I find myself wishing for new content or for small class changes that I know will never come. I think anyone who says nostalgia is what makes people like project 1999 are totally wrong... because EVERY time I play project 1999, I have that same amazing feeling of how cool and great this game world is that I never get from other mmos.

Personally I think what makes eq so fun is the simplicity and yet the detail of the world. Stuff doesn't always make sense. Things are just there and you don't really know why, you don't know what's out there. The world is dangerous and you have to respect it so you can actually survive. You can't just port around easily, for the most part travelling is slow and you have to think about where you want to go and where you want to be. When you go to an open zone out in the middle of nowhere with no one else around, it's a pretty great feeling. The lore is really great but there is no real directed path. You just go out and do what you want and I love that.

So the question is, what would it take for a new mmo to recapture the same feeling? As I said, I don't believe the "first mmo" theory holds up. I think there is something special here that just hasn't been revisited since. I feel like there is a strong chance we're gonna lose the potential for a spiritual successor to eq forever cause game devs just don't get it and don't care. So what would it take?

(Don't have time to read the replies so I'll just answer original post in case someone hasn't said this yet)

In EQ, you depend heavily on other players.

Thus, you earn a reputation.

In EQ, there are no instances, so there are always opportunities for players, guilds, groups to be dicks, or greedy.. or civil.

Thus, your guild earns a reputation.


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The newer and newer games get, the more they do stuff "for you" so that you do not have to rely on other characters. Don't fight over boss mobs, here have some instances. Don't worry about asking someone for a bind, who might say yes if they are a saint, and no if they are too busy for the likes of you. Don't worry about asking someone for buffs if you stick to the path. Don't worry about how hard it will be to find a group, groups for experience don't matter anymore! You can solo quest! Don't worry about asking for a port and bugging someone for their time, we have NPC's with birds you can use! Don't worry about haggling in an EC tunnel where all the high level characters go to show off their cool gear and new epics (you know you do it)... because there's an auction house where you never have to have human interaction again! In fact, don't worry about ever having 'unique' looking gear again that people drool over.. because everyone can dye their armor to look JUST like yours. So never again will you look at someones red robe and say "ohhh, that necro has the CT robe". Don't worry about getting lost or needing to ask someone for help, there's a map! Don't worry about how much it sucks to die, and thus why you want GOOD/SKILLED players in your group - you won't lose that much exp! IN FACT, Don't worry about your reputation AT ALL, because we'll now set you up with a random group and insert you in an instance.. you don't even need to have human interaction or speak the same language.. and don't worry, if that person who hasn't said a word hits "NEED" on a roll to Ninja it and disconnects after everyone else rolled greed.. you won't remember their name. Because reputation doesn't matter.

In EQ, reputation matters. Ninja something from another guild's raid, and it's the yoink heard round the server. Guilds RUSH to Rants and Flames to talk about how loose that person's guild's morals are and how that guild lets in horrible people. Be a dick, can't play your class, are a spazz? Don't even think about getting a group in Sebilis, where the stakes are high for corpse recovery if you die!

It's about reputation. For reputation, things have to have lots of ways to go wrong to tell the morale of community members. Lots of opportunities for people to be jerks, basically... so they can prove they aren't jerks.

In EQ, you needed to be civil and you needed to interact with people for your gear, bind, rez, port, summon, group. The groups where static and boring.. thus you got to know people. Made friends. Made reputations.

[iruinedyourday]

Oh shit, figured it out.

Take dark souls.

Make it open world.

Done!

[Chandorean]

One of my favorite things about EQ is the many and unique ways of slaying pixels depending on the circumstance. On my necro alone I can pet tank, kite in half a dozen various ways, tap tank, charm undead, root rot...tons of variety. Pulling mobs is an art form. Quad kiting..someone figured out how to do that! The diversity of attacks is something I haven't found elsewhere and it adds a real thrill to the game. I get wildly bored spamming 2 or 3 hot keys in other games. Any new MMO to capture lightning in a bottle would have to offer similar depth for me.