MMORPG - MMOCrunch - World of Warcraft

Well, Mike left Age of Conan, but I’m still, grimly, hanging in there.

I guess the first thing I want to say is that AoC is definitely a work in progress. This is curious because the game was held up twice, if memory serves, as the developers promised launch dates that ended up whooshing by as the company became obsessive about launching a game that was as good as it could be from day one.

The source of this obsession obviously stems from the balls-up of Anarchy Online which subsequently hung around Funcom’s neck for years, like some kind of weird electronic albatross. The devs lived in fear of a similar scenario, so it’s quite weird that the game should have launched with so many things still feeling half-finished or not quite polished enough. I shake my head in particular when I think of all the bugs and other little things that the devs have been working on like maniacs since the launch date… things that should have been picked up within a few days of beta testing instead of now.

I guess it just goes to prove my theory that people don’t beta test anymore; they just see beta as a way to play a game first, and for free. No one, it would appear, seems to bug check - otherwise a lot of these issues would have been discovered from the start. Of course, there’s also an argument that suggests with the beta testing limited to Level 15, the newbie Tortage section of the game was quite polished, and the rest of the game was allowed to go to hell in a handbasket, seemingly with the devs thinking that the opening months of gaming would provide the beta test for Levels 16 - 80.

Obviously that’s a poor attitude and a lot of people have packed up their sword and gone home, unlikely to return. Mike’s just one of many, many, many people I’ve seen voice their anger and leave, via the Funcom forums. It’s actually reached the stage where moderators are actively removing such “I quit” postings from the forums. It must be really bothering the company to have reached that stage.

So why am I staying in AoC, despite being fully aware that I’m basically in a paid-for beta test and just a bit annoyed about what’s going on? Primarily because I think Age of Conan is the ultimate antidote to all the high-fantasy games doing the rounds at present. Whether we’re talking WoW or EQ2 or LotRO or even the upcoming WAR, all of the big MMOs these days are high-fantasy. You know, with Elves and shit. AoC is the complete opposite, with its whole low-fantasy, gritty vibe. Until we get a really great sci-fi MMO - something I’m currently pinning on the boys from Bioware - we’re stuck with the fantasy genre and this gritty, bloody, nasty low-fantasy is a relatively new and sexy thing compared to running around as Elves and Dwarves and all that kind of nonsense.

I’m also in a great guild which helps my game time immeasurably. Even if I’m quest grinding or just gathering materials for crafting, and not particularly enjoying myself, the in-game chatter and socialising makes the experience worthwhile and gets me through each session. I think a good guild can make any mediocre (or even just plain bad) game a lot more palatable. So thankyou to those guys and gals.

How long will I stay in AoC? That’s a great question. I think unless the game starts to make some serious improvements, I could be gone within another two to three billing cycles. Yes, I’m far more forgiving than some people, but I’m not going to offer Funcom my coin forever if the game remains in its current state and updates continue to break more than they fix. Funcom, you’re on notice.

It has been about a month since I’ve trekked through the world of Hyboria and to be honest I have absolutely no desire to go back.  I don’t even have AoC installed anymore on my computer and probably never will again.  For those of you interested in why, I upgraded to Vista from XP, big mistake by the way, and I decided to wipe my drive and do a clean install.

Now that my comp is AoC free and I’ll need to go through the whole process of re-installing and downloading all the patches, it just seems like way to much work to play a game I don’t even like.  So I won’t.  This makes Age of Conan the second MMORPG in a row for me that I have quit after 1 month, Tabula Rasa is the other.

So what went wrong with AoC?  For me the major problem was the quest grinding, I just can’t do it again, I just can’t play another MMORPG and grind through 1000+ boring quests.  Apart from that, I felt as though even if I continued along and leveled, I would still reach lev 80 before the developers added the end game.  I know many lev 80 players that have nothing to do and are just waiting for what Funcom promised.

So with my AoC experience over, I now look towards the next MMO, most notably Warhammer Online and Jumpgate: Evolution.  Hears to hoping.

In my last post, a few gamers brought up the widely debated argument that MMORPGs should not have instant gratification, that you should have to work towards your goals, then eventually be rewarded.  Allow me to say that this argument is complete BS!  Any game that you play should have instant gratification, that’s why they call it a game, cause it’s supposed to be fun.

I challenge any reader to name a game genre that is not fun within the first few hrs (less than 5) of playing.  It goes without saying you have to be a fan of the genre, so don’t start arguing about genres you don’t like.

FPS - While you might not get all the cool weapons or gadgets right from the start, FPS are fun from the start.  Some might have a 5-10 min tutorial to get you started, but even those can be fun.  There’s nothing like your first kill when you start off a FPS and while some do get repetitive, the good ones will keep you on your toes.

RTS - Often they have a slow start as you need to learn the building and unit types, however with a few quick 10-20 min missions early on, you’re into the thick of things in no time.

Platform/3rd Person - Tell me who wasn’t having fun within 10 seconds of Mario or GTA.  Platform games are all about instant gratification and that’s why there so successful even though they’ve been around forever.  Third person platform games can be hit or miss depending on camera and controls, but again, the good ones are fun as hell.

Sports - Well if you like sport games, you’ll be having fun the second that first whistle blows.

Racing - Although most games start you off if some shitty Civic and you have to work you way up to the cool cars, however racing is racing and even in a slow Civic it’s fun as hell.

Adventure - I never liked adventure games and never played one all the way through, so I can’t really comment here.

Turn-Based Strategy - This genre starts off the slowest of any other, but is nothing when compared to most MMORPGs.  While the learning curve is high and the game pace can be slow, once the action gets going a good TBS game can have you at the edge of your seat.

Now lets look at how many MMORPGs treat their gamers.  You often start off in a newbie area where you are introduced to many of the gaming system and have to perform a few menial tasks.  No problem with me as this is a needed part of any MMORPG.  Once you have completed this you are able to start the real game, or so developers would like you to think.  Stop me if this sounds familiar.

Start in Area 1, complete 15-20 question, where one of the last ones brings you to a new area where you have to complete another 15-20 quests that are extremely similar to the first round of quests you just did.  Complete this area and move on to Area 3 where you have more quests that again are quite similar, move to a new area rinse and repeat.

Now my problem is NOT quests.  My problem are shitty quests.  No MMORPG should have more than 5 delivery, pickup, gather or find quests TOTAL in the whole game.  My problem are quests that offer absolutely no challenge and are just busy work to keep you playing.  My problem are quests that a 5 yr old can do with basic reading knowledge.  My problem is treating gamers as though they have nothing better to do then spend 15 mins running across a map only to have the quest tell them to go back where they came from to complete it. (Btw, yes my quest book is always full and I complete quests by area, however I’m just making a point here)

I am not a 15 yrs high school kid that has the summer off and it doesn’t matter if I spend 60 hrs/week gaming.  I am 28, have a full time job, a girl friend and a active social life (I know you must be shocked).  I have maybe, maybe, 6-8 hrs/week to game and to spend most of it completing quests that I can almost train a monkey to do is a waste of my time.

MMORPGs don’t need 5000+ quests, they need maybe 500 tough, challenging quests that give you a sense of accomplishment when you beat them.  To have a game like AoC drowned in a sea of crappy quests defeats the whole purpose of creating a supposedly revolutionary PvP system.  Give the gamer freedom and they’ll figure out how to have fun with it.  GTA is a perfect example, sure the missions are fun, but tell me you don’t have a lot more fun just messing around.

BTW, if you disagree with me your wrong

What!?  That might be what your thinking at this very moment, but allow me to explain.   When I first started playing LoTRO I knew exactly what I was getting into.  A MMORPG that was basically a clone of WoW but in the Lord of the Rings universe.  I expected many quests, I knew it had a very weak PvP system and that most of the game play was based on questing and raids.  That was ok with me.  Being a huge LoRT fan I was looking forward to meeting many of the characters from the books, exploring the lands and partaking in the LoTR lore.  I was not disappointed.  For the first few months I immensely enjoyed the game, up until I finished the main storyline and had to wait for future updates.  At this point I started to look else where for my MMORPG fix.  Which brings me to AoC.

AoC is a very different story.  We were told that it was a revolutionary game, a game that would set it apart from all the other MMORPGs out there and re-invent the genre.  However since the launch of Aoc I can say that this is far from true.  I am currently a lev 35 Demonologist and am bored to tears as I play through the game.  The revolutionary new combat system is only noticeable if you play a melee character which I am not.  Then there is the endless quest grinding to lev 80.  As I play through the game, it has become more like a chore or work then actual playing.  I’ve been at level 35 for about a week and a half now and every time I have some time to game, I decide to play something else.

I have played about 45 hrs worth of AoC to make it to lev 35.  In those 45 hrs I have done NOTHING but mindless, boring quest grinding.  So much so that I can’t bring myself to continue the game.  I am not quiting though.  The game promises epic PvP battles which I would love to partake in, however I do not know if I will ever make it that far as the 150 hrs of game play to reach lev 80 might be too much for me.

This brings me to my next point.  Why the hell do many MMORPG require you to waste 100+ hrs of your time before you get to the good parts of the game?  AoC is the perfect example of this.  “Hey we have an awesome game where players can build there own cities, attack other players and cities and battle for dominance.  Oh, btw, none of that is possible until you have played 100+ hrs in our boring as ass retarded game.”

Here’s an idea, if you make a really fun game, don’t add an ton of bullshit before it.  I’m not sure how many of you played the first Jedi Knight game, but you didn’t get a lightsaber for the first 6-7 hrs of the game.  Guess what?  When Jedi Knight 2 came out they decided not to be retards and gave you a lightsaber right away.  You know why? The game was called Jedi FUCKIN Knight!  Nobody wanted to play those first 6-7 hrs without a lightsaber. MMORPG developers need to stop being stupid and cut out the bullshit.  I don’t want to waste 100+ hrs of my life before I get to anything that is remotely fun.  And if that is the case then shut the hell up about how awesome your game is and say “Boring as hell for the first 100 hrs, then it gets good”.  People then will not get mad when they start playing the game cause they know what to expect.

I’ll try to continue in AoC and give my review once I hit lev 40, however it probably won’t be pretty.  Honestly, if there was ever a reason to buy a top level account from one of those selling sites it’s AoC.

I recently had a chance to tryout this new MMORTS game from Lockpick Entertainmen, my first ever MMORTS game. While I didn’t get very far yet, I have to say that I was pleasantly suprised with how the game plays.

It’s starts out with you selecting one of 3 races and as any game you’ve ever played they all have their strong and weak points.  Once you pick your race the game starts with you controlling your Dreadlord, which is a huge energy being.  You are then given missions to complete and once you have, you successfully take control of that region.  The game is broken up into PvE and PvP zones, zones are floating islands that are broken down into smaller regions that players fight for control over.  When you start out, you are in the PvE zone and as you move from region to region and complete the missions you take control of the zone and receive a reward/resources for each region you capture.

Like any RTS you not only control your Dreadlord but also other troops that you can train and upgrade.  You have your own towns and cities that provide resources for you.  Since this is a MMORTS, there is a set amount of land to fight over between players and eventually the game comes to an end and resets, allowing everyone to start over.  From what I’ve been told this happens every 2 months.   You might not like losing all your progress, but it gives players who didn’t do very well a new chance every few months.   I’m not sure if anyone has ever played a text MMO, but many also work by rounds which I sorta like.

Once I get more into the game, I’ll come back with a full review, but for now you should check it out at dreamlords.com.  It just launched a few days ago and is completely free to play.

I saw an interesting post at the mmorpg.com forums about why players fight on PvP servers.  On one side is a gamer who believes most people do it for the fun and on the other side is a dev who believes its for the loot or reward.

The problem with the Dev’s argument is that most PvP games today don’t have a looting system.  Most games do have some sort of indirect reward system like Lord of the Rings reputation system.  The more players you kill the more points you get which increases your PvP rank.  As your rank increases you get access to PvP only items, even though most of those items suck by the time you kill enough people to open them up.

Being on the Age of Conan PvP server, currently there is no looting or reward for killing someone, yet PvP fighting is rampant.  I think PvPers play on these servers first and formost for the challenge of fighting real people.  Any reward for killing someone is secondary.  Even PvE games have dueling to allow players to fight against each other even though there is no reward or frankly any reason to do so.  The simple fact of beating someone is enought for many if not most PvPers.

FPS are a perfect example of this.  Even though there is no reward when you frag someone, other than your kill count going up, there’s really no feeling like killing someone over and over.  Good times

As more and more MMORPGs get released year after year there seems to be an influx in the ability to do things outside of the standard PvE content that traditionally accompanied these games, essentially what we considered to be “the grind”. Developers have added PvP, extensive crafting systems, and sometimes even some sort of house builder where you can create and live in your own home. Unfortunately, despite having these features added it still always boils down into the traditional grind. Want to build a house? You need money, go grind for some. Want to craft? You need materials, go grind for some. It continues on in this manner until you are, once again, the top level and you have successfully grinded through the entire game.

Before I continue, allow me to re-assure you, this is not another typical “stop the grind” type of discussion. While I don’t much care for the leveling grind, I think we have both read enough about it to be thoroughly sick of the topic. What I am talking about here is alternatives to the traditional leveling grind. Let’s face it, no matter what major MMO you play, the ultimate goal of the game is to get to the top level, but should that really be all? Probably not.

When Ultima Online first came out the ultimate goal was not to get to the highest level (they didn’t even have levels) but rather to skill up in whatever you desired and master that profession. In the early days of the game (when I used to play) there would be all sorts of players ranging from warriors, to shop keepers, to crafters. The game didn’t give you an ultimate goal and didn’t tell you how to play. This is partly why the game held such high appeal for me. Unfortunately, as the 3-D era of MMOs came about the ability to do anything other than the leveling grind came to an end.

Today’s market has shown no signs of changing this mantra either as both Age of Conan and Warhammer Online are promoting their epic story lines inter mixed with vast PvP battles. Unfortunately for those wanting to do something other than getting to the highest level, let’s say open up a store and sell your wares, you are out of luck. Both of those systems are mere bi-products of the MMORPG as we know it today, if theya re even included at all, and while you may not care about leveling or getting epic “lewtz” there isn’t much in these games for you beyond that.

Everything goes into some sort of beta phase these days whether it’s a website, an MMO, a single player video game, or even a product. Beta has become a natural phase for nearly everything we buy and consume today and despite our favorite MMOs going through a rather lengthy closed and open beta process it appears that even upon the official release we are really just transitioning into yet another beta phase: the paid beta.

Now, as we are entering into the next wave of upcoming MMORPGs it appears that this mantra is holding true even more so than in previous years. Back when World of Warcraft was first released it was arguable to say that you were just paying for a beta. After all, all games need to go through these phases and there are likely to be bugs in any MMORPG that gets released. However, what with MMORPGs getting more and more advanced we are starting to see these “pay to play beta” beta phases get dragged out longer and longer. While the World of Warcraft eventually tied down most major bugs, even they must issue patches every few months to keep the bugs down. It’s an interesting problem that probably doesn’t have a permanent solution.

Of course, games having bugs is nothing new to the video games industry. Don’t believe me? Go back and put in any old NES or Atari 2600 game you can find and you’ll notice that there were tons of graphical and physical bugs that made for surprisingly glitchy game play. Back then, however, these were natural occurrences that you just had to accept and ignore as there was no way to get any sort of update. If fact, the first time we did really start to notice how buggy games were was when the first graphical MMORPGs started appearing on the internet which enabled the ability for devs go back and polish their game even after release in order to appease the player base. Before the standard MMO the whole concept of patching was relatively alien to the industry.

Today we have games, MMO and non-MMOs, that are patched regularly and while some games may eventually be considered to be fully patched and complete without bugs, I’d be willing to bet that we are getting awfully close to that becoming yet another part of history. This of course raises an almost philosophical question: if a game an MMO is constantly being patched and fixed can it ever truly be considered complete? I don’t think so…

In continuing with my recent article on the evolution and revolution of MMOs and their lack of truly bringing anything 2.0-like to the industry, the advent of an MMO hybrid often comes to mind. The genre today has many MMORPGs and a few MMOFPSs, but we really have no MMORPG-FPS games out there, a hybrid of the two types of MMOs. Seeing as how enormously successful single player FPS games are (Halo, Call of Duty 4, etc.) and how the MMORPG market is pretty much dominated by the World of Warcraft, it only seems to make sense that a developer would want to capitalize on the most popular genre and turn it into a massively multiplayer RPG event. Allow me to explain a bit.

Today, at this very moment, if you had a strong desire to play an MMOFPS you’d have a couple options. While they are a bit old and sometimes a little slow, they are definitely there and waiting for you to get involved. I am, of course, talking about Planetside and World War II Online. The problem with these games, however, is that they offer little objectives other than killing your enemy. For example, in Planetside the game has devolved into nothing more than a giant push and pull match against the other two faction between the different worlds. While that can be a lot of fun, after a while the whole experience starts to feel a bit shallow as without any real goals you really start to question the whole point of it all. In a game like World of Warcraft, on the other hand, you had an active world with quests, monsters, damsels in distress, and other such things that truly make the world come alive. Unfortunately, the whole combat system is also a bit of a drag in a game like World of Warcraft where everything boils down to pushing a series of numbered buttons. Both offer something unique, but an overall lack in complete gameplay.

So where does that leave us? Well, unfortunately, not to far from where we started. There has been a couple of games that havfe attempted something similar to this but they have both ended in failure and closure. Face of Mankind attempted to do exactly what I was talking about, but lacked the initial polish and big budget to really make a headway in this arena. No matter how unique your game is, if you don’t start off wih a good base you simply can’t survive in this industry. Likewise, Auto Assault, attempted to breed fast action and RPG elements but again failed to garner a large enough audience to sustain it’s own costs. After all is said and done, we have very little to look forward to in terms of combining these two genres as it seems that even the MMOFPS genre may die a slow death. Maybe the rumoured Call of Duty MMO will make headway? I guess we’ll have to take a wait and see approach. Until then I’ll see you guys in Planetside.

We have an new comic today in honor of Age of Conan. Enjoy