isabow wrote:
Are there any really CREATIVE designers out there now? Or are they all the same cookie-cutter developers you see building neighborhoods down the street? All of them look alike underneath the brick and mortar and function just the same. Nothing unique.
Am I jaded?
Frankly we are at the limit of creativity as far as MMO's go these days. Even the most innovate ones borrow elements from each other or older games (some even from MUD's and other now near extinct predecessors).
So yeah, I'm afraid to say it but I think you are a little jaded
I have pretty much given up on trying to find that "unique experience". Nothing in any of the MMO's these days is going to recapture that original sense of awe I had. So instead I have come to grips with what these games can reasonably offer and focus on that when trying to make a decision.
For instance:
- Streamlined interface and controls.
- Easy access to information.
- Entertaining Combat/Crafting mechanisms.
- Ability to progress solo as well as in teams.
- Lowest level of "grinding" or repetition that I can find.
All of these games are repetitive in some way or another. The closest I have come to a *non* repetative game is CoH - and thats only true if you do *every single mission*. You can advance in that game by doing missions and many of the story arcs are very entertaining. I believe I have done all of the ones that are available in the game.
Even then, eventually you run out of content.
Pretty much until players are actually given tools to create content (something no modern RPG to date with the exception of NWN has done, I'm not including LP-MUDS and their ilk) then players will always devour content faster than developers can create it.
At that point, you're basically looking for re-playability. Thats why sometimes I prefer class based systems. Sure its nice to have a wide skill tree like Ryzom (and I do find the concept intriguing...) but when all the content is devoured, the only way to continue enjoying the game is to try playing it from another angle (class).
I will give the original EQ some credit, they have been mad about producing new expansion packs ever since Scars of Vellious and exceptionally good at continously adding new encounters/loots to the game. The quest development side of the game (or missions if you will) are obviously harder to put into a game in mass quantities, so you have to cut anyone a break on that if you want to be objective.
I think the one exception to this rule is PvP based games. These games do have a sort of "player driven" content. Take Dark Age of Camelot for instance - the Realm vs Realm war there provides a great deal of opportunity for people to leave a mark on the world via capturing keeps/artifacts. And leaving a mark on the world is what makes these games, so-called "persistant worlds". At the lowest level, your character is a form of persistance, at a much grander level the world itself can be altered through player actions.
Btw, many games promise this but very few of them actually deliver - so I wouldn't believe anyone who says they will give you this holy grail when many companies with much larger budgets so far have failed
Anyway, these games change in increments, not revolutions. It'll be a long time before you find something that is "unique" compared to what is offered now, and quite possibly by that time it will not be very unique when compared to its 1 or 2 year old predicessors. Remember, when EQ hit the shelves for the first time it was >very< unique. However, in all actuality it was merely a 3d world thrown over an old Diku-Mud engine, which people had been playing with for almost a decade previously
Cheers
