Disguising the grind
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Age of Conan, EverQuest II, Culture, Game mechanics, Lore, MMO industry, Quests, PvE, Opinion, Hands-on, Virtual worlds
Believe it or not, grind is an essential part of an MMO and we might be pretty lost without it. Repetitive content is the cornerstone of the MMO genre but it’s not all just smacking monsters over the head for hours on end or completing yet another “kill ten rats” quest. The repetitive elements in an MMO give us predictable gameplay in a form we can digest. We don’t feel lost when we pick up a quest because it uses similar mechanics to previous quests we’ve done. From a development standpoint, the amount of time it takes to create new and unique gameplay for an MMO is quite large and it’s just not feasible to churn out unique gameplay with every new piece of content. Instead, developers are forced to re-use the same gameplay mechanics over and over again. So if we genuinely appreciate predictable, repetitive gameplay and it’s not feasible to do otherwise, why are we always so up-in-arms about the evils of grinding?
In this probative opinion piece, I look at why we need repetitive gameplay in MMOs and the various ways developers disguise grind to keep the game entertaining.
Update: Link to page 2 fixed. Thanks Brian!
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Disguising the grind originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Daily Grind: What part of MMOs do you not like?
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Age of Conan, Aion, EVE Online, Game mechanics, The Daily Grind
MMOs are well known for variety, in fact they’re famous for it. The world (whichever you might choose) is quite literally your oyster, You can mine, you can craft, you can kill and you can quest. Part of the charm of these virtual worlds is the freedom to do or not do whatever you want. Some people, for example, live for PvP, while others spend their time making things, digging up plants or drifting in the depths of space mining asteroids and other celestial bodies.
However most people have one thing that they hate doing. No MMO out there is perfect, there’s always going to be some aspect of them which drives people bonkers. This could be a nitpick with game mechanics, or perhaps a boring quest. What about long flight times to get from A to B or a raid lock out period? Perhaps you hate fishing or squinting looking for herb nodes. Maybe it’s PUGs or running a specific instance. Mine is PvP, waiting for an hour for raids to get started and rescuing scantily-clad maidens tied to trees (AoC I’m looking at you). What’s yours?
The Daily Grind: What part of MMOs do you not like? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Age of Conan’s Update 5 goes live, game director hints at future improvements
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Classes, Game mechanics, Guilds, MMO industry, Patches, Crafting
The fifth major update to Age of Conan,”Gangs of Tarantia“, has gone live. The update adds the Tarantia Commons District, a high level area with both single player and group dungeons, as well as a revamped RPG system. There are substantial system changes that have gone into effect in Update 5, which impact every class in Age of Conan, covering everything from itemization changes to feat trees, as well as abilities, spells, and combos. Plus Funcom has rolled out a complete overhaul of the gem crafting system and introduced new rewards tied in with guild cities. Any in-depth look at the sweeping changes made to Age of Conan with Update 5 is beyond the scope of this post, but are summarized in the patch notes.
In the June letter from the game director, Craig Morrison explains how Gangs of Tarantia is the most significant update made to the game thus far. Morrison also drops some hints about the directions Funcom plans to take Age of Conan with future game updates. He writes that the next update to Age of Conan will focus on three main areas: improving guild gameplay; new high level content in the House of Crom; and more goals and objectives with Border Kingdom PvP.
Beyond the letter from the game director, Funcom has grouped together a ton of information related to Gangs of Tarantia and AoC in general, which can be found in Issue #23 of the Age of Conan newsletter.
Age of Conan’s Update 5 goes live, game director hints at future improvements originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Daily Grind: What game mechanic do you dislike?
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Age of Conan, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Free-to-play, The Daily Grind, Free Realms
For some it’s an ability or a particular boss, for others it’s something not in game that probably should be. I want to know what game mechanics — which are in your game of choice — you really don’t like and why. Speak up, readers, and drop your thoughts in the box below.
The Daily Grind: What game mechanic do you dislike? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 20 May 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The World outside Warcraft
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Age of Conan, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Vanguard
Blizzard’s fantasy title World of Warcraft is everywhere these days, perhaps the only title to really pierce the veil between MMOs and mainstream media. For some massively multiplayer online gamers, WoW is the end-all be-all of titles out there. Can over 11 million people be wrong? Definitely not, we’d say. World of Warcraft has very much shaped the industry and writers at Massively have racked up ludicrous amounts of time spent in the game. But there are other engaging options out there, which is the point of an article written by Earnest Cavalli for The Portland Mercury’s ‘Blogtown’.
In “What’s Your Anti-Warcraft?” Cavalli looks at the good, bad, and the ugly among the MMOs on the market. He praises the virtues of Lord of the Rings Online with its ability to pull you into the setting, the riskier style of EVE Online, and the personal legacy of achievements you can establish in Warhammer Online. Cavalli takes aim at Age of Conan though, and lambasts Vanguard: Saga of Heroes as well.
If you’re offended by strong language, look away, because Cavalli doesn’t really pull any punches in his assessment of these titles. Check out “What’s Your Anti-Warcraft?” and see if you agree with his take on the MMO world beyond WoW’s ever-expanding borders.
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The World outside Warcraft originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Funcom implements PvP XP rollback in Age of Conan
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Events, in-game, Exploits, Forums, Game mechanics, PvP
Funcom has sent a clear message to the number of Age of Conan players who’ve been exploiting a flaw in the PvP XP system: START OVER. Oliver ‘Tarib’ Kunz, Senior Community Manager for Age of Conan, addressed Funcom’s recent decision to roll back the experience gained by some players who unfairly saw a meteoric rise in gains, as confirmed in a player-by-player investigation.
Kunz stated, “We have then taken what we consider to be appropriate action against those players by reducing their PvP Levels to what they were before it was possible to take advantage of this flaw and removing all PvP Gear.” Of course, Kunz says, Funcom is open to discussing the removal of experience and gear from those who believe they were unfairly targeted, and have stated that if they’ve misidentified an exploiter, the character(s) in question will be restored to their former status.
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Funcom implements PvP XP rollback in Age of Conan originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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