Board Thread:Online Discussion/@comment-6139210-20130126230459/@comment-134.129.113.211-20130129140833



Agree so freaking hard.

(1)  Fast Travel  Maybe I'm old-school, but I started with Everquest. In that game if you wanted to put a raid together, you had to invest a few hours to get out there and set up. Because people had to invest time they wouldn't just rage quit or bounces out in the middle of the thing. It also made you feel like you accomplished something. I'd like to add I hope there is no dungeon finder. It’s just a mindless tool that completely removes you from the context of the dungeon, and turns content into a mindless grind of speed clearing.

(2)  Economy  Economics is based on being a snowflake. If you don't have anything to sell me I don't already have (or cannot easily get) then why would I buy from you? I do offer an alternative for gold though. If you played Diablo II (prior to LOD), the economy was based on rare random affix item drops (not gold). I enjoyed it since it removed gold from trading, and it was purely character/build need item trading.

(3)  Levels  I think character levels are just an easy way to set a bar of progression through a game. Zone set one 1-10; zone set 2 10-20, etc... It is an old mechanic that makes it immensely easier for a developer to balance zone progression (and cheaper too I suppose). But with new games such as Darkfall challenging the basic system, I think it is time for developers to step up their game.

 (4)  Homogenization  Indeed GW2 was a letdown. The "holy trinity" provides purpose and roles for people to play during content. When we can all heal/dps/(not really tank but avoid damage) they i might as well as be playing by myself. I will refer back to Everquest as it included not only the trinity but an assortment of support roles. CC/Buff/Debuff classes all allowed for a finely tuned group to progress through content that was not based on cheese boss mechanics.

(5)  Leveling  Growing up I had a rule on purchasing video games, 100 hours. If I could not see myself playing a game for at least 100 hours I would not purchase it. This would depend on how much you play, but the gold is to stay relatively enthralled for the three-month honeymoon period after a game is released. Then move into endgame content (be it new game+, raiding, etc.). As time has moved on games become shorter and shorter. SWTOR, GW2, WOW all meet level cap in 3-5 days (not that I would do that more than just at release). There is no investment or challenge in that. With GW2 it was not worth running dungeons since you would out level them in a few hours after unlocking them.

These are just some thoughts off of the top of my head. They are in no way supposed to be a critique of elder scrolls online, but more of a state on the industry in my eyes.