MMO's are too easy article

http://www.develop-online.net/news/44679/Ex-WoW-dev-MMOs-have-become-too-easy

Just found that article, thought it would fit in with the community here.

 

I really feel like Shroud of the Avatar is such a genre that it's going to be a complete game changer for the RPG/MMO genre it's not an MMORPG and it's not a Single Player RPG it's a Hybrid of sorts that will surely blow the rest of the industry out of the water. Between the amazing story from Richard Garriot and Tracy Hickman put together with the art from Stephen and the other developers I think that this will be amazing. Not only that but what other game in the history of the industry has had this much player input not only is this game built for the players but it's built by the player I've never seen developers have this kind of one on one with players not telling them what they are getting but asking them what they want! I'm excited for this week to see what all the hard work has made over the past couple months and hope for the success of Shroud of the Avatar.

 

Thanks for the read. ... and yet, people keep making pandering games that players end up bored with. *sigh*

 

Depends upon what you are looking for in an MMO. My wife, for example, will be looking for low impact recreation, something with which to unwind after a day at work. A steep learning/difficulty curve would only prompt her to say, "who needs this?".

 

You either make getting to max level hard, like a "Korean grinder". In which case you don't get new players coming in - the curve is too difficult. And ultimately the game gets won by bots who beat the grind.

Or you get something like modern WoW (or GuildWars2) where there's this massive amount of level based content everyone just optimizes out of because it's not the shortest path to the end game.

If you flatten the game out so that you don't wall off areas by "level" (whether that's a actually level or number on skills or a gear score) the whole game is always relevant.

 

You're awesomely adorable. I can't wait to see how developments been going too!

 

I think that's one of the things SotA has to struggle with but the fact that you can choose to play with other people whenever you want really helps with this in a way because sometimes it's better play solo it just craft in your house or whatever more relaxed activity you choose to do to unwind

 

Indeed.

Further, every attempt to even discuss innovative features that increase challenge is met with apathy, scorn and derision. Mark Kern nailed it in that article. Well said, Mark.

 

This is one of the reasons I really liked being a tamer in the earlier days of UO, before people really figured it out.
There was some "mystical" thing going on that basically taught you not to attempt to powerlevel your skills. A good day might get you .8 skill points. You would notice a drop in return on investment, and go do another activity. When you got tired of that, you would go do another. Until finally, you were just killin stuff for money to close out the day.

I had a similar feeling being ahead of the curve in SWG. I actually had to have a group of folks help me get my first sludge panther. We all got pretty roughed up and had to spend the next hour @ the docs. But it was a community achievement that took work.

In both of those games, my biggest fun came from running around, exploring and doing things I probably had no business doing.
The journey was rewarding, there were no level gates, and so there was no rush to the finish.

 

Yup. Psycologically I'm fairly sure you could tie the innate fear of failure that most people have directly to this desire for easier games, and then counter it with the necessity of personal growth as an important yet indirect requirement for effective reward systems. As people reflect the achievements of their character onto themselves, if a game has shallow pandering difficulty the variety and impact of their achievements are neutered by a games over zealous attempts to please.

 

I feel like parts of SotA should fill the part of us that wants an easy and relaxing game and another that fills the need to be challenged we all have both at varies times depending on our mood.

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