There has been much debate about what a MMORPG should be. Should developers do away with level grinding? How about gold and item farming? Include or don’t include PvP? Create a in-game story line or let the players roam free? How should the fighting system work? So I’ve decided to write down a list of features that I would like to see in a MMORPG.
- No Level Grinding – Sorry to those of you who enjoy playing 100+ hrs before you finally have a character that can do cool things, but I’d rather get to the good stuff right away. I think the player should get X amount of points during character creation and those are all the stats and skill points they get the whole game. So once you have created your character you’re maxed out. You can than get some better items/weapons, but you don’t have to go around killing rats just to level up.
- Quick Travel for Everyone – Traveling to a location to do a quest or to meet up with some buddies shouldn’t take 10-15 mins. The point of games is that there exciting, I shouldn’t have to watch my guy ride a horse for 10 mins before getting to where I want to be. Just warp me there and let me play.
- Few Quests – Yes, get rid of quest grinding. I don’t want to help your uncle clear out his basement of rats, find your sister who is lost in the woods or go to a town on the other side of the world to deliver some cookies to your mother. These are pointless and BORING quests. Quests should involve massive boss fights and should be relatively quick to get to. I don’t have 5 hrs to do 1 quest 1 time. One to two hrs tops to get to the end. Or create something where once you get to the boss you can save that spot so you can get back later. There should only be around 10-20 quests in the entire game.
- Boss do NOT Drop Uber Items – If bosses do not drop the best items in the game then there will be no item farming. Completing a quest should be a 1 time event in the game, once it’s done, I don’t want to do it again unless it’s to help someone who hasn’t done it. So what reward should players get? Maybe a reputation reward. Maybe a item that is cool to have but not vital to the game. For example in LOTRO it would be cool if I could put armor on my horse. While having no practical use in the game, it’s definetly cool to have and you would be the envy of everyone who didn’t have it.
- Random Item Drops – Again I’m against any type of boring grind so I think all weapon and item drops should be completely random. All stats on these items should be random and can drop off any and every creature. This would completely do away with item farming and if you were to get an uber item it would be 100% unique and give the item some real value.
- PVP is a Must – I’m sorry for those of you who do not like PvP, but this is what makes the game interesting. MMORPGs shouldn’t be about grinding to get all the best stuff, it should be about surviving in a hostile and violent world. However I would make some changes. First I would give the player about to be attacked a 3-4 sec warning if they are in a safe zone. Lets say I wanted to attack some helpless sap oblivious to the fact that I was about to stab them in the back, I would have to first select the fact the I wanted to attack them. This would warn the player saying “so and so is about to attach you” The player would have 3-4 seconds to get ready or run before I could actually attack. Outside of safe zones the player would get a shorter warning or none at all.
- Corpse Looting, yes! – Sorry, but if I kill you I should be able to take 1 item. Now this is a bit harsh since most players spend a lot of time collecting their items, so everyone should have a few slots where they can select items that are unlootable. However if there are only 5 slots and you have 6 uber items, sorry but your going to lose that item if you die.
- None Storyline Driven Gameplay – Game storyline is vital to any game as well as to MMORPGs. However I do not believe that it should be the driving force behind the gameplay. I don’t want to wait for a content update before I have something else to do. There should definitely be a storyline, but it should only be a backdrop for the game and not be the game. The players themselves should be the storyline. Not everyone person wants to be a good guy, some people want to play the evil side, so let them. Servers should be setup where players are fighting against other players for land, control and world domination and not just a never ending stream of boring monsters.
Well thats what I want in a MMORPG. I’m sure I can add a few more points, but thats the big stuff. I want a game doesn’t waste my time, doesn’t force me to grind 95% of the time I’m on and most importantly FUN! If you know of any MMORPG thats gets close to this please let me know. I’d love to play it.
Darkfall Online is suppose to have all the PvP elements you asked for, and I don’t think there is much of a grind. Even if there is a grind, it’s said a newbie player with good skills can stand a chance against a vet player. It’s more skill based PvP, check it out at http://www.DarkfallOnline.com
Cool, I took a look at the site and looks like theres no open beta yet, but I’ll definitely keep my eye on this game
Exactly what I want, except instead of random drops, things must be player crafted! Basically I just want a Modern Ultima Online.
I think what you have described is perfect for a hard core MMORPG player. I know that you’ll say that the various things you are getting rid of make the game more accessible to a wider audience, but by making a game mandatory PvP and having corpse looting that is definitely appealing to a discreet segment of the MMORPG crowd.
I am anxious to see what is “next” as far as the next really big evolution in MMORPGs, but I think until you have computer algorithms that can generate random events and act like a human DM, or have a game where you do have human DM-like NPCs that are either volunteers or paid employees that are more or less on staff full time and developers that are always working to provide new content, we’re more or less stuck with the current paradigm for popular MMORPGs. Think like a small NWN or NWN2 persistent world with active DMs and all the content of the most current CEP to play with that the PCs haven’t seen before, then scale it up to a massive level.
No Level Grinding – Level grinding gives players the opportunity to test out new abilitys and skills, test out new ways to down monters and bosses with the most efficiancy, and lowest possible error rate.
level grinding though quite boring gives the players a chance to get used to PvE environment putting them against unique creatures with different resistances and strats on taking down.
Quick Travel for Everyone – Even in WoW I recall there being a zepplin, horses and other mounts, a tram station, and flight masters. Now imagine a game like DragonRealms where it takes 2 hours in real life to take a boat from the mainland to one of the islands.
Buddy you’re complaining over 15 minutes.
Few Quests – Creativity is all that’s needed to make questing fun, and most quests have a nice reward upon completion!.
Boss do NOT Drop Uber Items – If Rag didn’t drop any shiny purple loots after being killed by 40 people who had to create a plan in order to do so, then there’s no telling who’s head would be rolling next. If someone is going to put the work into doing something extraordinary then I say their efforts should be rewarded!. BOSSES ALWAYS DROP UBER ITEMS, final.
Random Item Drops – So you’re saying that the epic 200- 500 damage sword that takes half the strength required to swing as a normal sword should be able to drop off even the lowliest of creatures?.
I don’t think so….
PVP is a Must – PVP is a must
Corpse Looting, yes – I put in a whole day just to get that item, I even skipped work!, and now you can take it away from me just because I made a mistake?….what am I paying to play this game for again?.
None Storyline Driven Gameplay – I agree with everything said here.
YES A MODERN DAY ULTIMA ONLINE IS NEEDED…..
IT WOULD BE THE BEST MMORPG EVER
AND EVENTUALLY ONE OF THE FEW LEFT!!!!!
BECAUSE IT WOULD TAKE OVER AND BE PURE PWNAGE
ultima online pure mage FTW!!!!!
Tere is a browser based mmorpg … that has no lvls (ore if he does have tere are just for intimidation) … is primitive and his name is Forum , the forum … you can find milons of (custom / different)servers and bilions of users … just your mind can limitate the character customization …
See you in game !
This sounds like the dumbest game ever and I disagree with everything you wrote. Go play a single player game if this is what you want, guy. Jesus.
Yea, the items being randomly generated is something more games need to implement , i mean take a look at diablo 2 every monster in the hell mode can drop anything basically and the level grind in diablo 2 is actually fun and not boring cause you can get to lvl 90 in one fucking day and theres only 99 levels. Also once you get pass 81 in diablo your character can use every worthwhile item in the game, after you got your gear you can go kill shit to try and find better items or go pvp and see if you got skill. Only thing bad about the game is in pvp people like to use hacks sometimes and say they got skillz but most those people you can roflpwn so easy
Interesting list.
No Level Grinding – Grinding is an issue of reward versus effort. If the abilities of the character are boring to play in the first place, then any grinding sucks. However, grinding can be enjoyable. It just depends on the reward that is given for the grind. The grind should also not keep you away from playing with your friends.
Quick Travel for Everyone – Does not this depend on the expectations of the game. In a game like WoW travel is basically instant. The fun starts once you get there. With a different expectation, travel can be fun and be part of the experience.
Few Quests – I do not agree with this at all. Quests are a way to add immersion into the game. The man problem I have with quests relates only to the story being told. If the story sucks, then the quest is not going to add anything. Good quests have interesting stories. Good quests also have interesting mechanics backing them up. WoW is one example where you can experience something new and different by doing the quests.
Boss do NOT Drop Uber Items – I agree, bosses should drop items that characters actually want, and they should be fun taking down.
Random Item Drops – If everything drops the same thing, then why ever explore? The point of having monsters drop different things is to explore different aspects of the game. Exploring the world should be fun, if it is not, then why have one to begin with.
PVP is a Must – This forgets one major aspect of PVP, for every winner, there is a looser. Are you okay with PVP if you get ganked every single time? There will always be somebody better geared that you that will be willing to gank the under-geared nub. Surviving in a “hostile and violent” world is what we do every day. The point of a game is to have fun. PVP has no place in most MMO’s.
Corpse Looting, yes! – How is loosing an item fun? This defeats the purpose of getting the loot in the first place. See above for other reasons why this is not a good idea. Remember UO? That game had a similar system and it sucked. It was never fun to play. Allowing this only appeals to the sadistic reptile doing the ganking.
None Storyline Driven Gameplay – The “driving force” behind any game should be fun. If the story makes the game fun, then it should be there. If the story is boring, get rid of it. It is a game and having fun is the priority.