The End of an Era!

SDZald

I am a gamer, have been all my life, when I was a kid, long before computers, I played every kind of game out there, card, board, D&D, etc. I got hooked into ON-line games very early, in fact before there was an I-Net Sierra had a game network that you used a modem to get into their private game network, $100 a month for un-limited access, yea I am that big a game junkie.

I have played all the major MMO's, EQ, DAoC, Ashrons Call, WoW, Lord of the Rings. LotR was my last MMO and I swore I would never play another one, I only allowed myself to be drug back into ESO because a friend really wanted me in and I LOVE the Elder Scrolls single player games.

I just don't think it is possible to have a game that appeals to so many people and all at once. How can you make a game that works for casual players as well as power gamers? How can you make a game where your individual character affects the environment, economy, lore and story while doing the same for every player in the game?

I will be surprised if I am still playing ESO in 6 months and this time there is no way I am going back to another MMO. They just don't work, at least not for me.

rawne1980b16_ESO

You can never cater to everyone.

The average MMO doesn't retain all of the people who started on it's launch.

You have those that consume content and get bored, those that don't like the direction things go with early patches, those that just don't like the game, game hoppers etc etc....

People constantly say MMO's evolve over time, and they do. The problem is the time frame of that evolving. Some people are happy with it going slowly, some aren't.

Those that aren't won't hang around and wait.

The people that irritate me the most are those that tell others who aren't happy to leave.

In the end, it's them that will suffer, not the folk that go.

The less people paying a sub means less income. If less income is coming in they cut budgets. Budgets get cut they drop staff. Content is released a lot slower, microtransactions increase etc etc.

If that's the direction they want games to take then fine.

Moonchilde

JessieColtub17_ESO wrote: »

That content also never disappears. Once you obtain the content, you have it forever, even if the creator leaves and never comes back.

It also means that anyone, and everyone, can create their own content, within 5 minutes of downloading the software.

If the user base in Second Life had to rely on the developer to release new content, the platform would most likely have folded and shut down years ago.

Second Life is also completely and utterly free to play. You do not have to pay for the software, downloading it is free. You do not have to pay a monthly subscription. As a user you never have to pay a single real dime for access to anything that Second Life or the users offer.

The one thing your are leaving out is - all that content has to stay in your inventory UNLESS you pay for land. You have to rent Sim real estate in order to rez your creations, or put up a store to sell them.

This impacts roleplay in a serious way, because you need a region in which to build your RP setting. Roleplayers locate sims they can play in long-term, and they want them to have good environmental features. The RP sim owner (GM) has to pay to host. Its something like $100 a month for a low bandwidth sim, and $300 a month for one that can support 20+ avatars, and combat huds.

So yes its free to join Secondlife, but NO, its not free to replicate what we are getting in an MMO, nor is it even free to put what you've created into the environment.

SwordBlaster

I always asked myself ¿What would people do if an MMO asks for a monthly subscription of say 50€ assuring every two months you will have major quality update content for all, PvE, PvP, Dungeons, etc?
Personally, i would like it but will feel overwhelmed cause with some inactivity or to people that joins far from launch, it will look like a neverending game.

wrlifeboil

Spryt wrote: »

Problem is people want lots of content that they can do really fast.

Not really. Remember the context, this is an Elder Scrolls offshoot. People want lots of content that is interesting in relation to the Elder Scrolls. The tedious journey through VR ranks doesn't meet that expectation.

For example, I hope that the Thieve's Guild and Dark Brotherhood turn out to be very long and very interesting npc guild journeys.

SDZald

How long does it take to produce a full single player game? In case of Elder Scrolls series they release a new game about every 3 or 4 years. How long does it take to play through an entire single player game? For me I played Oblivion for about 4 months.

Ok how is any company suppose to take a 3 year cycle and reduce it to 4 months? This is the main problem with MMO's most players want the content of a single player game over the history of the MMO and I just don't see how that can be done effectively or economically without reducing content and not turning a game into a grind fest. MMO's just don't work long term unless their player base turns over on a regular basis.

I am sure that company's make lots of money on MMO's but as a gamer I am done with the sub par MMO scheme when I finish ESO.

wrlifeboil

SDZald wrote: »

How long does it take to produce a full single player game? In case of Elder Scrolls series they release a new game about every 3 or 4 years. How long does it take to play through an entire single player game? For me I played Oblivion for about 4 months.

Ok how is any company suppose to take a 3 year cycle and reduce it to 4 months? This is the main problem with MMO's most players want the content of a single player game over the history of the MMO and I just don't see how that can be done effectively or economically without reducing content and not turning a game into a grind fest. MMO's just don't work long term unless their player base turns over on a regular basis.

I am sure that company's make lots of money on MMO's but as a gamer I am done with the sub par MMO scheme when I finish ESO.

$15 * 4 = $60. That's the going rate for a triple-A single player title.

A wise man put it this way about subscription mmos: mmos that charge $15 per month should be delivering the equivalent content of a triple-A single player game every 4-5 months. Or it ain't worth it.

Moonchilde

You know, they could implement a quest creator for this game. They did this in City of Heroes, it was called Mission Creator, and players were able to create and share these to others, as individual adventures, or linked story arcs.

Its much like the instanced base builder in Rift, but you stock a dungeon or area map with your own NPCs, encounters, behaviors, dialog, and rewards.

If these quests were also rated by players, the feature could replicate (somewhat) the mod community that has been so active in Elder Scrolls games.

There is room for a LOT of humor in this kind of feature too, which should not be underrated

Vlaxitov

yodased wrote: »

The game you want will never exist because there will always be new content to make. When is "enough is enough".

No matter how much content is put out there at launch there will people that blow through it faster than the devs ever thought possible.

And this essentially is the problem you have with removing most of the sandbox element from new MMOs that was traditionally a fundamental part of old MMOs.

esoone

Moonchilde wrote: »

Try SecondLife. More content than you can experience in 6 months, definitely.

Seriously, do you know how long it takes to generate content for a 3d world? To make enough original content to satisfy your appetite, the venture capital required to get that all designed and built and tested to your satisfaction would just not be available.

Who has 200 million to spend on a game who's player base isn't reliable - its such a fickle market that players threaten to unsub at the drop of a hat. Your demands and behavior are part of this risk assessment. Unless the market culture changes, the level of risk on investing in that market will not change.

They were on this game for over 7 years. Thats a very long time.