Horizons - State of the Game, Why hasn't it been more successful?
When operating a fantasy MMOG you absolutely can not underestimate the value of diverse and interesting loots!
And I believe this has been a significant problem for Horizons because all the player gear is dependent on the players to create.
And for a second problem we have to consider the fact that no matter how good your crafting system is, some players won't want to do it.
Many of the players who come to these games are looking for the thrill of virtual combat.
I happen to know for a fact that many online gamers are looking for a combat system where player skill plays a larger role in the outcome.
If winning the battle is simply a matter of spaming your attack skills as soon as they become available, these players will keep looking.
The interactions of colored stances might make your combat system more interesting, but i've never noticed the mobs to be using color stances.
And the desire that many players have for adventuring need not be a problem for Horizons due to the virtually unlimited multi-classing possibilities.
But the game could be significantly improved if there was a feature to find available quests and quest givers.
And for our strict adventuring types, the game is just not very rewarding in terms of loot or coin.
And if we need to hire a crafter to manufacture the best gear for us, we need lots of coin.
And those drops that other players want are primarily crafting resources - which is not very interesting loot for our adventurers.
I would recommend that you introduce more junk loots into the game that can be pawned for coin. And somethings with bulk that will fill up your inventory space.
Even though its always better for the player if we get drops that other players want to buy. Players should always be willing to pay more for such items than the NPCs would pay; and if thats not the case its a real shame.
There seems to be enough money sinks in the game, but there isn't enough money available; especially to lower leveled players.
Most of the players who have scrimped and saved in order to buy a plot of land; won't have enough money left over to pay construction costs.
And the building process is far too time-intensive and slow paced. Most online gamers don't have that much patience, they want to see results.
we just can"t wait for several days worth of hours to see something happening. it would be a considerable improvement if those building structures changed in the course of the process to show partial completion.
But what I would recomend that you do is make it so that optimal construction proceeds at a 1:1 ratio; 1 unit of material = 1 unit of building.
And of course if you follow my advice in this respect i would expect you to make adjustment to the payout in XP.
Of course it would be more realistic to do construction projects with a group, but its hard to get a crew if you can't afford to pay.
Evidently all these players who have been dedicated to the game for a very long time do have the patience, and may not agree with my ideas.
Of course every MMOG depends on having a constant influx of new players, idealy there are more people coming through the front door than there are leaving the game.
And a litte attrition of the player base is entirely unavoidable, because people will eventually become bored, lose interest and start looking for the next new game.
For this there is nothing to do but spend money on advertism, run ads with google, try to place some banners on such sites as FilePlanet and the larger Fansites.
And I know that some of your veteran players will say, improve the graphics, add content, run some live events.
But for the new player all the existing game content is NEW content.
And please consider how successful Jagex has been with Runescape, a good game doesn't have to depend on state-of-the-art graphics to be a good game.
The graphics at Runescape have recently been improved but still they're not comparable to the technology being used here at Horizons.
I'm sure there are still thousands of people who like to play Ultima Online too and Horizons is much more colorful than that.
Horizons is still a very good game all things considered, and with a few changes there is no reason it shouldn't be more successful.
The community of online gamers is truly imense and growing, and while the power-house Blizzard has made a significant contribution to that player base, the people at Virtrion should be asking themselves, "How can we capture a share of those players who have become tired of WoW?"