What do I look for in an MMORPG...

[Chasing]

Hi All

Here is another thread which I hope will become interesting.

• What do you look for with an MMO?
• What don't you like in an MMO?
• What is the key selling point/feature of Istaria?

Doesn't have to be 100% relevant to Istaria (except for the last question)

Please go into as much detail as you wish and give your own personal opinion.

I would ask again please don't use this thread to start a derail/rant about something else.

Thanks

[deadite]

Hi Chasing! I'll take a stab...

• What do you look for with an MMO?
Choices. Specifically, things to do other than kill mobs. I like to dabble. I think that's why I played UO for so long! Also, at this point in my life with my limited playtime and real life responsibilities, I want a sandbox game that isn't also a free-for-all PVP gankfest. Some element of danger is wanted, but I like to choose when and where.

• What don't you like in an MMO?
Endless themepark questing that ushers you from one zone to another until to get to endgame raiding. I enjoy adventuring and building my character, but I don't like to be led around by the nose. I also don't like choosing a single class in the beginning and being stuck with it unless I reroll and start over.

• What is the key selling point/feature of Istaria?
So far I think it's the game *outside* of standard mob grinding or questing. I'm interested in the interdependence on crafting/adventuring classes. I'm interested in how housing plots are not instanced and you have choices on how to build on them. Also, multiclassing!

[Kesqui]

What do I look for?
Dragon player characters. Yes, that makes me a one-trick pony. I don't want to play any other character class, though I suppose other "very nonhuman" characters might be of interest. Non-human, not humanoid, not bipedal, not humanlike.

What don't I like?
PVP that you can't completely opt out of. It's one thing to have PVP that you have to flag yourself as "willing to participate in it" and those who are not flagged simply cannot be touched by PVPers .... I just plain don't want to play PVP.

What's the key selling point of Istaria: Flappity flying scaly firebreathing wingalinged player characters.

[Shian]

What do you look for with an MMO?

-I am an EASK. So I enjoy large open spaces to run. Instanced games like DDO and Vindictus don't work for too long.

-I highly prefer games with player housing as I prefer showing off far more than a list on an /inspect of the character. Anything like dying armor, appearance tabs, housing: the more chances to be creative, the better.

-The crafting system must be more than a -click- item done. :/ SWG, EQ2 and Istaria all have great crafting systems.

-Customizable UI.

-Of course each game must do something out of the norm that makes me think "Cool/Neat" (creativity):

Champions Online runs it's Halloween event on every RL full moon.

WoW has wonderful easter eggs: hunting down RL references in the game is a game in itself.

Death in DDO was awesome. I played the game purely for the physics engine and how death worked.

I would love to see a game with weather that affects the world. Why don't we have this yet?
Rain would produce more resources or change what resources spawns. Snow would obscure combat via fog or mist.
Drought areas that would have less mobs, but less resources etc.

What don't you like in an MMO?
How about basic things that should be in every game but for some reason or another the developers overlooked?

-Games that are not tab friendly
-Games that have no auto run
-Games that have just music and sound for audio options.
-Counterproductive time sinks that go against the spirit of the game.
-Very limited inventory so one is forced to sell whatever quest item they just got.
-PVP only servers

What is the key selling point/feature of Istaria?

Free flight of course. And the wonderful non-standard avatar choices. Crafting, very few instanced places and the community.

I don't believe a game has a single selling point, but a combination of many. All games have a selling point or feature one is drawn to but it is only the complete game experience that keeps players.

[LOVWYRM]

I look for races and schools I love to play, and I want to choose my favourite combinations.

I want to be able to play with my friends from the very beginning- no matter which races/schols they chose (both I did not find in e.g. Vanguard).

I want an easy to understand/handle communication-system (chats/tells aso- was a pain in EQ2).

I want to look my char kinda unique, and let it grow to something unique
(Flame invested some time in creating a char for Aion beta- only see his 100% twin when he entered the world first time^^)

I want the gameworld to enjoy my eyes and soul (at least most of the time)

I want a craft system that is at least as good as ours

I want a mature community!!


I do not play mmorpgs with a low female population.
I do not play pvp
I`m not found of endless raides
I do not like to depend on a whole group if I start a new game
(like DDO at the beginning- omg- 20x the same quest^^)

key features of Istaria? do you have time to read?

The races and schools we can choose.
The crafting system and the plots
The endgame content (which we play since 5 years now)
The world in which you can see with each step you make, how much love devs and players put in
The community-and the communication among us
3 really different shards
Multiclassing
The challange it takes to become a real vet
The dev- team
UI
(only to name a few)

[C`gan]

What do you look for with an MMO?
I look to be a part of something that is grander in scale than a single person game I can play on my own desktop. I want to feel that my being there has positively influenced the community as a whole and that I can contribute to the next generation of players after me who need help figuring out what has already been learned.

What don't you like in an MMO?
Isolation. I saw this in Vanguard way too much. Even if you did group up, you were playing alone. I think it's also a strong reason why I'm not playing STO as much, even though I'm a big ST fan. There's no REAL interaction, even with members of your own fleet.

What is the key selling point/feature of Istaria?
That HAS to be one of two things. The playable dragons and the fully customized and operating construction system that allows a player to change the world by deciding what to build where and make use of the resources in the area.

[Shinkuu]

The first thing I look for in an MMORPG is its species. If there is nothing but Elves/Humans etc. the standard crop then I am generally disinterested from the get-go. I want something interesting to play.

The next thing I look for is what sort of fighting is supposed to take place. Is it a PvP fest where High Level is everything? Because that I have no use for. It is PvE only? Is there a mix and if so how is it done?

Next I look to see what classes they have and how their system works and how those classes work together and do their thing. I look into the story and try to see how deep and engrossing it is or is not. I try to find out if it is just another grind fest or something actually fun.

I try to figure out if there is much of a community, what they are like, and if RP ever happens or if the RP part of the MMORPG is just tacked on for appearance.

Last I look at graphics to see if they are eye bleed inspiring or good. As long as they are tolerable if the other things are good it can be accepted without too much trouble.



What I do not like in an MMO is when it is just all about levels. When I find there is no real complexity and nothing interesting about the game. No real abilities worth me caring about and no worthwhile goals. When the goal is just to grind grind grind to get to top level with nothing but mindless grinding being important I lose all interest immediately.

I am also not really fond of an MMORPG with no RP whatsoever in it. What is the point of that? If I want an online game with no RP I will play an FPS or RTS. If I want to do PvP I will likewise stick to games made for that whereas MMORPG's always fail at it because Level = Power.

I also am careful about MMORPG's who's developing company is located in some far off place like China and cannot be contacted and does not have any direct connection to the players. I much prefer an interactive Dev team and people who are trying to make a game that they wish to play themselves and that can be adjusted as time goes on with input from their many customers if those customers are so willing to communicate.

I also tend to frown upon blatant clone MMORPG's that offer absolutely nothing new or interesting and may as well be some other more known game.


Istaria has a number of selling points but I am not sure it capitalizes on them that well.

It has a niiiice selection of Species which not only allow very different characters but also very different experiences. The Point of View of a Half-Giant vs. a Dryad for instance is a very neat and rather unique thing Istaria offers. It also has Dragons as playable Heroes which is awesome though I think some aspects of them need to be tweaked.

It offers a wonderfully rich and stable craft system that allows for a nice amount of customization. This gets mired with nasty grinding aspects sadly and becomes nightmarish for Bipeds but the basic concept is very good and it is pretty solid.

It offers buildable homes and communities which is a very nice feature and would be a great selling point if it did not seem like the game tries very hard to prevent you from really taking advantage of this by guarding the massive resources you need, making Plot building insanely difficult with 5 schools, and sucking away your coin with teleport fees and form prices.

It offers an easy to use Guild System and the Forums here + the Social Group part of the Forums are very nice for integrating with that. Put together it makes for an easy game to have a Guild in and to keep up with that guild in.

Istaria also offers a wonderfully deep story to get into and make use of. It explains many mechanics in lore which is awesome and makes it very engrossing. More Blight Anchors at lower levels and with a bit more frequency would make this even better as it makes the world LIVE as a real army seems to try to invade.

[Shinkuu]

I do not play mmorpgs with a low female population.

LOL! Now that is one I would not have expected to see. Especially with the accusations about us ladies Vs. the Internet and all that jaz.

I guess the answer should be obvious but not you have me curious. Why do you not play MMORPGs with low female populations and how do you know rather they have a low female populace or not? Do you mean the Players or do you mean the ability to make a female character?

[meepsa]

What I look for:
exploration, originality, backstory/lore, and a good community

What I'm NOT looking for:
immature people, or beggers, or in the case of istaria: wingers. ("oh my god this game has dragons, I want to fly!!!"...."wait what? I have to get to level 35 adv and 30 craft to do this?!?!"....."PLOKS HELP MEZ I WANNA FLYZZZZ!!!!"....."hmmm, this is boring")

selling point(s) of istaria:
-great craft system.
-grand open world to explore.
-playable dragons.
-lovely community.
-great interaction between devs and community.
-fantastic and actually in-game lore

[LOVWYRM]

I mean the players, Shin.

And I have to be careful with what I say now

My male friends know that I love them all-BUT:

What would Istaria be without all its female key players,
or female players at all?
Well- I leave that to your own imagination.

I do not want to name them all-those who warmed my heart over the years.
No matter on which shard.
Though I love to hunt with my uber (male) friends- but what a wonderful fun
to hunt with my Ladyguildie. Our chat logs might be good for a comedy sometimes. But this is only one example.

Its like a lady-friendship in rl: We share so many things only women do share,
there is always understanding, support and warmth when needed.
Be it about Istaria or rl.

How I can tell its a female?
Well- we often do skype- this is the easiest indicator.
But playing mmmorpgs for so many years now-
I get experienced in finding out.
(Flame is not^^he could tell you stories about males playing femals,
or playing my female chars in other games- his most nightmarish experience was being sexual harrassed with my char Moondancer (he did some crafting for me) in another game. ^^)

So allow me to greet all my female friends on all shards:
Its wonderful to have you around
Thank you for your friendship
I love you all
*raises a cup of klava*

[velveeta]

my answer for the istaria thread is the same for this one....
i look for the x factor.......