Greatest MMO features that somehow never got copied

[xSubway]

Two things that I hate from MMO's nowdays:

Bind on equip : I understand why they do it but &%*$ WoW for having every green+ items BOE/BOP tag.

Level requirement : Yeah I like/want to twink. I will play tons of alts unless the game has the FFXI job system.

I wouldn't mind the 'this bow require xx amount of dexterity/agility to use', but to be limited by my level is silly. While I'm at it, player level and skill level should be two separate things.

Come to think of it, I want an MMO to be skilled base with no levels: Quest for Glory anyone?

[Miele]

Originally Posted by Bristlebane

EQ2 mentoring is probably one of the best things in an MMO ever implemented.

Everything non-combat related in EQ2 is just great, but mentoring is something I'll never praise enough. Best feature ever imo.

[Neric]

There are some things about EQ that simply cannot be copied.

People came from games where reaching max level meant "game over - you win". This is the reason why people actually played through the content sometimes as slow as possible. Nowadays people race through the levels and there are competitions who does it faster.

Also in the old days you selected your class because it was appealing to you. Nowadays people play classes because they know that they will be useful on raids. Back then nobody even knew what a raid was.

[Nilden]

It's actually nothing that's been done before well maybe the radiant AI system in Oblivion but better. I want some bloody AI. Not a mob that just stands there and waits for me to kill it. Oh wow it's a raid boss with more hp and 2-3 special abilities or a scripted event, big deal. I guess a really free sandbox that isn't on rails. I dunno a living, breathing, online world.

Most MMO's lack terribly in the AI department. In fact can anyone name an MMO with good AI?

[lumberjack]

from EQ:
the monk class
cool non combat items that did stuff like illusions, summon food etc (one of the reasons i will never sell my everspore frond or whatever its called from WoW)
oh shit zones like VP
dungeons that were not instanced (i like instancing, but there should be places you could go to grind and just hang out and chill with people and still have a chance at decent loot)
non Bop items that were actually badass
procs (nothing beats the ykesha proc visual)

CoH:
character customization
mission system
npcs talking about you as you pass by

WoW:
ease of soloing and being able to accomplish something just doing that

[Dumar]

Originally Posted by Ellsworth

[...] a small enough number that if they made a game and all of you out there that want this went and played that game, the game still wouldn't be able to be profitable [...]

shutup with this nonsense. no one knows what players want because there's only been ONE type of mmo game in the LAST DECADE.

Originally Posted by Necrolyte

Ultima Online
- character advancement system: chopping a tree raises lumberjacking, fighting a monster with a sword raises Swordsmanship
- housing/vendor system: you could custom-build any type of house you want and actually create a store/tavern/whatever and setup NPCs that sell drinks or your goods. When we first started getting MMOs, this is the type of thing we always heard, but it just never panned out except in Ultima Online.

Originally Posted by Nilden

It's actually nothing that's been done before well maybe the radiant AI system in Oblivion but better. I want some bloody AI. Not a mob that just stands there and waits for me to kill it. Oh wow it's a raid boss with more hp and 2-3 special abilities or a scripted event, big deal. I guess a really free sandbox that isn't on rails. I dunno a living, breathing, online world.

Most MMO's lack terribly in the AI department. In fact can anyone name an MMO with good AI?

you could make some really unique things with some great ai. but unfortunately no one in this industry makes use of it.

you recall circa 98, 99? when many trade mags were talking about the buzz around this new term, "MMORPG"? i do. i remember all the articles discussing it too. about how we'd be able to build our houses, open a business, fight in massive battles, and a bazillion other things. was tons of news around it. i remember one in particular, forgot author or which mag, but how he had wild ideas about the types of "MMORPGS of the future". he envisioned villages of players teaming up together to conquer a player's neighboring castle and how every player had a unique role in the village with tons of different skills. boy, i remember salivating all other that mag. i mean, my spit was rolling off.

wish i could find that article now and spear it on the fucking wall of every trash MMORPG dev house out there, with a fucking pike.

hey developers, thanks for regressing our industry back to where we were BEFORE 10 years ago. cool deal. how bout you merge with another big publisher and make the next groundbreaking single, multi player mishmash pile and call it an mmog?

ps, what features do i want that never got copied? almost all of them.

[Kaosu]

Priceless EQ moment:

Two ogres/trolls sitting at lguk entrance/exit with invis to undead, while a monk trains/fds some undead mobs to the entrance, where everyone was looking for a group.

Other than that, I got nothing.

[Tancred]

Originally Posted by Dumar

shutup with this nonsense. no one knows what players want because there's only been ONE type of mmo game in the LAST DECADE.

There have been several different types and most have failed. The market has voted with its wallet and that's where we are today.

Originally Posted by Dumar

you could make some really unique things with some great ai. but unfortunately no one in this industry makes use of it.

Oh fuck off. You clearly now precisly jack shit about AI programming.

Originally Posted by Dumar

you recall circa 98, 99? when many trade mags were talking about the buzz around this new term, "MMORPG"? i do. i remember all the articles discussing it too. about how we'd be able to build our houses, open a business, fight in massive battles, and a bazillion other things. was tons of news around it. i remember one in particular, forgot author or which mag, but how he had wild ideas about the types of "MMORPGS of the future". he envisioned villages of players teaming up together to conquer a player's neighboring castle and how every player had a unique role in the village with tons of different skills. boy, i remember salivating all other that mag. i mean, my spit was rolling off.

wish i could find that article now and spear it on the fucking wall of every trash MMORPG dev house out there, with a fucking pike.

So you're basing your expectations of the industry on some long-forgotten journo's flight of fantasy? That list is fucking preposterous and anyone with a gram of sense can see it. Are you also disappointed that we don't have our personal spaceships and hovercars yet?

Originally Posted by Dumar

hey developers, thanks for regressing our industry back to where we were BEFORE 10 years ago. cool deal. how bout you merge with another big publisher and make the next groundbreaking single, multi player mishmash pile and call it an mmog?

ps, what features do i want that never got copied? almost all of them.

Every time you post you dig a bigger hole of retardation. You know fuck-all about development, design or publishing and its so obvious it makes me cringe.

[Dumar]

Originally Posted by Tancred

There have been several different types and most have failed. The market has voted with its wallet and that's where we are today.

there has been one. the others have failed because of implementation or other issues. not design. learn and understand this difference.

Oh fuck off. You clearly now precisly jack shit about AI programming.

maybe you should know that i do ai work professionally. it would be EASY to add tons of stuff not seen in an mmo. not hard at all. really basic things too.. but nope.

So you're basing your expectations of the industry on some long-forgotten journo's flight of fantasy? That list is fucking preposterous and anyone with a gram of sense can see it. Are you also disappointed that we don't have our personal spaceships and hovercars yet?

i don't have expectations for this industry anymore. i have more expectations of my toilet moreso than this industry. at least it flushes reliably everyday. this industry has shown time and again, especially with regards to mmos, that they neither have the capability or are even interested in making games focused on the player experience. before wow, there was hope. but not now.

Every time you post you dig a bigger hole of retardation. You know fuck-all about development, design or publishing and its so obvious it makes me cringe.

maybe you should jump in and see how far the rabbit hole goes? might learn something. i've worked at international corps and been in GOOD dev teams and BAD dev teams. the games industry is unique in that the "professionals" usually don't fucking know the difference between design methodologies and "cool gameplay ideas".

ps, you can leave the flames at home. burn your own house.

[Neric]

Offtopic but highly promising:



The funny thing is that this game is not the copy of Vanguard, it is the original that Vanguard got copied from.

[Burf]

Originally Posted by xSubway

Come to think of it, I want an MMO to be skilled base with no levels: Quest for Glory anyone?

You mean, Planetside?

[Dumar]

Originally Posted by Burf

You mean, Planetside?

(psst, he means ultima online.)

[VariaVespasa]

Originally Posted by Draz

Or a Human monk in East Commonlands with no way to see, equipping fire beetles eyes in off hand slot so you could atleast see easier. Or bugging the ever living fuck out of every wizard you saw to make you the ultravison necklace. Then leaving corpses around with the necklace on it, so you could always see. Man being a human sucked back then hah.

I was so lucky- I joined EQ about a year after it launched, and by the time I was lvl 6 old friends from my MUDding days had escorted me to Freeport from Qeynos and given me a glowing stone band. I wore that ring till faerune came out in what, PoP was it? Best present I ever got!

[Lambourne]

EQ:
Clickies, old world faction work, sandbox playstyle, AAs, no deposit needed for AH so you could reliably make money selling just about anything rather than just guaranteed sales like primals.

WoW:
Old AV: closest to what I imagine good MMORPG pvp to be like. Fight at front, help indirectly by running supplies for riders, coordinated stealth attacks etc. Long duration was a problem only because of how the rewards were implemented.
I hate the direction WoW has taken since with PVP. Calling arenas good MMO PVP is like calling Hogger a good PVE raid encounter. It's far too basic and simplistic considering what is possible with the technology and gameworld.

[TheOkapi]

Originally Posted by Neric

Offtopic but highly promising:



The funny thing is that this game is not the copy of Vanguard, it is the original that Vanguard got copied from.

Too brown