It is important not to lose sight of the other types of players who will be participating in the game once it goes gold and live. We represent the power gamers, or at least the genre devotees. There are two other factions â the PvP group, and the true casuals, those who actually use the game as an SCA-equivalent, fashion show, or even just a glorified chatroom. Iâm not a big fan of these latter two groups, but their money is just as green as mine, so I expect to see them be catered to.
As an individual, I do not like the rest state. PvPâers donât seem to like it either. (Our two groups seem to be roughly 60/40 against the current rest state, reading comments across the web.) The casuals, however, will love it. As a game focusing on the bridge between casual and hardcore, Blizzard is unlikely to dump the rest state entirely just to please us. Theyâll likely try to find a happy medium that is tolerable to us and thrilling to the casuals.
I do, however, see the rest state as having an actual beneficial effect on the gameâs interest level, if implemented properly. Too many players (sometimes myself included) approach RPGs as a power-leveling mechanism â they want to have the strongest, highest-level character possible, with the most treasure, in the shortest amount of time. This has the effect of cloistering the MMORPG community into boring elite clans that donât converse outside of their own clique, and who look like everybody else does. If the rest state is done correctly, players will be encouraged to play different characters while their âbig-timersâ are resting off fatigue, thereby increasing the diversity of characters in the game, and probably increasing the desire among hardcore players to party with other groups (since their clan friends are usually, percentage-wise, power-leveling while youâre âoffâ and stuck with the normals). Itâs a forced socialization method for hardcore, exclusive gamers, which could either backfire catastrophically or work like a dream. I withhold judgment until the game is clearer.
Concerning quest material, I think the push right now is just to get as much content into the game as possible. Added quests, IMHO, should be generic for now, to benefit as many players as possible. Once there are so many quests in the game that a player couldnât possibly complete them all with one character, then they should add class- and race- specific quests for variety. Keep in mind two things: [1] A quest that benefits only one class or one race, no matter how interesting, benefits a minority of players only, and probably less than 20%. [2] Most of you, as testers, have played multiple characters many times. When the game actually begins, all of us as âoutsidersâ will be experiencing the game for the first time. We, as first-time players, do not need variety in the content. We need content, period. Once weâve spent a long time in the game and want to start new characters to seek variety (probably tied to the rest state issue, as above), then weâll want to see some differentiation between the paths we can select. So, at launch, general content that everyone can enjoy is paramount. There are even two different factions we can play. A month or three down the road (and longer for casuals), weâll be looking for class- and race-specific content.
Long-winded, and no, Iâm not a beta player ⦠but please recognize that in this type of game, thinking outside of your own personal preferences often leads to the crafting of a game that is more fun for everyone.
;)
As an individual, I do not like the rest state. PvPâers donât seem to like it either. (Our two groups seem to be roughly 60/40 against the current rest state, reading comments across the web.) The casuals, however, will love it. As a game focusing on the bridge between casual and hardcore, Blizzard is unlikely to dump the rest state entirely just to please us. Theyâll likely try to find a happy medium that is tolerable to us and thrilling to the casuals.
I do, however, see the rest state as having an actual beneficial effect on the gameâs interest level, if implemented properly. Too many players (sometimes myself included) approach RPGs as a power-leveling mechanism â they want to have the strongest, highest-level character possible, with the most treasure, in the shortest amount of time. This has the effect of cloistering the MMORPG community into boring elite clans that donât converse outside of their own clique, and who look like everybody else does. If the rest state is done correctly, players will be encouraged to play different characters while their âbig-timersâ are resting off fatigue, thereby increasing the diversity of characters in the game, and probably increasing the desire among hardcore players to party with other groups (since their clan friends are usually, percentage-wise, power-leveling while youâre âoffâ and stuck with the normals). Itâs a forced socialization method for hardcore, exclusive gamers, which could either backfire catastrophically or work like a dream. I withhold judgment until the game is clearer.
Concerning quest material, I think the push right now is just to get as much content into the game as possible. Added quests, IMHO, should be generic for now, to benefit as many players as possible. Once there are so many quests in the game that a player couldnât possibly complete them all with one character, then they should add class- and race- specific quests for variety. Keep in mind two things: [1] A quest that benefits only one class or one race, no matter how interesting, benefits a minority of players only, and probably less than 20%. [2] Most of you, as testers, have played multiple characters many times. When the game actually begins, all of us as âoutsidersâ will be experiencing the game for the first time. We, as first-time players, do not need variety in the content. We need content, period. Once weâve spent a long time in the game and want to start new characters to seek variety (probably tied to the rest state issue, as above), then weâll want to see some differentiation between the paths we can select. So, at launch, general content that everyone can enjoy is paramount. There are even two different factions we can play. A month or three down the road (and longer for casuals), weâll be looking for class- and race-specific content.
Long-winded, and no, Iâm not a beta player ⦠but please recognize that in this type of game, thinking outside of your own personal preferences often leads to the crafting of a game that is more fun for everyone.
;)