Comments on: Brave New World

By: Rik

Rik — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 05:54:08 +0000

Check out ATITD.com and the game there, A Tale in the Desert. Two is just wrapping up and Three will be showing up soon. There are some questions there that no one ever learns the answers to, others are known just to a handful.

By: Inhibit

Inhibit — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 15:06:37 +0000

To the topic of “that feeling of discovery”… I used to be that way, long ago in AC1. I was even appointed guild loremaster. I dove headlong into the lore of the gameworld.. I had so many odd facts and data on the backstory, it was downright nerdish. And one day, I discovered that the lore… hope your sitting… had no answers.

When new content came out, and supposedly it was based on the backstory, the game lore -should- have given clues how to beat something. “Lord Darkthing Umulate was smitten by Kar of Id with his Sword of Buttersprechen”… but when DL Umulate returns with new monthly content push… how was he beaten? Not by going to Kar’s tomb looking for this sword as you might expect, but by collecting 15 drudge hides, and taking them to an NPC that was not alive back then, and trading them for some pocket shiney you pour on the head of a dead cat while singing three verses of “Louie Louie” during the 3 rainstorm of the the month, but only on a Tuesday…..

The previous scenario was not an actual event, but it illustrates the point. I have yet to see an MMO that followed it’s own lore as well as it should.

Look at any MMO, look at it’s backstory, it’s lore… and see how much that -really- has an impact on the game.

By: L'Emmerdeur

L'Emmerdeur — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 15:34:37 +0000

I think Vanguard is supposed to be a first attempt at a persistent world, but I don’t know any details.

By: foxtrotnin3r

foxtrotnin3r — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 14:06:40 +0000

Games that change huh…. Hmmmm… Diablo II? …Now the layout (aka the towns) stayed the same, but the dungeons were different mazes every time you entered. That what you want? ;) Although Diablo II was a point and click mega-fest it still had mass appeal, for people chasing rare items and trying to lvl up so they could Hack’n’slash or FireWall other unknowing Town Patrons.

By: blue

blue — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 06:55:49 +0000

I think you’re looking at the most complex solution to the problem.

If the issue is that players can find the “best” solution to a challenge too easily, don’t constantly change the challange. MMOGs don’t have the programmer man-hours to do that, and all you’ll really do is force players to deal with the five or ten ‘old’ strats before finding the new one.

Make it so there is no one best solution. That’s not really a hard way to do things; games have been offering multiple valid solutions for a single challange since the NES. Make that on a larger scale and players just won’t *want* to find the first solution thrown at them - they’ll want to find their own, and their own *better* solution.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 03:30:16 +0000

Unfortunately, players like constancy in their gaming experience. They like to know that the dungeon they explored six months ago is still there, and ready to be cleared by an alt or when farming for drops.

I’ve been toying with game worlds that change as soon as players stop looking at them, so to speak, but have been warned that I’ll turn a lot of players off if they can’t get back to something cool.