The Ideal MMORPG?

[Huntn]

I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever play another MMORPG. First one was Planetside- played for 18 months, this game was a success, but you can only attack so many bases, so many times. I played WoW for 15 months, then burned out at the then-cap of 60, another successful game imo. However, constant raiding in a limited number of instanced dungeons was just not my thing. Since then I have tried a list of follow on MMOs, Vanguard, LOTRO, Ryzom and others. I much prefer exploration solo or in small groups.

My fantasy list.
1. Fantasy based.
2. Huge Dynamic Open World, minimal if any visible zone loads. Dynamic zones.
3. Dynamic Quests for solo, small party, and large party instances.
4. Supports both solo/small party and raiding paths to the level cap and top gear.
5. Mix of common and instanced space, mix of common and instanced zones that support solo/small parties. Semi-instanced space that allows set number of individuals or party members to enter.
6. Exploration for exploration sake, rewards for exploration.
7. Reasonable crafting being able to craft as high quality gear as can be found on mobs.
8. Ability to establish home, barracks, place to hang out.
9. Flex levels- ability to join lower/higher level parties and have your abilities flex up or down in relation to the party leader so you can join at their level and participate in a quest or series of quests for XP.

Anything else?

(For reference WoW is a static world MMORPG with static quests, resetting back to it's original state every 10 min or so. The only thing that changes are the players.)

[huck500]

I have to say, I'm pretty sick of the fantasy thing.

As far as a dynamic world, I'm not sure how that would work. WoW actually has experimented with some dynamic content, and the result was pretty fun, but then the content had to change (being dynamic), and there's a mount that no one can ever get again. Being unable to complete the content at the time, now I can never do it.

What exactly do you mean by dynamic?

[Huntn]

Originally Posted by huck500

I have to say, I'm pretty sick of the fantasy thing.

As far as a dynamic world, I'm not sure how that would work. WoW actually has experimented with some dynamic content, and the result was pretty fun, but then the content had to change (being dynamic), and there's a mount that no one can ever get again. Being unable to complete the content at the time, now I can never do it.

What exactly do you mean by dynamic?

I'm thinking of a world that changes. I'm more or less sick of static worlds. I don't like when I come on a scene and there are 5 bears crisscrossing on rails. Kill them and 5 minutes later they are back. Saga of Ryzom had a much better feel regarding roaming critters.

I also realize this desire is not a well thought out one. Because when it comes to quests and a thousand people on a server, everyone wants to do all of the quests. But maybe there is another way to make the world more dynamic and less static?

Can you tell me about WoW and what dynamic content they had?

[BlackMax]

Originally Posted by Huntn

I'm thinking of a world that changes. I'm more or less sick of static worlds. I don't like when I come on a scene and there are 5 bears crisscrossing on rails. Kill them and 5 minutes later they are back. Saga of Ryzom had a much better feel regarding roaming critters.

What we need is a MMORPG where creatures and some NPCs have much more intelligent AI and can roam where ever they please. They should have unique personalities so they can grow and change as time passes based on their experiences and preferences. Each creature class would have similar characteristics, but each individual creature should have their own personality.

In most MMORPGs, such creatures are limited to specific locations on the map and have a limited number of behaviors. What is needed is a much more dynamic world where creatures have varied and advanced enough AI to make their own decisions and move through the entire world.

For example, one goblin might prefer to live in a cave somewhere in solitude whereas other globins might be more gregarious and take over a player's house or castle as their own and then you need to battle them to get it back. Once these particular goblins are gone they never come back, but are replaced by new goblins (born?) with new personalities and behaviors based on their experiences in the game.

Could you imagine a hugh MMORPG where all the creatures have this ability to move and think (within the constraints of currently technology unfortunately) as they please? It would be very cool, dynamic and most importantly, unpredictable. I believe (and hope) this is where MMORPGs will go in the future.

[ckeck]

Not fantasy based, but have you tried Eve Online? Great MMORPG, IMHO...but I still like the original, untainted EQ the best

[junior77]

The new expansion for World of Warcraft is 'supposed' to have some dynamic content for the Lich King. However, it sounds like it will be limited just to the 'new' beginning Lich King zone. This is still in beta so, things could change.

[Xander562]

One where I don't have to pay for it every month. Basically my reason for never owning a MMORPG.

[Huntn]

Originally Posted by BlackMax

What we need is a MMORPG where creatures and some NPCs have much more intelligent AI and can roam where ever they please. They should have unique personalities so they can grow and change as time passes based on their experiences and preferences. Each creature class would have similar characteristics, but each individual creature should have their own personality.

In most MMORPGs, such creatures are limited to specific locations on the map and have a limited number of behaviors. What is needed is a much more dynamic world where creatures have varied and advanced enough AI to make their own decisions and move through the entire world.

For example, one goblin might prefer to live in a cave somewhere in solitude whereas other globins might be more gregarious and take over a player's house or castle as their own and then you need to battle them to get it back. Once these particular goblins are gone they never come back, but are replaced by new goblins (born?) with new personalities and behaviors based on their experiences in the game.

Could you imagine a hugh MMORPG where all the creatures have this ability to move and think (within the constraints of currently technology unfortunately) as they please? It would be very cool, dynamic and most importantly, unpredictable. I believe (and hope) this is where MMORPGs will go in the future.

Actually this sounds really good. Saga of Ryzom did have animals that herded and seemed much more realistic than what WoW offers. I realize with more intelligent animals, quests would have to be restructured especially if they are not popping back up after 5 min and the game includes kill and collect quests. Anyway that is just one aspect of a dynamic world. I realize this might be an argument for more instanced space, but I played Guild Wars briefly and what I did not like was having all of the questing space as instanced. Part of a dynamic world is being able to run into other players while out exploring.

And I realize more A.I. means more overhead...

[Huntn]

Originally Posted by Xander562

One where I don't have to pay for it every month. Basically my reason for never owning a MMORPG.

I understand the need for server maintenance and overhead. But in WoW's case I thought they should drop the monthly fee as they are only raking in about $130 million a month.