trinithemc
07-21-2005, 10:00 PM
http://www.actiontrip.com/features/skillandmmorpgs.phtml
Many MMORPGS lack competitive gameplay , rather it is replaced by a system that rewards those who play these games the longest ,rather than skilled players, in an FPS game someone can hop in halfway and still have the highest frags at the end , but in many an MMORPG the person who was there first and played the longest will be stronger than anyone else due to his 'stats' . To me this makes no sense , the whole point of many MMORPG's is to become more powerful by doing monotonous tasks repeatedly eg. ' Kill 10 bandits and return their red sashes for a reward ' or just walking through the forest/ asteroid field and killing all the wildlife , ( www.darkspace.net , space has wildlife :P ) , to gain more XP/ money etc.
I much prefer a fun game , maybe an MMORPG with based on hand to hand combat A la TEKKEN or an FPS or strategy game , but wandering aimlessly isn't fun to me. What drives an offline RPG is the story, and the need to find out what happens at the end , but an online RPG usually lacks drive , the only 'fun' thing would be interacting with other players and completing tasks together , or to form clans that gather regurlarly to help each other out .
Of course some games break the mold and allow new players to actually be competitive against older ones eg. Guild wars , but they still have the same monotonous gameplay as Wow , Lineage , everquest and countless others !
I would much rather play a game like counterstrike or battlefield online , where the GAMEPLAY keeps you playing , not the need to reach level 60 ! Until MMORPG's aquire better gameplay or something else to give them drive eg. Shattered galaxy or Darkspace , where you have to defend your race's territory from attacks by aliens and hordes of rebels , but both games have the aspect 'leveling up' that i find so desipicable .
In reality, the very nature of RPGs goes against the idea that the most skillful players are the ones receiving the most accolades. For one, there is no level playing field. One guy may be decked out with epic armor because he plays the game all day long, and the other may have very ordinary equipment, as he has a job, a family, etc. If we suppose that both of these players have the same amount of knowledge about their class and the class they are facing, and sufficient level of motor skills (nothing out of the ordinary mind you), then there is a strong chance that the guy with the better stats will win. His advantage is based on calculations by the game of the inputted stats, rather than his skills. And even if the other guy wins, it just could be that the random factor in these calculations (a number of critical hits, or resists per match), may tip in his favor, giving him an edge. All the while, however, an unordinary level of skill is not a factor in this Player vs. Player conflict. And even if it is *a* factor, it’s far from being *the* factor.
In simpler terms, being an ordinary MMORPG player, I could certainly win at least a number of matches against the supposedly best player in all the land, and that is certainly not something I could hope to do against Fatal1ty, being an ordinary player.
Many MMORPGS lack competitive gameplay , rather it is replaced by a system that rewards those who play these games the longest ,rather than skilled players, in an FPS game someone can hop in halfway and still have the highest frags at the end , but in many an MMORPG the person who was there first and played the longest will be stronger than anyone else due to his 'stats' . To me this makes no sense , the whole point of many MMORPG's is to become more powerful by doing monotonous tasks repeatedly eg. ' Kill 10 bandits and return their red sashes for a reward ' or just walking through the forest/ asteroid field and killing all the wildlife , ( www.darkspace.net , space has wildlife :P ) , to gain more XP/ money etc.
I much prefer a fun game , maybe an MMORPG with based on hand to hand combat A la TEKKEN or an FPS or strategy game , but wandering aimlessly isn't fun to me. What drives an offline RPG is the story, and the need to find out what happens at the end , but an online RPG usually lacks drive , the only 'fun' thing would be interacting with other players and completing tasks together , or to form clans that gather regurlarly to help each other out .
Of course some games break the mold and allow new players to actually be competitive against older ones eg. Guild wars , but they still have the same monotonous gameplay as Wow , Lineage , everquest and countless others !
I would much rather play a game like counterstrike or battlefield online , where the GAMEPLAY keeps you playing , not the need to reach level 60 ! Until MMORPG's aquire better gameplay or something else to give them drive eg. Shattered galaxy or Darkspace , where you have to defend your race's territory from attacks by aliens and hordes of rebels , but both games have the aspect 'leveling up' that i find so desipicable .
In reality, the very nature of RPGs goes against the idea that the most skillful players are the ones receiving the most accolades. For one, there is no level playing field. One guy may be decked out with epic armor because he plays the game all day long, and the other may have very ordinary equipment, as he has a job, a family, etc. If we suppose that both of these players have the same amount of knowledge about their class and the class they are facing, and sufficient level of motor skills (nothing out of the ordinary mind you), then there is a strong chance that the guy with the better stats will win. His advantage is based on calculations by the game of the inputted stats, rather than his skills. And even if the other guy wins, it just could be that the random factor in these calculations (a number of critical hits, or resists per match), may tip in his favor, giving him an edge. All the while, however, an unordinary level of skill is not a factor in this Player vs. Player conflict. And even if it is *a* factor, it’s far from being *the* factor.
In simpler terms, being an ordinary MMORPG player, I could certainly win at least a number of matches against the supposedly best player in all the land, and that is certainly not something I could hope to do against Fatal1ty, being an ordinary player.