The End of the MMO Era

[Zavon]

I think it's probably safe to say that the era of the "MMO" is gone. The most recent WoW expansion turned out to be a fairly massive disappointment, as it's become obvious that activation has started to influence game decisions (or so it seems most believe).

Meanwhile, large swaths of players are now playing gobshite like Fortnite. It would appear that the direction for gamedevs will be largely focused on getting players to play that kind of shit and MOBAS which are also very popular.

What hope do we old school MMO gamers have? Is there anything that will come close to recapturing the glory? Its kind of a bummer

[Marou]

I think it's probably safe to say that the era of the "MMO" is gone. The most recent WoW expansion turned out to be a fairly massive disappointment, as it's become obvious that activation has started to influence game decisions (or so it seems most believe).

Meanwhile, large swaths of players are now playing gobshite like Fortnite. It would appear that the direction for gamedevs will be largely focused on getting players to play that kind of shit and MOBAS which are also very popular.

What hope do we old school MMO gamers have? Is there anything that will come close to recapturing the glory? Its kind of a bummer

Star Citizen is literally the only MMO I have any hope for at the moment, but you need a beefy machine to play it. I think the days of theme park fantasy MMO's are over and done - but other things (like SC and stupid shit like Fortnite) will take their place. Then that will get played out and maybe Theme Park fantasy MMO's will make a comeback in 20 years.

Chronicles of Elyria is ambitious but seems vapory - so I'm waiting on that to progress further before I care.

[VKhaun]

Agree with M and A here. Most people associate MMORPG with nostalgia plus the baggage of all kinds of old, bad design or just technical limitations. Star Citizen is the only game I'm aware of that's doing MMORPG in a way that makes sense.

Like when we talk about truly exploring vs having maps and losing that feeling, but then at the same time maps save you from being frustrated and "lost" sometimes... Star Citizen can do advanced navigation and have great map interfaces, but still have uncharted areas for players to explore since players make the charts. This is the old quality moved forward and improved, good gameplay (exploring) turned into it's own gameplay loop and bad gameplay (lost) made avoidable. This is a lot harder to do than just copying WoW so the genre it might seem "dead" if tons of companies give up on WoW clones and there are fewer titles coming out, but I'll take one or two Star Citizens over a thousand WoW clones with gimmicks any day.

[Zavon]

Did Aeinna say something and delete it?

The idea of an MMO with no maps, and land that is so massive that it would take a while to explore is freaking incredible. There would probably have to be some kind of level scaling gimmick to make such a thing work, but I'd sure as hell love it. It was like that for me in Everquest.

[Aeinna]

Did Aeinna say something and delete it?

The idea of an MMO with no maps, and land that is so massive that it would take a while to explore is freaking incredible. There would probably have to be some kind of level scaling gimmick to make such a thing work, but I'd sure as hell love it. It was like that for me in Everquest.

I did not but I think he included me because he already knows how I feel about Star Citizen, we've discussed it enough.

It is in a class of its own, pushing boundaries and achieving things never before done. It has the potential to be a masterwork of game, even over single player ones because of the genius it is trying to do. They are fucking doing it and it is amazing to be able to play it, even with what they have out now.

[Zavon]

Even taking Star Citizen into account, it seems like the general trend is to make FPS games or some kind of "builder" game. I wonder when or if we will get back to the RPG. I think when it comes down to it, the RPG is always what has been in my heart more than anything else.

[Aeinna]

I don't see us getting back to the old days of MMO's. I think most of us are looking for the next better thing. I wont deny that I still miss DDO and FF14 but they can not capture me for long periods the way they used to. Maybe its the grind, maybe its being tired of always having to achieve the next best something to make you better but they often loose their fun after you hit the end.

Which is why SC is holding a special place with us. There is no progression in terms of character. You are as good as you are, gear or ship isn't going to make you a god if you are just an average joe. It is about skill and doing whatever the fuck you want. Want to do long haul trade runs? Dog fight? Smuggle? Earn rep with a certain corporation or some other faction for story? Want to run a bazaar out of your ship? Explore deep space? Salvage, medical, repair, mine, bounty hunting (even capturing people alive and going to prison)? It is everything and they want to keep expanding. This doesn't even explain the depths these play styles will end up at.

All the other games now are the same, level up to max, earn gear, be best-o and wait for more content. Just not enough anymore.

[Pyrrhus]

DAOC Freeshard launching tomorrow. Pheonix. 1.65 Patch with some QOL improvements. 'Uthgard Lite'.

But otherwise, yes, MMOs suck. I've considered trying the Age of Reckoning free shard as well. It's just bonkers to pay a sub for shit that just isn't quality anymore.

I've been tempted to look back at EQ2, but all these end up being nostalgia trips and unless I find some fun people to socialize with I just burn out fast.

I don't think my laptop will handle SC very well as that's what I'm gaming on these days till I can budget a new desktop. While it does have a 1050, the ram isn't fantastic. Also I'm afraid of the $$ of ships, as I'd likely want to buy something I don't really need.

I bought the lifetime 'package' for Camelot Unchained and it's developing 'nicely' but I'm not ready to start play-testing that with where they are right now. They're on the building/building destruction (siege) testing phase for the most part.

[Aeinna]

I don't think my laptop will handle SC very well as that's what I'm gaming on these days till I can budget a new desktop. While it does have a 1050, the ram isn't fantastic. Also I'm afraid of the $$ of ships, as I'd likely want to buy something I don't really need.

SC has some harsh requirements, here is the telemetry page and it is the main reason we upgraded to monster computers. Needing an SSD and at least 16g of ram is crucial. They are working on lowering the requirements some I think but its always going to be fairly high.

Everytime I play, I still get caught in how gorgeous it is. Even with our computers, the frames still are not a stable 60.






The nicer ships aren't necessary but fun to have. There are people so good that in the starter ships, they can take down heavy fighters. The other night while Marou was playing a Saber took down 8 player ships by himself, which is why skill is huge in this game.

I own two ships, MISC Freelancer MIS and the Carrack. I plan on getting the Reclaimer and Apollo Triage. I don't need these ships and can earn them in game, as lots of people with starter packages are planning to do but we have no problem supporting a game that means so much.

[Marou]

Also I'm afraid of the $$ of ships, as I'd likely want to buy something I don't really need.

All you really need to experience what the game has to offer is an Avenger Titan. There are other ships that do certain things better (cargo, weapons, etc) - but you don't need them. And yeah, I have a ship problem. I don't *need* them at all, in fact - I spend most of my time flying around in the Avenger cause it's handy. I just *want* them cause they are cool.

If you're only interested in the MMO part (with a good ship) the entry fee is $45 starter pack w/20 upgrade to Titan.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/p...a-Starter-Pack

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/p...-Titan-Upgrade

If you want the single player game (Squadron 42) as well. It's $65 (+20 upgrade to titan = 85).

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/p...-Combo-Feb2018

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/p...-Titan-Upgrade

If at some point you decide to take the leap pong us first for a referral code. You get extra shit in game.

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It's fun to play now and it's my way of unwinding after work, but it does wipe every major patch (quarterly) cause they are continually adding in major game-play systems.

Avenger info:

[Pyrrhus]

So I went ahead and gave it a shot for the $45.

It actually runs 'OK' on my laptop.

All I can say is I'm fucking confused. Flying is alright. I basically left the first space port and went to the closest R&R station to mess around.

Very nice looking game.

[Aeinna]

Confused by what?

The flying is being completely reworked and is coming in patch 3.5, so around march at some point. Everything is changing with the new flight model. Flying is only fun to me, in the heftier ships. I love the way the behemoths feel. The aurora flies like utter garbage and it probably always will, since it is the lowest tier ship you can have. I'm not even sure the aurora can get to hurston in one jump, which is where all the fps missions are currently. You don't have to go there obviously but it has very cool biomes. You also don't have to go to a rest stop, you can land on anything.

If you get on steam, we can play together and you can test out our various ships.

Heads up too, chatting in the game is very difficult if you are doing anything because you use so many keys.

Oh and we can play arena commander together! Good way to get a feel for fighting and runs much better than the persistent universe.

[Pyrrhus]

Confused mainly by standard learning curve stuff. Keybinds. Navigating menus. Where stuff is. Flying itself is quite simple, its more the managing of systems and the manual settings you can do like engine power % and weapons on/off/groups.

I'm probably going to be burning myself out on Daoc shard for the rest of the weekend. Really want to make either a Thane or a Hunter for some solo fun, archers are pure hell to level though.

[Marou]

My RSI Handle is Marou, what's yours, will add ya.

[Pyrrhus]

Handle is Agnomic.

[Zavon]

Whelp, this thread is now gay.