| pros and cons
I have been thinking again.....dangerous habit really
The more I read on various topics realting to new RPG style releases the more I see a pattern developing in regards to MMO vs not. I think that being Diablo fans we might see something in this that most will not.
You see the genuine drive behind MMO's come from firstly makers who want to get the widest base of subscribers as possible and keep them. Why?.....Money of course
Now there are a lot tricks in the bag to acheive this and alot of them are in no way motivated by what the players want.
Now the main one(and I am mostly referencing the bid daddy of MMO's World of warcraft) is to ensure that players can not successfully play the game solo.
This to me as a Diablo player is not desirable, because quite frankly If I can run around and be a lone wolf or at least with a good friend or two and still make some ground even if it is dangerous and challenging I would rather do that.
When I choose my skill tree path I am making my choices based on hopefully being able at least hold my own against anything even I have to Town portal out a few times and spend all my gold of healing potions. there will be points at which I am holding out on reaching a level to spend to points on a specific skill and during this period things may get tricky, but I accept that in the hope the gamble will pay off.
MMO's are all about keeping the masses happy. And what do the masses want? well it would seem that the want a very medicore experience. The main word here is balance, balance, balance.
And that is not balance within a character ohh no thats balance of the whole game, as this means that no matter what choices you make that means there is a conflict you will nearly always lose just based on pre determined strengths and weakness's of a class.
If I am running along and I see another character of the same level with some insane looking gear I would love to ask them where they got that and hear that they where crawling through some nasty dungeon and the randomised boss creature just happened to drop this freakish one in a million item and I that it is as deadly as it looks and yes thay are very proud of it. I would reply you lucky lucky sod and then mope off feeling very jealous.
With all current MMO's the conversation would go something like this.
"so where did you get that axe man'
Sweet Gear owner:
"I did 500 runs of the mines of boredom with my guild, non stop for three weeks straight.
Me:
So you killed some uber boss and picked it up?
Sweet Gear owner:
Nope Im a Pally I just spam healing while everyone else fights? The sword never dropped I sold I the stuff I rolled for and bought this sword in auction.
Me:
(A peice of my soul just died)
So did anyone else in the party get any sweet drops there?
Sweet Gear owner
No you don't go there for gear the monsters regulary drop pertified yeti dung which sells for 1g
Me:
(very dejected by now)
So your level 50 where do you suggest I level up?
Sweet Gear owner
Don't know I got my brother to level me
Me:
Ohh... ahh thanks, see ya
(I sub sequently log out close my account, uninstall the game and deficate on the hard copy then burn it whilst dancing and chanting ancient pagan prayers of banishment)
The guts of it is the mass market gamer of today is not honourable or imaginative or even remotely driven by 'roleplaying elements' or even remotley interested in being strategic they just follow a build they read on a forum.
Also in particular to WOW is the fact that when you are fighting in an area that is suitably for you level the loot that drops will always be several levels below what would give you an edge.
Now these two things alone are enough to make any Diablo fan cringe. Because lets face is one of the most maddeningly addictive factors of Diablo is that there is always a chance that something is going to drop that will make you an all conquering meataxe for at least a while until the difficulty catches up to you.
Now this is something that in most MMO's would not even consider because they would get thousands of complaints because someone of the same level was able to carve them up and it not fair, just not fair. Not to mention the fact that if that item happened to drop from only one boss that always spawned in the same place all the time, It would be farmed to death already.
So my whole point is if im playing Diablo three MMO or not If I get flogged embarrasingly by somebody who just happens to be lucky enough to have great gear and a creaive build then as long as they did it by honorable means, then hats off to them as long as I have the same random chance to do the same.....on my own....without buying it.....without investing every waking hour for months grinding a single room.....
Diablo 3 should dance to a different tune that we all now and love....random,random random, chance chance chance  |