A recurring theme of this particular thread was that MMOs have changed nowadays, and have lost their “cosy” appeal. Here I was thinking I just got older and had less time.
All things considered, what kind of MMO would you consider spending time in? Are the reasons social, or to do with gameplay?
I also enjoyed the combat and style of WildStar.
I am always more pve oriented, but i really liked Planetside 2 when it first was released, now they have simplified it too much, probably due to a lack of players...
And eve online always lingers in a «I really want to get back into that but i already have one full time job now» territory.
Edit: I guess I would love something that whould have all of that, but that would be waaaay to unrealistic. But, if something could re-create the magick of clearing nax the first time with your guildies then i would be happy.
So to boil it down; something that promotes cooperation and community i guess?
The early game is all about grinding up your gear. Looking for chests, looking for ammo. Everyone is marking good gear for each other. Everyone is on the lookout for the odd group getting too close.
Then the late game is more like a hunt than a grind. Where it's time to put your gear to use! Head for the centre of the map and see how far your team can get.
The biggest problem for me is that 4-person teams aren't quite enough. And matches are done within 5-20 minutes which is both too short for a good raid but also too long just to pop in and grind for a bit. So it's like the perfect MMO, condensed as small as possible in both player counts and time. I just think maybe they condensed too far.
One thing that instantly turns me off is micro-transactions. I'm happy to pay a monthly subscription if there's enough gameplay to make it worth it (I.e., not just grinding quests like WoW), but when the only way to get the best gear is by paying for it, I'm out. I like games where I can win on my merits and skill and group dynamics, not on how fat my wallet is.
I used to play a MUD (kind of a text-based MMORPG) back in the day. You'd get about 50 levels of solo play before you had to start playing with other people. You COULD play with others, or you could play by yourself. It was really fun! There were ~1000 levels of group play. This was a great way to meet some folks who were also in your level. Over time, you made friends! After you reached about level 900 or so, you could advance to the next tier, at which point you HAD to play with groups.
In this last tier, the entire group (as many players as possible) would go out on a single raid to take down a single monster, and it took a lot of work and it took forever. The monster would drop a few pieces of loot (including one "top tier" item), and there would be a lottery system to determine the winners of the gear. It was a really fun way to play, especially because everyone was a good sport about it. If you already had the gear, you would pass on the lottery, usually. People who already had the gear would go along on the raid just to help other people (and of course to have fun)! It was a very team-oriented culture.
I haven't found a game since then that had that spirit. I really wish I could find something like that.
To me, micro-transaction culture and uber-competitive has completely killed gaming for me. I'm just not interested in pay-to-win scenarios or playing with trolls/jerks.
But a solid single-player experience and a solid cooperative experience where you can play with nice, decent people (especially people you already know)... That would be killer for me.
Other than that, I also love to have global events which promotes cooperation between players or even guilds/alliances.
If I could choose a theme, then I'd prefer 1) DND theme, 2) Three Body theme (the S-F novel).
BTW are you developing one? Which language are you using? Any chance I could tackle along and contribute to the project? Just curious.
Guild wars 2 style monetization
The randomness and surprises from modern rogue likes
The depth of magic the gathering game mechanics
User generated content like never winter nights