I look back on games I’ve played before in the MMO genre and tend to have fond memories of friends, adventures and being lost in the game world. But then I also have memories of tedious grinds, stressful situations and general time sinks called raids. Why do game designers keep putting this mechanic into games?
Well, first let me answer my own question – because they beleive gamers love it. Why? Because it’s the popular thing to do in most MMO’s. Work in large raid groups and grind away to gathering the best gear in the game. Often times having to incorporate even more frustration and confusion into the mix with guilds having to manage who gets what loot and when. When did all of this become fun?
Maybe the first time for me it was intriguing, mostly because it was something new. But it quickly became tedious and cumbersome and I stepped away from it. So what else is there? How can you get the best gear in the game if you take away raiding? What else would you do with your time? That second question is a real danger to MMO game companies, they want you to sink your time into the game. Hello subscription payment.
Well if you haven’t already guessed, Black is not a big fan of the raid grind – or the grind at all for that matter. So what else then. I’m in love with the idea of all the equipment available in game being player created. The best gear coming from the best crafters with the most knowledge and best materials to get the job done. Or how about make the game not really gear driven? There’s a novel idea – how about a game that relies more on player smarts to win the day. Give players a chance to get better without having to spend countless hours in some dungeon waiting their turn to scavenge through some corpse.
What else are you going to do with your time if you don’t raid? Good question. End game mechanics man, end game mechanics. We need more and more good ideas for what to do when you’ve finished leveling that just raid. There of course is the PVP side of things which is fun in and of itself but could stand to be improved. Games like Star Wars Galaxies and Age of Conan have the right idea on this mindset in giving guilds there own cities and keeps repspectively to attack and defend against other guilds. Star Wars had it pretty fun with incorporating faction bases – giving guilds goals to take down these bases to help their side win the war. Of course, it didn’t really change much if you took out a base other than to take it off the map – the whole sway the course of the galactic civil war never really made it into the game.
Age of Conan of course if having all kinds of trouble with the end game PVP stuff, I’m still not sure if they’ve got it straightened out – but the idea is solid. Only a certain amount of guilds can own fortresses, if your guild doesn’t have one you have to destroy one from another guild. That gives you a goal and is good end game content. But what else? Is PVP or raiding our only two choices? Can’t there be more?
Anyone? Bueller….Bueller…anyone have an idea for something other than these two seemingly only options to do when you’ve reached the top? I’d love to hear some suggestions from the peanut gallery.
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