I was just reading an article by Kevin Murnane over at Massively about greed. Kevin’s right in that there is a lot of greed in MMO’s – friends stabbing friends in the back for epic loot and the like. With that in mind I started reflecting on end game content and how in most MMORPG’s the end game is all about getting the better gear. To me that’s not what I aspire to do when I finish leveling my character. I want to PVP or I want to take part in something epic without it being a rinse and repeat raid to get better equipment.
One massively multiplayer game I have played accomplished this, for the most part: Star Wars Galaxies. For all it’s faults the game actually had a great system for gear, the best gear in the game was not acquired off of drops but was crafted by other players. Once you hit the level cap your goal didn’t switch from leveling to gear gathering. No! You participated in the Galactic Civil War! You gathered rare items to show off in your house! You helped your guild construct a city! Or in classic ‘what ruined SWG’ style, you started over mastering another profession to unlock your Jedi.
The point is, you did something other than just constantly raid to get better gear. This is exactly what bores me with WoW! Just when you get the best gear in the game another set comes out that is better! The boys at Blizzard or no dummies, they know how to keep throwing in gear for players to try to find in one fashion or another, lately it’s been with the Arena. If they ever stop and lots of folks get the best gear in the game they won’t know what else to do!
One shining light on the horizon is Warhammer Online. No it’s not because WAR is going to have an awesome crafting system for weapons and armor. In fact, it’s not going to be released with the ability to craft weapons or armor at all! That stuff may come later. The reason why WAR may going to be different is End Game content. I’m not saying that the best gear in the game isn’t going to involve some work to do, but it’s how you do it! It’s not repetitive raiding that will get you the gear, it’s Realm vs Realm combat that is going to be replacing the raiding repetition of WoW! In Realm vs Realm combat, some of the best gear in the game can be gained from successfully sacking enemy player cities. While it’s not the solution I would have went with from the gear standpoint; it’s a fresh view on what to do once you’ve capped out.
The only reason I prefer SWG’s method of player made gear being the ‘be all end all’ of equipment is because it’s a boon to the game economy. A second and equally valid point is it adds loads of content to the game with various crafting classes. Not just combat classes who can also craft like in WAR or WoW. The more options you give gamers for how to play the wider and more diverse player base you are going to get!
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