My Dream MMO
Here lately, with me playing less and less WoW out of sheer boredom with the game (after five years, it’s finally getting old), I’ve been poking around and looking at some of the other MMO offerings already out or pending release at some point in the future. All of them have some little something to offer that sets them apart from WoW, but for the most part, even then, they just look like the same old thing. Some of them, many of them in fact, don’t even seem to want my sort of player around.
See, I don’t like huge-group raiding. I absolutely, passionately detest PvP. According to Bartle, I’d be an explorer/socializer as my gamer type. I enjoy finding every little secret place in the game, and I enjoy spending time with my friends, many of whom live too far away for me to see often in person. I love roleplay, the idea of stepping into a character and creating my own story.
So I got to thinking about what would make me really get excited about an MMO. I’m quite aware that many of these things I’d want are total pipe-dreams, but it would still get me excited, were it possible to do.
- A game built *for* roleplayers, with a large, immersive, and dynamic (*changing*) world and a story you can really sink your teeth into. This could include any of the following:
- Dedicated mods that work only on the roleplay servers. I’d even be willing to pay more per month to ensure that my play experience is free of RP griefers and netspeak and that roleplay is enforced. People rolling on RP servers are there to RP, otherwise, gerroff.
- Interface options for roleplayers, like EQ’s ability to flag yourself as a roleplayer, or like the various description addons you can download for WoW, but integrated as a part of the game.
- Good character/clothing customization.
- RP related quests. (I have seen this done before.)
- An extendable post-level-cap advancement option, even if it has nothing to do with actual combat ability or utility (ie. being able to spend post-cap xp on things like an extra tradeskill, a percent extra gold gain, unlocking fun ‘toy’ items, etc.) to keep the game interesting for non-raiders after they hit the cap. (WoW tried to do this for casual gamers with the achievements system, and it’s a good idea, but could use some expanding.)
- A game where a player’s skill, rather than their equipment, determines their success, and where it actually requires skill to reach level cap and beyond. Yes . . . I like it when it’s harder. I’ve often cried out for nerfs of my own classes after they became so easy to play that complete idiots make it to level-cap without even understanding how their class works. A harder game makes for more skilled players, and skill has nothing to do with what you’re wearing.
That’s my little wish list. WoW did a lot of things right, a lot to change the face of MMO’s, and like I said, I’ve been playing for five years. That’s a hell of a shelf-life, especially without taking many breaks in that time. I’ll probably never see any of this stuff, but it doesn’t hurt to hope.
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