When a Ranger Feels Like a Ranger

Through the years I've developed expectations of how certain classes should "feel." I don't know where I've gotten these notions from. Using the ranger as an example, I didn't enjoy that class in EQ1. This was my first MMO, so I clearly didn't develop expectations based on that. The ranger I envisioned as a lone traveler, slaying evil in the woods with a few bow shots, perhaps with an animal friend at their side.

It wasn't until I played DAoC that I fell in love with this class. The Midgard hunter perfectly fit my expectations and the whole Midgard setting cemented the deal. I played a hunter in WoW as my main up until 60, but she really felt more like a cartoon with a bow in a crowded forest. Not that I didn't enjoy it somewhat for a time, but she didn't elicit that ranger feel.

I had a short-lived experience as a ranger in EQ2. This was probably the least I've ever enjoyed a ranger. The bow seemed more like an after-thought and they just aren't set apart very much from other scout classes in EQ2. I also tried one in LotRO. The setting was great for this type of character; however, my limited enjoyment of the game kept me from leveling her far enough along.

After having filled all but one of my character slots in Vanguard, I decided to try their version of the ranger. It's turned out to be a nice surprise. On a rare occasion I can one-shot, but for the most part mobs are nearly dead on arrival. And there is so much land to explore to keep her busy in the woods. Was disappointing to learn my pet only lasts a few minutes and can only be summoned on occasion. It's not perfect, but I'm enjoying it over the other classes I've tried there.

My husband as well has certain expectations when he plays a warrior. EQ1, EQ2, and DAoC all fit the mold for him, while the WoW and LotRO versions were quickly abandoned. And to date, I've yet to play a cleric that feels like a cleric as the EQ1 version did.

Vanguard broke a lot of the molds and created some other very interesting classes. And while they are fun to a point, I also feel some sort of disconnect as if they don't really make sense or fit into the world. Maybe it's the lack of deities and a feeling that your power is drawn from somewhere. Or maybe I've been reading too many books.

The Big Easy

There are times when challenges just become frustrations and I'm in the mood for easy mode. Such was the case yesterday. My husband and I had become accustomed to duoing dungeons in EQ2. However, the dungeons in that last two expansions have gotten progressively more difficult so that we have not been able to even attempt them when green. And the new Runnyeye instance is out of the question unless you have a full group in legendary gear and two healers. He logged in briefly, not knowing what to do with himself and logged off to play his necro in EQ1, which to him feels easier and more fun than any class he plays in EQ2. I tinkered with with an alt, but most of them are in those yucky levels where a lot of the mobs and quests are heroic.

So I thought I'd play a bit of Vanguard and do something more relaxing like diplomacy. I have a ranger who was in the middle of a quest series and thought I'd pick up where I left off. So off I went to parley with some mean looking fellows. I failed the parley and he killed me. Ok I loot my corpse, change card strategy, and win the parley. He hands me some items and tells me I will fall to my death unless I summon some spirits to aid me. Next thing I know I'm up in the sky falling to my death. I look at the items he gave me that call upon the spirits and they are a level higher than I am so I can't use them. So splat I go. I couldn't see my corpse anywhere on the map so had to use the altar and take the loss. I logged off quite frustrated, particularly that they would even give me the quest at that level when I had no means of being successful.

I checked my desktop. Hmm, let's see what other options there are. EQ1? Errmm definitely not tonight. SWG? Used to be easier but not so much today. So I went to bed instead.

Just like in real life, challenges here and there can be fun. But honestly I don't want to be hit with it every day. Sometimes I want easy and why can't there be both? I understand the allure of WoW because if I had it installed, I might have played it last night. Even DAOC was sounding tempting again. Maybe it's an age and situational thing. I have so many exhaustive challenges at home, I am just not in the mood for more of it at night. Maybe when I was younger and had fewer responsibilities, the MMO hardships would have filled a void. And maybe that's a whole different subject to get into later.

Innovative vs. Fun

Alganon has been taking a lot of heat lately for some similarities to WoW. Anyone who has actually read the features of the game would see some interesting aspects not found elsewhere. But visually, comparisons are being made. One recent poster criticized the UI looking too much like WoW's and therefore believed the game to be a hoax. One of the dev's responded as follows:

"At the risk of feeding the trolls (you may not be one, but there are plenty who will take advantage of having a dev response), I'll reply.

I can assure you, it's not a hoax. The paycheck I get every month is all the proof I need. I have no idea if we'll be releasing video any time soon, but if that is the only thing that will satisfy you, then there is no reason for me to write any more on that topic.

As far as the similarities to other games, my response is this: The ONLY rule that guides my design is "Is it fun?" Nothing else matters.

For example:
Would moving the mini-map to another portion of the screen make the game more fun? Nope.

Then we're going to put it where players will naturally look to find it. If that means it happens to be the same place as it is in LotRO, and Guild Wars, and Battlefield, and WoW, and many other games, so be it. All I care about is "Is it fun?"

Trust me, if moving the minimap made the game more fun, we'd move it.

What about forcing players to scan the screen for where their minimap is, because it's not where they expected it to be? Would that make the game less fun? Yeah. It would.

If you jump between games a lot, you'll notice that looking in the wrong corner for your mini-map is a pain. The same is true for any piece of information. It's not fun to die because the designers put your health bar where you weren't looking.

I rotate through EQ2, Eve, WoW, Guild Wars, and a couple of F2P MMOs, so I suffer problem this all the time - Why, oh, why do game designers have to move the interface around on me? Why do I have to learn a new control scheme everytime I want to play a new game?

Oh yeah! Because if they don't, people insult them on forums.

When they have to choose between "do I make it fun?" or "do I avoid being mocked?" they choose to sacrifice fun and save their egos.

Not me.

I'll dive on the grenade. I'll make the sacrifice. I will suffer the slings and arrows of forum-troll-after-forum-troll saying that Alganon looks like (insert MMO here), as long I get to make Alganon fun.

So, go ahead, let the mocking begin - but don't let it keep you from enjoying the game. Don't let it keep you from having fun, because there is only one thing I care about: "Is it fun?"

Nothing else matters."

I thought that was an excellent response. It had me wondering if in fact developers of future mmo's avoid good features of previous mmo's for this reason. Aside from the UI, those that have stepped out of the typical mmo mold...DDO, TR, PotBS...well they haven't fared as well. So what is it we really want?

I think many of us stayed with our first mmo for so long because we made no comparisons and enjoyed it for what it was. And maybe too many of us have turned into a bunch of snobby mmo connoisseurs who have forgotten how to just have fun.

The Fun Stops Here

I've been noticing a trend with the majority of my guild mates. Very few make it past the 30's before starting a new character. I even heard one make the remark that they lose interest in their characters when they hit 30. Looking at my own alts, I have several between 29 and 35 that I haven't played in quite awhile and actually dread logging in.

EQ2 is designed in such a way that things get a little tougher as you level. I find the starting areas to be very fun. I absolutely love Antonica and the levels there go too fast. The area is wide open and huge, with lots of quests found in various spots. From there I used to move on to Thundering Steppes, which starts to get tougher to navigate with heroic mobs placed here and there. However, these days with the Faydwer expansion, I move on to Butcherblock to draw that fun out for a little longer.

At 30 you're left with Enchanted Lands and Zek. For a soloer, Zek has a limited number of quests. The front half of Enchanted Lands has a number of quests; however the second half of the zone is nearly all heroic mobs. Except for high level harvesters, this section of the zone is usually empty. There aren't enough quests to get you through the 30's unless you group, which is rare these days, so it's time to do a bit of grinding.

At 40 the only option used to be Feerrott, since both Lavastorm and Everfrost are all heroic. In Feerrott, you only have a small portion of the zone to work with as a soloer and must do a lot of dodging to get some of these quests done. Fortunately, Steamfont is now an option. But by the time 50 rolls around, I'm just really done with this zone.

The 50's and 60's get even more cumbersome. Leveling becomes more and more of a chore as you progress.

I really have mixed feelings on this. I'm one of those who likes to stick with one character when I start a game and see it through to the end. I use that character to make money and then buff up my alts so they are not such a struggle to play. Even though it's grindy, I'm just stubborn and determined to see it through. And when you get to the end, you sort of go "Whew, I made it". In WoW, when I maxed was more like "Ok, now I'm up here with everyone else".

But how many times will people keep rolling alts that make it to the 30's before they tire of the game and move on? I don't want them to make it as easy as WoW, so the server is full of level 80's. They'd have to add new zones just to add more harvestables to accommodate. Getting some things done would become a nightmare. But I think something needs to be done from the mid 30's to 70 just to make things more fun and tolerable. I'm really hoping the expansion they're working on addresses these levels, rather than add more little used raiding zones.

The Formula for THAT Game and Improving on It

There's that certain game everyone talks about in some form or fashion and too often every other game is referred to as a clone. Honestly, I have yet see a clone so don't know what people are talking about sometimes. If questing and killing mobs makes it a clone, well okay I guess they're all clones.

So what exactly do they have that the others don't? Obviously, it's not one thing but the combination together that works:

1. Low-end graphics - This is huge yet few take it seriously. An extremely large population buy their systems already put together and keep them for years without upgrading individual components. Even three years after release, people still complain about their computers not being able to handle one of those other games. Yes there are serious gamers who upgrade frequently so there is a niche for them. But if you're seeking to hit the million mark, this is the first priority.

Low-end does not mean ugly. There are certain MMO's that look quite beautiful and can run on older systems.

2. Non-forced PVP integrated with PVE - Only one other game comes to mind that had something similar, the difference being you had to travel to certain zones to engage. In this one, however, you might see the enemy player attacking the guards in town. You can go your merry PVE way or choose to attack them. I've seen many players who never wanted to PVP change their minds when they see their town attacked and the excitement of other players around them running around in the fray. But it's not forced on you. The choice is yours.

Past PVP MMO's have not been overly successful. I have no intention of ever participating in PVP, but obviously its existence in this particular MMO has worked to its advantage because it was accommodating to both types of players and even some in between.

3. Variety of Terrain/NPC's - Most MMO's have their rolling hills, snowy areas, and deserts. But the selection in this one was more than I'd ever seen anywhere - deliciously spooky zones, prehistoric dinosaur jungle, and autumn-colored forests, just to name a few. And mobs are extremely varied and appropriate to their setting. Odds are when you see a skeleton, it is not standing in some pretty field, but somewhere dark and ominous. Also, you don't just kill higher level versions of the same mobs over and over.

4. Sense of Humor - I have laughed from quests and npc's in this MMO more than I ever had. Seriousness has its place too, but mixing in the fun stuff is important. I seriously wondered if they hired some joke writers for some of this stuff.

5. Ease of Play - Leveling was for the most part stress-free and enjoyable. You didn't have to look up quests to figure them out. You didn't even have to figure out what zones to level in as you would eventually be led there. And of course you could solo most everything. Many consider this hand-holding but for folks who are stressed all day, this offers a sweet release.

I've played a large assortment of MMO's and haven't seen most of the above in any of them. So there are no clones as of yet.

So why am I not playing it? Because it's missing some things. I'm not the typical player I guess. I'm part of that "mom factor" group. To get me to play, I'd like to see:

1. Housing - Has to be available to everyone, with even new players able to afford something small. And if we can decorate our yards too as one MMO was able to accomplish, even better.

2. Crafting - I'm not huge on crafting but it's something extra to do when I don't feel like adventuring. So if I'm going to be doing it, I want it to be somewhat interactive and useful such as the current game I'm playing or the one I revisited a few posts down.

3. Better Communities - In smaller MMO's it's not as big a problem but when you start reaching the proportions of this game, I just refuse to deal with it and leave. It's not a simple matter of turning off chat channels. I like helping people and want to be able to hear if someone has a question. I want to be part of a community, not exclude myself from it.

The only way around this that I can see is offering Roleplay-Enforced Servers. By this I don't mean forcing people to roleplay. What I mean is keeping chat clean and restricted to game related chat in general channels.

My tolerance for dealing with rude players grows smaller as I get older. I don't want myself or my family exposed to it. This is a big determining factor in my sticking with a game. Everyone has their bad days and sometimes things slip. What I'm talking about here is those that get their jollies belittling people on a continued basis. Rather than silence them, most of the mature community turns off chat, while others view the offender as cool and join in.

The community in the game under discussion is horrendous and the absolute worst experience I have gone through. Restricted servers is the only way I can see around this and I would bet they'd become pretty popular. And I'm not talking implied restrictions. This needs to be enforced.

4. Casual End Game Content - Raiding has its purpose for other players but not me. Give me something to do, something to work towards. I want nice items too, and if I have to do some solo quests building faction or accumulating some special gems that allow me to purchase one nice armor upgrade after two months of play, then I will have something to work towards for a couple years. At the least, add instanced dungeons that can be done with two people with a chance of something nice to drop somewhere in there.

Forcing full groups on me to get things accomplished is the equivalent of raiding. I don't have lengthy sessions available to me for waiting around to fill up that perfect group. I want to log in and play. If I'm able to do this for 59 levels, I expect to be able to do it at 60.

These are just minimal things I expect in an MMO to keep me playing. Of course there are other things that I'd love to have as well such as being able to set up a shop in your home, attractive armor, having an entertainer class, etc. But that would just be icing on the cake. Currently, I'm still waiting for my cake.

The Fun Factor

I've been getting a bit disheartened with games lately. Whatever happened to putting the focus into making a fun game? Can't make too much money from quests and mobs, it ruins the economy and offends players that you have more than they do. Let's add high repair costs so everyone can be broke together. Can't solo that mob with this class, it offends the other classes. Nerf, nerf, nerf. Gotta have the latest graphic technology because......well just because. It may look no better than other games and 75% of players don't have computers to play it, but we came out with it first!

Society's obsession with being offended has carried over into games so now developer's create their own version of political correctness within their games. Classes have become such robotic clones that they have this sterileness about them.

Oh and we must have struggle; make it hard! Occasional challenge is one thing but continuous roadblocks every step of the way? I gotta wonder if the folks who want this kind of gameplay have had things handed to them all their lives and only get to experience struggle in a game. I have enough of it in real life, I game to have fun. Does fun even get factored in the development plans anymore?

I guess everyone's opinion of fun factor is different. But given that aside from WoW none of the mmo's are doing phenominally in the US, I don't think anyone has nailed it yet. WoW I think headed in the right direction with a lot of things, but just was missing certain other things that keep me playing.