The PvE Sandbox; or how PvP is ruining my MMO’s one by one.

Does it exist?  And if so where can I find it?  That mythical game with no PvP.

 

I am reading over at The Ancient Gaming Noob about how Rift is now traveling invariably down the same path that crashed Warhammer and Fallen Earth.  That is, turning your MMORPG into an a  competitive 3rd person whack-a-skill-watch-the-dps-meter-and-create-some-macros paradise.  Granted, Rift is not there yet, because they haven’t, say…changed their entire damage and armor mechanic because it wasn’t good for PvP, or scaled their XP progression primarily around how many matches it would take to cap level.  But its the beginnings of those paths.

 

I’m beginning to wonder if its a foregone conclusion for any MMO that decides to saddle itself with the burden of PvP.  Its like a cancer that eats away at the heart of the game.  I wonder how many developer hours are wasted on balancing and fine tuning classes/skills/macros/3rd party support that could instead be used to generate new content.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-PvP, or World of Tanks would not loom large in my life.  Nor would I have spent as long as I did in EVE.  But the games I play for PvE content always seemed to be subjugated for some bizarre PvP dominance, as it that were the lifeblood of the games players.   And perhaps it is, which leads me, for yet another reason, to ask the question about the PvE sandbox.  Even TOR does not seem immune to its effects, as the earliest indications of patch 1.1.2 indicate.

 

Just for once, I’d like to see some PvP players crying a developer said “no” to their desired changes on the reasoning that it would disrupt the rest of the game world who are playing (::gasp::) an MMO.

A Dream Long Realized.

I finally did it.  It took…I don’t know how many games, and almost nine years, but I finally accomplished what I had thought at one time would be impossible for me.

 

The Ultimate Ding

 

So Rift made this process painless, and fun, and…well, quick.  I played my first MMO for nearly two years and never came closer than 36/50 (which within six months was 36/55).  I think I’ve said before, but  I will say again, two things in particular got me here.

 

The first is the multiple roles and ability to swap on the fly was probably the biggest help.  I tend to be a bit of an altaholic, particularly as levels climb and groups become more and more useful.  But here I alternated between all aspects of the trinity, jumping around a bit.  I also found my center though – with all the options available, I tried them all and tried them early, and then locked into two particular builds that I used for the entire game (with minor tweaks along the way, of course).

 

The second, and perhaps more helpful, was having a regular gaming group.  We played 2-3 times a week, usually for 1-3 hours, and here we are, 6 months later.  The group was my Cleric and a pair of Rogues.  One of the Rogues did have a Riftstalker tank build, and I did have a Justicar tank build, but until the end of the game, we only used them in Rifts or for particularly difficult missions.

 

So what’s next?  Well there is still one quest out there bugging me.  The arena where you have to face down a Cyclops and two other people at the same time.  We got our butts handed to us at level 43 and 44.  Now we will see how they handle a trio of 50′s.

 

Oh, and I capped here too, just for good measure.

 

Bouncing From Rift to Rift

First up, in my continual quest, lets just get this out of the way:

 

 

Yeah, turns out when I logged out the other night I was already halfway to the next level.  Rift if sneaky like that.  Even now I’m halfway to 48.  We spent a good chunk of our time chasing down rifts though.   Shimmersand is our current haunt, and its not a bad zone as they go.  But it is a zone that is shared with the Guardian forces and its a high end zone.

And we have discovered that the end result is that there are any number of level 50′s from *both* sides trolling around.  Its fine, we are on a PvE server, and we’ve even had some good cross faction team ups on occasion.  But the reality is that its really hard to get credit for closing rifts and killing extraplanar creatures when all these max level people are able to beat you to the punch.

But is also gotten a little nostalgic for us.  We all want some items from the current world event, and we have really enjoyed the game, so with the “end” in sight, we have been taking a little more time to stop and smell the roses.

So, just a pause again to thank my brother and his fiance for making my dreams come true this year – a regular gaming group to hang together with.  Its been a blast and I’m looking forward to capping with these guys…and getting those alts on the right track too!

 

So Close…

Its been almost a week…maybe more actually, since I played Rift, and I’m having a little withdrawal issue.  Especially this close to the finish line…

 

Ever Closer.

Last night, I had the joy of this, thanks in part to Rift’s half-birthday gifts of accelerated XP gain:

 

 

Now this is joyous for a number of reasons.  First and foremost it happened only with the help of my re-assembled regular play group.  I don’t think I would have made it this far without them.  That continues to be a strong force in my playing and enjoyment of the game.  So much so that I can’t imagine trying to play an MMO without one from here on out.

The second is that this marks the closest that I have ever been to maxing level.  I almost said capping level, which is probably an indication of how many battles I’ve gone through in World of  Tanks over the last 7 months or so (hint: including Beta, I’m inching in on the 3k mark).  With only ten more levels to go, the question that arose last night in our little group was – can we max out before TOR launches?  We decided that we have at least two months, perhaps more to accomplish the feat, and I see no reason why not.

The third is that this marks the first time that I’ve not had to deal with what is undeniably a self-handicap, and that is my serious case of alt-itis.  In addition to my Cleric above, I do have a Warrior and a Mage that I have played through the first 6 or so levels, just enough to get them beyond the tutorial instance.  But neither has gone any further and I have no real desire to do so.  I have three roles now that fit around all the play styles I could desire from my character, so there has been no need for them.  And if an unusually high level artifact I stumbled across sells in the next two days, I’ll be able to buy my fourth, even if it means putting me 22p in the hole to try and get my level 50 mount.

The fourth reason its such a joy is Trion itself.  The half-birthday was extended a week (and by some accounts continues today beyond the planned week extension) for the simple fact that Hurricane Irene interfered with much of the East Coast’s ability to enjoy the free time.  Trion continues to show whythey are the best developers on the block – by knowing, understanding, and responding to their player base.

Also, and this is just a bonus mention that I will eventually get around to doing a full post on:  I love the Cabalist rebuild.  As someone who actively played the class before its tweaking, I love it even more now.  That says something about design too – its not often that you can take something someone loves in an MMO and fiddle with it extensively and end up with something *better* than before.  But that’s exactly what they did.  Kudos Trion.

My Rift Builds: Comments, Criticism?

So I currently have three active roles in Rift.  Let me give them to you, and you give me your two cents.

 

Solo/PvE Content

The Grey Knight

The idea:  Basically the goal here is to let me get a hand in the game.  Designed when we were running a full group,  I found that for normal mobs, given casting times, I got in perhaps one hit before they were dead.  Which is fine…but not fun.  So I expanded and tuned the build I had used in Beta.  It has one purpose really, and that is to provide as many instant cast spells as possible.  As you can see, this fits the bill.  Six instant cast damage dealers, and three melee strikes (also instant) provide the oomph.  Group healing is minimal for standard content, and the instant cast Doctrines + Healing Breath work fine for that.  With Luminous Gaze on, my crit chances are north of 20%.

 

Full On Healing Power

Master Healer

The idea:  I had been using a Warden-central build to heal with, but after a particularly rough dungeon run, I decided I wanted a more traditional healing base rather than a HoT centered one.  I came up with this.  This build feels off to me.  And I haven’t had a whole lot of chance to shake it down because I finished it right about the time the group stopped getting together.   The ultimate goal is simply a character who does nothing but heals for dungeon runs.  I just keep thinking there is a better way to do it.

 

The Farmer

Dark Fire

The idea:  This is my experimental build.  Really it started out as a desire to have some AOE bombs to drop while still being primarily a healer.  Then I thought maybe it would be good for farming low levels or whatever.  Now it just seems useless.  Mostly I’m at this point looking for how to get the best use out of the Cabalist soul and the Purifier soul.  I really like them both, but I can’t seem to find a good way to get them working in my favor.  I’m open to suggestions.

 

Also…please do me a small favor.  Do not overuse hyperbole in your response.  Often with build people like to use the words “always,” “never,” “must,” “require(d)(ment).”  Spare me.  I’m not a powergamer.  Just tell me what its good for any why you like it.  (-:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ding!

I had a sad moment last night, so I had to share with you all.  I just dinged 30 in Rift.

DING!

It was an excellent and awesome moment.  I’m looking forward to trekking my way to 31 so that I can whip up some sort of build that involves a Centaur.  And a combat rez (did I mention I’m a cleric?).   Anyway, I was very impressed with myself and very happy.  And also playing solo, as I have been doing the last few weeks.

We had a solid gaming group going for the first month, but then it just sort of…fell apart.   Things do that.  So I have journeyed onward.  But I had this ghost of an urge to yell “DING” only to realize that there would be no one there to follow up with the customary “Grats!”  And there was sadness.

But then I remembered I had this blog, and I thought maybe one of you might humor me for old times sake.  What say you?

Genius.

I was reading this interview with Jake Song, one of the bigwigs with ArcheAge online.  And I was struck by two things in this response (they are highighted):

I think Closed Beta Tests are to figure out what players would like to play and to check if the game is being developed in the right way. Through ArcheAge’s 3rd Closed Beta Test, players gave feedback that the gameplay environment in the early levels is not satisfying. I think this is because we developed the end content of the game first. For out next Closed Beta Test, we will improve the early level game environment, include more characters, animation, and also the siege warfare system.

 

First of all, its refreshing that a developer thinks that the audience plays a hand in the development cycle.  I could name more than one MMO company that openly opposes this idea.  Now for the biggie…

Yeah, you read that right.  And now that I’m thinking about it, I’d bet dollars to donuts that’s exactly how Rift did it too.  That is some sharp thinking on their part.  Put the bulk of your development hours into the end game, and then go back and finish up the early stuff.  After all, players will spend less time in the early levels anyway, right?  And they don’t need to be as good, because the “honeymoon” phase doesn’t really wear off until mid-game usually. Especially when you have some interesting ideas and solid graphics, as ArcheAge (and Rift I might add) have.

I also wonder in development cycles about dungeons and group content.  Certainly that is part of endgame as well, but these are also part of cornerstone content as one levels too.  One of WoW’s strengths is the sheer number of dungeons/group content available (I haven’t counted lately, but probably 20+).  Rift launched with only 10, but others are being added, and there is the dynamic group content of the Rifts themselves, along with the World and Region events.  What will ArcheAge, as a sandbox MMO, launch with?  Any?  Some?  My guess is that if they focused on end game first, that we will see a decent number of dungeons/group content on launch.

By the way, compare those numbers with SWTOR – a whopping 4 total, with no indication that additional ones will be in by launch.

In any case, kudos for a backward thinking dev team over at XL Games.  A good sign of things to come, hopefully.

State of My Game: July ’11

What I’m Playing

Rift.  I’m currently trucking through my 29th level as a Cleric, and for once, alt-itis has not really struck.  Kudos for the billionth time to Trion for making a character creation system that has loads of flexibility.  I currently have a casual questing role (Justical/Sentinal/Inquisitor), a raiding healer role (Sentinal/Warden/Purifier), and a third role that I swap out for fun when I get bored.  Right now its kind of a farming role – a Cabalist/Purifier mix with the third soul (with 0 points of course) being rotated as needed to keep things fresh.   The world events and “programming” unleashed by Trion are excellent.  I think some of us questioned if this new variation on Public Questing was going to be problematic, but its so dynamic and fun, it seems hard now in retrospect to even try to compare them.  I have some minor quibbles, but nothing worth writing about at this time.  And I have to say thank you again to Trion for spoiling us bloggers by bringing us along on the ride from the very early phases.

World of Tanks.  Not only did I get sucked in, when 9 months ago I would have told you there was no way I was playing this game, but so did my brother and dad.  The end result has been mayhem.  A full three man platoon to roll with any night I want to.  I wanted a full on gaming group as one of my goals this year, I just didn’t realize it would take this form in this game!  Speficially, since launch I have dedicated myself to US Heavy tanks.  Initially I wanted the T29, as I admired it in Beta, and specifically the way a skilled player could capitalize on its strengths and minimize its weaknesses (incidentally, from my win % in her, I’m going to admit I’m not a skilled player lol).  But when the full tree changes were announced and I realized that if I just dug a little deeper, I could grab a tier 8 premium in the T34 – and specifically, have a nice premium tank that looked and played just like the T29, I had my goal set.  Currently, I have enough XP to grab it, but since the patch is still 2+ months away, I’m sitting on the free XP I’ve converted and started working my way up the Russian and US medium lines.  And here I confess that I am a medium tank player at heart.  My win % and XP earned stats on medium tanks is consistently higher than with the US heavies.   The patches continue to improve the game, and I think concerned about matchmaking are over rated.  WoT still needs to do more to address the “invisible tank” problem, but other than that, they are in good shape.

What I’m Testing

Nothing.  I’m actually not currently in any Beta’s or testing programs at the moment.  I was never able to get Gods and Heroes working, so…I can’t really tell you if it was good or not.  Perpetuum still intrigues me, but since I have no itch to play EVE at the moment (even less with Incarna out – I don’t get the whole desire or issue myself), I’ve put it on hold as well.

So, if you need someone to play and test (or write about) your game or your Beta, give me a yell.

What I’m Not Going to Talk About…okay, yes I am.

The Old Republic.  Seven months ago, I went ahead and joined a TOR guild, thinking it would help keep a check on my impatience for the game to come out, and help me settle into some good relationships for a game that, by all accounts seems to be just as fanatically multi-player as it is fanatically single-player (how these two worlds will mesh in reality is still a good question I think).   I recall thinking that I wasn’t sure I could wait another 4-6 months for the game to come out.  I was concerned that my brother would not be back from Russia in time (he spend the first 6 months of this year living over there) to be in the game at launch with me.   But mostly I was worried because there was every indication that the game was not actually 4-6 months away.  For those who don’t believe me, I have a draft of a post I wrote but never published (happens more often than you think) from last October, arguing those points.  And I was right.   And it dawned on me yesterday that there is still no indication that the game is no closer to launching than it was last Fall.  In other words, I have patiently made it through the time I wasn’t sure I would make it through, only to find that I have made no progress whatsoever.  This is another definition of hell is it not?  Add to this the multiple confirmations that the game will have no Open Beta (riddle me that one Batman…) and this means that launch will be launch, with no teaser a month before to scratch the itch.

To put this in perspective for you: would you be surprised if there was an announcement that the target date was moved to next Spring (2012)?  Me either.

I’m not sure what else to do here other than keeping marking time.  And my stance is well documented – the longer this takes, the more they push it back (and don’t let them kid you, it has been pushed back, whether they published an official date or not), the worse things are.  You can argue that if you like, but MMO history is clear, and the burden of proof otherwise rests squarely on the backs of EA Bioware.  And the other half of my stance is well documented also: worried though I may be, rooting for them I am.

Coming Soon To a Blog Near You

IE, Here.

Yeah, my brother returns from parts abroad this weekend, and we have plans to start touring Rift together.  We had also planned to return to Pirates of the Burning Sea, cash in hand but alas….that may be awhile in coming!  SOE looks down for the count right now.

I’m not really sure what to make of things these days.  I don’t feel quite done with this site, but I just don’t have a whole lot to say either.  Strange to think that 6 months ago I was riding the twin buzz of Rift and TOR. 

I think I’m just at a point where I need to thin out my commitments some.  Until then, and until Sony gets its junk together, you can pretty much just find me in World of Tanks.  Driving one of these…