I think both are vital aspects of any game as hardship and engaging journeys will lead to long lasting friendships, solidify the bonds of a guild, and even leave a long lasting impression on the solo adventurer.
But to answer the question I think if I had to assign a value to the two it would be as follows.
Combat 35%
Adventure 65%
Kilsin said:Community Debate - What is more important to you, combat or adventure and why? #MMORPG #CommunityMatters
Combat is the biggest part of the adventure. Nearly everywhere you go, you have to fight something and most everything you want to accomplish (obtain gear, get spells, earn money, level up) happens because of combat. So yeah, it's combat for sure.
70/30, in favor of adventuring.
Challenging combat is obviously an important component but as long as the mechanics work, I'm not terribly concerned about the visuals.
In adventuring, I find the visuals extremely important to a truely immersive world. I am most excited to discover the ways that the world will be interactive in a true PvE sense(the environment is formidable and requires making real choices) and how the perception system will tie adventuring, combat, havesting and crafting together.
Adventure - recognizing that combat is important. I don't want a game where 90% of the quests involve finding things or serving as a delivery woman without having to fight a thing.
But in a MMO I play to develop the characters and learn the world and the game. I do NOT play to find especially difficult fights and I emphatically try to avoid any fights that are scripted dance routines ruled by mechanics where success depends on doing the exact right thing at the exact right time in the exact right way on the exact right pixel rather than how skilled my character is and how well geared she is and how well I use her combat abilities.
Jobeson said: Adventure is the most important. If it wasn't we would just have an arena zone for combat.
Not necessarily. I, for example,... like to have a fast pace killing whilst traveling for adventure in a group!
Kilsin said:Community Debate - What is more important to you, combat or adventure and why? #MMORPG #CommunityMatters
Many people say combat is very important, and I disagree.
As I said on the twitter thread, quote :
"i wish combat in mmorpg were more about pulling tactics, positional strategies, sustain strategies,... as it was in old everquest ;
rather than modern mmorpgs' action-combat requiring everyone to react at a 0.3 sec timing and mash buttons...
there are action games for that."
and to me, a mmorpg isn't meant to be an action game.
How fun exactly is it to stress one's self over having eyes litterally locked on skills' cooldowns, to execute the flawless skill rotation required to get maximum dps, according to dps meters, that will allow to not get kicked out of the raid for being 0.2% behind the expected dps for one's class.
because that's what action combat leads to. elitism and stress.
For PVE? Adventure. For PVP? Combat. For MMORPGs in general? A mix of both, because we are adventurous combatants or at least combative adventurers. The world we enter needs some conflict and not just the kind that comes from player interaction. The story isn't meaningful without the threat of loss and the potential for advancement. If every single character has plot armor, than the risks are spurious and the rewards signify nothing because they weren't earned.
bobwinner said:"i wish combat in mmorpg were more about pulling tactics, positional strategies, sustain strategies,..."