In Everquest the original zones felt as tho they have been lived for thousands of years. The trees where huge and the forests looked thousands of years old, the castles and town and dungeons had mildews, ruins, sludge, and cobwebs. The conflict between Orcs and Elves seemed old as time. All the starting cities looked as if inhabited for centuries. I think the reason people loved Everquest is not because it was a new world birthed from new ideas. But rather because it was an ancient world with ancient conflict and lore. From the very first time i played Everquest in 1999 I never felt like the game was new but instead felt as tho i was new to an ancient world. I think what the gaming community is looking for is not the next installment in the MMO genre but rather an experience that Precedes Everquest, Multi user dungeons, and even table top dungeons and dragons. The Fantasy Genre is as Old as time, kids have been picking up sticks off the ground and pretending they are swords since the dawn of man. Pantheon needs to feel as tho it is a game people have been playing and living in for a thousand years. Older than chess and funner than universal studios. Is this too much ask lol. Universal "of, affecting, or done by all people or things in the world or in a particular group; applicable to all cases.
Excellent points. In today's games, even areas that are supposed to be old / grimy / whatever... don't really "feel" that way. The old looks a little fake, the grimy looks a little too neatly done, etc...
In EQ, I agree - it really felt like you were dropped into a living world.
I think some of that was music, some of that was lighting, and some of that was the graphics. Take Greater Faydark for example... The darkness of the place, with stuff coming out of that darkness, helped set a mood that was enhanced by the music... and when you got back to Kelethin, it felt woodsy and homey.
Also - I too felt like I was a character in a book the whole time I played :)
Again, great points!
Very good insight.
We have commented the EQ immersion factor from many perspectives on many threads but you brought in another one.
The age.
Indeed with hindsight, EQ did feel old and vast. The Qyenos catacombs seemed to have been there for thousands of years. There was always a touch of blood, decay, erosion somewhere. The size of the zones played probably a role too.
And again with hindsight, I think you are right.
In which world would you feel more immersed ?
One that is born with you ?
Or one which has been there centuries before you ?
Obviously the latter and EQ somehow achieved to make you believe that. Sure many expansions later this feeling disappeared but in the original EQ it was clearly there.
To be complete, I didn't feel like being in an old world in VG which was for me inferior in this point.
Some of that was the cumulative effect of EQ.
In today's MMO's they want you to feel strong and heroic right from the moment you first log into the game. They reinforce that by making it so that you are mostly invincible in those early moments. You can't hit NPC's, mobs you are trying to kill are non agro and non social- so you can be smacking a rat right in the middle of 500 rats and the only rat that will hit you is the one you are hitting, etc...
EQ did not do that. Your first lesson in EQ was that you were vulnerable. The first thing you tried to kill in EQ likely killed you. Especially if it was your trainer that you tried to kill... (/em looks around innocently). The second thing you tried to kill probably killed you too.
You entered EQ with a healthy dose of fear.
Enhance that sense of vulnerability by putting you in a setting where the graphics are well done and the music is well done (and fitting) - and instantly the world is alive.
THAT - is a primary difference between EQ and modern games. You were instantly IN Norrath. Other games today, the world is a backdrop for what you are doing... but you are not IN the world.
Wandidar said:
Some of that was the cumulative effect of EQ.
In today's MMO's they want you to feel strong and heroic right from the moment you first log into the game. They reinforce that by making it so that you are mostly invincible in those early moments. You can't hit NPC's, mobs you are trying to kill are non agro and non social- so you can be smacking a rat right in the middle of 500 rats and the only rat that will hit you is the one you are hitting, etc...
EQ did not do that. Your first lesson in EQ was that you were vulnerable. The first thing you tried to kill in EQ likely killed you. Especially if it was your trainer that you tried to kill... (/em looks around innocently). The second thing you tried to kill probably killed you too.
You entered EQ with a healthy dose of fear.
Enhance that sense of vulnerability by putting you in a setting where the graphics are well done and the music is well done (and fitting) - and instantly the world is alive.
THAT - is a primary difference between EQ and modern games. You were instantly IN Norrath. Other games today, the world is a backdrop for what you are doing... but you are not IN the world.
Agreed totally. The first time playing Pantheon, I want to die within the first few levels. Or I would even settle for having to train to zone to avoid death. I'm so tired of easy MMO's.
Like you said, EQ (and even Vanguard, particularly for me on the FFA PvP server) did a good job of creating fear, which equates to challenge and lasting enjoyment imho.