Meaningfull and reachable objectives, enthralling gameplay and teamplay where playing and fighting is neither a chore neither an exhaustion.
Fighting for rewards is good but it's even better when it feels good even with no goal in mind.
Community and friendship matters, but friends come and leave, new friends can be made while the gameplay will not change if bad.
For myself #communitymatters.
I still "play" WoW. I say "play" but really it's to chat with the guild and the folk I have met.
I have said in other posts that the reason I kept playing EQ was for friends. And, by a friend I mean people who I will stay in touch with even if they stop playing.
Guild first, the guild is my gaming family and actually replaces RL family to a certain extent. After that comes a mechanically sound game, content, challenge, a variety of activieties not just a few. Closely behind that is the server community. A game that does not have dead times, the game needs to be active 24/7/365 with all the game parts catering equally to those that have atypical work hours or schedules.
My previous sticky games certainly did not go out of the way to cater to those that cannot spend more than a few seconds or minutes of attention but was most rewarding because crafting (and other systems) tended to be deeper and more challenging, you had to spend time and effort to succeed. I am talking spending months to master a craft at 30-40 hours a week and not cap out a craft in a few days or a week.
I've never been in a game with /pizza so that isn't it.
Challenge/Difficulty: If there is nothing to overcome or challenge me, I get bored very quick. That's why things like death penalties, corpse runs, hard bosses/raids, no maps, no quest icons, no handholding, are all important to me.
Community: When you get a raid of 40 different players together, spend hours fighting through some dungeon and then kill the raid boss at the end, it is very rewarding and exciting. Who doesn't remember their first Lord Nagafen raid on EQ Classic? Another big part of community for me is PvP. You live and die by your reputation, something thst adds an incredibly dynamic to a MMORPG.
Character identity: This is where almost all modern MMORPG's go wrong. Things are so trivial that you don't have any connection to your character. Quests are easy, getting items for your character is easy, increasing stats for your character is easy. All of this means you can throw away your character easily and roll another one. I enjoy difficult games in which you become that main character for years.
Instancing: I also think instancing is THE worst mechanics ever put into MMORPG's.
I enjoy games that involve me as an adenturer. I appreciate great immersion in the games I play, and that can be a result of many things in an MMORPG. Whether that's the character involvment in the world around me or the challenge I face in my daily adventures or even the things I endure together with the community, that's what keeps me coming back for more. The advancement of the avatar that I have created to respresent me in a living, breathing world where I become fully immersed in the things I'm doing is what keeps me wanting for more. Community matters; adventure matters; challenge and reward matter. That's about all I need to keep me going for years and years. :)
The game has to be fun and strategic enough to keep me involved until I can form bonds with other players. And then, when I get burned out on the game a bit, I still play because I want to hang out with them. At some point, it always comes down to new content and more powerful items though. I want to have the best stuff on the server for my class, as long as I have a goal, I'm always able to make some progress towards that goal, and I have some people I enjoy chasing after the goal with, I'll keep subscribing to the game.
So, make it fun. Make it strategic. Keep the loot rare. That's all it takes. My definition of "fun" is the type of game you're making, so it's looking good for me. It's on me to make the friends I'll need.
I miss the old pickup groups. I miss the guild drama/rage quits. I probably quit a guild weekly only to rejoin. When i do play i am usually wrapping up quests i meant to do years ago just to say i did it - I am still working on some Epic 2.0's. Playing on a time lock progression server where there is an active community has been very nostalgic of how EQ1 became so popular.
What kept me going back were the quest-lines and the people when servers were more active. What made me not want to play was how high the levels had gotten. It was hard to level up a new character without Powerleveling. I miss having a vibrant community/guild that would give you anything and drop anything to help you out. Even the loot whores would help you cause they knew you would help them back.
Game depth. I have always looked at the genera as an interactive novel. I get to engage with heroes and villains or be both. I enjoy the games that are tough to play as far as progression and being able to play a lager role in that adventure. EQ did that and I think people would agree that UO and EQ gave that level of engagement that lasted for years.
The time aspect is a real trick to nail down. Sure, a quest can take time but was it meaningful. So many games in the genera are just time sinks when it comes to questing. The epic quest lines are the ones I would go for and some took months and longer but that was fine by me. Loved the challenge and the scope.
I should note community in here too. My early experiences would not have as much fun if we didn’t have people that were looking for the same thing. Helpful for the most part and just fun to game with.
Ox
I would base it on the player's personality within the limits of flow.
Generally the mmorpg genre has stagnated in it's appeal. It's appeal being how it can cover the full range of personlity wants player have from games. Which creates a sense of community and belonging.
The problem lately mmos are more like gambling instead of allowing players to interact or act within the game world, Players are lead on with flashy graphics and psychologically induced stimuli. After a while most players get bored of it.
The best thing about mmorpgs is the community, other games can't do it, the community interaction in mmorpgs today is abysmal. It's pretty much a chat room with poorly realised group dynamics. There's thousands of ways players can be expected to interact in a shared space. Yet most of the time mmos stop players interacting altogether and limit it to special areas or with special mechanics.
What motivates players? Progressing in a community with many different people who empower each other through their preferences.
Lately, in P99, I've been visiting places I never did as a kid. We couldn't afford any of the xpacs, so all I had was Kunark - but even then, my computer was so bad that venturing there usually led me to a quick link death. So now, I'm FINALLY seeing Velious for the first time, and seeing Kunark the way it was meant to be seen.
My Paladin is level 36 right now. I was in Unrest for a while, but left at around 29, even though I could've stayed til almost 38. Went to Highkeep for some goblin ears and stuck around for a level - that got boring, but I was able to sell goblin ears for 25 plat a pop at the EC tunnel. Then I went into Sol A and stayed there til about 34, making a lot of money on gems and looting some gear from named mobs for alts. Once I hit 34, I decided to go back to Runnyeye for some soloing and to work on getting a set of blackened alloy armor. Tried doing it at 30, but it was too hard. 34 was much easier, but Lord Picklaw still kicked my a$$, though not before I got every piece but the wrists and the helm. Needed to get a few more levels.
Someone mentioned Dalnir's crypt in the Field of Bone. It was an adventure just finding my way there, dodging roving iksars and forest giants. Killed a named skeleton wandering outside the zone in Dalnir, but he didn't have the drop I was hoping for. Stayed there until 35, then decided to check the Wiki. Crystal Caverns looked pretty cool, so I managed to snag a port to Iceclad Ocean, and boy let me tell you, that place was beautiful and scary. That, the Eastern Wastes, the Great Divide, all of it.
Begged a levi and a sow from the druid that ported me, and managed to sneak in the Rygorr Keep to make the zone into Crystal Caverns. Didn't realize that if you float all the way down the tunnel, you'd aggro every single orc you pass. Somehow managed to make it to the coldain city and ran around til the guards finished off the gigantic train of orcs behind me. Sent an /ooc out there in the zone for a group, and started trio-ing around, killing crystal spiders and geonids. Almost made it to 36, but had to log.
The next day, I was back in Crystal Caverns. It took almost 2 hours just to figure out how to leave. When I left, right outside there was an orc and a mean dwarf waiting for me. I picked a direction and ran for my life, weaving around wolves and snow bunnies. Somehow made it to the Great Divide zone line, and from there, to Thurgadin for the first time. It was nuts.
Later that night, I looked at the wiki and noticed a place called Kaesora. Had some drops I'd never heard of, and may even be soloable to a 36 paladin. That's my next adventure.
From levels 29 to 36, I visited 3 continents, 6 completely different dungeons, explored over 10 different outdoor zones, stumbled upon 2 dwarven cities I'd never seen before, and met countless new people. And each and every dungeon I went to offered XP and/or loot for my levels.
Options keep me coming back.
Zybane said:THIS SO much This apart from the pvp im not hugely into that in this type of game. I like the Leveling pace to be really slow, it enables us to explore more content that we would normally blow past in other games. Let me explain a bit about what i mean by this.Challenge/Difficulty: If there is nothing to overcome or challenge me, I get bored very quick. That's why things like death penalties, corpse runs, hard bosses/raids, no maps, no quest icons, no handholding, are all important to me.
Community: When you get a raid of 40 different players together, spend hours fighting through some dungeon and then kill the raid boss at the end, it is very rewarding and exciting. Who doesn't remember their first Lord Nagafen raid on EQ Classic? Another big part of community for me is PvP. You live and die by your reputation, something thst adds an incredibly dynamic to a MMORPG.
Character identity: This is where almost all modern MMORPG's go wrong. Things are so trivial that you don't have any connection to your character. Quests are easy, getting items for your character is easy, increasing stats for your character is easy. All of this means you can throw away your character easily and roll another one. I enjoy difficult games in which you become that main character for years.
Instancing: I also think instancing is THE worst mechanics ever put into MMORPG's.
Okay So io like Many others have played Wow. i made Alts to stop me getting bored because lets be real its not like leveling or getting gear is hard. Ive leveled alts from 1 to 110 in under a week from just doing the quest grind, and running dungeons over and over and over. it was Pretty boring and i skipped 90% of the content.
In contrast i played EQ for many years and Never got bored. Leveling was really slow and soloing was dificult so grouping was the best course of action, I spent many a good time looking for groups and spending hour after hour killing mobs with my group getting Xp, and would be lucky to get half a level in 8 hours, But it felt like i had acomplished something because half a level was actually really good considering the dificulty level. Because leveling was So slow We moved around a lot, from one zone or area to another, one dungeon to another exploring discovering new places to hunt and new people to hunt with, it made it feel like a virtual World that we lived in, that we didnt have to be leveling every second that we were logged in just to feel like we acomplished something. I remember spending an entire day in EC tunnel selling my wares, trading, haggling Etc making new friends some of which i still keep in touch with over 18 years later :)
My point is IMHO Slow leveling enabled us to Experiance more of the game, to live and experience more of this virtual world.
These are what keep me coming back.. If its Easy its not worth it and i get bored fast, because if its easy it doesnt feel like i earned it, it just feels kinda Meh like i was handed it on a platter.
Mostly, people.
If I can find some good people to hang with then i'll stick around, even if I don't absolutely love the game.
After that it's all about the investment I have in my Character. Not time or what gear I have. I don't give a damn about gear or anything like that. I am talking about becoming emotionally invested in my character. If I can get lost in the game and "become" my character, losing my awareness of "the game" then I will stay. If the game is superficial and my character is nothing more than a collection of gear, I will be far less driven to stay and play.
Gear treadmills and such are one way to see me losing interest and moving on quite quickly.
For me, what is bringing me back, and what i really am hoping for are some of the main things i loved about eq1. I love faction questing like in Velious - people chose giant faction just to get better ac armor, even though almost everything lowered giant faction. I love iconic abilities like Backstab and FD. I loved being part of the corpse run group when the raid wiped. I loved the struggle, the fight for every ounce of gear and exp. I miss letting my corpse rot because i just couldnt get to it and having to regear my character - thank heavens i was a monk. My first quest for a special item felt like an epic quest - anyone remember treant fists? Heck even the freeport sash quests were pretty epic for an item gathering quest. I loved having variety when i wanted to exp. we always tried something new.
Friendships -- If I have friends playing a game I'm more likely to stay. I like spending time with people I've become friends with, I'm more likely to stay committed to a game if others are counting on me, a game world feels more alive if I care about other people I am exploring it with, and I am less likely to be worried about how good I / my character is at the game if I'm having fun with friends.
Immersion -- Essentially, what is my character fighting for? With regard to Pantheon, why is Terminus worth protecting / saving? Why should I (or Katryn, more realistically) care. How well the game does at giving me a solid answer to that will have an impact on how connected I become.
Challenge should come from choices and consequences, not from game controls. From what I can piece together this shouldn't be a major concern for Pantheon. But in a more general sense, I can't count the number of games I've had to quit or pass on because something in their design would have made them physically impossible for me. I'm aware that Pantheon is aiming for challenge, but it seems to be from making choices about character and during combat, not by seeing how fast I can hit 60 keys while doing the raid mechanics equivalent of the hokey pokey.
Show me ways that my character can leave her mark on the world. Feeling that in some way people will know 'Katryn was here.' matters to me. i'm not concerned about being a server first raider or anything, but feeling like my presence has some form of impact is rewarding, whether that's being able to 'sign' the items I craft, getting involved with helping new players, choosing a class that has abilities that allows me to aid players in need, developing a rich story for my character on an rp server, etc.