Advancement is one of the cornerstones i most MMOGs (if not all). Although you know you are just moving bytes on a server its still gives you a sense of achievement that for me (and i suspect many others) is very important. Although some games have tried "achievement reward" by making it possible to change the world somehow it has imo been with little succes. But as MMOGs are supposed to offer alot of playing time (today - i suspect someday there will be "short life" MMOGs) AND in the process give "achievement reward" there are bound to be stretches of playing time without rewards (or very small rewards).
So imo the solution to the "grind" problem doesnt lie in the stat/skill/level system - the solution is to make the grind fun (imo to many MMOGs seems to have started with stat/level system, storyline and environment instead of focusing on what the players will be doing 90% of the time).
Discussing different stat/skill/level strategies is ofcourse interrstion but i dont think anyone can be termend better than others - its highly game dependent.
The one problem I think is very interresting regarding stat/skill/level strategies is how to make it possible for all players to play together regardless of "level" - and still being fun and rewarding for everyone.
Slashdot Mirror
I find it disturbing that in the future everything seems to be soaked in vaseline.
Advancement is one of the cornerstones i most MMOGs (if not all). Although you know you are just moving bytes on a server its still gives you a sense of achievement that for me (and i suspect many others) is very important. Although some games have tried "achievement reward" by making it possible to change the world somehow it has imo been with little succes. But as MMOGs are supposed to offer alot of playing time (today - i suspect someday there will be "short life" MMOGs) AND in the process give "achievement reward" there are bound to be stretches of playing time without rewards (or very small rewards). So imo the solution to the "grind" problem doesnt lie in the stat/skill/level system - the solution is to make the grind fun (imo to many MMOGs seems to have started with stat/level system, storyline and environment instead of focusing on what the players will be doing 90% of the time). Discussing different stat/skill/level strategies is ofcourse interrstion but i dont think anyone can be termend better than others - its highly game dependent. The one problem I think is very interresting regarding stat/skill/level strategies is how to make it possible for all players to play together regardless of "level" - and still being fun and rewarding for everyone.