Article: "The Future of Gaming"

[Chieftess]

I've played FFVI end over end (and all of the NES/SNES FF games). FFVII and FFVIII I didn't like. Reason? Too much FMV, and I felt like the game was forcing me to go to a certain area. Even FF9 was a little short in that it also forced me through each area, but not as badly as the other PSX FF games.

 

[stormbind]

What prompted you to write this article, Chieftess?

 

[Chieftess]

Just something I was thinking about for a year. Besides, someone has to keep up with Moss.

 

[Smidlee]

I really tried to like MMORPG but just can't get into them. The one I played the most was Final Fantasy 11. MMORPG seems more like work than play and are brain-dead game (no brain is required). I remember playing FF11 wanting to level up to get the next best spell or/and equipment only the find after I leveled the game play is same even with the new spell. I basicly replace one spell which is now useless with another that basicly does the same thing.So they are design to take time to do anything just to keep you busy. I have more fun cleaning my house or washing my car than MMORPG. As the idea of a continue developing ulimate game that doesn't have the drawback of today's MMORPG without getting old sounds good but the problem is good games takes a lot longer to develop than to play. This is why these games tries to keep you hooked for the long run by making everything is the game so time consuming without adding much to gameplay.
My favorites games types are simulations like Silent Hunter 3 and Pacific Fighter and strategy like any civilization game and HOI

 

[stormbind]

Long, long ago, when my brain worked and I felt fully aware: I'm not sure what genre this is from, but I played "Sanity: Aikens Artifact" from beginning to end. It was quite good but despite being an adventure, it was also rather repetitive at times, and this damaged my brain.

Well, anyhow, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

 

[Nobody]

there are some games that almost feel perfect in what they are like Metal Gear Solid, FF7 and the Grand theft auto san andreas. although i prefer civ3 to these game, i think they are more finished and exactly what i want.

there are other games that if more work had been done ( i can wait a extra year) would be the ultimate game. like Civ3 or Fable.

also the game star wars galaxis sounds amazing but its not out in new zealand.

 

[punkbass2000]

D&D. 'Nuff said. Tell me one other game where your character can get hurt by, for example, a jellyfish sting.

...World of Warcraft.

And, to approach the OP, I think we're all already playing the greatest game ever THe problem is, we're so immersed, we don't know it's a game...

 

[Birdjaguar]

And, to approach the OP, I think we're all already playing the greatest game ever THe problem is, we're so immersed, we don't know it's a game...

Ooooo nice touch to the "ultimate game thread". I wish I had thought of it.

 

[punkbass2000]

Yeah, my fake indian food skill is up to like 225/300. I no longer gain skill points for internet surfing. I'm looking to acquire the keyboard spell, but I don't try hard enough. For now I really just cast djembe, drums and bass spells. I'm also Guildmaster of the small yet persistent Galbraith Gladiators, and our latest is still only at lvl 3, but he talks like a lvl 4er.

 

[Birdjaguar]

I'm maxed out on the web too, except for googling where I have at least one more available skill point. I'm a level 5 faster and can get by on half rations and go without dinner completely. By pushing hard on story telling, it's to level 12, I have no tolerance for solitude and am vunerable when trapped alone. I'm working hard on wealth accumulation, but ihave been stung on supposedly magic charms which turned out to be fake. I still use my old cloak of kindness instead of armor though. It slows down attackers enough to disarm them or so I can slip away.

 

[punkbass2000]

We should quest sometime. Lemme know if you ever take a Windrider to Ontarian Flats. We can duel

 

[FearlessLeader2]

All I need is a holodeck with the d20 system scanned into its memory banks.

 

[Mungaf]

My idea of the perfect game would be a huge simulator of historical forces. It would allow you to create an earth with major macro and microclimates and crops and animals that have varying food yields and chances to get domesticated. From there, human beings band into different civilizations and cultural groups and advance over the years. So, kind of a cross between Civ and Europa Universalis with the "living breathing world" element of an MMO and more of a sandbox element like the Sim games. Stunning graphics and art also included. I call it "The Difference Engine". (Also comes with premade Earth maps if you want to simulate real history, of course.) It's a tall order, but if Will Wright is going to make Spore then certainly some major house can make this sometime.

Uh oh, now I've gotten myself all excited.

 

[Longasc]

In addition to the great article, some more thoughts:

Most games that are released today follow these maximes:

Accessible - easy to learn (but also hard to master...?)
True for Civ4 to some extent, this must not be negative at all, but it has the potential to leave games "dumbed down".

Multiplayer - often also with the "PvP" (Player vs Player) component. MMORPG's like World of Warcraft also heavily borrow from this formula. While I enjoy multiplayer games, take a look at Quake 3 e.g.. - extremely short and unsatisfying Single Player mode. But fortunately some really good single player shooters were released, too... some even had a rather good story. I really like Star Wars Jedi Academy or whatever the name was.

Accessible multiplayer games of competition - but where is the Innovation?

WoW, DAOC, EQ, UO, SWG, AO, all those MMORPG's are very similar, UO and SWG being somewhat different in the basic system, but all in all, it is always the same "Level" based, experience-grinding gaming experience.


The Sims sell well... basically "Virtual Alternate Reality". I wonder how long it takes for Civ4 to be the last bastion of hopefully a bit more complex, turn-based gaming in a slew of MMORPG's that fail to innovate and the 1000. RTS-game a la Warcraft3, Games that go back to Dune 2000 or Command & Conquer if you want. Besides that, Shooters - and even those are more and more Multiplayer only, take a look at Joint Operations, the latest Installment in the Delta Force series from Novalogic. They failed to provide interesting single player levels in their latest games, so they went online only and hope that players provide the fun they did not include.


I really enjoyed "Kotor2", it is a modernized old-style adventure. But I fear there will not be many more in the next time...


If this posting did not have too much sense, forgive me, just my thoughts about gaming.

 

[Erik Mesoy]

...World of Warcraft.

You have got to be kidding me.

 

[punkbass2000]

Why? It's a world. There are tons of beasts, many quests are based around killing them. Also, if you just generally run around, you're bound to run into something. Unless you mean exactly a jellyfish sting, that might not be around, per se, but there's certainly low-level water creatures that are quite capable of stinging you that are jellyfish in nature, though the beast names tend to be far more specific.

 

[Abaddon]

Tell me one other game where your character can get hurt by, for example, a jellyfish sting.

Poke-mon. But i am embarrased i know that.

But yeah,i have invisaged this... Combining RTS and FPS... send in your troops from your base, and then suddenly you ARE one of the soldiers trying to take the enemy base.

You looking at the even bigger picture is cool. It is going that way though, and combining everything would help ensure they get enough subscriptions.


At a whole world level, how would interaciton bewteen medieval fantasy and future tec happen? Some people enjoy really getting into character. It kinda spoils it if you have just successfully tamed a dragon, and then somone flys over in a fighter jet for example

 

[Erik Mesoy]

Ugh, thread necromancy.

 

[Yeeek]

I play games also because of the univers they are set in. I'm a starwars Geek to a relatively "normal" level though But because of that i played Star Wars Galaxies (its a mmorpg) since the day it hit the shelves untill lately, when they radically changed the games with the "NGE". But as i get older i find less and less time to play such games.

Like the author of this thread said, mmorpg can be real second job. If you want to keep up, you have to play at least 8H a day. Thats what i really experienced with World of Warcraft. I ditched this game because of this very reason (8H raids and such, err no thanks.). Even though the game is pretty fun, the competion to get stuffed with the latest and most powerfull items made the game unfun for me.

I played lots of mmorpg when i think about it.. From UO, Asheron's Call (the first, probably still my favorite game to date), Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot, City of Heroes/Vilains, Everquest (not the second though).

I believe i like mmorpg because your character is persistant and the world you evolve in is also persistant. Not really because they are real players about but because of the virtual world i guess. I played Morrowind for hours, and its not a multiplayer game.

But such games are very addictive.

 

[Chieftess]

Bumping a moderator's thread...