Curse

Ensign · Jun 15, 2007, 05:16 AM // 05:16

I'm not quite done yet. I still enjoy the company of the people I've been playing with for the last 2+ years, and GvG still satisfies my cravings for competition, to some extent. But I just log in to play with friends now, as the gameplay itself isn't novel anymore. PvE being a once through, that's fine, I'm used to that, but the PvP going stale is really sad. Every once in a while you play one of the other teams who still has a clue and cares, but 95% of your matches are against virtually identical teams using one of a small subset of the same limited gimmicks, with the same predictable gameplay - there's no dynamic strategy anymore, if they're any good it's the same as playing against a bot, otherwise you just roll over someone who can't even push the buttons in order. I've been jumped by a Shadow Prison 'sin a thousand times now. It's never any different, and I feel like I know their moves before they do a lot of the time. What's there to be excited about?

The other game options being presented aren't terribly exciting. The MMO scene is just refining the carrot-on-a-stick model, and while I can be a sucker for those free virtual slot machines just as anyone else can, they get so tediously boring once I figure out how the game works, and all that's left is putting in the hours of grinding out an avatar that I ultimately don't value at all. I'll likely pick up Starcraft 2, and Unreal Tournament 3 when they come out, but those aren't the kinds of games I can really dive into - all practice and subconscious learning, without the analysis and preparation that can keep me up at night. These days I'm a lot more interested in Settlers than anything on a computer screen, or in chewing through puzzles rather than mobs or players.

Where am I moving to? I'm not sure at all right now, and it's scary as much as liberating. There are a couple of Ridley/Dawkins inspired economics articles I've been working on that I'm not sure what I want to do with yet. Do I want to self-publish those on some sort of Sirlin-inspired vanity site? Should I try to get 'em published? Things have gotten ugly in the USA in the last few years and I'm finding myself drawn back into politics, as I was during college. Maybe it's time to start thinking of some solutions and getting those into practice? Or, the tech sector has largely recovered in those last years as well, maybe it's a good time to jump into industry and see what interesting projects people are working on these days. I guess the real answer is to get involved in everything and see what takes hold. Whatever ends up grabbing me, I know I'm stuck getting sucked into for the next 2-3 years.

My apologies for turning this into more of a self-absorbed blog entry than a straight reply - but I think it's relevant. For a lot of people, sure, Guild Wars was just a game and they'll be happy to move on to the next distraction. But if you're a bit more astute, take your dissatisfaction as a good reason for introspection, and hopefully find some clues as to what you're really after.

Peace,
-CxE

Sai of Winter · Jun 15, 2007, 05:27 AM // 05:27

Gaming wise I'm waiting for Hellgate: London to release although I'll get GW:EN, but when I get completely bored with that I'll play HG:L heavily. Also getting Fury to fill PvP needs even though there will be PvP in HG:L, Fury seems more interesting.

Other games in consideration:
Exteel (fun game during closed beta)
Aion
Warhammer Online (check out the podcasts on info about the game here, exciting stuff)
SystemHolic Online Rohan (Yeah weird name)

Oh and I'll definitely be there when GW2 is in it's beta testing stage.

Marth Reynolds · Jun 15, 2007, 05:27 AM // 05:27

Waiting for sword of the new coast atm, looks very good and actuallly has a different enviroment to the MMORPG game.
It reminds me a lot of the lost kingdoms enviroment and i like it

I will most likely buy GW:EN try to get the armors i like there and i'll quit gw

drakun01 · Jun 15, 2007, 05:32 AM // 05:32

Now I just log on to GW to chat with my guild, as everything else has become dull. There are certain areas I have never been, like the UW or fighting Urgoz, and things I have never done, like GvG, or to a certain extent, HA, and I have little hope of doing any of those.
So, as for me, I'm back to being an MMO nomad until Overlord comes out, which I will obsess over for a week, then I'll become nomadic again. Although I do have those Warhammer, and Warmachine figures still waiting to be built.

zwei2stein · Jun 15, 2007, 05:45 AM // 05:45

Waiting for Spellborn to be released ... otherwise, hmm.

Problem is that guildwars spoiled me with convenient features that most MMO devs for some reason hate to implement (accessible map travel, respecing of builds, grinding for looks, not for stats, etc ....)

I have tried dozens of MMOs, they die fast for me when couple of 1st quests are kill 10 rats with glorious followup of bring me 10 rat tails. Other die when i realize these is nothign creative to do with skills/powers in there.

Most of MMOs have very shallow player development - because there is nothing to develop, you have working skillsets that everyone uses and you do not put brains into it at all. And character development is laughable - i dont covet increasing number besides my character name, nor do I enjoy stuff like raid grinds.

Hey, you can help me find guildwars-game that aint guildwars : http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10164220

Dr Strangelove · Jun 15, 2007, 06:52 AM // 06:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by zwei2stein

Problem is that guildwars spoiled me with convenient features that most MMO devs for some reason hate to implement (accessible map travel, respecing of builds, grinding for looks, not for stats, etc ....)

I have tried dozens of MMOs, they die fast for me when couple of 1st quests are kill 10 rats with glorious followup of bring me 10 rat tails. Other die when i realize these is nothign creative to do with skills/powers in there.

Most of MMOs have very shallow player development - because there is nothing to develop, you have working skillsets that everyone uses and you do not put brains into it at all. And character development is laughable - i dont covet increasing number besides my character name, nor do I enjoy stuff like raid grinds.

I hear ya on this. I can't even play grind-based games anymore. I tried picking up diablo 2 again, but got pissed when I couldn't change my build up about halfway through. I ended up cheating for max gear, because dammit, I don't want to do the same thing over and over, I want to make new builds and try them out. EVE was completely killed for me when I learned that dying carries an EXTREMELY heavy financial penalty, enough so that no one really ever risks dying.

Lately I've been poking around with my old school favorites, like BG2, and Fallout:Tactics. Maybe I'll join a couple more soccer leagues so I can work off my Guild Wars paunch a bit

. Maybe I should start looking for a job, since I have to go out into the real world in about six months.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

Things have gotten ugly in the USA in the last few years and I'm finding myself drawn back into politics, as I was during college. Maybe it's time to start thinking of some solutions and getting those into practice?

I would totally vote for Ensign. I can see it now, June 2008 US economy rebalancing wishlist....

Quote:

Originally Posted by strcpy

I can't say "quitting" is the right word. Of all the things people complain about and rage quit over you will not find another single MMO that does it better.

While there is a lot of the usual post-rebalancing raging going on, lately there actually have been a lot of people quietly leaving the game. From this thread, it doesn't look like a hatred of the game, more like all the old players have suddenly decided "well, that's enough of that for now".

Who's up for a GWG Quake Wars team? You know you want to...

-Loki- · Jun 15, 2007, 07:01 AM // 07:01

Quake Wars. For competitiveness anyway. I'll still play Guild Wars.

Alderin · Jun 15, 2007, 07:22 AM // 07:22

For me I play from time to time as I'm finding it harder and harder to want to play with the Loot Scaling and Soul Reaping nerf and all the others that focus on restricting the players rather than expanding their possibilities. Hard mode was very cheaply designed with little to no though put into it and well the PvE is lacking greatly and I've played games like Resident Evil 2 doing each scenario 50 times each every month for years.

For me, I'm waiting on the latest installments of the Resident Evil series and Final Fantasy series.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ensign

........the PvP going stale is really sad. Every once in a while you play one of the other teams who still has a clue and cares, but 95% of your matches are against virtually identical teams using one of a small subset of the same limited gimmicks, with the same predictable gameplay - there's no dynamic strategy anymore, if they're any good it's the same as playing against a bot, otherwise you just roll over someone who can't even push the buttons in order. I've been jumped by a Shadow Prison 'sin a thousand times now. It's never any different, and I feel like I know their moves before they do a lot of the time. What's there to be excited about?

Sad but true. Though out of curiousity, I'm interested in you opinion on that. Why is it you think the game has degraded into mostly the same skill sets being used? Is it because of the poorly done and painfully slow 'balancing' that kills decent skills rather than bringing it in par with the rest? Is it the disregard to what the majority see wrong with the game and instead focus on the wrong parts or focus more on silly events that will be forgotten in a week? Is it the forced limitations that get imposed on PvE and PvP rather than the adding of more possiblities? Or is it something else in entirely?

foxworthy21 · Jun 15, 2007, 07:28 AM // 07:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noz Crow

Well the loot scaling and meaningless changes (I mainly play PVE) kinda did me in for now. So i broke down and bought an Xbox 360. Now I'll be playing gears of war and the like. I will buy GWEN just to see how it all ties together. I still play GW to see how things are going every once and a while. I started 2 new toons (a Mes and a Necro) but i am to poor to finish them so they will sit and rot. Alot of my friends and guild mates made the jump to WOW for now.

same here dude I pretty much went and bought a Xbox 360 and Gears of War after the whole loot scaling and changes and not to mention my friends leaving the game for the same reasons as me. I kinda gotta thank Anet for making me want to quit so I could experience Gears Of War which RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing owns.

flankthetank · Jun 15, 2007, 07:31 AM // 07:31

staying right here

manitoba1073 · Jun 15, 2007, 07:42 AM // 07:42

Doesnt matter where I go, I have free wow account also so either way its all free for me.

Lodurr · Jun 15, 2007, 07:58 AM // 07:58

wtf no Shadowrun???????

My previous online competitive game was Tribes 2. Shadowrun is a little similar to that and it's a lot of fun to pub. But due to the way they programmed it, I don't think dedicated clans will ever form. Even if they do I don't know that I want to go back to a game where twitch skill is at such a premium. It sucks to boot good friends from your clan because they don't twitch well enough. In the meantime I'm playing both Shadowrun and GW, though only for GvGs and nothing else.

GW PvP is the perfect junction between strategy and skill, in my opinion, and it sucks to see the competitive side dry up due to mismanagement. Yet they still bill it as the e-sport game of the fuchar and give prizes out for monthly tourneys. They should take the money for prizes and hire another game balancer since Izzy is clearly busy with GW2 and/or WoW.

Morgoth the dark · Jun 15, 2007, 08:02 AM // 08:02

well real life takes it's part

study can be hard from time to time

Etta · Jun 15, 2007, 08:16 AM // 08:16

I'm still log in from time to time, nowhere near as much as I used to. Real life stuff get in the way as well as work, I still need to finish FF12 as well.

Oh! and I'm also playing Shenmue 1&2 on the dreamcast.

Stormlord Alex · Jun 15, 2007, 08:21 AM // 08:21

Me? I'm still here. The randomness of ABs is still as fun as hell, IMO.
Tbh tho... I've also been playing Baldur's Gate 2, and some Fire Emblem recently, too. My bro just found a version of FE6 for the PC, and I'm having great fun finding out how much Eliwuss MK II sucks

upier · Jun 15, 2007, 09:17 AM // 09:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keero89

Now I want a Wii. =/

Or a 360.
And then i remember i HATE console games - because all i really wanna do it play Mario before it went 3d!

But just this week i finally bought Dungeon Siege (it was dirt cheap and i really loved the "free" version so i thought i might as well support them) and NWN2. I loved NWN - was happily playing my druid so I made a new one i 2 - and boy does it feel different.
GW spoiled me with its pretty low system reqs, insanely good visuals, and the online thingy.
And the druid sucks there! The pets are ugly and it seems to me that Animal Empathy is gone - which was one of the reasons why i LOVED the druid in the first place.
So i guess I'll be sticking around a bit more - planning on making a new ele today.

NiukNiuk · Jun 15, 2007, 10:05 AM // 10:05

I'm still playing guild wars, but now only with friends/guildies, and mainly for farming or doing elite missions with them.
I've already finished the three chapters with 4 characters, and nightfall with my parangon. I still have to play with my ele and dervish...but I begin to fell bored about doing the whole storyline again ^^

I've tried a lot of mmo's, and I really don't like all these kind of quests (kill 50 rabbits, then kill 100more etc etc). When you're used to the gameplay mechanic of guild wars, it's hard to play another mmo ^^

Right now I'm waiting for Bioshock and Crysis (well I'll certainly change several components of my computer to make it run correctly), while playing tomb raider anniversary (hey, it's a fun game

)

Servant of Kali · Jun 15, 2007, 11:00 AM // 11:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edgar the Crosseyed

Its all about setting goals for yourself and then go and accomplish them! Could be titles! Could be Financially!

I pity people who play GW for titles and "financially".

Stormlord Alex · Jun 15, 2007, 11:07 AM // 11:07

Why? If they get enjoyment out of having titles, or lots of in game cash... Who are you to tell them that they're wrong?

Water Angel · Jun 15, 2007, 11:10 AM // 11:10

to lord of the rings online or wow :P