FA+
Shop
MMOs: Cookie-Cutter Syndrome
16 years ago
General
NaNo Novel: Here Falls The Thunder
So, as of...almost a year ago, I helped do closed and open beta testing for the MMO, Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine. It's the first MMO I've ever played, or bothered wanting to play (WoW never caught my eye, and FFXI and CoH are monthly subscriptions).
However...I seem to have run into a bit of a snag. MMOs like to promote the idea of people being able to individualize, to create a character unique to them, with a unique style and personality, with a mix and match of abilities. Unfortunately, this never seems to translate well in-game.
This is the above-mentioned 'Cookie-Cutter Syndrome', wherein there is a specific build for every class, made to perfectly optimize that classes' power. Which is fine and all...until players start demanding that you meet these standards, or you never find a party. What occurs, is that every player of a class starts looking like every other player of that same class. Because without a certain set of equipment, stats, and abilities, a party won't want you, you're a waste of a slot.
The problem seems to lie with players wanting to be as efficient as possible. It gets so bad, that in my current MMO, there's a dungeon that, if the average run is longer than 5 minutes you're doing it wrong. Yeah, it's THAT BAD.
It puzzles me then. What's the point of an MMO offering options and flexibility, when the player community fixates on only what makes a character the strongest and most efficient. I'm not saying strength and efficiency are bad, but when they're the only things players care about, I believe something important has been lost.
Apparently, compared to some of the major MMOs, Imagine is quite forgiving on how far away from the ideal build you can stray. As I'm told, City of Heroes and FFXI are quite ruthless about deviation...and God have mercy if you play WoW and stray from the norm.
It makes me a bit depressed, given that I want to try and develop a character, but that players care so much about the numbers and math, that the only way they know how to play is to min-max themselves. In fact, this feels like my old D&D games, where players cared less about making things interesting and new, and more about just how far they would bend the rules to make their characters better.
However...I seem to have run into a bit of a snag. MMOs like to promote the idea of people being able to individualize, to create a character unique to them, with a unique style and personality, with a mix and match of abilities. Unfortunately, this never seems to translate well in-game.
This is the above-mentioned 'Cookie-Cutter Syndrome', wherein there is a specific build for every class, made to perfectly optimize that classes' power. Which is fine and all...until players start demanding that you meet these standards, or you never find a party. What occurs, is that every player of a class starts looking like every other player of that same class. Because without a certain set of equipment, stats, and abilities, a party won't want you, you're a waste of a slot.
The problem seems to lie with players wanting to be as efficient as possible. It gets so bad, that in my current MMO, there's a dungeon that, if the average run is longer than 5 minutes you're doing it wrong. Yeah, it's THAT BAD.
It puzzles me then. What's the point of an MMO offering options and flexibility, when the player community fixates on only what makes a character the strongest and most efficient. I'm not saying strength and efficiency are bad, but when they're the only things players care about, I believe something important has been lost.
Apparently, compared to some of the major MMOs, Imagine is quite forgiving on how far away from the ideal build you can stray. As I'm told, City of Heroes and FFXI are quite ruthless about deviation...and God have mercy if you play WoW and stray from the norm.
It makes me a bit depressed, given that I want to try and develop a character, but that players care so much about the numbers and math, that the only way they know how to play is to min-max themselves. In fact, this feels like my old D&D games, where players cared less about making things interesting and new, and more about just how far they would bend the rules to make their characters better.
Hence why I prefer "set classes" as there's hardly any room to deviate and have the community shun you for being different. Really it's not the game, it's the players that make this "Efficiency" mentality such a big fucking deal.
Although PSO and PSU are subversion of this: It's more skill over stats and the MMO "Efficiency mentality" just makes the community go "Whut?" then continue on their merry way. Really, we don't care if you're a Newman playing a HU(Hunter or melee class), a Cast playing a FO(Force, or "Magic class"), or a Beastman playing a RA (Ranger, gunner class)...we just care that you know what you're doing. It's just aesthetics and when you can break out the good stuff for your respective class is the difference. And believe me I've come to know the pulse of the PSO community and their stance by being with them.
PSU was the first game I got for my X-box, but I got rid of it after a few months; it jsut wasn't as good as PSO in my opinion; it was smaller, and a lot less enjoyable.
It's for this reason that I enjoy pencil & paper RPGs; there's actual ROLE PLAYING and thinking and interacting involved.