instant-gratification
Latest
The Daily Grind: Why do you like character development and progression?
I dislike MMO progression. No, seriously. I dislike it mainly because it feels like a job and I already have a couple of those. If I could start every MMORPG at max level and just explore the world and/or enjoy the narrative I would do so without thinking twice about all the grindy, repetitive "gameplay" I'd be missing. See, I play video games to have certain experiences that I can't have in meatspace. I can't very well drive a GT40, hunt bounties in the Old West, or customize my own spaceship outside of gaming. But I can climb a career ladder toward a distant and theoretically rewarding end goal in real life, so I don't see the appeal of doing it in games. Obviously, though, some people love progression and character development. Heck, I'd go so far as to say that most people love them, at least in this genre, because almost every game uses them as a core mechanic. And assuming you're one of those people, today's Daily Grind question is for you. Why do you like character development and progression? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Wings Over Atreia: Easy button
You young whippersnappers don't know how easy ya got it! When I was your level, we had to delve deep into the heart of KHQ to do our campaigns, uphill, both ways! And it wasn't no namby-pamby walk in the park, either -- you wiped multiple times just to get where yer going! Why, back in my day, we could go days, sometimes weeks without skills, trying to scrimp and save enough for the books. There is no question about it: The Aion of today is much different than than the Aion of yesteryear. Heck, it's not the same game as last week! Yup folks, with each successive patch and update that NCsoft rolls out, the game we love (or love to hate, as the case may be) gets progressively easier. Patch 1.9 saw the addition of repeatable quests to ease the leveling curve; 2.0 brought more quests and higher kinah rewards from them; and Wednesday's 2.1 increased drop rates to astronomical levels. All good news, right? Personally, I am leery of this seeming accelerated trend towards installing an easy button in the game, and I think that there are some serious repercussions to over-simplifying. Now, don't get me wrong -- I am all for lightening the load and eradicating flawed designs that have a fun factor of zero (hot heart of magic, anyone?), but at what point does making the game a bit easier go too far? While the game certainly shouldn't be a job in itself, do we really need to cater to the instant-gratification crowd by dumbing it down completely? I firmly believe in the old adage "you appreciate what you have to work for," and I think that spoon-feeding players is a bad idea that is going to come back and nip NCsoft in the... ankle. Glide past the cut to explore for yourself the new easy buttons within Atreia.
