Curse

Well anyone should be able to play a game for at least 1 hour in a row... its like watching something on TV (that you can't pause). And Darkfall (now that you mentioned it) promises to make playing short sessions fun. I can't say if this is true until I/we play the game. And the long skill raising is pretty much the reason why I don't play EvE. Playing a game 1 hour per day will still improve your skills, yes you might not be in the hardcore top, but you should be able to enjoy it and be good at it yourself.

Like I said, to each his own.

I just simply could not get into EVE. Confined to a spaceship that you can never leave to take a walk on a planet's surface, fiddling with various gears, talking to icons when you dock to a space station, boring mining fields that take ages to reach, stupid (IMHO) post-apocalyptic background story... and your skill improves while you are log off... come on, just another trick to keep you subscribed. But hey, again, we are slipping into the domain of subjective judgment here.

"Their skill, their wit, their intelligence and of course, team coordination... its not only about eye-hand coordination... and eye-hand coordination ALWAYS improves, but after some point it improves very slowly."

gaming so you need to take a break every now and then from the computer - obviously you cannot expect that you can lock the door of your room so noone and nothing disturbs the battle with your teammates. Some spoiled rich kiddo may be able to do that, but again... the masses have kids, wives, dogs and other things that may interfere. You may say that then this kind of game is not for them, and I will answer that this is precisely why these kinds of games will always be niche games. Only a few will be able to attend battles that last sever hours (like those promised in Darkfall), and even if the guildmates are sensible and understand that RL interference cannot be blocked altogether, sooner or later the hardcore members will exclude the "non-reliable" combatants (plus those whom they consider "lamers"), and again, the result is a niche and elitist game. A good team and good team coordination requires dedication and a good knowledge of your teammates' abilities - which, in turn, again requires time investment.

To a certain degree I agree that WoW is not as casual-player friendly as it should be. True, high-level raid dungeons require that you invest a lot of time to get the right gear, and to participate in test raids until the team works out the correct tactics to beat the dungeon. But once you master those tactics you can hop from one guild or raid to another, and still you will perform more or less as expected, even with strangers in the group (unless they are Leroy-wannabes ;) ). Although people who prefer diversity will be right to claim that once the dungeon has been mastered it presents little or no interest except for the loot, but the equation is 'beating difficult challenges that adapt to your tactics and are different every time you face them require polished team-work and an intimate knowledge of each other". And that is something which is definitely not for the casual player, the biggest group of potential subscribers.

WoW is popular because it is easy to get into, and easy to learn. Of course, if you are not in a big raiding guild, your chances of getting top-tier epics are minuscule, but apparently Blizzard's answer to this problem is to issue an expansion regularly that 'deprecates' old epics, and offers another chance to catch up with the elite. Obviously, many elitists will be miffed and will whine about their epics being outclassed by green stuff, but such is life. Blizzard knows that WoW is played by people whose main interest lies in advancing their characters, and that is precisely what they offer to them.

Big and popular games will always be easy-to-master and moderately challenging games, just like crappy pop music. Quality and challenging games will always be the minority, at least on the MMO scene. And the next big hit that dethrones WoW will not be any different - it will be an light-weight, more or less casual-friendly popcorn product.

(On a sidenote: you may ask why I am playing a popcorn game. The answer is simple: my work strains my brain to a point that when I have some free time, I play something lightweight).

Their skill, their wit, their intelligence and of course, team coordination... its not only about eye-hand coordination... and eye-hand coordination ALWAYS improves, but after some point it improves very slowly. Making for profit is exactly the problem, this is why Britney Spears is different from some quality (and not so indie) band. Gear shouldn't give you too much of an edge in battle.. maybe it should give you some boost, but not too much. WoW and EQ type MMOs aren't good for the casual players, either. They need to invest time into it to get to the "fun" parts, which isn't cool to them at all. But the persistant character part and the drive to reach the highest level addicts alot of people. Nowadays, MMOs aren't quality games. And as far as storytelling goes, you missed the genre :p EvE is great because of the skill based system combined with an immersive world filled with player versus player battles and danger and the politics surrounding the organizations.

Again, it's personal preference. Some people enjoy fighting other people who use the same gear, same weaponry, knowing that only their skill will determine the outcome of the fight. But honestly, I don't see how such a game can be converted to an MMO targeted for the masses. I see math based combat and the importance of gear as the great equalizer. MMOs are developed to make profit, and to make profit they must be developed for the masses, so even those who are not so skilled should be offered a chance to get that nice gear. Your eye-hand coordination won't improve beyond a certain point. So what should the developers do? If they lower the requirements, the game won't be challenging enough for the elite, if the requirements are too high, the casual, not so hardcore players will complain that the game is unplayable for them. As I said games are developed for profit, so the subscribers must be convinced that it is worth spending their money on monthly subscription because they can achieve their goals and reach the end-game with enough determination. Skill based MMOs - such as EVE - may find their niche market, and may receive accolades and high ratings from their fans, but won't appeal to the masses - and there is nobody to blame for that, neither the masses nor the fans of skill-based game. As I said to each his own. For me, MMO's are about storytelling, being involved in a game world without being forced to pay too much attention (I can do quests, and have a break from it any time as there is always a safe spot somewhere where I can sit down /even in a dungeon you can have a few minutes AFK break/ - now in a player vs player situation such pauses are not possible.

The standard PvE based MMOs (Everquest, WoW), being the most popular, are probably one of the suckiest games. The article states some of the points why: - Level based systems, where leveling is based on fighting mobs, always the same way, and playing the similar dumb quests (collect this, kill no. of this, etc.) - there are exceptions when it comes to quests, though. I wouldn't mind level based systems if the actual process of leveling was fun and not repetitive - requirement to get to a certain level to be able to play the "fun" parts, which means doing the above for a certain amount of time (and that time certainly isn't SHORT) - The part where FPS action is better than MMO action: all of the fighting is based on mathematical formulae. You fight the mobs the same way to gain level and there is a predefined way of fighting them. (pressing the same keys in the same order). Items are VERY IMPORTANT - you can't kill someone who has the uber gear (who he FARMED for for ages) with the little above average items. There is minimal player skill needed. But unlike MMOs, I enjoy the mathematics based figthing in games like Baldur's Gate (but thats more because of the story, the world) - restrictions which make the "world" less of a "world" - nothing you can do to effect on the actual world. Maybe you can build houses, but its really not too different from changing your character's appearance. World PvP but it has alot of restrictions (Vanguard changed this a bit, though...) and it doesn't have any actual effect on the world. Instanced PvP is pointless - if I wanted that, I'd play Guild Wars or any FPS game, really. I could go on and on... - PvE in general is pretty dumb, but to each his own, I guess

FPS. This is the reason why I don't comment on FPS games, and don't want to reinvent or revolutionize that genre. The crisis has not come yet in the MMO world (dropping subscription numbers will be the first sign I guess), so the industry is not hard pressed to come up with something new and original.

MMO PvE grind EvE online is probably the best MMO out atm, though.

Lots of 'the sun rises at 6:00 AM from my @rse' ideas from somebody who admittedly played a lot of MMO's, but sounds all the time like a miffed FPS player.

So what exactly are these generalizations that aren't accurate ? Just curious.