What top 5 points make a great MMORPG?

[theWocky]

Just wanting some ideas.

What top 5 points would you suggest make a great MMORPG similar to Warcraft?

eg. of things I'm looking for and other suggestions for areas of more importance. What top 5 things are most important to you?

• Graphic Fidelity
• Graphic Engine performance
• Aesthetics
• Animation
• Polished Content
• Lore
• Group play
• Gameplay
• Questing Experience
• Endgame

your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[Deleted]

- immersion
- meaningful player economy
- non-trivial crafting
- individualisation (no cookie cutter builds/specs/equip)
- solid anti-botting stance from world design till ToC enforcement

[Cosmic Janitor]

Ah a trick question. The actual answer is that focusing on just 5 things is not enough to make a good mmorpg these days.

[Roadblock]

• Engine
• World
• Reward structures
• Group Play
• Gameplay

[anaxie]

Roadblock hit the nail on the head.

[SpikeySquad]

Performance: I will not play a game that runs at 10fps, has frequent lag and/or disconnects

Questing experience: Though the levelling process should be short in comparison to endgame if it is not enjoyable then I will never see the end game! Later on it's whether the dailies and grinding is bearable

Gameplay: Basically it has to be fun and not feel like a chore or too repetitive

Group Play: Has to be supported, have LFG systems and again be fun

Endgame: To keep me playing this has to good. However, I am happy just getting say 30 enjoyable hours from an MMO as well so this could be replaced by Rewards/Character Development

[Super Kami Dende]

Fun
Fun
Fun
Fun
Fun

All the really matters to me in MMO's.

[Slaughty8]

Each person has it's own needs. Some people like group play, others (me included) hate it to the bone. I prefer solo-play mmo's.

So:

1. Graphic Engine performance
2. Aesthetics
3. Polished Content
4. Lore
5. Gameplay

I don't care about the "endgame", I am mostly a fan of Guild Wars 2, The Elder Scrolls Online, Anarchy Online, EVE Online and Albion Online - in these I don't have to care about the endgame at all.
The only game for me with an "ok" endgame is WoW.

Also, some players are heavily reward-driven. I am not.

[Deleted]

1. Engine, need to be able to run good on a okay computer, preferably also older computers can run it
2. Slow Progression (Needs to be grindy as hell) (its what i love about vanilla wow)
3. Good crafting/farming system where it actually takes effort to create a powerful item
4. Functional AH/Economy System
5. Ways to interact with other players (group play/social events etc)

[Slant]

Just wanting some ideas.

What top 5 points would you suggest make a great MMORPG similar to Warcraft?

eg. of things I'm looking for and other suggestions for areas of more importance. What top 5 things are most important to you?

• Graphic Fidelity
• Graphic Engine performance
• Aesthetics
• Animation
• Polished Content
• Lore
• Group play
• Gameplay
• Questing Experience
• Endgame

your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Developers not relying on buzz features like the ones you listed and understanding that it requires a bit more than just ticking off feature items of a list.

[Fencers]

1. Gameplay.

It's the only thing that makes any game good; indeed, gameplay is the only ting that makes a video game a game. Whatever else is present in a video game is merely dressing. It is utter nonsense to be able to play a game without gameplay- it is impossible. And one is only playing a video game because gameplay allows you to interface with the systems, literally it is why you are playing.

Nothing can ever be considered higher in this medium.

[Tekkommo]

Gameplay - Most MMOs fail at this, WoW gets it right
Customisation - as in UI, will use WoW as an example, addons add so much to the UI, you can change the look of it. Most baseline UIs are horrible and ugly
Content - Meaningful journey to max level, but also end game content
Engine - Will use WoW as an example (again), works on old PCs, looks great these days. SWTOR had a terrible engine and looks dated now
Group requirement - so many MMOs can be played as single player

[melodramocracy]

In no order:

Actual open world, large unzoned landmasses.
Player persona being an integral aspect of the game (you being able to play a representation of a character for better or for worse).
Decisions having meaning and impact on your gameplay.
In-depth and flexible character building.
Robust profession systems.

I'm not sure any game out there right now actually hits all these points.

[AztechZero]

Engine
Gameplay
Immersion
Rewards Structure
Lore

At least, that's how it is for me. If I can't get invested into the world or story then the game starts to lose me. Even if the gameplay is great, I just start to give less and less of a shit.

[Pull My Finger]

Gameplay. End of discussion, really.

[Roadblock]

Gameplay. End of discussion, really.

@ Both you and Fencers.
Isn't that answer exactly the same if you were asked "what makes a great arcade / adventure / whatever game?"
I mean your answer is generic enough not to be an answer at all.
Q: "What makes a great liquid?" A: "Being wet".
Q: "What makes a great tea?" A: "Being wet".
That's literally what you said.

[Remilia]

Fun
Fun
Fun
Fun
Fun

All the really matters to me in MMO's.

Pretty much. I'm playing FFXIV and PSO2 and they vary widely in what they have and more so how much is not in common that pin pointing what I value is pointless.

[Pull My Finger]

@ Both you and Fencers.
Isn't that answer exactly the same if you were asked "what makes a great arcade / adventure / whatever game?"

Yes.

I mean your answer is generic enough not to be an answer at all.

But that's because not the answer is bad, but the question. "Gameplay" shouldn't be in that list at all. It comes way before any of that. Everything else in that list could be 10/10, it doesn't matter at all if the gameplay isn't intrinsically compelling and doesn't create player agency and interactive situations that aren't intrinsically fun by themslves.

Gameplay makes games games. Bad gameplay makes games bad, uninteresting gameplay makes games uninteresting. Everything else is dressing.

There's a discussion to be had about the trappings and the ins and outs and bells and whistles of MMOs of course - should it look great, should it have raids, should it have no raids, should items have stats, should there be PvP, should there be cosmetic items, all that stuff. But all of that comes later, and is only even worth discussing or thinking about after the core principles of play have been established and are motivating and satisfying. I think my, as well as Fencers' reaction was mainly due to the fact that the point "gameplay" was even listed there.

[Fencers]

@ Both you and Fencers.

But that's because not the answer is bad, but the question. "Gameplay" shouldn't be in that list at all. It comes way before any of that. Everything else in that list could be 10/10, it doesn't matter at all if the gameplay isn't intrinsically compelling and doesn't create player agency and interactive situations that aren't intrinsically fun by themslves.

This is totally correct. As is typical, the concept with which this question is being asked by a player is poor.

If the OP asked the question different or listed more concrete examples the answers herein would be deserving of some more granular aspects of VG discussion. But if a user is posting, "fun", "immersion" or "engine" (highly dubious) is essentially saying; "gameplay". Because those are aspects of gameplay by which the player interfaces with the language of the game itself.

There is nothing, and this can never change, be anything in the medium of video games to consider higher than gameplay. It is literally the cause and method by which any agent can even play a video game.

[melodramocracy]

This is totally correct. As is typical, the concept with which this question is being asked by a player is poor.

If the OP asked the question different or listed more concrete examples the answers herein would be deserving of some more granular aspects of VG discussion. But if a user is posting, "fun", "immersion" or "engine" (highly dubious) is essentially saying; "gameplay". Because those are aspects of gameplay by which the player interfaces with the language of the game itself.

There is nothing, and this can never change, be anything in the medium of video games to consider higher than gameplay. It is literally the cause and method by which any agent can even play a video game.

The original question posed is what makes a good MMO. Given that any good game also has good gameplay by default, it should probably be a non-factor in this discussion (even though it's listed as a potential point.