The themepark needs to close.

[staticflare]

I'm sorry but it's time for something new.

When I played the Wildstar beta this past weekend, I was simply amazed at the great character customization, good animations, funny themes, and detailed introduction into the factions. The gameplay was solid, and the graphics were sound.

However, when I was given a quest to kill 10 and gather these I stopped what I was doing and said to myself "Haven't I already done this a 100 times before?". After that I left the game, went into the game folder and uninstalled the game.



The Themepark is something that World of warcraft has made iconic in the mmo industry. It's almost as if it is impossible for there to be a mmo that is made without this design. Why is this you might ask? It's simple, game publishers are afraid to take chances anymore, they see the only way for them to regain their profit is to base it on the "themepark" or "World of warcraft" formula in order to gain sells. This has plagued the mmo industry for far too long and has severely reduced the amount of unique and innovative mmo's that we used to see on the shelves.

Before WoW there was, City of heroes, Final fantasy XI, Dark age of Camelot, Everquest 1 & 2, Star wars galaxies, Lineage I & II, etc.. Different designs, different gameplay elements, different endgames.

After WoW there was, WoW, WoW, WoW, WoW, WoW, WoW.



A change needs to happen.

[Celista]

Themeparks get a bad rap, they're not so bad as long as the rides are fun. WoW's questing system is simply dated...they tried adding sandbox elements in MoP in regards to artifact collecting, but they could have pushed the envelope a bit more. Can you have a true sandbox in a game like WoW, where every questline ends up on wowhead before the expansion is even released?

Dynamic questing I support (i.e., elements of Rift/GW2/SWTOR, although none of the three executes questing perfectly), and I agree that the bear ass collecting needs to go.

[Tierbook]

ESO seems to be avoiding that decently enough

[SodiumChloride]

Themeparks are OK IF they are well done.

They basically flow like a movie/book, where you keep watching/turning the page to find out what happens next.

WoW's themepark pretty much sucks nowadays. Their lore is all over the place and so inconsistent that you don't really give a shit any more. Their characters are one dimensional with personalities that turn on a dime as the plot they are trying to push demands. Their stories are just plain bad. Their presentation ain't much better - the voice acting can be really cringe inducing. Some of the quests even manages to piss you off ... e.g. the one in Cata that asks you to kill "failed" Twilight initiates (or something; I can't remember). Really? You want players to feel like shit? And all their attempts at making you feel important feels like flattery - "hero", "champion" ... feels like someone kissing my ass.

WoW is now about numbers and "mechanics", because "Gameplay > Lore". It's their game. /shrug

What Blizzard fails to realise is you need both in an RPG. Having gameplay only while throwing lore to the wind is like having a car with a top of the line engine but no wheels.

[Kaleredar]

Themeparks are OK IF they are well done.

They basically flow like a movie/book, where you keep watching/turning the page to find out what happens next.

WoW's themepark pretty much sucks nowadays. Their lore is all over the place and so inconsistent that you don't really give a shit any more. Their characters are one dimensional with personalities that turn on a dime as the plot they are trying to push demands. Their stories are just plain bad. Their presentation ain't much better - the voice acting can be really cringe inducing. Some of the quests even manages to piss you off ... e.g. the one in Cata that asks you to kill "failed" Twilight initiates (or something; I can't remember). Really? You want players to feel like shit? And all their attempts at making you feel important feels like flattery - "hero", "champion" ... feels like someone kissing my ass.

Those points actually fit Vanilla and BC more than they do the "recent" WoW story.

"You're going to Outland to fight Illidan, Why? Who knows. Throughout the storyline, you collect hellboar flanks and shiny crystals and naga bladders. How does that help you stop illidan? Who knows? What in the hell is Illidan even trying to do that's so evil? Nuts if Blizzard ever tells you. But he's angry looking and has big demon wings and horns so he's bad GO KILL HIM! Oh, and go kill these trolls in Ghostlands and Kael'thas isn't actually dead."

That's literally the summary for Burning Crusade.

[Deleted]

ESO seems to be avoiding that decently enough

Yea, that was a pretty fun discovery, even though I'm sure what we did was pointless either way, due the conversations and the twist given it never felt pointless. Up to level 15 I remember only doing maybe 3 quests that required me to collect some random items. All others had a goal connected to some storyline.

- - - Updated - - -

Those points actually fit Vanilla and BC more than they do the "recent" WoW story.

"You're going to Outland to fight Illidan, Why? Who knows. Throughout the storyline, you collect hellboar flanks and shiny crystals and naga bladders. How does that help you stop illidan? Who knows? What in the hell is Illidan even trying to do that's so evil? Nuts if Blizzard ever tells you. But he's angry looking and has big demon wings and horns so he's bad GO KILL HIM! Oh, and go kill these trolls in Ghostlands and Kael'thas isn't actually dead."

That's literally the summary for Burning Crusade.

I stronlgly suggest you read quest text before spreading such bullshit. Almost everything got explained in specific questlines.

[Buxton McGraff]

Themeparks get a bad rap, they're not so bad as long as the rides are fun. WoW's questing system is simply dated...they tried adding sandbox elements in MoP in regards to artifact collecting, but they could have pushed the envelope a bit more. Can you have a true sandbox in a game like WoW, where every questline ends up on wowhead before the expansion is even released?

Dynamic questing I support (i.e., elements of Rift/GW2/SWTOR, although none of the three executes questing perfectly), and I agree that the bear ass collecting needs to go.

The thing is, Wowhead isn't even necessary for quests anymore because you literally follow an arrow on your mini map for 90 levels.

[Kaleredar]

I stronlgly suggest you read quest text before spreading such bullshit. Almost everything got explained in specific questlines.

They're almost completely mum to Illidan's actions. Why did he send the bloodelves that surrendered to attack Shattrath? Why were the naga collecting water in Coilfang resevoir? Why was he breeding fel orcs? If he was so driven to fight the legion, why did he alienate the players who could have been his greatest ally?

They never tell you. Hell, the only lieutenant of his that even got any facetime before being shunter into being a dungeon boss in his service was Pathaleon.

And even then you're forgetting why the hell we would even care about Zul'Aman... and you're forgetting the whole "MERELY A SETBACK!" ordeal as well.

Players just didn't care about story as much back then. And now some people are pretending that the storyline of Burning Crusade was some coherent Machiavellian work of art. It wasn't. People just weren't driven to care.

It's like daily quests and rep grinds and attunements and flying mounts. They weren't any different in Burning Crusade. They weren't intrinsically "more fun" in the case of the two former or "less game-ruining" in the case of the latter. People were just more content to do such things back then because they were riding the gravy train and didn't really care. "We supposedly killed Kael'thas? Well, I guess we didn't... Oh well, back to playing Simon Says for Ogri'la dailies"

[kail]

Those points actually fit Vanilla and BC more than they do the "recent" WoW story.

"You're going to Outland to fight Illidan, Why? Who knows. Throughout the storyline, you collect hellboar flanks and shiny crystals and naga bladders. How does that help you stop illidan? Who knows? What in the hell is Illidan even trying to do that's so evil? Nuts if Blizzard ever tells you. But he's angry looking and has big demon wings and horns so he's bad GO KILL HIM! Oh, and go kill these trolls in Ghostlands and Kael'thas isn't actually dead."

That's literally the summary for Burning Crusade.

There are quest-lines based on Shadowsong and Illidan, several of them actually. Some (or most), probably didn't read through the quests themselves and just wanted to get attuned or lv70 asap during that time but Blizz did put in explanations in the xpac, just like Wrath, Cata and MoP.

The Kael'thas retcons were a shitty move as well and it even pissed me off that Blizz didn't learn much in Wrath as well; Anub.

OT: I'm hoping that themepark Devs start putting more focus on what to do in the open world, instead of instanced content.

[pastar]

Id like to start off by saying I love the Themepark mmo's. Yes lvling is boring however I do not play the game to lvl, I play the game for kick ass endgame. As for the guy saying ESO breaks this you are wrong. It is the same shit just with fully voiced quests. If you want something different go play EQNext. However, please do not try and say all others want the same thing in their mmo. There are many people that love the themepark I do not want crazy change like EQNext, rather, I just want improved versions of what already works.

In other words, stop bitching if you do not like the game go play something else. There are many that do like them.

[Vyadore]

I'm sorry but it's time for something new.

When I played the Wildstar beta this past weekend, I was simply amazed at the great character customization, good animations, funny themes, and detailed introduction into the factions. The gameplay was solid, and the graphics were sound.

However, when I was given a quest to kill 10 and gather these I stopped what I was doing and said to myself "Haven't I already done this a 100 times before?". After that I left the game, went into the game folder and uninstalled the game.



The Themepark is something that World of warcraft has made iconic in the mmo industry. It's almost as if it is impossible for there to be a mmo that is made without this design. Why is this you might ask? It's simple, game publishers are afraid to take chances anymore, they see the only way for them to regain their profit is to base it on the "themepark" or "World of warcraft" formula in order to gain sells. This has plagued the mmo industry for far too long and has severely reduced the amount of unique and innovative mmo's that we used to see on the shelves.

Before WoW there was, City of heroes, Final fantasy XI, Dark age of Camelot, Everquest 1 & 2, Star wars galaxies, Lineage I & II, etc.. Different designs, different gameplay elements, different endgames.

After WoW there was, WoW, WoW, WoW, WoW, WoW, WoW.



A change needs to happen.

So...let me make sure I got this right.

You loaded up a game..played it..didn't like it...uninstalled it...and then proceeded to MMO champion to petition to have these games to stop being made?

If I did that with every game I loaded up and played and proceeded to uninstall due to mechanics I didn't like I would be on MMO Champion or other such sites 24/7.

Theme parks work. MMO theme parks are like PC mmo pinball games. They offer a fun and predictable gaming experience that provides a relaxing time without having to sacrifice your real life to be "uber". All this while allowing you to experience new graphics, art, music, and online gaming with other interesting people.

I say they are pretty damn good for the money...keep making them. And, make some other games too, cause...variety and stuff.

[SodiumChloride]

Those points actually fit Vanilla and BC more than they do the "recent" WoW story.

"You're going to Outland to fight Illidan, Why? Who knows. Throughout the storyline, you collect hellboar flanks and shiny crystals and naga bladders. How does that help you stop illidan? Who knows? What in the hell is Illidan even trying to do that's so evil? Nuts if Blizzard ever tells you. But he's angry looking and has big demon wings and horns so he's bad GO KILL HIM! Oh, and go kill these trolls in Ghostlands and Kael'thas isn't actually dead."

That's literally the summary for Burning Crusade.

Vanilla wasn't so bad - for it's time.

BC and onwards ...

I'm done. Ever since I got a better computer.

[Celista]

I don't understand people sometimes.

Play a fighting game: Defeat 10 people.
Play any rpg: Defeat a shit ton of X.
Play an action rpg: Defeat a shit ton of x.
Play an action game: Defeat a shit ton of x.
Play a platformer Jump on, defeat a shit ton of x.

For some strange fucking reason, when an MMO has you do the exact same thing but tells you to do it explicitly, its suddenly a problem. I don't think this is a problem with MMOs. I think its simply that gamers are spoiled and they want their cake, to eat it too and to have seconds.

It becomes filler when overused. It's fine when your character is this young adventurer traveling through the 1-60 zones, but by level 90 you should have some raid notches under your belt, and you've defeated some pretty nasty dudes, and it starts to become a little nonsensical. My character has travelled through the Dark Portal and to Northrend; has defeated numerous old gods, Illidan, and Arthas; and has saved Azeroth from imminent destruction. But you send me over to a new, mysterious continent to collect bear asses?

[Valeron]

a lot of the sandbox or sandboxy games are being made by indie companies (such as the Repopulation). I'll be interested to see how much of a sandbox EQNext is. As it really will be one of the few AAA made sandbox mmos made (I mean the others were made so long ago such as UO and EVE Online).

[Clockwork Pinkie]

It cannot stop because it's still making money, it cannot stop because people bitch about the different and complain that it's not what they are used it. It can't stop, and it won't stop until the MMO genre is in the ground.

[purebalance]

Those points actually fit Vanilla and BC more than they do the "recent" WoW story.

"You're going to Outland to fight Illidan, Why? Who knows. Throughout the storyline, you collect hellboar flanks and shiny crystals and naga bladders. How does that help you stop illidan? Who knows? What in the hell is Illidan even trying to do that's so evil? Nuts if Blizzard ever tells you. But he's angry looking and has big demon wings and horns so he's bad GO KILL HIM! Oh, and go kill these trolls in Ghostlands and Kael'thas isn't actually dead."

That's literally the summary for Burning Crusade.

Just because you didn't read half of the BC quests doesn't mean there was no story given to Illidan or Kael in Outland. There was plenty of backstory and reason given as to why we were at war with them.

- - - Updated - - -

There are quest-lines based on Shadowsong and Illidan, several of them actually. Some (or most), probably didn't read through the quests themselves and just wanted to get attuned or lv70 asap during that time but Blizz did put in explanations in the xpac, just like Wrath, Cata and MoP.

The Kael'thas retcons were a shitty move as well and it even pissed me off that Blizz didn't learn much in Wrath as well; Anub.

OT: I'm hoping that themepark Devs start putting more focus on what to do in the open world, instead of instanced content.

Kael never had a Retcon. The second you killed him you knew he wasn't dead. It wasn't like it was til SWP that you found out he was alive.

[Vyadore]

There are :

Action games like Ball and paddle, Beat 'em up and hack and slash, Fighting game, Maze game, Pinball game, Platform game, Shooter, First-person shooter, Massively multiplayer online first person shooter, Light gun shooter, Shoot 'em up, Tactical shooter, Rail shooter, Third-person shooter. Action-adventure games like Stealth game, Survival horror, Real-time 3D adventures, Text adventures, Graphic adventures, Visual novels, Role-playing, Western RPGs and Japanese RPGs (JRPGs), Use of fantasy in RPGs, Sandbox RPGs, Action RPGs, MMORPGs, Rogue RPGs, Tactical RPGs, Simulation, Construction and management simulation, Life simulation, Vehicle simulation, Strategy, Artillery game, Real-time strategy (RTS), Real-time tactics, Tower defense, Turn-based strategy, Turn-based tactics, Wargame, Sports, Racing, Music game, Party game, Puzzle game, Trivia game, Board game / Card game, Adult video game................

And the list goes on.....

WoW didn't ruin anything. WoW refined and focused the theme park fantasy mmo within their own specific world and...millions loved it including me, my wife, my daughter, and lots of my friends.

If you don't like the game anymore...that is perfectly fine. But when I see threads about how Blizzard has somehow wronged gamers or a genre I just got to go....

HuH?

[Once]

It becomes filler when overused. It's fine when your character is this young adventurer traveling through the 1-60 zones, but by level 90 you should have some raid notches under your belt, and you've defeated some pretty nasty dudes, and it starts to become a little nonsensical. My character has travelled through the Dark Portal and to Northrend; has defeated numerous old gods, Illidan, and Arthas; and has saved Azeroth from imminent destruction. But you send me over to a new, mysterious continent to collect bear asses?

I always liked this expression of that concept.

[Vocah]

Am I the only one who despises voice-acting for quests? Oo

EDIT: Also, I have no problems with killing, gathering, whatevering quests

[Celista]

Am I the only one who despises voice-acting for quests? Oo

Yeah I'm not a fan, it adds some immersion but most of the acting is terrible and makes questing take so much longer.

In wow...most of the voice acting in wow is horrible. Example: that scene during the Shieldwall questline where Varian and Anduin run towards each other like two lovers in a bad porno, that voice acting was seriously cringe-inducing.