FFXIV is Coming
The past week I received and email from SE saying that FFXIV beta is opening soon. Beta testing offers a huge opportunity to those who are set on playing a particular game. Some things will change for sure but the the large structure/design of the game will not change. I played part of Aion's beta after I got banned from FFXI. Prior to that I played NC Soft's Lineage 2 and recognized many of the features of the game from there. I remember when I started playing FFXI at a time when there was so little documentation on what to do and where to go.
One of my fondest memories was the crazy story of parties getting 200xp from crabs in the Dunes. That was fantastic compared to my 85xp from the crabs near Sandy and only a few people I knew at that time had even taken the trip down there. Not to mention we had no maps to guide us, on the the kind adventurer who was returning after days of partying. Those were great days of exploring a new world. And the bonds built while exploring a new world are hard to duplicate.
Unfortunately most of the games are laid out for new players without much mystery. This is one area that SE has done well with their games, MMO and otherwise. At times its frustrating, but look at how many people are still intrigued by Treasure Hunter or other other aspects of the game. That mystery is what creates a long game life. I'm not saying this is the only way to keep people involved, but it seems to be lost on many of the newer MMOs.
What where your fondest memories of MMOs? What really makes a good game? Is frustration really a bad thing?
One of my fondest memories was the crazy story of parties getting 200xp from crabs in the Dunes. That was fantastic compared to my 85xp from the crabs near Sandy and only a few people I knew at that time had even taken the trip down there. Not to mention we had no maps to guide us, on the the kind adventurer who was returning after days of partying. Those were great days of exploring a new world. And the bonds built while exploring a new world are hard to duplicate.
Unfortunately most of the games are laid out for new players without much mystery. This is one area that SE has done well with their games, MMO and otherwise. At times its frustrating, but look at how many people are still intrigued by Treasure Hunter or other other aspects of the game. That mystery is what creates a long game life. I'm not saying this is the only way to keep people involved, but it seems to be lost on many of the newer MMOs.
What where your fondest memories of MMOs? What really makes a good game? Is frustration really a bad thing?