I remember a day when old RPG games had either a level cap or a definite ending. From Pool of Radiance to Secrets of the Silver Blades to Final Fantasy the game had a final boss or stage and often had some type of level cap. Today, gamers don’t want it to end, they’d rather have the option to wonder around aimlessly or completing minor quests in order to soak up every ounce of money they spent on the title.
Now even Bethesda is saying “we’ve learned our lesson” from the whiplash of ending their game title and capping levels. Gamers want to go back and re-try content they missed, they want to run side quests and talk to everyone in the world they want to grind themselves to über powerful levels and become a god in their fantasy world. Can you blame them?
You can’t really blame them for wanting to maximize the content, although it’s slightly more evolved than RPG’s of old. Perhaps it was World of Warcraft and other MMORPG’s that brought us to the stage in life where we all want to squeeze every last RPG dime out of the title. As a kid I wondered the world of Hyrule and covered every tile of graphical color, burned every bush, bombed every stone looking for all the content. However, even Zelda had an end with scrolling credits – you didn’t just land on a platform with your master sword and a dream.
Other titles have used level caps to limit you and draw you into the next release of the game. This was popular in the D&D world because the game is designed to target specific levels of difficulty. They may only allow you to gain level 10 because the enemies are no tougher than level 13, allowing the challenge to be good but not overwhelming. If they allow you to get to level 50 they’d have to design the game so all the enemies grow powerful along with you — that’s not always a desired result.
Final Fantasy is a popular franchise that typically allows you to grow infinitely powerful depending on how much time you want to spend repeat killing the same enemies. Gamers aren’t always into the grind, they just want to grind “enough” to make the challenges a little more do-able.
Today, however, with larger storage capacity, larger development teams and the desire to build more value into your gameplay experience titles have dozens of side quests and sub-plots that are totally optional. The result of so many sub-quests results in a player who is much more powerful at the end of those quests compared to a player who sticks to the narrow path of the main plot. So, games much grow dynamically challenging to keep the fun per dollar high.
Do you like your RPG’s to have a definite end and a high but capped level?
hey,
i have not listen to this episode yet but, i would like to thank you jonah for including a battlefield news article included. is much apreciated from a fan of the series like me :3
@“Family” trailer didn’t sell Dead Island, co-op did
Yep, makes sense for a game to sell due to game play features.
@World of Tanks was dismissed as “cheap Asian stuff” – and GDC Europe
I also had no idea about GDC Europe …
World of Tanks seems a nice game, my brother plays it a lot and he likes it. It has a tech tree that does depart from realism a bit, true, but still, a very interesting game.
@Alleged “Microsoft Xbox Durango Development Kit” sold on eBay for $20,100
So it’s a prototype of the console … basically similar hardware to what the console will use … with a (yet dodgy until patched to be usable by the game devs) software dev kit that will also be provided by Microsoft for a very small fee …
Who buys that stuff?!
I mean sure, you have now (2012) a console that won’t be available (along with its games) until one -two years later,woot!! Now, what games are you going to play on it?
@QOTW:
Hmm, tough call. What usually sets apart MMOs is the fact that you have a lot of players sharing the same world and interacting with each other.
In Facebook games you don’t really do that; it more like Massive Multiple Instances of Single Player Online.
We’ll all miss you Paul! Best of luck on your recovery and you’ll be in our thoughts until your return.
Sorry for posting late in the last few weeks, but I’ve been saving podcasts for when I’m not on the computer and I fell a bit behind. To Paul: get well soon and you will definitely be missed in the next few podcasts.
@QOTW: I think that they should fit in some type of new sub-genre, because MMO to me means roaming a world where you see plenty of other people playing and you can interact with them, not just a game with a large number of people online with a few interactions.
hi guys!
dan, last week… you should have ignored jonah and read with tough sarge’s voice… ¬¬ damn you jonah!
@Deep Silver: “Family” trailer didn’t sell Dead Island, co-op did:
of course! if a game is good, it will sell itself, ads are just for that, TO ADVERTISE!
@DICE: Battlefield 4 isn’t set in the future, talks Bad Company 3:
i will not be getting MoH warfighter for the bf4 beta, just like in BF3, i will probably buy the limited edition and get early access anyways. i wish bf4 were the 2143… far future is so coooool!
and the bad company “series” has still a lot of potential! the single player is full of nice comedy and has a (descent) story. looking forward to see haggs sweetwater and sarge again while playing as marlow!
oh! and a coop drop in drop out campaign would fit nicely!
@QOTW:
mmo means massive MP online. it is simple to see if FB games fit that category, but “classic” mmo’s like WoW, DayZ mod (idk if 40~60 players are already considered as “massive”) and LotR might have distorted the MMO word meaning. summerizing, yes, they are, but not as harcore gamers are used to.
If Paul is listening, by now i hope your surgery did well and you are in a collorful paralel world in drugs enjoying yourself :3. save some pills ‘cuz i want to see how are you in the podcast while high 🙂
GET WELL SOON
@Dead Island
As someone who played Dead Island co-op, I can confirm that it sold the game. Besides, you need to be very shallow to buy a game just because of a trailer. Dead Island is what the Xbox needed for the past 6 years of its existence. A game with a world which can be freely explored by a group of people. And it has zombies wearing bikinis (if you like that kind of stuff). The games single player experience does not even remotely compare to that of Skyrim or Fable. It’s the world’s most boring and lonely zombie apocalypse.
@Battlefields
I must admit, I prefer Bad Company 2 to Battlefield 3. I hope they make a third one. Problem with setting a game in the future (i.e. 2142) is that you have to make up bullshit sci-fi weapons, which don’t appeal to everyone. An AK-47 is a trusted weapon which is loved by gamers and terrorists alike. Battlefield 2142 had walkers, emp granades and active camo. Such gameplay elements required a different set of skills which dominate modern day shooters. A COD fan wouldn’t like 2142.
@Facebook games
Facebook is not a gaming platform.
/thread
Can’t add much. The comments before mine explain it well. MMO are supposed to have people around. So that you can interact with others in real time. Or be like me, and play by yourself to feel alone but surrounded by people.