Latest MMORPG Article on R31

Please read and discuss your impressions.

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/935/feature/10966/page/1

I like the work the Red Thomas has done in his many reviews. However, the following part stuns me:

I want to give Portalarium the benefit of the doubt and say the Love storyline will be ready for final wipe, but I honestly don’t know enough about that particular process to guess. They’ll certainly have a lot more done, and it’ll be in far better shape now that the developers working on story aren’t splitting their time between three different paths. I don’t think it matters as much as Richard and Starr may think it does, though. Richard’s still stuck on the standards he upheld with the Ultima series, and that’s definitely a good thing. That said, I think those standards need to be mitigated with an understanding that this team is creating a sandbox MMO.

This is an important statement from someone who follows SotA and knows what he's talking about. The perceptions among reviewers who know less and a broader audience who know even less than them won't be any different. If you've been with SotA from the beginning, you will recognize the huge shift in vision.

It's ok to be honest about it, it's an elephant in the room. But SotA launching as just another sandbox MMO in an already over-crowded market doesn't seem quite right. There is still time to adjust, and I hope it will happen.

 

Wait, did he just say that they should not put so much focus on the story and quests because SotA is a sandbox MMORPG?

 

Yes, he did.

 

No he didn't

That particular snippet of the article talks about how he doesn't feel like they need to focus on one storyline.

Whenever I agree with the author or not is something else entirely but he's basically saying that, because this is a sandbox MMO (instead of a linear RPG), it's better to get as much content done as possible rather than a few of it polished... Probably because the odds that the audience will experience that content is slim.

 

Ok, but what you said is a different aspect of the same, not a contradiction. And in the article, saying one should lower one's standards is definitely saying don't put so much focus on the story and quests. We don't need to debate this, because I don't think I'm in disagreement with your points here. But it's hard to argue that lowering one's standards is anything but giving them less focus.

 

Yeah I started to respond about 6x but then I stopped myself. Obviously, to the rest of the world, he didnt. But some people want to use it as an opportunity to vent at the author because the author didnt choose to use the word they prefer to classify the game.

Apparently to some, that "Selective" part of the selective multiplayer (as in your CHOICE of how to play, and how you play is probably going to be how you describe the game) is lost upon them.

 

True but quotes like:

Pretty much establishes what the author favours.

 

Yes, but MMO or Sandbox does not mutually exclude story and narrative. Nor gameplay type or preference.

 

But that's not the author's argument; they're saying that, because of the sandbox-ness, the devs shouldn't be focusing on a single quest-line. The author is saying that they'd rather have them working on all three story-lines as initially intended. The former is less sandbox and more linear; which the author believes goes against what Ultima used to represent.

 

Actually, no. =)

I was saying that I don't think the storylines in general are as important as Richard et al, including a lot of folks here, believe them to be when you're considering the health of the game. And "health of the game" IS the operative phrase, there. It's not even really what my preference would be. What I was trying to say, and apparently didn't say well, is that I think they've made a good decision to focus on a single storyline and probably should have done it sooner. Story is important to a lot of people, and getting one polished storyline is going to better show off their intended end-state (if there is such a thing for a game that's intended to be updated perpetually).

That said, and I think my consistent stories about the community bear this out, the players create far more story than the developers ever will. They're giving the player, and I include myself in that, the tools to create their own stories. Props for mazes and in-game theatrical productions, signs and tags for new-player support groups, gustball and all the bits they've created to support that... I know Richard wants story, and it's incredibly important to him and many fans to have it, but YOU are what makes this game great, not the devs. Nearly everything they do is supporting your ability to be immersed in a world and become your avatar. Any story those folks develop will be fun and entertaining, but eventually it'll also be finite, where as the stories those in this community create will be infinite.

_I_ believe that's the paradigm shift that everyone will be forced into is understanding that this really is a sandbox MMO that is flavored with in-game story, rather than being an RPG with the option to see other people in the same world. No one really wants to use that phrase, and I think the devs will hate me for pointing it out, but I think all the work to this point really backs that up. =) Because of that, I don't think the in-game story in any form is as important to the overall game as many others believe it is. I believe that it's something they could polish and roll out as they can, and it wouldn't really impact the game too much.

btw, 100% cool to disagree with me on any of that. I'm completely aware that there various components of this community that disagree with any and all of it strongly, including many inside Portalarium!

 

I don't think that's what the author is saying... he really is saying the story lines are not as important because it's a sandbox MMO. Can you read this part any other way?

The virtuous paths are stories players will only experience once, if ever. The interactions with each other and drama generated by other players will be a constantly refreshing story that unfolds perpetually, though. Whether they succeed in completing the one story or not, I believe the team will feel frustrated at missing a self-imposed mark, and there’ll be plenty of loud voices to beat them up about it. They’ll all be wrong, because players will generate their own storylines beyond anything the developers could do.

He really is saying the devs should not keep to the high Ultima standards (previous quote) because the story lines are not as important for the type of game this is... he's right that there will be loud voices about it, because it represents a shift in vision.

There are 2 choices: try to change the broader public perception that this is a sandbox MMO, or own it (this is where the team headed anyway) and do the best with it.

 

MMROPG.... ah well. Opinions, no news.
If I want opinions I prefer RPS.