Posts by Leo

January 18, 2013

I wouldn't tank under his heals There's an article explaining reasons behind typical MMO class setup . As the article correctly states, when a game allows flexible playstyle inside a character class, it immidiately faces a problem with unpredictable pick-up-groups. How do I know if a cleric I just accepted to a group can heal? He could be a battle cleric with insane DPS,...

January 17, 2013

This is a continuation of previous post where I stated that endless repetition kills gameplay . Therefore, game should encourage players to use different tactics in different circumstances. The goal is to make player guess and search for the most effective playstyle again and again. Game does this by varying relative cost-effectiveness of skills and tactics in different situations....

January 17, 2013

How a battle system should be designed in a perfect new-age MMO RPG? Short answer: I don't know yet. But I can point out what feels badly wrong in existing MMOs. One at a time In conventional MMOs player usually fights 1 foe at a time. Simply because it is cost-effective. Player can manage 2 foes, rarely 3, at the cost of wasting HP/mana (and ultimately time and/or other...

January 15, 2013

How would an MMORPG look with no grind? Let's go a bit crazy here. Insist on instant creation of characters of any class, any level, with any equipment! Controls Let's describe game basics to draw some background for further discussion. Consider a conventional MMORPG. WoW-like controls with little change, if any. 3D environment. One character to control at any given time....

January 15, 2013

Things applying to any game, not just MMO. Easy and fun to start playing. Hard to master: encourages creativity and personal development. Great diversity of playable strategies with none 100% effective. Effectiveness in game highly depends on human skills. Implementing and perfecting strategy ideas do not require neither real money nor repetitive playing. Game...

January 15, 2013

Thoughtful link: Quotes from famous game designers and others . What is gameplay? Gameplay is simply the actions a player is allowed to perform in a game. If those actions are enjoyable and the controls are intuitive, you have the most important ingredients of a great game. Duane Alan Hahn A good game has to have a fun core, which is a one-sentence description of why it's...