As online games become more advanced, they can consume more of your free time. Interactive entertainment has shifted. Long gone are the mild diversions. I remember a simpler time for video games. I?d run down to the local video store, rent the latest Nintendo games for $1.10 each, and then I would bring the game back the very next day. That?s not the way it works with Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games. They?re designed to keep you playing. Lofty goals are embedded into the adventure. This is in the hopes of keeping you as a paying customer.

Yet, how much is too much? On one extreme, there are some pretty bad stories surrounding MMORPGs - suicides, murders, thievery, and even spousal neglect. In the hours, days and months that it takes to advance a virtual persona, the real life necessities can suffer. On the other extreme, gamers don?t want to play boring games. Anything in life can be taken to excess. That doesn?t mean we shouldn?t have nice things. I know that if I wasn?t wasting my free time on video games, I?d be wasting it on something else.

My concern is accessibility. Most gamers know that games should be second, while real life takes precedence. That?s the problem with lofty goals. If the challenges are set too high, the goal becomes unattainable. Players don?t participate. That why some gamers avoid MMORPGs entirely. The time sink is too great.


Now it is time to get more specific - World of Warcraft has an unusual change planned for their first expansion. In The Burning Crusade, it has been suggested that the raid cap will be lowered. The new limit will be 25, down from the usual 40. Plenty of the larger guilds are in an uproar over this issue, while the smaller guilds are elated.

I enjoy playing WoW, but I?m not big on loot greed. I was planning on ignoring raid content. I figured that my characters would pick up gear through the Auction House or through the PvP merchants. After Guild Wars, I had my fill of large guilds. Running an alliance with almost 1000 people really knocked the energy out of me. That?s why I am enjoying the quieter side gaming. There?s a lot of management involve with larger guilds. It takes the gameplay to another level. Some gamers thrive on that. Others simply cannot be bothered - it feels too much like work.

The true issue is fair play. People are inherently competitive. World of Warcraft has rewards for hardcore gamers, as it should. The problem is balance. That ?+10 Stiletto of Uber Noobie Slaying? makes it difficult for casual gamers. If you?re constantly losing PvP battles to players with better stats, it is only a matter of time before you cry foul.

Previously, I was of the belief that bigger is always better. Today, I?m not so sure. Now that I have a new job, I have far less time to play video games. This lets me experience the plight of casual gamers. I created ?Lofty? a Human Rogue. As I near the WoW endgame, I can better judge the balance of the game. I don?t know if a 25 player cap is too small, but I intend to find out.

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Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com

(Am I actually allowed to post here? I really don't know the ropes of forums! If I'm not suppose to post here I'm sry...)

To tell you the truth I never really played WoW, a few months and that was it for me...

Reason? Like some others, I think WoW is a game that doesn't depend on the skill of a player, but depend on the amount of time you spend on the game. (But then I really don't know a thing about WoW, so please don't be offended WoW players ><!)

Anyways to the point:

Large group raids has always been one of my favourite part of WoW (I came from a huge guild), however I believe lowering the cap in this expansion has it's good side...and bad side.

The good:

Imagine buying the expansion and then not having enough people with that bought expansion for a 40 man raid? I came from a pretty large guild, and even I don't expect 40+ of my members to buy the expansion on the first day.

This should prevent guilds to break up into "expansion only" guilds etc... that would be horrible to see.

The bad:

Like you mentioned, having such a low cap is terrible for larger guilds. Being in a large guild is dramatic enough with a 40 man raid cap...lol a 25 cap would break up alot of guilds. Blizzard should be expected to loose ALOT of hardcore players...

In my opinion, lower this cap is a very good thing...and this is comming from someone who is from a large WoW guild. With the reason above and the fact that lowering this cap will probably make people less "hardcore"...a 25 raid cap sounds like a good idea indeed.

But yes, I guess we'll just have to see how it plays out...

Yes!

You can reply to threads here, you just can't create new threads in this forum. Threads in this forum appear as news on the main Photics.com page.


I hear this arguement a lot. Large guilds argue that the low cap will upset raids. Smaller guilds say, "Then make two raid groups." If your guild is a large one, then it would be possible to run two raids at once. That solution looks good in theory. The reality is, the second group will likely be weaker. If one group succeeds in the evening's raid, but the other group fails, it will create strife. No one wants to sit at the kiddie table of raid groups.

I'm wondering how the larger guilds will handle this. Will there be more raids, or will players get frustrated? I don't know of many alternatives for epic sized raids.

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Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com

With the raid cap at 25, a large guild could get a few more members, (maybe not needed), and run two raids at the same time. Either in the same instance or in different ones. That way, no one would be left out and everyone would be getting a shot at good loot.

Don't forget about everyone having to get another ten levels, then buying flying mounts. That will keep everyone busy for at least a few days...

I know this is an older thread, but I think the question of time consumed by MMORPGs (especially to "keep up with the Joneses") and the discrepency between casual players and "hardcore gamers" is an issue that games in this genre will have to confront as their popularity increases.

I got burnt out on WoW from being in an endgame guild. I didn't like the clunky dynamics of the 40 man raids, the constant grind for the slim chance to win a piece of epic gear, OR, as was posted previously, the fact that many endgame guilds can turn a very entertaining game into a second job. But once I needed to devote a little more time to RL, running the same instance for the 20th time from when I got home from work til the time I hit the sack was the last thing I wanted to do.

Prior to my endgame time in WoW, I had a blast in the PvP battlegrounds (especially AV) but just did not have the time to commit to the grind for grand marshal (mind you, this was when I had a 3 day-a-week work week!).

Admittedly, when I have the time to devote to a game, I will play obsessively and love doing so. Some people need a trip to the Bahamas, just plant me in front of my comp with an engaging game for a week and I'm pleased as punch.

I don't think game designers should "dumb down" these games or make them less challenging to allow for gamers with varying time commitments, but it'll be interesting to see how this very real and very common issue is addressed down the line.

At the moment, I'm taking a little breather from MMORPGs, but with the slew of cool looking games slated for 2007 release, I don't know how long I'm gonna be able to hold off.

Speaking of which, has anyone taken a look at Mythic/EA's game in development, http://www.warhammeronline.com/english/home/index.php?

It began as a tabletop pen-and-paper strategy game in the early eighties and I guess with the popularity of games like GW, WoW, and Mythic's own Dark Age of Camelot, Mythic thought it might be a good license to pick up.

On first view of the trailers, it's evident how WoW took a lot from the "Warhammer" world stylistically (and dammit even the name is oddly similar), but when I read about the game mechanics and the massive RvR PvP it seems like it potentially could be the next thing that gets me hooked.

Anyway, I digress...

This was my favorite part with your post. I find vacations are too stressful. They're very expensive and people often try to cram two weeks of activity into one week's worth of time. Me, instead of spending several thousands dollars on a vacation, I'd rather buy a high-definition television and make every day a little vacation.

If you're a Warhammer fan, it might not be a bad game. Mythic has delivered results before with Dark Age of Camelot. They have more experience and probably more financial power now. Yet, MMORPGs are a funny story right now. I don't know where the market's heading. If I'm a good indicator of anything, it looks bad for MMORPGs. I let my WoW subscription run out. Instead, I bought a Wii and it looks like an XBOX 360 is in my future.

I had a falling out with Mythic. I used to play on Pendragon, the test server for Dark Age of Camelot. I didn't like where the game was heading with their first expansion. I stopped playing. That was over four years ago. I remember trying to renew my subscription, but it gave me an error. I took that as a sign to stay away.

Both Dark Age of Camelot and Guild Wars have shown me that lofty goals are important. The Crusaders alliance was 1000 players strong in both those games. But once we achieved absolute victory, there was no driving force to motivate an army that large. It's kinda silly to defend and maintain in a video game. It feels more like work than fun.

It's been a while since I thought about this issue. But now that I've had time to recharge, I know tgat I enjoy the lofty goals and the larger battles. They're more memorable. I've had lots of fun in Halo, but the 8 vs 8 battles just doesn't compare to epic sized warfare. Halo is a blur of red vs blue. But with DAoC, I don't think I'll forget the day I personally carried home two relics for Albion, dispite a Hibernia / Midgard double team.

It's a great story, but this post is already long enough.

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Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com