[MUD-Dev] MMORPG Cancellations: The sky is falling?

[Sean Howard]

"Adam Burr" <madmanatw at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 6 Jul 2004 01:21:44 -0400, Threshold RPG
> <business at threshold-rpg.com> wrote:

>> go somewhere that is better for exp or better for money), and
>> their half-baked "gear" system (enhancements) is the most
>> shallow, poorly thought out attempt at gear I've ever seen in any
>> game.

> I think you might sell the enhancements short. The friends I have
> who play CoH (and have played EQ, SWG, and DAoC before it) love
> the enhancements system. As one of them said yesterday, "I don't
> for a moment think 'I wish I could loot that Helm of Goodness.'"
> The fact that the enhancements let's them tweak their powers to
> taste is a feature they _love_.

Both experience systems and enhancement system just work towards
returning the status quo. The monsters get harder, so you do less
relative damage, so you need better equipment. The enhancements are
far more transparent.  Oh, hey, I found a Damage 10, which means I
can get Damage +6% at level 8... while my Damage 8 gives me +6% at
level 6 (I forget the real numbers, but it is similarly relational).

This means that as you go up levels, you have to continually replace
the exact same enhancements with higher level enhancements to be
doing the same relative damage at level 10 as you were at level
8. That's not fun.  There's barely any decision making
involved. There's not even any simple rules like "you can't put a
damage next to an accuracy enhancement" or something which minorly
affects how you build up your skills. It's horrible. It's shallower
than a kiddie pool... just nobody has noticed yet because the system
isn't well documented.

At least gear gives you a collectable aspect. Sure the "Mythril
Chainmail of Heebeejeebs" keeps the status quo at a higher level
than the "Cardboard Box of Plaid", but the metaphor given to the
equipment makes you feel like you are getting something out of
it. In most MMORPGs, your visual look changes to make you look more
armored and bad ass.

When you hear about City of Heroes, you always hear about the
character creation system, and the
flying/jumping/speeding/superhero-motion, because that's the only
thing the game has going for it, those things aren't even part of
the gameplay in any meaningful way.

- Sean Howard
www.squidi.net
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