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Iceburgh · 07-01-2008, 07:56 PM

The point of making a MMO is for many people to enjoy it. A mid level grind is the most acceptable of grinds because Casual and hardcore players can achive max level within a reasonable ammount of time. What this means for a business is more people can play the game. When more people can play more people will buy it. If there is enough content after max level people will continue playing it. As long as its reachable by a Majority amount of players over time. The hardcor players can get it done faster and earlier and reap the rewards of showing off their items or accessing new areas sooner. And Casual players can take heir time and work towards the end without being completely shut out because of leveling being an impossible task for someone with limited hours.

The reason WoW is successful is they created a way for Casuals and Hardcore players to co exist within the MMO WORLD and be able to enjoy the luxury of not wasting time to achieve victory.

Having a long grueling leveling curve turns off players. Some will never make it to max level and instead of continuing playing will move on meaning less people to play with. others will partake in power leveling services/bots thus ruinng the experience for new players as they will have less people to interact with.

There is a fine line between a game and a job. If you cant beat a game or complete at least the beginnin part which for an MMO leveling is just the begining of the game if done right. It wont do well at all. The less people that can enjoy your game the worse off it will be. Though if the leveling is to easy and end game isnt filled with stuff to do then people dont play as long.

So in order for an MMO to succeed on anywhere near WoWs level everything needs to be taken into consideration.

1. Leveling needs to take time but not be a task only possibe for people with no jobs and only school. Or people who work from home or can play while at work. It needs to be something anyone can do no matter the amount of time they have be it 30min a day to
15hrs a day. In 30min you should always be able to gain at least 10% of your level. Any slower and you push out alot of money from casual people who just like the game and want to enjoy it but dont have 50hrs a week to spend playing.

2. Endgame needs to have alot of options other than raiding. People should be able to farm/craft/raid/instance for gear of superior quality. It doesn have to be the best gear out.But it has to allow players to "gain" something to keep them playing. Once people have found out that theres nothing more they can do to gain anything for their character,they either start a new one or they quit. So giving many options to aquire gear/items insures that someone can choose to continue their chars progression in whatever fasion fits their playing experience.

3. Fun factor needs to be tuned through the entire game. When people are having fun they arent worried about the time they are wasting because the main point of the game is to have fun. Most people dislike doing something over and over. Everyone would get sick of repetition unless youre just weird and dont like change. You cant make everyone happy but the more you can the more who will play or the more they will bring to play.

4. Pricing options. There should be more than 1-2 ways to buy/purchase game time including game cards and online gift certificates and such. The easier it is to pay and keep playing the easier it is to get more people hooked. Granted in this day and age anyone needing a credit card can get one.

Anyways following these steps will net you a successful game. Ignoring them for feelings that you are better than someone cause you have more time to level is an absurd way to ever design a game. Anyone who feels they earned their levels in a game with a BAD level curve just imagine how much your being laughe at by the guy who botted or got power leveled. not only did they gain the same number of levels as you but they also didnt have to waste 2000hrs of their life doing it.

This isnt to say your 2000hrs is a waste but while you were "earning levels" they could have been "earning money". To each his own but im pretty sure that if you feel you need to seperate yourself from people due to how much time you can spend on a game then you may have some inferiority complexs that youre making up for with your need to feel important or better.

07-01-2008, 07:56 PM	#472 (permalink)
Iceburgh Daeva Join Date: Jun 2008 Race: Elyos	The point of making a MMO is for many people to enjoy it. A mid level grind is the most acceptable of grinds because Casual and hardcore players can achive max level within a reasonable ammount of time. What this means for a business is more people can play the game. When more people can play more people will buy it. If there is enough content after max level people will continue playing it. As long as its reachable by a Majority amount of players over time. The hardcor players can get it done faster and earlier and reap the rewards of showing off their items or accessing new areas sooner. And Casual players can take heir time and work towards the end without being completely shut out because of leveling being an impossible task for someone with limited hours. The reason WoW is successful is they created a way for Casuals and Hardcore players to co exist within the MMO WORLD and be able to enjoy the luxury of not wasting time to achieve victory. Having a long grueling leveling curve turns off players. Some will never make it to max level and instead of continuing playing will move on meaning less people to play with. others will partake in power leveling services/bots thus ruinng the experience for new players as they will have less people to interact with. There is a fine line between a game and a job. If you cant beat a game or complete at least the beginnin part which for an MMO leveling is just the begining of the game if done right. It wont do well at all. The less people that can enjoy your game the worse off it will be. Though if the leveling is to easy and end game isnt filled with stuff to do then people dont play as long. So in order for an MMO to succeed on anywhere near WoWs level everything needs to be taken into consideration. 1. Leveling needs to take time but not be a task only possibe for people with no jobs and only school. Or people who work from home or can play while at work. It needs to be something anyone can do no matter the amount of time they have be it 30min a day to 15hrs a day. In 30min you should always be able to gain at least 10% of your level. Any slower and you push out alot of money from casual people who just like the game and want to enjoy it but dont have 50hrs a week to spend playing. 2. Endgame needs to have alot of options other than raiding. People should be able to farm/craft/raid/instance for gear of superior quality. It doesn have to be the best gear out.But it has to allow players to "gain" something to keep them playing. Once people have found out that theres nothing more they can do to gain anything for their character,they either start a new one or they quit. So giving many options to aquire gear/items insures that someone can choose to continue their chars progression in whatever fasion fits their playing experience. 3. Fun factor needs to be tuned through the entire game. When people are having fun they arent worried about the time they are wasting because the main point of the game is to have fun. Most people dislike doing something over and over. Everyone would get sick of repetition unless youre just weird and dont like change. You cant make everyone happy but the more you can the more who will play or the more they will bring to play. 4. Pricing options. There should be more than 1-2 ways to buy/purchase game time including game cards and online gift certificates and such. The easier it is to pay and keep playing the easier it is to get more people hooked. Granted in this day and age anyone needing a credit card can get one. Anyways following these steps will net you a successful game. Ignoring them for feelings that you are better than someone cause you have more time to level is an absurd way to ever design a game. Anyone who feels they earned their levels in a game with a BAD level curve just imagine how much your being laughe at by the guy who botted or got power leveled. not only did they gain the same number of levels as you but they also didnt have to waste 2000hrs of their life doing it. This isnt to say your 2000hrs is a waste but while you were "earning levels" they could have been "earning money". To each his own but im pretty sure that if you feel you need to seperate yourself from people due to how much time you can spend on a game then you may have some inferiority complexs that youre making up for with your need to feel important or better.