Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place five days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
I think this is similar to preferences in media spoiling. Some people like the surprise and never look into what they're about to experience, while others go as far as spoiling the entire movie for themselves just so they can know for sure that they gonna enjoy the experience. And afaik there's even been research about people enjoying media more after having that media spoiled to them, because they had no anxiety related to sudden twists or surprises, so they could just enjoy the ride.
I like learning everything about all the classes, gear and augments exactly because to me it's interesting what my opponent will use in any particular encounter. There's no "omg, this is something absolutely unseen" feeling, but there's always a "ahh, you went with this today, ok, let me think up a way to counter it" feeling.
I don't have any info about how either side of the pvx spectrum thinks about this kind of preference difference, but it does seem that pvers are close to your preference while pvpers are close to mine. Like, there's a reason why absolute majority of pvp games (irl ones included) barely ever change their basic rules. When both sides know exactly what those are - it's about the execution of actions, rather than sudden changes in what those actions may even be.
But considering that majority of AoC's general audience is currently western (with its presentation being in english and servers in NA/EU), it's way easier to just present the game as niche, because that would let that audience know what kind of game it'll be for them.
Yeah.
I was surprised with new mechanics more in any one given EQ2 expansion than I was in 4+ years of PvP in Archeage, or the time I was in BDO. The surprise in PvP is only a potential surprise, it usually doesn't materialize, in my experience.
Now, admittedly, Archeage had a meta that a lot of players didn't shift from much, but that is the vast majority of games. The more options you give the general public, the fewer they use.
I have never had a surprise of note due to different combinations of abilities. When you see any given player character of any given class, you have a list of what abilities they have access to (including gear and buffs from other players, where appropriate) - I assume they could have any combination on that list, and nothing off it.
With that in mind, there just isn't scope to be surprised in PvP, short of being jumped.
Well yeah - but that leaves Steven in the position where he is presenting Ashes as niche to his target audience, is building it feom a gameplay perspective as if it is only ever going to be niche, but is requiring a population that is mainstream.
You can word that differently if you like, but the inherent problem there remains.
Also, L2 is very niche in the east. It is barely played in Korea in relation to other Korean MMO's, and is all but unheard of in Japan, Taiwan and China. From talking to you, the only region it seems to not be is the CIS region - a region that is problematic for Intrepid to host servers in.
Yes, now L2 became a mobile auto-battler with insane p2w, so any popularity it could've had went out the window. WoW's not too far behind, though it had a higher peak so even the fall still lands it very high as well.
I think that most of us are using the term to be polite when describing a game that is/was not popular, didn't have many players and would not be considered a large commercial success. Otherwise, we could just say it was a shitty game that no one liked but that has a harsh tone to it, so niche it is.
maybe most people are a bad example about how a person should be then hahaha
since the games that are trying to appease a broader audience are turning to be the worst games
#reality-check
I mean, that is obviously subjective.
If you limit yourself to official servers, which is the better game to play today, WoW or Tera? ESO or SWG? FFXIV or Archeage?
You can argue all you want as to what any if these games used to be like, but you have no real argument in terms of what is best to play today.
That is the value of a popular game. It is a game you can stick with for many, many years. You can't do that in most niche games, because they don't last that long.
There is absolutely value in longevity. I would happily play a game that i consider a 7 or 8/10 but that I believe will last 10 years, than a game that I consider 9/10 that will only last 3.
The less generic you make a game, the smaller the audience you attract, and thus the shorter the duration you can keep the game live becomes.