Hi, I quite agree.
Take core exiles for example. It's a game that really does fulfill a lot of my gaming wishes as it were. The community is friendly, the game is fantastic. Below are some specific points I've made with reference to ce but you can apply a lot of these points to games in general in terms of personal requirements or I should say I can, other people may think differently with regards to these points. Essential points 1. it's persistent. So the game never ends or there's no reset. I hate games that reset every month. I find them boring. I think personally it limits the gaming experience and the whole scope. The types of games where this happens are the more simple games in my opinion and the games which would become seriously unbalanced if they were allowed to go along the lines of a persistent route. 2. there's no specific way that you have to play the game. It suits many styles. 3. from what I've seen so far the game is totally open ended in terms of how you go about things. The game play is very flexible. 4. The game is much larger than it looks. Because of the scope of activities within the game itself. By this I mean there's currantly around 750 locations you can visit. But it's not about how many places you can go. It's about all the different things you can do. 5. it's like a book. Within reason you can just put it down and come back to it later. You aren't under any major pressure from the game. What's the point in playing a game that constantly puts you under pressure or is so demanding on your time that it becomes your life? That's not enjoyment at least to me it's not. Whilst I can play a game like ce for hours on end, it's not because I am concerned about keeping up with others it's because of pure enjoyment. I can play core exiles for half hour or so 1 day, then a few hours on another day and still get a great deal of enjoyment from the game because I don't feel slaved to it. 6. it's completely newbie friendly. It's been designed from the ground up to be that way. For example, you get starter missions which take you through the basics of the game in order that you can survive. Whilst you may argue that a lot of games do this, I don't think it's done quite as well. 7. the community is a very friendly one. I've played some fantastic games over the last few years especially online but the 1 thing that really can let a game down for me is the game community. Remember that you have to play along side these people and whilst they are only bits of text on a screen, it only takes 1 moronic individual to really spoil your gaming experience because they can. This is where strict and enthusiastic moderation should be implemented. For example, if the game does allow for pvp killing, someone who comes straight out of newbie protection shouldn't be considered fare game by anybody. In ashes of angels for example, they get round this by only allowing you to shoot at people within a given percentage of your overall score. So it's reasoned that you are going to be pretty equal in terms of capabilities. So it then boils down to your skills at the game rather than who has the biggest punch. Which under other circumstances could easily determine the course of any given confrontation. I'm not saying take risk completely out of a game because that would be pointless. But what's the point in a player being ranked number 50 getting shot down constently by a player in the top 10? I mean who realistically is going to win? Logically there's no real fun in that on either side. This is where moderation really should step in here. So as I've outlined above, there's plenty to be looking at in order to 1 making a game interesting and 2 keeping the player base active. In warring factions for example, 1 of the biggest complaints is that there's not enough of an influx of new players. Which is rather sad considering the complexity of the game. But the main problem with this game is the attitude of the gaming community. They kill the ggame because of how they act. For example, if a newbie needs help, nobody will help you very much because everybody is wanting to protect their trade secrets. Anybody who does help a newbie is branded either a fool or a traiter, which quite honestly is stupid. Now the problem here is how does that help the game to grow. If the game community is such that it isn't very inviting, what insentive is there to play the game? Especially if you are playing either along sie or against certain people. So there really is multiple parts here to keeping a game going. Game content, fareness and the community itself. No virus found in this outgoing message. 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