I’m starting to follow Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen a little bit more seriously now. Why? I really don’t know. Something about the fact that it is still chugging along despite the odds, maybe?
I’m starting to see more and more that entices an old guard like myself to follow the game, which is why I was browsing their forums this evening when I saw this question:
What part of playing your character in MMORPGs do you struggle with the most?
I struggle greatly with feeling wanted, needed, and welcome in groups. I want to play a character that people will seek out, not one that I’ll have to convince a group to take along. I struggle with playing my characters when they become weak or ‘just another xyz in the crowd.’
This can be brought about by any number of factors:
- A bad choice at character launch — maybe I picked the wrong class entirely
- A nerf in a patch
- Specializing my skills wrong and messing up my ‘spec’
Whatever the reason may be, as soon as I feel like I’m no longer a class that people want, I almost lose all interest in playing that class entirely. For whatever reason, I can go from “this is awesome” to “this sucks” in a matter of hours.
That’s why I stopped playing both my Shaman and my Necro recently in EverQuest. I couldn’t get groups. I didn’t feel wanted. I rolled an enchanter, and tonight I had (no exaggeration) 5 group invites before I finished loading into the game.
What do you struggle with most when playing a character? Your looks? How to spec your skills? A feeling of being wanted like me?
Not feeling connected my character. That kills all desire to play.
I don’t care if my character is wanted, needed, can get groups, can solo, is effective or powerful. None of that matters. The primary issue is do I like my character? Would I want to hang out with them? Would I like to be them? Do I admire them, find them amusing, funny, good company?
My characters are the people I spend 100% of my game time with. If I’m not comfortable in their company then there’s absolutely no point in playing.
1. Gear / stat progression
I hate (and I don’t use the word lightly, I mean it) having to look at two pieces of gear and try figure out which one is better, I hate that gear and stats make my character more powerful. In the perfect MMO (as far as I am concerned) I would grind gear for the looks only. So far only Guild Wars 1 has delivered on this from the ones I’ve tried.
2. Economy
I struggle with having to deal with economies in games, having to grind reputation to be able to grind money to be able to buy the gear that gives me said stats in 1.
3. Crafting
Most of the time, crafting is boring…
Especially when its tied into nr 2, I don’t want to have to rely on someone else to make my stuff, and the stuff you create are 99 out of a 100 times just crap.
The one exception to this has been Engineering in WoW, which sometimes have been a fun profession, but usually the fun is negated in an upcoming patch that nerfs anything fun you could make…
Oh I forgot:
4. Class balance
Even if actually quite balanced, the rock paper scissor approach makes it so that once I see another class do something awesome in game, be it something really useful in a dungeon group or completely obliterate me in PvP, I feel like rerolling to that class.
Which means, I’m an altoholic…. 😀
Pretty much the same. I will often persist so long as I feel like I contribute substantially, no matter how flawed the game. When I feel only a reroll will fix my problem, I call it quits. Feeling weak takes all he fun out of it for me.