This whole “get people out of Scenarios,” feels very familiar to me. It’s a kin to hardcore vs. casual. It smacks of Raiders vs. non-Raiders. It sounds like people who solo vs. those who only group. I feel now the same way I felt in all the other games that came before Warhammer Online. It’s a game and players do what players want to do. Isn’t every player paying the same monthly fee? We all paid the required box price so I don’t see anyone’s opinion on what content is more important to be anymore valid than another’s. Mythic has said that they’d allow PVE to suffer for RVR/PVP and I get that given the focus of this game. The problem is that the current king of content is RVR/PVP focused – Scenarios. It’s just not the Open RVR content.
I continue to be amused by the players gnashing their teeth that there isn’t enough Open RVR and that the rewards are inadequate. I can agree with the rewards part but as for the rest, the fact that it’s less popular than they’d like, that’s sort of life in MMOs. People like what they like. People do what suits their needs, play-style and schedules. And I don’t think there’s a whole lot that the game developers can do about that without risking a large segment of their paying population.
I was enjoying doing Public Quests and joining open groups for PVE content. Unfortunately, that has all but vanished outside of guild pre-made. *Shrug* I wish there were more people out and about myself. However, I guess I’m more patient in waiting it out. I don’t want to see my needs met at the sake of someone else’s. I know that our guild does Open RVR almost on a nightly basis. We’ve done so since launch regardless of the rewards. Even knowing that the rewards are less superior, we continue doing it because we like it – it’s fun. I’m not sure what makes people think that even if Scenario content is nerfed that those people won’t continue doing them regardless, just like we do Open RVR regardless.
EverQuest and similar games taught people to grind for XP and gear. Blizzard came along and taught people to grind for reputation for rewards. Scenarios are those two things rolled into one. Millions of players have already been conditioned to do this treadmill, and are okay with it. Nah, I don’t think there’s a magic button that Mythic can push to undo this player conditioning and preference.
*Long exhale* To say that this will be interesting to watch unfold, is an understatement. Brace yourselves and clutch your pearls. This isn’t going away quietly.
Great post. It certainly will be interesting to see how events unfold. I'd like to be able to log into WAR and participate in what ever I feel like (Open RvR, Scenarios, Public Quests) without there being too much of an organization hassle. If Mythic can solve that problem, then I think WAR will be a much better game.
Posted by: Crimson Starfire | October 26, 2008 at 07:15 PM
Where/why do you see it as a war? What I generally see is people wishing Mythic would make changes to lure some people out of scenarios so that there is more activity going on in different parts of the game.
People who love Scenarios will keep playing them. People who only do them because that's all there is to do will maybe explore other aspects of the game.
The most radical suggestion I've seen (and which I admit, interests me) is a server-type with no scenarios, but again, that won't impact the people who love to run them because they won't move to such a server.
Looking at your blogroll, we read different blogs but on the ones I read, this is definitely a discussion, not a war. I'd be interested in some links to where people are turning it into something less civil.
Posted by: Pete S | October 26, 2008 at 08:40 PM
I've read blog posts and forum posts where Mythic is more or less being attacked for allowing the Scenarios to rule the day. *shrug* Some incentives to increase the rewards for Open RVR have gone into the game and still you can basically get Scenarios at will while the rest of the world is quiet. There are hot pockets of Open RVR at least during the evening time that I play, which has been enough for me, but not for some.
It's my sense that people are lining up for or against more drastic measure but that's only my opinion. :-) I'm a pro choice person in all things. I'm all for there being servers with no Scenarios if Mythic thinks there are enough players who want that restriction and have the numbers to support it across the various rule sets. Personally, I won't be among them. I'm paying to do all aspects of the game as the mood strikes me.
I think that player population divided by server rule set, divided by faction, divided by content zones, divided by Rank ranges, divided by player time zones and divided by content types is a MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM than Scenarios.
I believe that there is a critical mass point for the amount of content in this game. With a large enough population, I think the whole world would feel massive and densely populated. The problem is that the game mechanics and servers probably can't withstand many more players from what I experience on a daily basis. The combat responsiveness is latent and the lag is already bad enough. Can you imagine another couple thousand people running around Averheim??? *Shudders*
Posted by: Saylah | October 26, 2008 at 11:21 PM
Yeah, I agree that the # of people per server needs to be increased to support all 3 "legs" of game play, but I don't see the technology supporting many more bodies online at any one time!
I admit when I get frustrated I whine about the scenario situation, but mostly that's just me whining because I want to experience fun PvE and OpenRvR. But I don't want Scenarios nerfed or limited in frequency; why screw it up for the people who're enjoying things?
I think Mythic are taking steps to induce some change, and I like that they aren't making huge changes but going in small increments. Regional chat at least has people talking about OpenRvR, and the increased experience provides some incentive for doing it. And I'm starting to sound like a broken record so I'll just hush now.
Posted by: Pete S | October 27, 2008 at 07:50 AM
Eh, it's not whining. There's a part of the game you expected and wanted that isn't living up to your expectations so you're discussing it.
I think the lack of players and implementation of the crafting is borked and I will be discussing complaining - err, discussing it this week. :-)
Posted by: Saylah | October 27, 2008 at 08:16 AM
I'm firmly in the camp that wants to see more RvR in open areas, as to me that's what WAR's about and that's when it's at its most fun.
But I'm perfectly enthralled by Scenarios in the meantime. They ARE fun. They ARE rewarding. And they ARE convenient. They're not perfect. But man, they are great to do between quests, between PQs, and when you can't find a fight in Marshes of Madness (me this weekend).
But as to the issue, that people want to see more Open RvR. They're not alone. There's a thread on F13 forums this past week after the state of the game lette where Mark Jacobs says that they're buffing Open RvR to the point where it will be "the place to be", and they won't stop until they get it there. But he also says that players have to be patient. That they can't make sweeping changes over night, flip a switch, and have it done.
This to me, is the players' problem. The idea that changes can be put in at a moment's notice. Look how it worked when Conan tried to do this. You think we would have learned?
In the short-term, 100% increase to XP in Open RvR REALLY does help. I was netting 1000 XP per kill in a skirmish yesterday evening in Marshes. Even when the WB formed and we had more people sharing XP, we were getting 300-500 XP per kill. When there's a lot of enemies out there, that's some very fast XP gain. Faster than Scenarios, I'd say really.
I think in 1.1 when the RvR Influence and other changes are added, much of the Open RvR whines will go away.
Then all Mythic will need to do is institute some more good solid PvE and everyone will be happy!
/sarcasm
:)
Saylah, you know we're in the same guild but have played together exactly once so far? You able to make a 9pm EST get together tonight?
Posted by: JoBildo | October 27, 2008 at 08:46 AM
@Saylah: "I think that player population divided by server rule set, divided by faction, divided by content zones, divided by Rank ranges, divided by player time zones and divided by content types is a MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM than Scenarios."
I think you hit the nail right on the head. All the subdivisions of content concern me a lot. What will happen to all the tier 1 and 2 content when the majority of players are level 40? If they could include something like exemplars and sidekicks (the way City of Heroes does) it would solve some of the issue and we'd actually have a use for the earlier tier stuff.
As for Scenarios, other than buffing the PvE and Open RvR a bit, I'm happy with them being just like they are. It's nice to be able to log on for a little bit, run a few Scenarios and log off still feeling like I've accomplished something.
Posted by: Khan | October 27, 2008 at 09:09 AM
There has been more open rvr since the recent xp increases, and I assume after the upcoming patch there will be even more. At least Mythic is aware and trying to balance all 3 aspects of the game so people will be able to have fun in the parts they enjoy, rather than not be able to enjoy it since there's not enough other people. So I'm not too worried, I'm just slowing down my leveling or working on alts.
The only thing that offends me is when people say things like "those scenario players are just trying to min max/ or race to the end/ aren't enjoying the game/ aren't enjoying the journey more than the destination!" which is pretty bold to think we know what's in the head of another player, or to think they aren't enjoying themselves. If they weren't having fun they'd have quit already. And improving and advancing is part of the fun for many people. If it weren't we'd be playing Second Life.
Posted by: yunk | October 27, 2008 at 10:59 AM
@Yunk - Yes, that pisses me off too to be quite honest. The only thing other players can do is to ASS-U-ME why people are in scenarios. Some of those suppositions will be true for some portion of the population while others are not and they have no way of knowing which is which.
When I decide to do Scenarios it's because that's what I feel like doing that moment and the reasons for feeling that way are varied. It's not the same reason every time I do them.
Min/max players will gravitate toward the most expedient method for reaching their goals and the journey tends to be secondary. I don't think that it is ever wise to change a game based on what the min/max players are doing since they are not the core of the population. As for the forums, you're reading the vocal minority right? People who are happy with things they way they are ARE NOT posting on forums. So 13 forum threads with how many unique posters is what percentage of the WAR player population? Dunno.
Posted by: Saylah | October 27, 2008 at 01:44 PM
@Bildo - I should be on by then. I'm having family over for dinner tonight. It's hard to play with guild-mates working their way to the back of the leveling bus with alts. *snicker* While I appreciate the chicken mechanic to help control ganking and farming of content, it does reduce the opportunity for higher level characters to interact with lower ones. I'm a bit worried about getting left behind in the pack-o-members I'm with right now because the whole open group thing isn't working with so few bodies on the ground. This finds me more focused on leveling that I might be otherwise.
Posted by: Saylah | October 27, 2008 at 03:06 PM
"The only thing that offends me is when people say things like 'those scenario players are just trying to min max/ or race to the end/ aren't enjoying the game/ aren't enjoying the journey more than the destination!'"
I've said this, or something near enough as would garner the same reaction, and you have every right to be angry about it. Not one of my prouder moments, and I do apologize for being so small-minded when all bound up in frustration.
Posted by: Pete S | October 27, 2008 at 04:18 PM
Someone else somewhere else mentioned this, but I think its significant.
Mythic seems to be employing a "buff but never nerf" strategy to try to even out these imbalances.
By only increasing rewards on competing activities, the time to cap is being reduced with each tweak and all that content being obsoleted even that much more quickly.
Awfully hard to put that genie back in the bottle once a significant portion of the population is nearing cappage.
And with all the boxes players are kept in, replayability (alts, etc.) is pretty low.
A game like this depends on people finding each other to do combat. Unfortunately, currently, the easiest way to do that is through the scenarios.
Stuck in T2 and not particularly interested in the scenario slideshow, I'm cautiously pessimistic.
Posted by: p@tsh@t | October 27, 2008 at 05:17 PM
@Pete - Eh, I think you're being to hard on yourself. I've read some really accusatory and threatening posts, none of which were yours.
@Potshot - Strange situation. I'm in the mood to start my alt but I'm actually afraid not to keep leveling my main. I don't want to loose pace with the little group I roll with in the guild. I know that there's at least another group of T3 folks coming up behind but I don't play the same hours that they do.
There is no suckage like bad PUG Scenario suckage, so I'd just a soon stay close to this group. The problem is that they are slowing out pacing me. Sometimes I want to beg in chat, "Please dont leave me!" LOL Sure I can solo and am infamous for it but you can only do that for PVE.
Posted by: Saylah | October 27, 2008 at 07:03 PM