What the hell happened to having a bonafied nighttime in MMOs? Have I lost my mind, or didn't WOW actually get dark in Vanilla??? From my recollection, we only have EQ2 and LOTRO that present a full on night cycle in the AAA MMO arena. I don't know what started the trend of dusk substituting for darkness but I AM NOT A FAN. No one followed AC2's lead with actual seasons which was A-may-ZING! Can we at least have nighttime!?!
GW2 in particular, should have opted for an actual night cycle. There are things I've encountered in Tyria that only happen at "night". If you visit the Ascalon Settlement at night, and go to the area with the vista, you'll see the ghosts of fallen soldiers. How sad and simultaneously facinating. This was wicked cool the first time I ran across it.
I'd already done the vista and hadn't seen the ghosts but happened to go back to the area to farm and it was "night". I was like, "Wait a second, these people weren't here before. What gives?" Tilting my camera upward I realized it was nighttime. "Ah ha!"
It was neat little suprise but made me wonder all the more, why the hell don't they make it, you know, DARK since it's night? I find this trend annoying and disappointing.
WOW Vanilla was the first major MMO to do the faux-night thing.
Today you'd have to go places like Fallen Earth, Vanguard or the two you already mentioned for a good night time experience.
Vangaurd especially can be very dark.
Posted by: lani | January 14, 2013 at 08:03 AM
Bah, wear flip shades and create your own nighttime atmosphere :p
Posted by: Sarzan | January 14, 2013 at 11:04 AM
Iirc EQ1 also had a genuine night cycle as well. I can recall never going into Kithicor Forrest at night and paying a dear price for doing so...
Posted by: Sarzan | January 14, 2013 at 12:16 PM
Vanilla WOW nighttime was at least some what dark. Here are some pictures from an old post. It at least looks like it's night.
http://notadiary.typepad.com/photos/new_years_eve_on_wow/a.html
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | January 14, 2013 at 04:14 PM
LOL. No exactly the resolution I'm hoping for. :p
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | January 14, 2013 at 04:15 PM
I hear ya. Night on EQ2 PVP server Nagafen was terrifying which was part of the thrill.
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | January 14, 2013 at 04:16 PM
It's a tough balance between good atmosphere and players not having fun because they can't see for crap, especially if you're playing on a sub-optimal monitor in less than great room lighting conditions. The problem is only exacerbated if your game does long - or 24 hour long in WoW's case - day night cycles because then you're condemning players who are always on at a specific time of day to always suffering through poor light conditions. My wife specifically cited this factor as something she did not enjoy about Vanilla era WoW (her only real MMO experience).
Posted by: Green Armadillo | January 14, 2013 at 07:51 PM
Agreed. I think there's something in between can't even tell it's supposed to be night and the pitch black night cycles in EQ1/2 and LOTRO.
I find it odd that in a game where you can't tell it's nighttime, they've included content that only appears at "night".
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | January 14, 2013 at 08:30 PM
Well at least the racial sights in eq1/2 had real benefits. Elves with IR to Ratonga with sonic vision...
Posted by: Sarzan | January 15, 2013 at 12:13 AM
I think others have already hit on it here, that there's a fine line between a dark-but-still-enjoyable night-time environment versus a screen being so dark you not only can't see your hand in front of your face, but you can't see the Mob that's chewing on that hand :P
Night time shouldn't have to mean it being pitch black and unable to see 3 feet in front of you.
I always thought the original Diablo did darkness very well, where you had a lit area extending out from your character, which dimmed & darkened beyond a certain radius.
Thinking of the instances in WoW...why can I see clear across the cavern at the end of Deadmines? Where is all that light coming from?
Sure, people want to be able to see, that's understandable. But we don't need to be able to see in the dark as equally as well as when it's daytime. But what's wrong with our characters using lanterns?
Whenever it's night time or our character enters a dungeon or a cave or some other dark area...have them equip a lit lantern. Have it hanging off their belt so their hands remain free, but give them a source of light. Have that light extend outwards a certain radius from their model (perhaps half the max distance of their ranged spells/attacks), beyond which it gradually dims until all they can see further out are almost-black shapes on a black background.
Posted by: Capn John | January 15, 2013 at 10:37 AM
I like the idea of equipping something. You had the lanterns in EQ. As you've said, the game could generate a bit of light around the character. We didn't equip anything in the personal story / whatever it was called in Age of Conan and could see just fine.
I do understand people not wanting to always be in a night cycle if they play certain times of the day but that's easily adjusted by the duration.
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | January 15, 2013 at 12:04 PM
Does anyone know where I can get some cheats for this?
Posted by: SJ | March 04, 2013 at 03:55 PM