So SWTOR’s first month is out the door and, predictably, the doom and gloom merchants have come out of the woodwork as server populations have dropped across the board. They have a point, of course: in the last few years, many games have launched with a bang only to fizzle go free to play after a few months, and while a drop in numbers is to be expected after the free month runs out, there’s a difference between an expected drop and full-on freefall.

I have my own theories about this, and one of them has to do with general game pacing and what I like to call content locusts. One of the major differences between games in the early MMO generation (EQ, UO, AC, etc.) and those we have today boils down to something fairly simple but with far-reaching effects: leveling speed.


http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/6045/page/1


I do miss my first year of AC back in 00' or was that O.o

 

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Sith?

No, not Sith.

The article is more about leveling speed than anything else. I've never played SWTOR...

 

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The blog brings up some good points, but you can't please everyone all of the time. There will always be people who feel that the leveling is too fast/slow/boring/whatever. There will be those who feel the endgame is fun/boring/stupid/whatever. And they all have their reasons/preferences.

I wouldn't mind slower leveling, under one circumstance- that leveling alts doesn't take as long as the first toon. That's really what kills it for me. I don't mind, and even enjoy, taking my time the first time around, but I don't want to do that with every single character either. Make me spend just enough time leveling to learn how to play the character class and be done with it.

 

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I think you are missing the point by blaming the players for the downfall of the type of MMO you like. Ultimately, it isn't the job of the developer to put out a product that suits your taste, but to appeal to the masses. Apparently, the masses eschew grinding for levels in favor of the WoW model, where hitting max level is pretty fast, and then you spend a lot of time getting your PvP gear, your raid gear, etc.

Even in games like your beloved AC, it was a race to max level, where a huge portion of the player base exploited mechanics like xp-chains and macroing so they could max out their level and stats. Honestly, I don't think the players have changed a whole lot, it's just that some companies have gotten better at packaging the same addictive hamster-wheel grind that has always been there.

 

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Honestly, how many kill, level, loot games can a person play before they are tired of it? Things get worn out.

I'm not blaming anyone for killing the game I play. In an instanced game like DDO I can level as fast as I like and I don't do any end game grinding. I just thought it was an interesting article on the state of MMO's in general and some possible reasons behind it.

As for AC the beginning months were a lot different than what it became a year or so in.

 

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I did reach 50 in SWTOR pretty damn fast, and that was with days where I didn't play at all, and probably several hours spent just logged in while afk.

I don't mind levelling speed. I'm just personally tired of progression that's gear-based. SWTOR is fun, but I will always miss AC's stat and skill progression. Having a million options and absolute granular control over my character was awesome.

 

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Open world.

Thats what I miss.

 

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I'm at level 20 after about a week. I've been playing what you'd call casually, so not really pressing the ability to power through levels.

I won't last a month, though, given the current environment. In 7 calendar days, I'll have lost 3 days of playing time due to them patching servers for 6 hours at 12AM PST (Tuesday morning) plus a surprise patch at midnight last Friday night. It seems their patching process is always going to be at midnight, which is when I can play...which means I'm guaranteed at least one night a week of not being able to play. The game isn't THAT fun in that I'm willing to deal with patching during my playtime, so I won't be around long.

 

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