Have you ever played any of the big MMOs? If you have, you probably noticed the lack of creativity that has been plaguing the community for years. SWTOR was supposed to end this, but they practically pasted every other game's features. Where are the advanced character controls that the community has been asking for? Every game is just a randomly generated attack. We want to control our actions further.
Think about any of the boss fights you have encountered. The tank is always just sitting there holding aggro and hoping that the next attack will be blocked. Wouldn't it be amazing for the tank to lift his shield in defense and actually interact with his character. What would happen if the raid attacked the leg of the boss. Would he fall over and do different attacks? All the MMO games are great, but they let numbers control the outcome of every fight.
Maybe Guild Wars 2 will raise the bar a bit with their environment interactions they are incorporating. In one of their previews, a toon fails to blow up a bridge successfully. Instead of them letting you go around freely like most games, they actually make the bridge fall over. Once the bridge collapses, it blocks your character's path. You can no longer go to that part of the game. This is a level of consequence and responsibility that no other MMO has really incorporated. Will this force the other games, or future games, to have environment interactions and consequences that they have been neglecting for so long? It would probably be impossible for current games to update their game engines. Even if they were able to, the massive amount of resources it would take to update their current content would probably nullify the possibility of it happening.
Unfortunately, some of the anticipated and recent games just emulated the leader, World of Warcraft. For instance, Stars Wars The Old Republic was such an anticipated game. While it was immensely fun and creative, it still stuck to the current model of games that are out. The same grinding until you reach max level is present. Companions were a nice touch, but they were not enough to keep players playing for very long. As much as I loved the game, it left me wanting something more. Sure, I still log in and play with a bunch of my friends, but more and more are leaving. It was just too similar to every other MMO that people did not want to invest their time into it.
Remember when new games brought diversity and change? Those days have long been forgotten and have caused gamers to keep expecting more of the same thing. Think about Diablo 3, it is a great game, but once you beat it when you hit level 30+, you get to do it all over again. Sure, monsters are harder, but it is the same game again. Everything you did was forgotten, so you can keep playing to try getting to max level. It is such a great game, but not many people want to grind the game just for loot. The end boss is beaten 3 times before you even hit max level.
What can SWTOR and others do to change their inevitable decline in subscribers? No one knows for sure, they could attempt to fix their current faults, but like mentioned earlier it is probably unfeasible and unprofitable for them to do so. These companies need to take a look at Guild Wars 2 and see that innovation is something that they should have tried doing. Sometimes change is good and all we can hope is that the next generation of games start to innovate even further.
Think about any of the boss fights you have encountered. The tank is always just sitting there holding aggro and hoping that the next attack will be blocked. Wouldn't it be amazing for the tank to lift his shield in defense and actually interact with his character. What would happen if the raid attacked the leg of the boss. Would he fall over and do different attacks? All the MMO games are great, but they let numbers control the outcome of every fight.
Maybe Guild Wars 2 will raise the bar a bit with their environment interactions they are incorporating. In one of their previews, a toon fails to blow up a bridge successfully. Instead of them letting you go around freely like most games, they actually make the bridge fall over. Once the bridge collapses, it blocks your character's path. You can no longer go to that part of the game. This is a level of consequence and responsibility that no other MMO has really incorporated. Will this force the other games, or future games, to have environment interactions and consequences that they have been neglecting for so long? It would probably be impossible for current games to update their game engines. Even if they were able to, the massive amount of resources it would take to update their current content would probably nullify the possibility of it happening.
Unfortunately, some of the anticipated and recent games just emulated the leader, World of Warcraft. For instance, Stars Wars The Old Republic was such an anticipated game. While it was immensely fun and creative, it still stuck to the current model of games that are out. The same grinding until you reach max level is present. Companions were a nice touch, but they were not enough to keep players playing for very long. As much as I loved the game, it left me wanting something more. Sure, I still log in and play with a bunch of my friends, but more and more are leaving. It was just too similar to every other MMO that people did not want to invest their time into it.
Remember when new games brought diversity and change? Those days have long been forgotten and have caused gamers to keep expecting more of the same thing. Think about Diablo 3, it is a great game, but once you beat it when you hit level 30+, you get to do it all over again. Sure, monsters are harder, but it is the same game again. Everything you did was forgotten, so you can keep playing to try getting to max level. It is such a great game, but not many people want to grind the game just for loot. The end boss is beaten 3 times before you even hit max level.
What can SWTOR and others do to change their inevitable decline in subscribers? No one knows for sure, they could attempt to fix their current faults, but like mentioned earlier it is probably unfeasible and unprofitable for them to do so. These companies need to take a look at Guild Wars 2 and see that innovation is something that they should have tried doing. Sometimes change is good and all we can hope is that the next generation of games start to innovate even further.
About the Author:
Farming for credits is generally a tiresome task, especially if you happen to be doing the wrong thing. Look at these tips for earning SWTOR credits to find out the simplest way to make credits. Don't forget to study their guides while you're there.
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