Quote:
Originally Posted by Lune
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Don't fall into the common trap of believing challenge is what is missing from things like WoW and gives EQ its soul. WoW is a more "challenging" game than EQ in nearly every way. PvP is necessarily more challenging than anything on Blue because your opponent has the capacity to be smarter than you. WoW's raiding is far more complicated from a tactical standpoint.
What EQ has is tedium, and delayed gratification. It takes a long time to achieve something, and your achievements generally feel good. Also, the sense of community that comes from the absolute need to rely on other people (to travel, to barter items, to level (for most classes)). The destruction of WoW's community that occurred during Wrath is what really, more than any other single thing, destroyed WoW for millions. You were no longer in a cohort with your fellow players, had any reason to interact with or rely on them, etc.
Every MMO since has had the same problem. The extreme on-the-rails nature of their content, soloability, and convenience has resulted in an experience where social bonds seldom formed organically the way they do on P99, and meaningful interaction is really what ultimately fuels enjoyment of an MMO for many people.
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Instead of "challenge", I think of it as consequence and immersion. The world in P99 is more alive and wondrous because death means so much. And every locale you visit usually meant a long trek. A long trek in which you again get to take in the world.
Classic EQ and P99 have immersion nailed, and it's because of the gravity of death and the realism of slow migration.
Of course, none of this applies when you're max level in a raiding guild.
02-09-2016, 02:29 AM
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