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Originally Posted by Vulturion
I hate it when games make a big song-and-dance about mid-level accomplishments which are absolutely meaningless a few levels later, even more so when progress is obstructed till all the hoops have been jumped through.
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I still see that as one of the biggest drawbacks of the common, linear advancement systems though. Once you lump the best rewards all in one place in max level areas, the only viable way to expand on that is to eventually make those rewards obsolete.
WoW illustrated exactly that with their approach to the content in the Burning Crusade, jumping the gun as it were before ever approaching player retention via a parallel path.
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[10:04] Gallenite: And I totally agree with that. AAs were the best thing for EQ’s ability to retain. Right up until content had to be created on the assumption that “everyone has everything,” in order to present any challenge, at which point the retention goals are placed directly at odds with the game’s ability to acquire new users.
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In WoW, they went straight to that assumption that "everyone has everything", so now based on the content in the first expansion, they've set themselves up in a situation where that assumption is even more accurate, so content has to be introduced looking only upwards, not outwards.
Playing through a game should be a rewarding experience at all points along the road. If the only viable reward exists at the end of that road, everything else on the way there is meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
In that sense, the current MMO model of endgame achievements being the only viable rewards once you get there is exactly like single player games that frustratingly only allow you to 'unlock' the coolest bonus content once you've played through the entire game. Why can't I have that cool outfit / weapon / bonus map at the mid-point? You can still have other viable rewards or goals to work towards - you just need to keep those mid-level rewards viable throughout the remainder of your content.
Here's an example:
I don't recall some of the specifics (such as the exact item name / level of the mob that dropped it), but in EQ it was standard practice on raids to require players to use some form of 'Shrink'. Rather than relying on consumable potions, there was a mob at the higher-mid level range that dropped a 'Shrink' wand. It was an extremely useful reward you could obtain before ever hitting endgame content that remained not only viable once you got there, but was as useful as any drops you might obtain while raiding.
Why aren't there more items worth obtaining that offer that kind of utility? Pepper them throughout your mid-level content, keeping it viable no matter how high you increase your level cap. Then mid-level dungeons offer more than items you'll simply replace in a few levels, making them a meaningless or at least obsolete reward.
Scott Hartsman and Qhue on the State of MMOs
Linear Mode
