Top 10 Features EVERY MMO Should Have-Part 2


Top 10 Things Every MMO Should Have-Part 2

by: Kei Beneza, Onrpg Journalist

We are back with the conclusion of yesterday’s list! This time we are getting down to the nitty gritty features that are a must have to succeed in the competitive MMORPG market of today. Here we go!

 

4). Professions: “Just because you have a profession, doesn’t mean you are pro”

First of all, when I say ‘Professions’, I mean actual jobs in the MMO world… not classes. Professions range from money making ones to entertainment based jobs. When it comes to money, I would say that leveling your profession or doing what your job description does is a whole lot better than looking for monsters and chopping them down. Professions make the in game economy a lot more interesting, because the prices and products change on a daily basis. This makes it easier to sell items and make more money, if you put in the work and learn your job well. Yeah, grinding monsters for gold may be fun for some, but I want to feel like my virtual world has more to it than that.

 

Top 10 MMO Features

Entertainment-based professions on the other hand are not really centered on making money so much as focused on enhancing the overall feel of the game. Mabinogi would probably be the best example at this point, since players can also train to be expert musicians and can even compose their own songs for everyone to hear (although I have heard nothing but remade anime openings). After playing a lot of MMOs, I would say that professions should be welcomed by various titles, especially the ones that make you grind so much.

 

3). Big PVP: When dueling gets old

What is a good MMO without some player-vs-player bloodshed? Every MMO should offer an exceptional PVP system, and no— town dueling does not count. When I say big PVP, I mean something as big as RF Online‘s Chip Wars, Ragnarok‘s PVP Room, Lineage II‘s Castle Siege and Warhammer‘s hefty RvR (as it was envisioned, not as it was executed). Since most MMORPGs are centered on war anyway, I would like to say that nothing says war like a nice session of faction vs faction.

 

Top 10 MMO Features

 

I also cannot seem to comprehend why some games punish players for killing low levels in various areas. Are we playing the story on its peacemaking days? Anyway, after dueling with a bunch of people on Shaiya Online, I realized that simple 1 on 1 combat was not as satisfying as I thought. It is always fun to see how well you fair against a whole army of players, and killing players one by one is always a hell of a lot better than asking the next kid if he wants to duel. And for those not interested? There should always be PvE servers. Some game companies attempt to pidgeon hole the pvpers and pvers into one server, and no one ends up happy.

 

2). Character Creation Interface: “Hey! You look just like me!” “Wait, you’re a girl?!”

This next feature is actually a product of my bitterness towards a lineup of games that I have reviewed during the past months. Character creation lands at number two! In most games, character creation revolves around picking your race and class. Dekaron/Two Moons would be the best example for this matter. It’s hard to play a game that does not even let you pick your gender. Not every guy wants to pretend that he is a girl, unless you are playing Perfect World. Well, gender-locking is just one of the many issues I have had with character customization. You do not really have to give us 100,000 premade eyes and noses. For all I care, premade faces and hairstyles can work, just as long as we can distinguish ourselves from the other players.

 

Top 10 MMO Features

This is why I really love Mabinogi. Not only do you get a long lineup of eyes, hairstyles and other facial features, you can also decide whether you play as an adult or as a kid. I have always been baffled as to why Mabinogi is so unique in the Fantasy genre, and only the superhero genre tends to see just how important this is to gameplay. Do you seriously want your character to look like everyone else? Some games only have one end-game armor set for each class, resulting in an epic story that merely trains an army of super clones.

 

1). Flight: No longer do you have to run through a wave of aggressive elite monsters after dying.

Yes, that’s right! The number 1 feature I wish every MMO had is FLIGHT. Do you remember what it was like when you first flew that broom in Flyff? What about the time you first mounted that Dragon in WoW? If there is one thing that every MMO has, it is travelling, and what makes it worse is that some games only give you a small speed increase to compensate once you get to a higher level (sometimes not even that!).

 

Top 10 MMO Features

Flight is probably the most welcomed feature in every MMO, and I honestly pity the fool who would say that walking or running is just as enjoyable. Not only can you reach your destination faster, you can also skip the aggressive mobs on your way there. Imagine having to run out of potions in the middle of the battlefield with only 20% health left. Sounds like a good time to use that flying mount, yes? Or would you rather walk all the way back to town and pull all the mobs on the way? Oh wait, you can’t because you already died.

 

 

That’s All Folks

As much as I would want to name more features, I only promised to make ’10’. I’m sure everyone here has their own set of features worth noting. How I wish we could just make an MMO and put everything there. That would be totally awesome. Feel free to visit our forums and comment in our thread dedicated to the top features every MMO should have.

 

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