Lack of customizing in MMORPG environments

That would be a cool feature to see in some future MMORPGs. In all the games I play, the environment is stagnant, which doesn't really bother me. However, it would still be a cool feature to see in the future.

 

That is an interesting thought. It would add to the game play and probably add some interesting quest or side quest in some games. Personally, I would be all for it.

 

GW2 has events that happen in zones that change the environment depending if objectives are met or not met. If an objective isn't met during the event then an important garrison can't be accessed at the time because it was burned to the ground. However if you wait long enough another event will start up which will chase bandits out of the area and rebuild the garrison, ect. The dynamic events is interesting but can be a pain the rear if you're trying to accomplish certain quest objectives. However, it adds a level of depth that's missing in MMO's. That being said, I think as new games are added to the market, or old ones upgraded, we'll start seeing a shift in how environmental mechanics are done.

 

I saw a MMORPG that was in development years ago that allowed player to make permanent changes to the word. The game was called Dawn i believe, but it was never finished.

 

There are huge technical hurdles as well as gameplay hurdles to this. Ultima Online generally had a lot of this, but it created a lot of issues. Players could drop items on the ground, but quickly areas near the banks could get littered with objects which would lag other players. Same with decorating houses... you could decorate a castle with 1000s of items, but when a player walked near your castle, they would have 3 seconds of lag as your castle was loaded.

Wow does some of this, but uses phasing, so that only you can see the changes you made.

 

I'd have to agree that MMOs in general need more destructible or alterable environments. It would add so much more immersion to these games.

 

I wish there would be game like that. Making a permanent change to the whole world would be amazing. Although, it would be quite an undertaking for the developers for make such thing.

 

An issue with constantly altering environments is that new players will be hard pressed to understand everything that's going on as well. For players who enjoy a more casual style of play will feel alienated the more a game persists without their involvement. Right now I kind of feel that way with GW2. The breaks I take from the game makes me lose whatever new story progression there is because it's a limited event that changes the environment permanently. There's tons of story events I missed that changed the environment permanently because I had other things to deal with in real life. For example at the release of the game Lion's Arch was pretty much intact but there was an event called the Karka invasion which damaged parts of the city for a good while. I missed the rebuilding and a few story archs after that. Currently I personally have no idea what's going on in the PvE aspect of the game since I missed so many of the story/environmental changes. It'd be nice if I could visit something like a Hall of Remembrance or something so that I can get caught up with the changes in a separate instance. As it stands right now I no longer have personal involvement with the game's lore.

 

I believe you are new to the MMO world. That's something you have to deal with, especially when you are new. The thing is, there are thousands of other players like us on the same sever, so if were are going to customize it to our liking, other would do the same. Just think what would happen if we are allowed to customize it.

 

I rarely go for MMOs that provide very limited customization on my character or those where in you need to pay a lot first just to get the look or settings you want. Isn't the point with these games is to be able to create an expression of the gamers' personality or preference? Its part of the fun.

 

I think it would be awesome to have a game where the players have a lasting impact on the environment. Like if a battle took place, there would be charred ground that would heal over time.

 

I don't think it's a good idea for the sole reason that people will mess things up in really dumb ways.

 

Yep, people constantly creating ditches and stuff that you fall into, and then half to walk a mile to get out of. Or things just to make the terrain look ugly. there is just too much room for trolling and griefing.

 

I think that it would be a cool idea, in theory, but as many other people have mentioned before me, it wouldn't particularly work in practice. First, if you were able to just modify the environment--not temporary effects from battles, raids, and the like, but legitimately modify it (ex. dig a tunnel into a fortress), what effects would that have on others? Would that allow monsters and the like to now have a new route in (in regards to my example), or would they be seemingly ignorant of a massive tunnel? Things like that would be rather difficult to implement, as far as I know. Also, if your modifications could affect other players (even if they were temporary), then...well, a lot of trolls play MMORPGs, as Azrile mentioned. If they stayed client sided, then you would just see many people seemingly making digging motions at empty air, which, while amusing at first, would probably grow to be rather amusing. Also, if you were digging a long tunnel into/out of something in a client-sided scenario, then such an action would be rather difficult to allow in code, I'd think.

 

Yes, but that would be crazy difficult since the enviroment is shared with other players who are affecting the enviroment as well.

 

When there are only certain, specific things you can touch and grab, it can kindof lead you to the next step. If you could affect everything, the possibilities and choices would be infinite. The game couldn't guide you in the right direction.

 

I can't really say this bothers me, as it doesn't exactly differ too much from offline rpgs themselves. However, I can say it would be a cool added bonus to any online mmorpg with a definite air of certainty!