08-19-2009, 11:49 PM
Technical limitations I'll allow, but even they should be carefully considered.
For example, Planetside had a limit on how many people could be on a continent. Fine. But it was a big limit, and layouts generally ensured you wouldn't have more than a couple dozen people on screen at a time. And at worst, you would just join the queue to get in.
Plus, you could play Planetside with 1 person. You'd just fight with the scrubs. I still had plenty of fun. It was more fun if you had 2 people or 4 people or 8 people or 17 people, but you could play with any number, really, up to the max the continent allows and what kind of newbie zerg guild would even have that problem?
Compare that to WOW or WAR which set hard limits. You log into WOW. You have 3 people. Not 1. Not 5. Not 20. 3. What are you going to do? Or you have 23. Or 18. The specifications for fun were too narrowly defined (and pugs suck in a fixed environment like a battleground where it's even numbers in a small field).
Basically you can't have an MMORPG that builds encounters and then dictates firm limits on attacking them. You need content that can be worked on solo but still be fun with any number of people. (It would also be nice if the content wasn't designed so that 1 stupid pug newbie could wipe the entire operation out just by going AFK at the wrong time.)
The good news is that "MMOPvP" is probably the best way to satisfy this rule, provided you make the world big enough with room to move enough and enough different objectives that 1-3 people can be successful in their own way, rather than always needing Zerg vs Zerg. (Planetside was good for that too. 1-3 people? Mine a roadway! Blow up a generator! Repair the turrets! Try to start something in a dead area! If you had 23 people you could just go attack a base in force. If you had 3 you could still attack the base and have some fun though. Whereas in an MMORPG encounter meant for 20 people, 3 people aren't going to do anything other than wait for 17 other people to log in.)
For example, Planetside had a limit on how many people could be on a continent. Fine. But it was a big limit, and layouts generally ensured you wouldn't have more than a couple dozen people on screen at a time. And at worst, you would just join the queue to get in.
Plus, you could play Planetside with 1 person. You'd just fight with the scrubs. I still had plenty of fun. It was more fun if you had 2 people or 4 people or 8 people or 17 people, but you could play with any number, really, up to the max the continent allows and what kind of newbie zerg guild would even have that problem?
Compare that to WOW or WAR which set hard limits. You log into WOW. You have 3 people. Not 1. Not 5. Not 20. 3. What are you going to do? Or you have 23. Or 18. The specifications for fun were too narrowly defined (and pugs suck in a fixed environment like a battleground where it's even numbers in a small field).
Basically you can't have an MMORPG that builds encounters and then dictates firm limits on attacking them. You need content that can be worked on solo but still be fun with any number of people. (It would also be nice if the content wasn't designed so that 1 stupid pug newbie could wipe the entire operation out just by going AFK at the wrong time.)
The good news is that "MMOPvP" is probably the best way to satisfy this rule, provided you make the world big enough with room to move enough and enough different objectives that 1-3 people can be successful in their own way, rather than always needing Zerg vs Zerg. (Planetside was good for that too. 1-3 people? Mine a roadway! Blow up a generator! Repair the turrets! Try to start something in a dead area! If you had 23 people you could just go attack a base in force. If you had 3 you could still attack the base and have some fun though. Whereas in an MMORPG encounter meant for 20 people, 3 people aren't going to do anything other than wait for 17 other people to log in.)