Tanix said:
NO they don't. That is mainstream design and it caters to people who WILL NOT play a game and simply want to be entertained.
EQ was a game, not entertainment. There is a very key difference between them. When developing a game, your goal is to challenge the player, to test them, confound them, confuse them, to frustrate them at times so they are forced to think, explore, try new things, and innovate solutions. This is why there is such elation when someone succeeds in a game, because it is earned.
In entertainment, your concern is that the person is being entertained at all times, that they are having "fun (tm)" (a meaningless subjective word as fun is not the same for everyone) at all times.
See, in all these years of playing games, I realized that I don't care for entertainment, I don't need to be pandered to constantly to have a bouncing ball helping me to stay focused and not get discouraged, etc.. I want a game, because a game is what is "fun (tm)" for me. This is why I dislike most games made today (MMO and single player). They are so busy trying to "entertain" everyone that they are afraid to have them frustrated, to challenge them and force them to think/do on their own. It is for that very reason I got bored and realized how dumbed down games are today.
So again, if you want to solo, figure it out. Making content designed for you to solo, so at all times you can go out and "feel" as if you are progressing is not healthy for a game, great for mindless entertainment, but horrible design for a game. You should have to earn your progress, not have it handed to you.
Keep in mind that when some of us talk about EQ, it isn't the surface elements of the game we are talking about, it isn't some emotional connection we can't describe, it is a culmination of numerous subtle elements in the games design which FORCED us to PLAY the GAME, not be just entertained while we pushed buttons. Pantheon should be a GAME, not simply entertainment regardless if everyone is having "Fun (tm)" all the time.
Exactly this! Challenge me, don't just entertain me.
