Your definition may be way different than mine, but for me for the most part if you are old school you loved games like DAoC and EQ1 but liked WoW and all the games post WoW much less. If you are new school you preferred or only played WoW or post WoW games. Or are your preferences somewhere in between? Where does your heart lie ? I am considering Vanguard to be old school btw since it was in spirit just as I am sure Pantheon will be
POLL:
https://www.pantheonrotf.com/polls/view/245/old-school-or-new-school
I am old school all the way. LOVED EQ1, LOVED VG. Liked Rift for a short time, but that didn't last long.
I am 'old school' in the definition that I am turned off by modern tools and fast paced combat. Less is more, for me. Silly things like complicated UIs, ability trees, overwhelming amount of abilities, flashy cool down timers, busy quest and chat logs are all major deterrents for my taste in game play.... god I sound old.
Old School. Particularly the puzzle games like Myst, Riven, Journeyman project. I liked the puzzles where you were found yourself accidentally learning something. In Jorneyman project, I think 3, the solution requires knowledge of the Mayan counting system - I didn't realize it until I saw a documentary on Mayan civilization and I almost jumped out of my chair!.
I'm VERY old school!
The first MMO that I played was a MUD called MUME (Multi-User-Middle-Earth)! The mud is still active today and features FFA PvP. Good vs Evil!
I haven't been active in it though for many many years!
First graphical MMO was EQ1 and I want that toughness back.
So, yeah, I consider myself old school for sure! :)
I Voted Mostly Old shool. Im an EQ1 Fan,i liked the Game World the Economy the World driven gameplay even the Game Lore (7Years played). But i believe it could be made even better with some new additions implemented right. And i dont talk about Quests :) . Just Game Mechanics i deem interesting and worthwhile. As long as it leads the Player to actually want to beat something, compete against and with others Players and Camp something its all superb.
Risk vs Reward Human Hunting insticts the Desire for Efficiency and good understanding of Human Psychology be it Male usualy more towards Efficency and Power or Female usualy more toward looking nice and having Friends :) is a big Part of making a good Game to me.
It takes awhile to even recognizes what oneselfs want its a difficult matter but nonethless i believe todays Themepark games Suck, so im always wondering why they do want to make Games ppls wont play for along Time (surely just for the Initial box sells and low risk attemps of making a game because of investors). And i firmly believe Phanteon has a real good Chance of Success if done with Risk vs Reward and all that in Mind. Even if there 99% Naysayers outside thoose Forums that believe otherwise. To me it has a Chance for a BIG Audience once the new Generation of Mmorpg Players gets shown what a Mmorpg can be.
Mostly old school. There are some new MMOs that have some mechanics I like, such as:
1) FF XIV only need one character that can end up having every class and tradeskill maxed.
2) Instancing in various games. Technically, this is old school because Anarchy Online had it in 2001, but WoW took it to much bigger heights, so it is new school to most folks. Used properly, it is a really good mechanic.
3) On demand raid content. Again, this is kinda old school, since stuff like the 10th Ring war was triggered, but again, Anarchy Online mostly invented it, and again, WoW popularized it.
Those are some of the new school things I do like, but am still and old school player at heart. I always have at least one text MUD emulator or online to play on any computer I use. Just the other day I had Zork 1 nostalgia and actually started anew playthrough of Zork.