Hell no... I don't need a reminder at how crappy the world can be. Video games are my escape and have no need for outside influence.
If the holidays are related to in game lore and aren't just made up crap that just happen to be real holidays I would be okay with that. The best case I could think of off the top of my head would be if there was a world event that some faction won its freedom via a war that we helped win and thus a holiday was born.
There are plenty of games now with plenty of really dumb looking costumes and holidays... I say if you're interested in that... have at it lol
I like random events in the game, but as Dullahan said already, not ones that break down the 4th wall.
If the Pantheon universe has different religions and cultures, then sure, have holiday/festival events pertaining to them. That would be cool and would more fully flesh out the game world. So much diplomacy and faction stuff could be tied to the cultural dates of the races/cultures within the game that it's an untapped goldmine really, and most devs just punt and put candy canes and XMas trees into the game for a week. It's kinda sad really.
Have random events, but have them make sense inside the Terminus reality only.
Raidan said:Indifferent here as well, although, I did laugh at Santug Claugg the Ogre in EQ. If time was going to be spent into developing holiday events in Pantheon though, I would echo the previous posters that having in-game lore/faction/seasonal based themes would be neat.
I could bend for what you are talking about , now that would be cool :)
I do have to say i think the Holiday events sometimes can actually help the game out. Personally i like when there are holiday events, especially Halloween events! The funny thing is there are some MMO's i've played or dabbled in where i lost interest, but came back JUST to see the holiday content. So in a way, i think sometimes the holiday events can bring "old" players back who stopped playing a while. If it get's them into the game even for just a bit, it gives the devs an opportunity to lure those folks back as they also get to see any new changes that have been made since they stopped playing and maybe might like the new stuff enough to come back for good.
Zarriya said:I absolutely love holiday events in my MMOs. Do they have to mimic our RL holidays - nope ! Pantheon can create its own holidays with all its lore of so many races and worlds coming together there is an infinite number of holidays that can be created. That way people like Dullahan & Sarim who love complete immersion contained can have it and those who love holidays can also get their fix.
Why I like holiday events:
- gives me a mental break from what I am currently doing in-game
- usually is about pure fun and all playes can participate irregardless of progression
- its not always there (annual events) so it's something different
- I get to earn stuff (we all like to earn stuff)
I agree with you here. It has never bothered me to have holiday stuff in a game, however you CAN over do it. I don't want to log into the main city and have it look like Santa threw up on everything.
GM events - yes, but tied to in-game world, tied to game lore, and not related to real-world events.
RL holiday events in-game - no. I play the game to get separated from the everyday world for a while. These worlds should stay separate.
If the game lore is rich, it will offer many opportunities for in-game holidays and GM events; you don't need to copy the real-world ones.
Also, regarding rewards, they should be fun but not seriously usable on the level of quest rewards/raid drops. This is because you get event rewards simply for being there.
Now, if a part of the special GM event is fighting something that's on the level of a serious group or raid encounter (In EQ they made one GM event with a mecha-dragon, on a raid-mob level, and distributed rewards on the level, after the beastie was killed), then appropriate rewards are ok.
Aethor said:GM events - yes, but tied to in-game world, tied to game lore, and not related to real-world events.
RL holiday events in-game - no. I play the game to get separated from the everyday world for a while. These worlds should stay separate.
If the game lore is rich, it will offer many opportunities for in-game holidays and GM events; you don't need to copy the real-world ones.
Also, regarding rewards, they should be fun but not seriously usable on the level of quest rewards/raid drops. This is because you get event rewards simply for being there.
Now, if a part of the special GM event is fighting something that's on the level of a serious group or raid encounter (In EQ they made one GM event with a mecha-dragon, on a raid-mob level, and distributed rewards on the level, after the beastie was killed), then appropriate rewards are ok.
GM events, yes please. Lore based holidays, I could definitely work with that, as long as they weren't just renamed IRL holidays.
Well, with it being the holidays and all, I was going to start a thread on this - glad I did some searching before I did some typing!
It does seem that (in general) folks seem to be in line with one another. I don't like holidays in MMO's - at least not in their current form. Holiday's are nothing more than a convenient excuse to put in grind fests these days to extend the life of content by giving players content that will cause them to take a break from regular content.
Having said that... I LOVED Halloween in EQ. Halloween in EQ was special - as in "consider taking the day off work to enjoy it fully" special. (I never did that by the way).
I can't stand modern holidays in MMO's... but a once a year event like EQ Halloween, that I'd enjoy quite a bit.
In Wurm Online (very sandbox) a majority of the community host their own events in the spirit of different holidays. Such as what they call an 'Imp-a-long" where we would improve and craft items for newbie players for free, have contest, group sermons, etc. People travel a couple days just to come to these weekend long events. The GMs get involved on an entertainment level, like spawn some mobs and such. It is pretty neat, but again it's a different kind of game and a very niche community over there.
But perhaps if there are mechanics and tradeskills incoporated into Pantheon that could open up the potential for these sorts of things to happen, that would be fun!
I will be honest I like holiday events, its a nice break from the daily routine.
I do think that this game aligns more with creating lore based holidays rather than real world events. We always talk about immersion and sense of community and I think lore based holidays could really reinforce that. While adventuring it would be great to see towns celebrating their pantheon and history. Farmers celebrating the harvest or wizards regarding a day of arcane importance. They don't have to be big gaudy events; some could be small and confined to a certain region while others could be recognized around the world.
Really, holiday events have been so poorly done in past MMOs. It always feels forced, out of place, goes against lore, and is accompanied by rediculous costume/appearance items that turn the game into a circus (i.e. WoW, Rift, GW2, EQ2, etc etc etc ad infinium). Its not that I dont have faith in the Pantheon developers to produce their own lore-correct holidays, but it's tough to pull off. I am voting thumbs down to in-game holidays, candy cane swords, pumpkin heads, and all the trimmings.
If they MUST be added in, here are my suggestions. Dont make them parallel to our RL holidays. Dont make them resemble our RL holidays in any way. Be 100% unique to the game world and keep it lore appropriate. And please dont spam my in-game mailbox with gimicy "presents" or pass out costumes/appearance items that cheapen the Pantheon experience.
Going to agree with Dekaden here... It seems all MMOs, holidays have been a mediocre effort at best... Holiday fluff is thrown around in cities and then they come up with temporary items that disappear once event is over. It is almost like they do it because the overall game does not have a lot of other options to keep players entertained.
Patheon will be different right? Lots to do to keep players active with many different activities, because it takes a good effort to do it all! No end game players in a months time. So, if there is a unique celebration or special event that takes place, have it be special to in-game lore and make it something important to participate in.
I think one of the things that made Halloween so great in EQ was that it was all so dynamic and - well - fleeting. You had a limited amount of time to run all over the place... not quite knowing where the world would have changed or stayed the same - to kill mobs that would only be there for a brief span of time... dropping stuff you could only get in that span of time.
I wasn't experience grinds for this cosmetic thing or that cosmetic thing. It was sort of like a great big, gigantic mob race into the unknown.
It was zoning into Eastern Wastes to find out that the level 1 bunny you used to blast "just because" on your way to the Ry'Gorr fort was now a gigantic bunny blasting everyone in sight "Just because..."
It was zoning into a zone that was normally safe - only to find out that it was now inhabited by masses of undead hordes looking to turn masses of players into dead hordes.
You didn't go turn things into "Father Halloween" to get your uber duber brand spankin new transmogrification wand that let you annoy all of your closest friends and enemies by turning them into a bat - if "Father Halloween" was suddenly in the game, there's a good chance he was there to touch you - in not so friendly ways.
THAT was an MMO holiday event.
If holidays were based on game lore instead of real world events, it could be interesting.
Azotate said:I do think that this game aligns more with creating lore based holidays rather than real world events. We always talk about immersion and sense of community and I think lore based holidays could really reinforce that. While adventuring it would be great to see towns celebrating their pantheon and history. Farmers celebrating the harvest or wizards regarding a day of arcane importance. They don't have to be big gaudy events; some could be small and confined to a certain region while others could be recognized around the world.
Very much agreed.
Sort of surprised this hasn't received more attention than it has. Someone posted on the main page in regards to special events and this thread was linked.
If VR is looking at doing "holiday" events, I'd highly recommend the team look at how Final Fantasy XI handled them. Those events were highly regarded by the community in a positive light and we loved the hell out of them. Obtaining limited time cosmetic items with a cool effect attached was always appealing and people actually wanted to do the event due to the reward being worth the effort. Seeing nearly the entire community all participating in the events was such a good feeling. So many people just hanging out in the towns chatting and doing on the spot games etc.
The one that stuck out to me was the Mid Summer Eve event where you could obtain a kimono by teleporting to Ifrit's Cauldron (compliments of a npc for the event), for a low level, being given the ability to see such a high level zone this blew me away. I was month's away from getting to see this area. Granted the event gave you Sneak / Invis so you could attempt the event no matter your level.
Anyway, holiday events are amazing if done correctly. Final Fantasy XI was my only "old school" mmo I played. I'd definitely like to hear from some others talk about their favorite aspects of holiday events.
I like lore-based holiday events as long as rewards are purely cosmetic and don't provide an in-game advantage. I liked how EQ2 does holidays. They may coincide with our holidays, but the holiday has its in game lore attached. Making the holiday events optional but still tying them in with the lore keeps it from breaking immersion while at the same time allowing those who want a break from the more serious side of the game some levity. Holiday events should never provide such an advantage they become mandatory, and they shouldn't be high level only events. I should be able to do them on my level 5 characters as well as my level 60. I know the whole instancing thing is a no go, which is fine by me (not complaining about instancing as I feel it took the 'community' out of MMOs), but instancing in this case is fine (like the haunted house in EQ2 where you do the dance at halloween).
I like the levity holiday events provide and when they provide some form of cooperative element (needing to trade things to complete a collection or having to remove an effect from someone or give them a holiday buff needed only for the holiday event) makes people work together a bit and maybe even gives you a chance to get to know someone you otherwise might not. There's certainly nothing wrong with that.