Offline MMO

Offline MMO

#34793 • 2012-08-04 20:19:49 * • Ethereal said:

Alright, the title is a bit contradictory, but wasn't sure what else to title this. Anyway, I'm curious on everyone here's opinion on this, especially those that know a bit of programming, economics, etc.

Imagine your favorite MMO was shutting it's servers down. Would you prefer it just shuts down and you're never able to play again, or that you get some version of offline play to keep all your data on and able to explore the world? There would be extremely limited you could do, since most MMOs require some sort of group aspect, as well as it'd probably be pretty bland with no one else.

However, if companies were to do this when shutting down games, do you think it would be good for their reputation? Or bad for it? How hard do you think it would be to implement a feature such as this? Do you think there's any other way to shut down a game while still allowing for a good experience? (dedicated servers maybe?), and how much of a hassle/cost any alternative ways would be.

What about if they were to make it LAN? So you can only play it with your friends, or of the sort. Again, do you think that would be too much hassle and money to implement if the game is already going down?

Now, I understand if the company is going to completely collapse because their servers are going down, they probably will want nothing of the sort since it won't help them in any way. But what about companies that are large, such as Blizzard, NCsoft, or even Square? Do you think it would attract more players towards their MMOs if they knew when the servers eventually shut down they'd be able to continue their playing experience?
#34794 • 2012-08-04 20:44:36 * • Kiboune said:

I am often confronted with the fact that games are blocked for my country. And if they do not want what I have played with them, I'd rather play in the offline version. It will be good if offline version will have function to invite other players in your game (like in Fable) or that you can add NPC's in your party (like in Phantasy Star Online 2)

As for reputation, it all depends on why they shut down game: If due to the fact that they have financial problems then it is not the fault of the company, but if they simply block access to the game from certain countries, without explanation of reasons i'm starting to feel that this company has the nationalists (good example PWI,Nexon and Killer Combo)

(sorry for my terrible english =_=)
#34801 • 2012-08-05 04:51:47 * • Kuru said:

The point of MMO's is mostly the community and the drive to be the best/better than that guy. Without that I'd play single player and multiplayer games, I really wouldn't care.

If Blizzard were to try this to attract people to their MMO's, it would just be another mark on the long list of shit they've done to try to attract people to their MMO's.

MMO's are all about the experience you get while playing with a community. Back in the days of BC WoW (wasn't there for vanillla, was probably awesome) raiding Karazhan for 3 hours to only down 2 bosses was more fun than you could imagine.

Bottom line, focus on improving your current MMO game companies! They all need improvments, everything has its problems.
#34816 • 2012-08-05 09:52:34 • Ethernal said:

an offline massive multiplayer online role playing game? thats something rly sad, if the game is shuting down it has its reasons, and to make it offline, I dont think that it would attract a lot of players, while mmo is all about online play and to play it alone is just sad. to make it lan? why? if its allready online than you dont need lan, and if blizzard for example will shut down any of they games its becouse that game faild (no players or something) and if game faild than why they should keep it going not online but lan or even offline? so Iam sure that there will not be such a thing like offline mmo unless you make your own server and play it aloune. lol
#34818 • 2012-08-05 11:35:25 • Ethernal said:

well I dont play a lot of mmo, I have playd lord of the rings,eve(not counting all shit that I playd for a few days) well and plan to play lost world. and I think that playing mmo alone is just sad. well but thats just my opinion, and I hope not to hurt anyone with that.
#34831 • 2012-08-05 13:24:49 • Xyopq said:

@DarkChaplain I also tend to just go through the majority of the game single player as I like to take it at my own pace and explore how I like. Some MMOs are built for co-op though and pretty much have to be played through with other people (I'm looking at you Spiral Knights).
#34834 • 2012-08-05 13:36:54 • Xyopq said:

The problem with SK is that they make it notoriously grindy, so to get anywhere you either have to:

a) grind the lower levels yourself, which takes an enormous amount of time

b) play with other people and get killed by lag/incompetence

c) buy your way through the game

Even if I'm in a group, I tend to wander off and kill things myself :-/
#34846 • 2012-08-05 15:51:37 • Ethereal said:

xD I love playing with groups or with people, but there is just something about the exploration of any MMO I find fascinating. Regardless if people or there are not, I think it would be extremely fun to revisit those worlds (especially for the sake of screenshots!) It may seem a little silly, but I would be much more comforted playing an MMO knowing that, no matter what, I can return to it. Especially, since you do play with others, memories are made. Just as some people enjoy to revisit houses they lived in as a child, or parks they used to play at with their friends.
#34935 • 2012-08-06 03:24:43 • Jenna38 said:

I actually have had to deal with this sad event before. One of my most favorite MMOs named Legend of the Martial Arts or LOMA for short went down. I'm still not completely sure if it's down for good or if they're just making an improved version. The fact is, I loved that game with my whole heart and soul. The most amazing thing about it was the social aspect. I'd made so many friends on there. (That awkward moment when you know your a loner cause you only have online friends XD) Anyways, I wouldn't trade my friends for anything else on that MMO. I didn't even care that I was a low level. I just enjoyed the fun of it. Almost everything about LOMA was perfect and I miss it, but it might as well just be gone forever than have an offline version of it since having other players around was it's absolute best quality.
#34937 • 2012-08-06 03:31:41 • Jenna38 said:

@Ethereal I agree with you. MMOs are like special memories to me, like places where a piece of your own soul are left in and waiting to be rediscovered which is why I enjoy playing with others.

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