One thing? That's hard. I would change everything, but that was not the question so I'll have to go with:
Tune the difficulty until players are afraid of all monsters, not the other way around, and you're starting to get it right.
decarsul said:Well . . . how can i change something that isn't final yet? I mean, i haven't experienced a thing first hand. So right now i wouldn't want to change a thing.
You might want to re-read the question. What would you change about "modern games". All. Any. Modern games. Not Pantheon.
In a word? Monetization is what I would remove.
In more words: I would return first sale doctrine, eliminate SaaS, DLC, and similar concepts. Overall, selling the game as a product instead of a service would be my goal.
When it was a product, it was better, historically.
There's nothing wrong with "Master of Orion", and then "Master of Orion II", but this concept of never-finished games with launch day patches + continuous DLC, I think it's purging anything good from video games as a product.
As a software developer myself, I treat the development process as a creative act, and the result as art. I don't believe art should be monetized, personally. I know others feel differently, but that's my opinion.
I would change the design emphasis on building a game, to one on building a virtual world.
Make MMO's more group friendly/group centric. Most MMO's have grouping as an option, but the implementation still feels like a solo player game. MMO's should feel like a group centric game from the start. Like why is this box empty? Oh thats for all the group stuff.... Why do i have so many group spells and abilities? oh maybe i should group with someone.....
Also.... along that same line is making content challenging so that it takes a group to complete the task. If i wanted solo play i would play a solo game.... There are plenty of them
One thing? There are many things I would *very* much want to change so this is a hard question.
Honorable mention - the system of letting people play without subscribing and relying on cash shops for so much of the revenue. This horrendous system drives so many bad features in games because those features enhance revenue.
Winner - speed of leveling. I want a game where it takes many months to get to maximum level (and maybe maximum crafting skill) even more than I want a subscription-based game.
Focus of developers from: graphics > everything else (mainly plot and mechanics) to the other way around. The ammount of games (esp AAA) that looks amazing but are boring and are basically crappy lately is astounding.
Honorable mention: Release politics. It's been long time since I've learned not to buy the game any close to the premiere and wait a year or two for Definitive Edition instead. Releasing the games half way done with ton of bugs and/or cutting the game just to make more money on DLCs is terrible practice.
static worlds... give me chaos! give me change! give me procedurally generated events that alter the state of the world. If i take off for a week and come back to my home city in ruins, that would be so epic! I would immediately set out to find out WTF!? happened and TRY to avenge my fallen shopkeeps and barmaids! I would hire crafters (because i hate crafting) to rebuild the bar first! I want to hire some thugs to murden a traveling merchant because he refused to give me a 5 finger discount on his goods, so I will just take them! ... after spending loads hiring those guys... its the principle! I want to join a guild who has take over a giant fortress on the mountain and is struggling to defend it again the onslaught of neighboring clans trying to stake their claim on the fortress. ... give me LIFE!!!!
/cry ... i want EQNext back :'( :'( :'(
Monetization. So tired of cosmetic shops, parted out games to sell DLC, the umbrella of "games as a service" used to psychologically manipulate the more vulnerable among us into spending incredible amounts of money on lootboxes/cosmetics and pretending it's totally okay to knowingly rely and prey on addicts or "whales."
Kilsin said:Community Debate - If you had the chance to change one thing, what would you change about modern games? #MMORPG#CommunityMatters
In game cash shops, p2w mechanics.
The only thing I might not change is a concept like Kronos. Not only because it diminishes the demand for gold farmers, but it allows most of that inevitable revenue to be directed to the dev company instead of someone who bots their entire lan center during off hours.
Add advanced AI to monsters and even NPC's. I've read about it often, and it's getting better all the time. I want the monsters to be able to think like humans(or better), so that every encouter is challenging. I want them to make you think about every encounter, and not just steamroll it because the monsters aren't overpowered with better stats.
I don't want PvP. I can't stand griefers and other bad human behavior in PvP games.
I think NPC's could be alot more dynamic with advanced AI. Maybe you could bribe them or do favors for them. They could give you tips and become your friend. Maybe you could help them with their work. There are many possibilities.
I would change being told your location or directions in any form. Dot/arrow on a world map, zone on an atlas, minimap of local terrain, location commands (/loc), golden path, and markers on a compass all fit into this category for me. I love experiencing a world and I'm the type to completely ignore all of it if there's an easier way to get around than to try and learn about the world around me. I realize that this is because of my own flaws, but it's my answer nonetheless.
Fear / challenge
ie: A newly made online friend, when I began my EQ journey, spoke to me of this place named "Befallen". A place of multiple levels, and keyed doors, and a central shaft you could jump down. If you died down below past the keyed doors ... you might loose your body and items if you wiped.
One thing for me specifically on modern games such as shooters is that in the past we had the ability to set or rent our own servers for the clan or just to have a lower ping server locally. These days you are forced to go to established servers by the developer, there are pros and cons to both approaches of course but there should have been choices for gamers. As far as mmos are concerned I am hoping to see a tweaked version of the early EQ days in difficulty, mistery and community cohesion from that time, more towards the positive of course as there were plexty of toxic influences that brough the industry under the dark path of entitlement.