MrChumble
17-11-04, 21:27
I've been thinking a lot lately about why I don't log in much. The problem, I think, is that for two years I've been thinking "it still feels a bit beta, but it's got so much potential." My theory was if I stuck around long enough the game would all come together and I'd love it even more.
It hasn't happened, despite a small mountain of new content since I started playing. Even NC2 hasn't taken away the beta feel.
I think I might have come up with a way to fix it, and it's pretty radical. I'd like KK to stop adding content, for a while.
Neocron is not in any way short of content. Far simpler games have kept people engaged for far longer; counterstrike, tetris and chess leap to mind. The problem is that everything feels half finished, it doesn't gel together into a cohesive whole. Now that NC2 is on the shelves - there will be a fresh supply of paying noobs for a while - KK have the chance to focus on refining what they already have instead of adding new things to try and keep long term customers. In the end they'd have a game that's far more playable, so they'd need to add less new content to keep people playing.
Class balance is a key issue, perhaps it's time for a complete re-evaluation rather than minor tweaks to try and balance things. The economy and trade skill systems are largely there, but need to improved to be less frustrating and more intuitive (EVE online could provide KK with a ready source of ideas ;)). The noob experience is better in NC2 but there's always room for more work, especially when it comes to missions and quests. PvM is completely out of balance now due to weapon power creep and the numerous issues with PPUs.
I really think getting the basics right now would give us all a much better game a few months down the line. I don't expect much to come of this post, but I'd be really pleased if it did. How I'd love to log on in a couple of months and find out that the classes are balanced, not just against each other, but with the game as a whole.
It hasn't happened, despite a small mountain of new content since I started playing. Even NC2 hasn't taken away the beta feel.
I think I might have come up with a way to fix it, and it's pretty radical. I'd like KK to stop adding content, for a while.
Neocron is not in any way short of content. Far simpler games have kept people engaged for far longer; counterstrike, tetris and chess leap to mind. The problem is that everything feels half finished, it doesn't gel together into a cohesive whole. Now that NC2 is on the shelves - there will be a fresh supply of paying noobs for a while - KK have the chance to focus on refining what they already have instead of adding new things to try and keep long term customers. In the end they'd have a game that's far more playable, so they'd need to add less new content to keep people playing.
Class balance is a key issue, perhaps it's time for a complete re-evaluation rather than minor tweaks to try and balance things. The economy and trade skill systems are largely there, but need to improved to be less frustrating and more intuitive (EVE online could provide KK with a ready source of ideas ;)). The noob experience is better in NC2 but there's always room for more work, especially when it comes to missions and quests. PvM is completely out of balance now due to weapon power creep and the numerous issues with PPUs.
I really think getting the basics right now would give us all a much better game a few months down the line. I don't expect much to come of this post, but I'd be really pleased if it did. How I'd love to log on in a couple of months and find out that the classes are balanced, not just against each other, but with the game as a whole.