MMORPGs Past Present and Future - A Comparative Editorial

[Cobalt Katze]

Introduction

A few days ago I decided to put together a writeup of comparason between three major MMORPGs currently at hand. One that's existed for a while, and perhaps some people reading this have played: Final Fantasy XI. One that I've played for the past few months, World of Warcraft. And one that I havn't played, but have scowered tons of info for and read lots of beta diaries etc. about: Everquest II. There are of course other MMORPGs that continue to flourish and change such as the original Everquest Live, Ragnarok Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lineage II, Asheron's Call, Ultima Online.. There's a lot out there. But what I'm focused on is the "next big thing." I'll address various topics of interest and explain how they exist for each game in question. So sit back, grab a preferred beverage, and enjoy!

(Note: This is entirely fact-based, there is no opinion from me, even though I do have my opinions and biases.)

Character Creation

Final Fantasy XI

Choose a race from 5 options (Hume, Elvaan, Tarutaru, Mithra, Galka) as well as a gender. Choose a face, and one of 2 hair colors associated with it. They choose their initial class(job) and are finished.

World of Warcraft

Choose a race from 8 options (Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Gnome, Orc, Troll, Tauren and Undead) as well as a gender. Choose a face, skin color, hair style, hair color, and "facial hair" (can also include jewlery for females or ammount of deformedness for undead). Choose your perminant class, and you're done.

Everquest II

Choose a gender and an alignment (Good or Evil). Depending on your alignment (some races can be either), choose a race from 16 options (Dwarf, Froglok, Halfling, High Elf, Wood Elf, Barbarian, Erudite, Gnome, Half-Elf, Human, Kerra, Dark Elf, Iksar, Ogre, Ratonga, and Troll). Tweak your character's look by sliding around the following: eye shape, eyebrow shape, eye color. Ear, cheek, chin, nose and lip shape. Hair style, beard style, hair color, highlight color. Various race-specific options including jewlery, tattoos, etc. Skin color, height, and age for some races.

Beginning the Game - "n00b zones"

Final Fantasy XI

The player creates their single character (more chars coming at an additional fee per month), is assigned a server randomly (unless invited to another), and gets to choose their starting city from 3 - Windurst, Bastok and San d'Oria. Each city has a specific introduction cinema that involves the character and various important NPCs in that city. They are given a token to give to a guard somewhere in the city. If they actually do so (most players tend to skip this and just ask questions of other people anyways), the guard gives a small monetary reward and can be asked various questions about gameplay. From there on out, the player's on their own. Any basic gameplay features and controls are explained in the manual, and are expected to be known by the player.

World of Warcraft

The player initially chooses a server, and can have a certain ammount of characters avaliable to create on each server. Each race has their own starter area in the world associated with it. Humans - Elwynn Forest. Dwarves and Gnomes - Dun Morogh. Night Elves - Teldrassil. Orcs and Trolls - Durotar. Tauren - Mulgore. Undead - Tirisfal Glades. Each race has their own intro sequence with a voiceover explaining their brief background and immediate conflicts in the world. Each starting area has an enclosed "n00b" area, where each race begins a heirarchy of quests that slowly feed them content of the game, becoming more and more complicated. Since the game's leveling revolves around quests, each type of quest is introduced effectively within the small areas. Once you complete a certain ammount of quests, you gain a quest to progress to another slightly larger city in the starter area. This process proceeds until you finally reach your race's main capital city. From there on out, quests branch off and lead you to various places.

Everquest II

I'm not certain how servers will work out, but I am assuming they'll be similar to WoW where you choose a server initially, and are able to create a specific number of characters on each. When your character first starts out, you are a classless basic character in a private instanced area. It's a ship at sea, and you're addressed by the captain and crew in full voiceovers. The story goes, you're on a ship heading to the Refuge Islands. You're given a series of starter quests which involve running tasks by the shipmates, which include things like retreiving the charter's lucky cap, or tracking down and killing off a goblin, teaching basic combat manuvers etc. By the time the ship reaches the island, you're level 3. Upon docking, you're now in an area with other players. A man counting heads basically asks you what your archetype is (fighter, mage, priest or scout), and voila you've chosen your basic role to play. From level 3 through 6, you're on the Refuge Island and are involved in a series of branching quests with stories behind em all and realtime cutscenes with voiceovers (all npcs in the final version will be voiced.) Once you hit level 6, you're told that you can set sail for the main land now. If your character is evil-specific, you head to Freeport. If your character is good-specific, you head to Qeynos. If your character can swing either way, you're given a choice. Upon arriving, each city has its own race-specific village "hub." In order to proceed beyond level 6, you have to complete a quest to register your citizenship with said town. You continue leveling, and at level 10 are able to do a quest to obtain your specific class. At level 20, your class branches out into a sub-class wich is further specialized to your chosen playstyle. At this point, you can also begin a quest to betray your city and attempt to gain citizenship in the opposing city if you so wish.

Combat and Gameplay Flow

Final Fantasy XI

Combat in FFXI is based upon a realtime-oriented delay-based system. Every enemy and weapon has a delay between attacks. During these delays you can execute special abilties. Casters typically do not initiate combat and stay away from the enemy being fought, casting their spells as needed. Spells all have a cooldown and casting time as well as a mana cost. Every job has an HP bar and MP bar, though those without spells obviously have no MP. The melee members of a battle will accumulate Tactical Points while taking and dealing damage. Once the bar reaches 100% it is possible to execute a Weapon Skill. If several WS are executed in the correct un-designated order, a Renkei or Skillchain will be activated. During this time, an elemental caster may cast a spell to provide bonus Magic Burst damage. Flow: A character will typicall solo levels 1 through 10-12. One enemy will be fought at once. Extra enemies typically causes a single player to run away and "zone," as enemies are not leashed to their patrolling areas and will chase until the player leaves the area or is very far away. Once the player reaches level 10-12, the normal course of leveling is to find a full balenced party of 6 members and find a place to set up camp and pull/fight enemies one by one. Adds can be dealt with, but most players like to run away. Most groups form to gain exp and level, and will do that by grinding one enemy at a time at an appropriate area. Other groups may form for missions or quests where exp isn't as important, so levels involved and group formation isn't as strict either. The group will remain stationary, and the designated Puller will bring enemies from the surrounding area to the group to fight. You are able to consider enemies beforehand via a text message that displays their power in relationship to yours. The benefit of grouping is the ability to overcome non-soloable tasks (read: everything), and gain exp for levels. There is no benefit for soloing.

World of Warcraft

Combat in WoW is delay-based, yet much faster paced than previous games. It is possible to solo, duo, small-group, or fully group through every level. Most classes except Mages melee regardless of role, as enemies have lower HP and due to being able to solo, everyone is able to contribute to the overall DPS. Every class except Warriors and Rogues have both Health and Mana, and use Mana for special abilities and spells. Warriors have a Rage bar. Rage is built up as the player takes damage and dishes it out, and all abilities use a certain ammount. Rogues have Energy, which is a quickly-refilling bar that is constantly at 100 points, so is more of a % oriented affair. Every ability uses a certain percentage of Energy. Rogues also have a combo meter, which has a maximum of 5 bubbles that are filled up by designated moves that generate Combo Points. Some moves are designated as Finishing Moves, which will use however many points are accumulated in the meter, and the effect of the move will be different depending on how many points were used. Most groups are formed for completing quests as opposed to grinding exp. The solid "perfect" groups are formed for completing Instanced Dungeons, basically. Progressions of encounters that lead up to minibosses and eventually a final boss at the conclusion of the dungeon. Traps and ambushes are also events that may occur within an instance, so a party is focused on progression and overcoming tasks rather than one enemy at a time. Multiple enemies being fought is a normal occurence, and while major crowd control isn't a major part of gameplay, multiple encounters can be delt with without a major impact on flow. You are able to consider enemies beforehand by looking directly at their physical level in comparason to yours. Typically you can solo even-con enemies, sometimes 1 or 2 above. There is no major benefit for grouping outside of Instances. Exp is split rather evenly. However, Instances have what are known as Elite mobs, which function as if they were atleast twice their level. They provide a massive ammount of exp and are not soloable, so groups will benefit by fighting in Instances. The benefits for soloing are a feeling of control and solitary action, being able to control your playtime as you see fit.

Everquest II

Surprise surprise, Combat in EQ2 is delay-based as well, and falling somewhere between FFXI and WoW as far as pace is concerned. It is possible to solo, duo, small-group or fully group through every level. All classes have Health and Power. Casters will use Power for spells, and melee-central characters will use Power for their combat arts. A player is tought how to group through a series of quests in the "n00b" island, if they so choose to complete them. Most groups are based around the interaction of the 4 archetypes. Battle will undoubtedly revolve around a special system in place called Heroic Opportunities. How this works essentially, is that during battle in a group, a wheel will pop up displaying a certain order of symbols. Perform these abilities in order, and something great will happen; whether it's a powerful spell, an AE heal, or something completely different, is up to what wheel is presented and how it's dealt with. A Scout's purpose in a group is to be the persuasive force behind manipulating the opportunity into the group's favor. I appologize for being vague, as I still havn't seen this in action. Once I do, I can update with a better idea of how it works. You are able to consider enemies beforehand, though in what way I am not certain yet. There is also a system in place, where enemies will be smart. There has been a proven instance of 3 shark mobs effectively camping a lost spirit shard the player needs to recover. More on this later. They will use tactics as opposed to simply always following the same run-kill-die formula. Enemies will band together in parties some times. While considering one enemy, you are able to see if it is partied with any other mobs in the area. The idea is that soloers will go after single enemies, and parties will go after fellow enemy parties, therefor indicating that multiple-enemy battles are common and part of the normal gameplay flow. Benefits for grouping seem to be similar to the Instance game, as EQ2 will have large ammounts of instances as well. However, there is an active exp bonus for grouping so it will be more desirable and encouraged even outside of said instances. Benefits for soloing are control over your playtime and always having something to do, even if you have simply an hour to play.

Main Hubs - "Trade centers"

Final Fantasy XI

The unquestionable hub city for the entire game beyond level 20 is Jeuno, basically the center of the world. There are auction houses in other parts of the world, but the only one used for the main population is Jeuno's.

World of Warcraft

Each side to the game, Alliance and Horde, have one city in which there is an Auction House. For Alliance, that is Ironforge, the dwarf capital. For Horde, it is Orgrimmar, the orc capital. Where there is trade, the people congregate. So these two cities are the main hubs and where most players gather to form groups or hold live auctions in the Trade channel.

Everquest II

There are only two main cities in the game, one for each side: Qeynos and Freeport. They are designed to be the central hubs and are reportedly as large as a real city, with districts for every major race, player/guild housing, landmarks, trade districts, and social areas. (Approximately 17 zones for each city.)

Factions and how they interact.

Final Fantasy XI

There are three major factions in the game, and everyone belongs to one. San d'Oria, Bastok, and Windurst. Everyone from each faction can play with eachother and totally function regardless of their faction. They are, however, in conflict politically and can gain control of the regions in the game, giving bonuses or penalties to those in said faction. You can change sides at will, for a fee, and raise your status within each faction independantly. What city you align yourself with also determines "teams" in Conflict, the PvP events in FFXI.

World of Warcraft

There are two factions in the game, Alliance and Horde. Your race ties you in to what faction you play. Players of each faction do not interact with eachother on a normal basis. The game is built around a PvP framework, and it is natural to have player conflicts between Horde and Alliance. Each faction has their own common tongue, and with exception of Undead, no one from Alliance can understand Horde and vice versa. Players of opposite factions may not party, send tells, or send mail to eachother. In the final release there will be PvP Battlefields, in which each side plays a role in a large map with traditional Warcraft-style landmarks and bases to protect. There will also be various pvp rewards including military ranks for gaining Honor points by actively participating in anti-opposite-faction operations, but in a respectful manner. "Ganking" or killing off players much lower level than you results in a loss of Honor.

Everquest II

There are two factions in the game, Good and Evil. They are represented by each side's hub city, respectfully Qeynos and Freeport. Each side may interract and party regardless of faction; all faction determines is your hub city and housing. Faction is determined either by your race (some are good only or evil only), or by the player upon setting sail from the starter area. At level 20 and only level 20, any player may defect from their faction and begin a series of difficult quests that will enable you to switch citizenship. Beyond that, your standing is iffy but will slowly increase as you complete quests for your new alliance. This means that a good-only character such as a wood elf must start in Qeynos, but can defect and become a citizen of Freeport if they so choose. Same goes for an evil-only character such as ogre or troll. There is currently no PvP in effect or planned for Everquest II.

Classes and roles played.

Final Fantasy XI

Every job may be played on one character. Each levels independantly, and you can set a subjob in order to support your main job. there are 5 initial jobs you may choose from: Warrior, Thief, Black Mage, Red Mage, and White Mage. Upon hitting level 30, you can begin to do quests to obtain Advanced Jobs. There are 9 total: Ranger, Bard, Dark Knight, Paladin, Summoner, Dragoon, Beast Tamer, Ninja, and Samurai. So that makes 14 in all. Parties are set up in a traditional format with 6 members. Grouping is required for all levels after 12, unless you are a BST. The roles needed are Tank, Healer and DPS. Warrior and Paladin are the main viable options for tanks. A healer is usually a White Mage, but can be complemented by a Red Mage or someone subbing WHM. DPS is prettymuch every other job. Every race may play every class, but some are ostrasized (taru melee, galka caster).

World of Warcraft

Your class is decided the moment you create your character. It can't change, and certain races are restricted in which classes they may play. There are 8 total: Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Priest, Warlock, Druid, Shaman, and Paladin. Parties are set up in groups of 5, mainly for instanced dungeons. The game is 100% soloable, or duoable, but for instanced dungeons and raids it is required to group up. Most parties follow the Holy Trinity +2 formula. That is, Warrior (tank), Priest (healer), and Mage (DPS). Druids and Shamen may also play the healer role, but are more limited in their ability to do so than a Priest. A rogue may also fill the DPS role, but can not do AE damage like a Mage. Paladins may fit the tank role, but they have no way of directly taunting so it makes tactics more flexable. (Note: Any group may form and do succesfully, the Holy Trinity +2 is just for those that want a "perfect" group.) Once your character hits the cap, level 60, there will be options on obtaining a second class: a Hero Class. Not much information is avaliable at this time, other than they are much more advanced in their abilities and how they function.

Everquest II

Every character created is essentially a loose ball of clay, ready to be molded into whatever the player feels they want to head towards. Levels 1-3 are spent as a generic character learning the game and interface. The tutorial played on the ship allows you to experience aspects of all 4 archetypes to help you make a decision on what suits you best. At level 3 you choose an Archetype. There are 4 archetypes, and they serve the basic functions in a party: Fighter, Mage, Priest and Scout. Any race can play any archetype, though stats may differ and make one more difficult than another. Once the player levels to 10, they are able to branch out into 3 specific classes in within each Archetype. Fighters may become Warriors, Brawlers and Crusaders. A Mage may become a Sorcerer, Enchanter or Summoner. A Priest may become a Cleric, Druid or Shaman. A Scout may become a Rogue, Bard or Predator. Once the character reaches level 20, they can further specialize into 2 sub-classes for each class. Warriors become Berserkers or Guardians. Brawlers become Bruisers or Monks. Crusaders become Paladins or Shadowknights. Sorcerers become Warlocks or Wizards. Enchanters become Illusionists or Coercers. Summoners become Necromancers or Conjurers. Clerics become Templars or Inquisitors. Druids become Wardens or Furies. Shamen become Defilers or Mystics. Rogues become Brigands or Swashbucklers. Bards become Dirges or Troubadors. Predators become Assassins or Rangers. So all in all, number-wise: 4 Archetypes. 12 Classes. 24 Sub-classes. One thing to keep in mind is that as you choose a class and subclass, you still retain your previous status. All fighters will learn abilities like taunts on top of their class and subclass abilities. All priests will learn basic healing and ressurection on top of their specific class's magic. Groups consist of 6 members, though you are able to solo or duo throughout all levels. An ideal group is designed around including 1 member of each Archetype, and 2 additionals. All fighters can tank, all priests can heal, all mages can "nuke", and all scouts can control Attacks of Opportunity (more on that later.)

Level Cap & Endgame possibilities

Final Fantasy XI

The level cap is 75. Beyond this, experience can be stored up and used to further up your character's stats. Endgame experiences include: Story-driven missions, usually culminating in an instanced boss fight, or non-instanced triggered bosses. "Raids" in instanced areas known as Dynamis. Hunting and looting from intense non-instanced bosses known as HNMs (Hyper/Huge Named/Notorious Monsters)

World of Warcraft

The level cap is 60. Planned for further expanding your character are Hero Classes, special endgame classes meant to specialize your character even further with powerful abilities and magic. No further details are known. Endgame experiences will be divided into PvE and PvP experiences. PvE Endgame includes: High level instanced dungeons. These are planned and difficult dungeons that culinate in one or more large boss encounters. Raid instances and zones. Up to approx. 24 players may enter these intense areas where many foes and gigantic bosses are sure to await them. PvP Endgame includes: The Honor system. Through PvP against your opposing faction, you are able to accumulate Honor points. Parties and individuals accumulate these over the course of one day. At the end of the day, Honor points are distributed amongst the players that participated in PvP. At the end of a week, rankings amongst those with the most Honor points are decided or shifted. This is known as your Military Rank. Those with high rank will be rewarded with many things such as titles, special Officer Tabards and Barracks, etc. Another aspect of PvP Endgame will be Battlefield zones. They will operate as normal non-instanced zones, but PvP will be enabled for the entire area. The Horde and Alliance will both have strongholds in the area, very similar to old Warcraft games. Eventually there will be special Seige Vehicles and it will be an all-out war with the objective being to take out the enemy force and destroy (raze) their town.

Everquest II

The level cap is 50. Planned Endgame experiences will include instanced and non-instanced raids, though the details have not been explained at this point in time.

Guilds and Housing

Final Fantasy XI

The guilds in FFXI are called Linkshells or an LS. A LS leader purchases a pearl, chooses its color and name, and becomes the shell holder. They can give people pearls and designate pearl sack holders that may also dish out pearls. Everyone may be a member of any number of linkshells as they see fit and switch them at will, or simply remove them alltogether. They are essentially chatrooms. Housing in FFXI is done as a purely personal instance existing as Mog Houses. Only the player may enter, and you can decorate your apartment as you see fit and grow plants etc.

World of Warcraft

Guilds in WoW begin by a single player, the guild leader/organizer, purchasing a Guild Charter from an NPC. He/she asks around and gets 9 additional signatures on the charter, brings it back to the NPC, and the guild is formed with the specific name. A player may be the member of only one guild. The guild leader may design a Guild Tabard with a unique color scheme for the border, background, and icon (chosen from over 100 options.) Players can purchase a tabard that can be worn and display this custom image. Within the guild organization, the guild leader can create ranks to promote/demote the guild members to, each of which containing various toggleable privelages such as officer chat, recruiting new players, kicking out players, and setting Public Notes and Officer Notes. There is currently no housing in WoW, though it is planned for the future.

Everquest II

There exist 2 means of player association within EQ2. Guilds and Families. A guild is started by the leader getting his name approved by an NPC, providing a minimum of 6 members to begin with, and the guild is formed. There is a small upkeep that must be payed by the guild leader. Guilds will be able to rise in status within the city they are registered in. There are dynamic changes that occur when your guild reaches higher status. For example, an NPC guard may salute a prestigious guild member as he walks by. Guilds with a higher prestige will also get benefits such as non-instanced housing within the city itself. This includes houses and guild halls. (As opposed to a normal player's apartment which every player will have) Families exist mainly as an existance of surnames. Players with the same surname are considered to be part of the same family.

Death and Homepoint Transportation

Final Fantasy XI

Death in FFXI is very simple: it constitutes a loss of experience points, no matter the situation. The base loss is around 10% of your exp until next level, though at higher levels this is capped at 2000 or so. A White Mage, Red Page or Paladin can resurrect a player (or anyone subbing White Mage) to reduce the total exp lost. If they are resurrected, the player remains where they died. If they are not resurrected, a player will return to their Homepoint. Homepoints can be set at any large blue rotating crystal in the world. A Black Mage can Warp to their HP, or Warp II others to it. A player may also purchase a Warp Scroll to return at will.

World of Warcraft

There are 3 options once you die in WoW, each have different penalties. The first option is to be resurrected. Priests, Paladins and Shamen can resurrect by magic. Engineers can resurrect using Goblin Jumper Cables (with a chance of failure.) If you choose this method, you will have resurrection sickness for 1-2 minutes, depending on the rez used. Priests also have a battle rez which can be used every 30 minutes with no sickness. If you aren't going to be resurrected, you can choose to release your spirit. You will then appear at the nearest Graveyard as a ghost existing in the spirit world. If you choose to return to life at that graveyard by talking to a Spirit Healer, you will lose roughly 5% of your exp until next level. If you don't want to lose exp, the final option is to return to your corpse. You may have to run a long distance, yet once you revive at your corpse there is no further penalty. Your Homepoint in WoW exists on a completely seperate level from dying. At any point you may use an enchanted stone called a Hearthstone to return to your Homepoint. These stones have a 60 minute cooldown period on them. Your Homepoint may be any Inn existing in the world.

Everquest II

Each time you die, you leave a spirit shard on the ground and take a penalty to your stats, experience, and item wear. When you retrieve your spirit shard, your stats are returned to normal and a large part of your experience penalty is paid off. If you choose to not retrieve your spirit shard, you will automatically absorb it after three days pass (online or offline), but you'll take the full experience penalty. When you die: You leave a spirit shard on the ground. You lose some of your stats and pools (health, power.) You owe some experience debt. Your equipped items are slightly damaged. When you retrieve your spirit shard: Your stats and pools are restored. Your experience debt from that death is reduced by more than half. The act of recovering a shard is purely an act of reducing debt and recovering lost power. Shards are not a repository for experience, and can only pay back debt, not add regular experience. If you are resurrected, you do not have to retrieve a spirit shard All members of the Priest Archetype can rez, as well as Necromancers, Treubadors, and Paladins. Multiple deaths are cumulative. Each time you die, you take an additional stats and pools penalty. This will cap out at around 5 unrecovered deaths. If you do not retrieve your spirit shard: You will automatically absorb your spirit shard after three real-time days have passed, whether you're online or not. This will restore the stats and pools, but not reduce your exp debt. If you are in a group, your debt is shared by members of the group. If any member of the group dies, their experience debt is split evenly among the members of the group. When you recall from death, you return to the nearest Traveller's Camp. Your Homepoint will always be your city. You will have an object that allows you to return to your home city once every hour, and takes 30 seconds to activate.

Crafting, Trading and Currency

Final Fantasy XI

Any player in the world may sign up at any crafting guild and begin the rigerous task of item synthesis. The guilds in existance are Fishing, Cooking, Wood, Bone, Leather, Cloth, Metal and Gold. Items are constructed through recipes passed along by word of mouth or player databases. The materials always involve 1 crystal of the proper type, and the ingredients needed. There is a chance of failure at all levels. Skill levels increase in percentages of one level (.1 x10, adding up to 1 solid point.) As you skill, you take tests in order to proceed skilling higher and creating more complicated items. There are also non-skillable gathering methods for collecting grass, lumber and ore. Very fragile and easily breakable tools are used for these. Most trading either occurs through the Auction House, or through player-run Bazaars. Currency is simply Gil, which is accumulated in large bundles.

World of Warcraft

A player may take up a total of 2 Professions. These include two kinds of tradeskills, crafting and harvesting. Crafting includes: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, Enchanting, and Tailoring. Harvesting includes: Mining, Skinning, and Herbalism. There are also three non-profession skills that any player may take up: Fishing, Cooking and First Aid. All crafting will never fail, provided you have the components necissary. Skilling is done in solid points, and is determined by "considering" the recipe level compared to yours. Orange combines will always skill you, yellow has a good chance, green has a small chance, and grey will never skill. Skilling on harvesting is done in a similar manner, and what type of plant/vein/level of animal you're able to harvest off of is determined by skill level. Various tradeskills require a smithing hammer, or mining pick, or skinning knife etc., but they are invincible. Caps for skill levels are broken by finding the respective teacher out in the world and having him train you in the next level of your craft. All trading happens either through auctions or direct buyouts in the Auction House, or live auctions or direct purchases in the Trade Channel, a chat channel that exists in all major cities. Currency is Copper, Silver and Gold. 100 Copper = 1 Silver. 100 Silver = 1 Gold. From there on, Gold is accumulated in as large a number as you can.

Everquest II

Crafting in EQ2 is almost like an alternate game the players can involve themselves, yet with the same character they use for combat. Every character will have their combat level, but will also have an artisan level if they so choose. The classes in the artisan route are handled very similar to normal classes, in that they branch accordingly. Everyone starts as a generic Artisan. An Artisan can then choose to become a Craftsman, Outfitter, Scholar or Provisioner. Craftsmen can specialize into Woodworker or Carpenter. Outfitters can specialize into Armorer, Weaponsmith or Tailor. A Scholar can specialize as a Jewler, Sage, or Alchemist. I haven't experienced crafting first-hand, it is explained as such: "The crafting process is based upon our combat model. When you make an item, you are essentially entering an encounter with the crafting device (oven, forge, etc.). Artisans will be presented with challenges that they must overcome during the process, and they will have access to trade skill arts that are very much akin to the combat arts which adventurers use in battle." More on this once I can find out exactly how it works. Trade hubs are supposedly Freeport and Qeynos, however any sort of Auction House or Bazaar system has not been elaborated on by any developer or player. Currency hasn't been confirmed, but I am assuming it will be conducted as Copper < Silver < Gold < Platinum. I may be wrong however.


Conclusion

Phew.. that was a lot of text. And it took me a lot longer than I had planned. But hey, there ya go. Comments are well appreciated, as I spent a good 4-5 hours compiling all that info / And if you have any questions to clarify things, ask away as well! Thanks for reading if you did read all of it

[Faye]

Thanks Cobbi. That was very informative.

[Daijaga]

This article sums p my take on MMORPGs.

http://internetgames.about.com/library/weekly/aa012003a.htm

[SaitoH]

Thanks for that writeup, Cobbi. Very informative. I have a question ... I played the stress test and was blown away, so much so I can't believe how much I'm anticipating the release. I fact I think it's a huge cut above DAoC, FFXI, SWG, and CoH. Since you are playing beta for WoW and I'll assume you have been for a while, how do you like it?

^w^

Ps. That article was interesting, Daijaga. I'm weird because I actually quit MMOs when I get bored. I'm not attached enough to my characters to continue and I love trying out something new. I usually get 6 months out of an MMO (3 in the case of CoH) before I move on.

[Cobalt Katze]

[GAAZ]

Cobbi..You play MMORPG's like they were lines of cocaine..When the hell did you find the time to write all that?

I can't even find enough time to beat one mission on Neverwinter Nights.

[Cobalt Katze]

One would also ask how I find time for college and my job... But it happens somehow! Crap, almost 2am, I flee!! *dives for the covers*

[RuneLateralus]

The little bit I played on the stress test was nice of WoW. But I am not fully sure if I will pick it up right away due to funds (I need to save some money this holiday season).

As for EQ2....well, I am not a big EQ fan, but I will still give it a try...graphically it looks amazing, but I need to clean up my hard drive though. 7 gigs is a lot...not to mention 10 CDs/2 DVDs give off a lot of info for the game.

[Girkon]

Wow after all that my brain still feels buzzed. Though in all that I am still stocked on WoW. Cause I have been a Warcraft fan ever since Orcs and Humans. Though I have tried FFXI and Everquest. So overall it's just a matter of what kind of stories and settings you would like most.