Posts with tag rift-planes-of-telara

Graphics have come a long way in the last 20 years. We've gone from simple white squares on a screen to photorealistic cutscenes and gameplay. We used to have monochrome backgrounds, and now we've got lush, textured environments. Most players come upon a game with an expectation of what level of graphical advancement they would like to see.

Likewise, gameplay has evolved in leaps and bounds. We no longer suffer extreme death penalties, and we can find random people to run dungeons and raids with by only clicking a couple of buttons. New gameplay ideas are being presented seemingly with each patch, and to a lot of success -- a simple gameplay hook can keep people coming back and playing a game for months, even years.

But are the two mutually exclusive, and have they become so?

Obviously, in an MMO, no one wants to run around an ugly world populated by trees that look like pipe cleaners, but is it a deal breaker? Would you rather play a fun, fulfilling game that looks a bit dated or play the most gorgeous, graphically stunning MMO that may lack good mechanics or an involving story?

Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook, available now from No Starch Press.

Ah, RIFT -- if you keep up with MMO news outside this blog (or even if you don't), you've likely heard of this new title from Trion Worlds that has recently launched with much fanfare and success. Whenever a new triple-A MMO title releases, a portion of WoW subscribers are always curious enough about the new game to give it a try. Some decide that WoW is better and return. Some fall in love with the new game and never come back.

For guild leaders, the issue of other games is particularly tricky. This week, one leader asks for advice on making a graceful exit from his guild so he can try his luck in Telara.

Scott,

I'm in my second stint as guild leader for what was a huge 40 man raiding guild in Vanilla and is now a small friends and family 10 man guild. [. . .]Wrath was great for us with the accessibility of the content and we all had fun doing most of the 10 man content available. That lasted until this summer when many of us got busy with kids, gardens, vacations, etc and we ended up taking a de facto break while waiting for Cata.

With the release of Cata, most players returned to the game and we set out on getting into the new content and trying to fill the gaps that had been left by players who didn't return or moved to other guilds. However, with a raiding model more similar to TBC or Vanilla and the seemingly larger time commitments to get into what is, frankly, not-very-interesting content, things have kind of stalled before even beginning raiding; it's gotten to the point where about half the active membership (myself included) just isn't interested in playing WoW anymore.