totally agree on the essential character of portal travel. Also, people linking to portals and sharing them was such a huge part of the game early on. I understand why town network came about, but getting a portal to subway and wandering around there felt magical and I would love if a game could recapture that sense
the character creation and endless ability to make the build your own is the special thing about AC to me. That and the way the questing works. I really miss the XP chain aspect of AC as well - thats a pretty old school thing but i missed it when i came back to play on the emulator. I completely agree with you about random loot as well - thats one of the special things about the game. The pvp brought me back time and time again. I miss this game so much :( edit- OH MAN! forgot about the hub system and portals - casting portals and tying to rare hunting or questing areas was such a great way to travel. essential as well!
I think he might be misinterpreting the feelings that buffing gives him. It really helps solidify how powerful your character is when you move up the ranks of buffs, and ultimately the whole process lands as a chore - but a necessary chore. Not only to successful adventures, but necessary to really make the character feel like they are in control of their power through sheer force of will.
I have a few ideas. Have a combat university type setting. For instance, you can't specialize any combat in the beginning even magic ie void and war. You can specialize healing as example. As you progress, you can specialize combat after lvl 50. As you progress past lvl 50 you learn combat combinations. Not just 1 hit whacks. Next I think players should be able to make and progress avatars to help their vessels. I'm not saying 20 or more avatars. If you have 1-8 vassals online at the same time. The avatar can broadcast to the vessels. Come to BSD to lvl in a fellowship. It would be per dungeon lvl restriction. That would help keep the vessel loyal to an absent patron. I agree keep the loot system the same. Keep the magic system the same. Keep the death penalty the same. Tweak crafting some. Tweak the patron if they are not on for a month the vessel can leave without penalty.
Some random thoughts on an Asheron's Call 3. a) Lifestones one of if not the best in game lore for respawn of any game. b) Mounts would be good for a later expansion in the game's lifespan, I'd follow GW2 lead minus the flying mounts. c) Leave room in the lore for addition of new playable races, GW2 failed with this. d) Allegiance system might be a lightning in a bottle effect, not impossible to do again but will need to be changed and don't expect it to be an easy system to build. e) Random dungeon layouts. I like the idea but two things to keep in mind, you will be fighting against nostalgia and content creators. [I can still run soul fearing quest (3 towers) in my mind]. Thanks for the video, it got me thinking and remembering.
My brother and I ran to AB on level 1 chars (naked with spears only ) back in the retail days and it took most of the day to reach and we did it. Fun times.
Honestly Fenix, one thing I would love is that they bring a system that is sorta like Anarchy Online where your character can range from just a regular MMO type person to someone who can literally build the world. Now I'm not talking about a survival game but I mean that this character you create actually invest in building a shop, opening a shop, and making it run like a shop. Create a sorta of ingame enterprise.
A couple thoughts as I watch this: * Instead of a global spell economy, give bonuses for using a variety of different attacks in each fight. Punish repetition and encourage creativity when fighting. * For Allegiances, give increasing bonuses the longer you stay sworn to your patron, and some way to benefit patrons for helping vassals, like increased exp when partying with them and such. * I agree that portal travel is great because it still encourages exploration and not just instantly teleporting to the zone from wherever you are like in FFXIV. FFXIV feels small because of instant teleportation, and that should be avoided in a truly open world game like AC. And yes, Subway was THE gathering spot back in the day, and it was really cool to see a place where there were a lot of players you could interact with. * YES Live Events were awesome. I was there for the Bael'Zharon live events and it was epic. Same with Gaerlan. Loved this video! Great ideas and I agree with a lot of the points you made.
This will be lengthy as I am super passionate about AC as it was my first MMO. I played Magic the Gathering all though the 90's when I was in the Army and in 1999 I was a card shop when these guys were talking about a new computer RPG game called an MMO. It was Everquest which I thought sounded fun but there was a newer MMO coming out called Asherons Call and to me that sounded way cooler. As it didn't force grouping. So I ended up selling a few Mox's and some Dual Lands for enough cash to purchase my first PC and the rest was history. I started playing AC in Nov of 99. Now onto my response. Things you got right: Loot- I agree with but not only does it need more of but it needs to be closer to ARPG style loot systems with Affixes, prefixes and suffixes. Ideally I would love to see something like Diablo or Path of Exile but with open sockets to equip "set" bonuses like ESO uses. Imagine if you will finding a chest piece with 3 suffixes and 3 prefixes with a socket that you can then equip a glyph that is associated with a set piece like ESO 1 glyph of the same glyph gives you crit chance, the next gives you weapon damage, the 3rd gives you mana recovery, the 4th gives you an attribute bonus and the 5th and final glyph of the same set gives you dealing critical damage to a monster gives you a damage shield for 15 secs. The possibilities for better loot systems in endless in this system and you can tie different bosses so you can target farm glyphs. Just check ESO's set system in the wiki. Dynamic stories was one of my fondest memory. Especially the shadow event and Shadow armor event. Skills-AC was great for creating hybrid style characters. Skill modifiers based on attributes. Sandbox open world with exploration based content with points of interests. Pre-Buffing sucked, build those into the combat system and loot. Allegiance system is a 1 of a kind guild system in the genre. Lifestones and death penalty through vitae. Also removal of dropped items, good call there. PvE and PvP servers Procedurally generated dungeons is fun I like it but only for loot grinding or XP grinding dungeons. having a set layout for quest based dungeons is something I feel that brought the community together because for example people knew on my server of Leafcull I knew the Olthoi Queen dungeon like the back of my hand and could lead parties there with out a guide, I also did not know the aerfalle quest so had to rely on others to run me through that. It created a quest economy and bought the community together. Salvaging and tinkering system but you sort of left out that the loot has workmanship, and components. Like a fine pine bow or a Exquisite Ruby ring etc. My only change would be to reverse the tinkering capabilities. In AC the lower the workmanship the easier the tinkering, new AC3 would reverse this. Meaning you could tinker a higher workmanship item easier and more often. Things you got wrong: New World is not a good comparison with skills other then the action combat which is BiS in the genre imo. However it is too restrictive and doesn't convey a good class style skills based system because everything is tied to weapons instead of a skills based system like AC. meaning if I want to cast magic I equip a staff. a better solution would be to acquire skill points like ESO but in a direct AC way like the base game meaning If I want to cast magic I chose the school of magic that spell is associated with. Instead of limiting what skills you can acquire, it feels better to limit the keybind space used for skills. Part of the allure for me with AC's skill based classless system was knowing I could acquire almost all good skills. However I feel a more Elder Scrolls Online approach would be better where you're limited by time through skill points and more importantly bar space. 8-10 keybinds for combat skills and featured hotkeys for other related essentials like potion/healing kit/mounts/non combat abilities like salvaging. NO to anything Dark Souls esque in the combat. All you need is skill button hotkeys for weapons and archery. Use a 2H sword and you have a set of skills you can train and specialize and place on your hotbar, Use a Polearm and get a new set of skills to put on your hotbar, Daggers a new set etc. No to raids. Hard server wide quests like Aerfalle or Olthoi Queen is content enough to assuage the die hards. Also lengthy leveling times satiates the more harder core players. Graphics style should definitely be reminiscent of AC but not stylized, it looks awful. Again New World is good enough and looks alright but it needs to be similar to AC. Here is a good example from Immortalbob's channel where he shows AC in Unreal Engine. Search AC Unreal by Immortalbob in YT Things I think you missed: XP used as a method for raising skills. Using lifestones and dungeon ties for recall Augments and Luminance as an alternate advancement system.
The friendly / welcoming community in Asheron's Call, and the unique skill system were the two main driving factors for me in Asheron's Call. The only community that comes close to it this day is Deep Rock Galactic.
One of my favorite things second to the combat of AC is the Loot, knowing that you can find that one insane weapon or piece of armor that no one else has is very appealing, even if they have exact same stats it will look different and have a different name. I think Expanding on AC 1 is very doable we have seen that in the emulators, but making a completely new game that still excites AC 1 players is going to be difficult, we saw that with AC 2 got rejected by the majority.
So far as crafting goes - if you've ever heard of it, there's a game called "A Tale In The Desert" that is crafting-only, and so has a ridiculously involved crafting system. I wouldn't necessarily advocate for leaning into crafting that hard (some of it is super grindy), but some of the things it does (players building their own buildings and filling it ad-hoc with various crafting stations) would fit really well with the more free-form nature of a skill system + random loot over class systems + static loot. It was also compatible with the monthly update / game master storytelling that I think modern MMOs should have.
I've noodled over an AC successor for years myself, and I think for Spell Research, the problem was that it was brute force and not fun. To update it, I think you'd want to dynamically generate small quests when you're moving to a new rank of spells. Not quests in the sense of, "go here, get thing," but more in the sense of, "For understanding Rank 3 acid spells, you have to take acid damage, you have to do acid damage to a mob that is vulnerable to it and resistant to it, and you have to cast a certain number of acid spells."
I must say nothing like the beginning, going down to the dungeon where the guardian held the fiery shield and the helmets 20 guys level 20 get dropped by the guardian, I recall, dragging that guardian all the way to the top level and running behind the wall and jab at him until i killed him. One of seven tries the other 6 he would drop me on the way up would kill me level 25 running to get the keys to get access to the doors to go down and pick up the sort of lost lights that was something Anyways, those days are gone I’m 70 now
ABGFenix Gaming for lead dev on AC3! There's so many overlooked nuances that made AC great when it adds up, and you hit all of them. Now a hot take: will we get AC3 or HL3 lol
I don't know. I enjoy AC buffing system. Buff and have them on for a long time. I don't like how games make you use some kind of ability for only 5-15 seconds or something. I'm just old school I suppose. LETS GET AC 3 STARTED THOUGH!
Some of the core elements for me were story, character freedom, actual consequences and world changes, dev interaction, exploration, and a kind of a weird one Mob Respawn times. I also like the shared dungeon system, made the game feel alive. Sadly many of the systems that made the game fun and gave it the risk/reward difficulty won't work today. Todays gamers are in a rush to hit the finish line to grind gear, and they ignore 99% of the game. They aren't willing to take the time and try different builds when they can just look up the most popular min/max. I think one way to help with buffing would be a npc guilds could acquire for their halls. Much like the scripts that ran buff bots.
I also, think something that I have not seen ANY mmo do is have a sort of dynamic "soft" dungeon. Sorta like each Server has a specific node in the world where if you are getting Mats(such a digging or mining) you have a chance to dig into a random dungeon that could be a rare spawn or Mob.
as an artist, I would like to comment on the hypothetical graphics. why not make it looks like an old oil painted artwork from say the renaissance up to the 1800s? not only does it suit AC with the stylistic realism and borderline low fantasy vibe, but it is time tested. it will not age, it just ages like wine. people still pay hundreds of millions for it to this day, if they can get their hands on a painting even. plus if you look at the paintings in AC that you can buy in game for your house, many are inspired by this art style.
One of the things I loved about AC, and I still admire to this day, is how it seemed like the lore writers and game designers were on the same page. While it wasn't perfect, the lroe and the game mechanics meshed very fluidly. What I would disagree with you on directly, however, is the third party programs. Cool systems in AC like making your own spells were kind of ruined by things like split pea.
You nailed the key aspects. While I think AC is too hard for most modern MMO players, I think the older school / players looking for a challenge would flock to it. if they did AC 3, the people who would appreciate it and subscribe would be willing to $$ monthly for a game of that caliber. Problem is, MMO's are expensive to build, so getting a more niche MMO funded with the idea of charging a premium monthly scares investors. The fact that we haven't' seen EQ3 still, which has a much larger audience than AC ever did, just shows how scared everyone is. Everyone and their brother tried to become the WOW killer, failed and lost money, so no one wants to test the waters again. I had high hopes for New World, and while I enjoyed it, it only lasted a few months. Maybe I am too old for this shit at this point, but I do know I would pay a premium monthly amount for AC 3.
I think there needs to be a balance. As someone who has done most of the hard things there are to do in AC, I don't disagree. At the same time you'd want to attract a mainstream audience as well.
3 faction PvP is key. It's something that not enough games have tried, and even fewer have been successful at. 25k hours later and still play dark age PvP more than any other game simply because of that dynamic, and I'm actually logged into it as I watch this lol. AC already has the structure built in with societies, so I feel like it would be easy to build on from there. Also, no botting. Every MMO's life and identity gets slowly drained away by botting in the long run.
You want to take out what made asherons call the best game to ever come out. taking buffing out? casting 7s back in retail when they came out was a god feeling. all they need to do is make it updated and leave it alone.
It's rough, but as someone who tried AC for a few hours and has played all the other MMOs you're talking about, AC is just a game that's tough for a new player to get into. The only way an AC3 could compete in a modern gaming environment is if it held the player's hand until around 20 hours in, so that it would retain those players. Because, unfortunately, you have to get a modern-day gamer invested in the game before you hit them with systems and game design that require hours and hours of learning. New World has such a shallow skill/game design that it barely even exists at all, but was popular because of its simplicity. Where they failed was the game lacked any content and the end game was focused on chasing a number. AC, on the other hand, has so much content to explore, but is locked for a new player behind trying to figure out the basic systems, and that's where 90% of modern-day gamers would stop playing. Random loot doesn't work on its own because you need to give the player the chance to obtain a specific item they want, or else you don't respect the player's time. We don't get companies like the one that made AC anymore because game development is expensive and time-consuming. It's hard to pitch a game to a company that is just focused on making a profit. You can't pitch complex and intricate systems that your game is going to have to someone and expect them to give the green light, because they know that the chances of that game succeeding hinge on players wanting and liking those systems. Also, your point about photorealism is insanely on point for modern games. Game studios are spending too much time on having a realistic-looking game that takes away resources from all the other aspects of game development like the story and combat/skill system. It's been an issue since 1996 onward, when games started making the leap to 3D. Every passing year, the game looks worse and worse. The only games that are fondly remembered IMO are those that focused on having their own unique art style or just excellent writing. I do want to clarify that I'm not criticizing the design of AC when it came out, as I would have probably played it for years, but I was like 4, so I couldn't.
Lotta good stuff here, but I gotta disagree about removing buffing. First of all, removing it really hamstrings the whole "for every spell effect there is an equal and opposite effect" lore component of spellcasting. Second of all, I don't think it's that cumbersome or "boring". It takes all of a minute to buff. Hey and guess what, if someone does think it's boring, there's a solution: Archmage's Endurance. If you get all the augs, you only need to rebuff every 3 hours. That's not that bad! And it lends value to that particular aug; you're rewarded with more convenient gameplay by reaching that stage of the game. Instead, I propose a new feature of Asheron's Call 3: for anyone caught using vTank to buff, their character will lose their left hand PERMANENTLY. The 2nd time, they'll lose their right hand. Have fun casting with your wand in your teeth, chums!
Literally nothing feels like AC and it never got popular enough that its in the public conscience like eq will always be. On top of that, games have only moved further away from ac type of design over the years. Even loot based games like diablo 4 have such boring loot drops imo. Anyway, ill just throw out one game that kind of hit that feel for me was the open world single player game Outward.
I agree with a lot of these takes. Thank you very much for this great video.
totally agree on the essential character of portal travel. Also, people linking to portals and sharing them was such a huge part of the game early on. I understand why town network came about, but getting a portal to subway and wandering around there felt magical and I would love if a game could recapture that sense
i liked buffing. i liked everything. friction was part of the charm.
the character creation and endless ability to make the build your own is the special thing about AC to me. That and the way the questing works. I really miss the XP chain aspect of AC as well - thats a pretty old school thing but i missed it when i came back to play on the emulator. I completely agree with you about random loot as well - thats one of the special things about the game. The pvp brought me back time and time again. I miss this game so much :( edit- OH MAN! forgot about the hub system and portals - casting portals and tying to rare hunting or questing areas was such a great way to travel. essential as well!
this may sound silly, but i actually loved buffing when i was a kid lol. was def nice when they extended the duration and cut down the cast time tho
I think he might be misinterpreting the feelings that buffing gives him. It really helps solidify how powerful your character is when you move up the ranks of buffs, and ultimately the whole process lands as a chore - but a necessary chore. Not only to successful adventures, but necessary to really make the character feel like they are in control of their power through sheer force of will.
@@jong2359 haha well put. Also back when u had to charge up every spell, it was good practice for slide casting 😋
I have a few ideas. Have a combat university type setting. For instance, you can't specialize any combat in the beginning even magic ie void and war. You can specialize healing as example. As you progress, you can specialize combat after lvl 50. As you progress past lvl 50 you learn combat combinations. Not just 1 hit whacks.
Next I think players should be able to make and progress avatars to help their vessels. I'm not saying 20 or more avatars. If you have 1-8 vassals online at the same time. The avatar can broadcast to the vessels. Come to BSD to lvl in a fellowship. It would be per dungeon lvl restriction. That would help keep the vessel loyal to an absent patron.
I agree keep the loot system the same. Keep the magic system the same. Keep the death penalty the same. Tweak crafting some. Tweak the patron if they are not on for a month the vessel can leave without penalty.
Some random thoughts on an Asheron's Call 3. a) Lifestones one of if not the best in game lore for respawn of any game. b) Mounts would be good for a later expansion in the game's lifespan, I'd follow GW2 lead minus the flying mounts. c) Leave room in the lore for addition of new playable races, GW2 failed with this. d) Allegiance system might be a lightning in a bottle effect, not impossible to do again but will need to be changed and don't expect it to be an easy system to build. e) Random dungeon layouts. I like the idea but two things to keep in mind, you will be fighting against nostalgia and content creators. [I can still run soul fearing quest (3 towers) in my mind]. Thanks for the video, it got me thinking and remembering.
Banderlings! Banderlings and Lugians! That's what we need.
My brother and I ran to AB on level 1 chars (naked with spears only ) back in the retail days and it took most of the day to reach and we did it. Fun times.
Honestly Fenix, one thing I would love is that they bring a system that is sorta like Anarchy Online where your character can range from just a regular MMO type person to someone who can literally build the world. Now I'm not talking about a survival game but I mean that this character you create actually invest in building a shop, opening a shop, and making it run like a shop. Create a sorta of ingame enterprise.
A couple thoughts as I watch this:
* Instead of a global spell economy, give bonuses for using a variety of different attacks in each fight. Punish repetition and encourage creativity when fighting.
* For Allegiances, give increasing bonuses the longer you stay sworn to your patron, and some way to benefit patrons for helping vassals, like increased exp when partying with them and such.
* I agree that portal travel is great because it still encourages exploration and not just instantly teleporting to the zone from wherever you are like in FFXIV. FFXIV feels small because of instant teleportation, and that should be avoided in a truly open world game like AC. And yes, Subway was THE gathering spot back in the day, and it was really cool to see a place where there were a lot of players you could interact with.
* YES Live Events were awesome. I was there for the Bael'Zharon live events and it was epic. Same with Gaerlan.
Loved this video! Great ideas and I agree with a lot of the points you made.
Thanks for the comment! I like the spell economy and allegiance ideas!
This will be lengthy as I am super passionate about AC as it was my first MMO. I played Magic the Gathering all though the 90's when I was in the Army and in 1999 I was a card shop when these guys were talking about a new computer RPG game called an MMO. It was Everquest which I thought sounded fun but there was a newer MMO coming out called Asherons Call and to me that sounded way cooler. As it didn't force grouping. So I ended up selling a few Mox's and some Dual Lands for enough cash to purchase my first PC and the rest was history. I started playing AC in Nov of 99. Now onto my response.
Things you got right:
Loot- I agree with but not only does it need more of but it needs to be closer to ARPG style loot systems with Affixes, prefixes and suffixes. Ideally I would love to see something like Diablo or Path of Exile but with open sockets to equip "set" bonuses like ESO uses. Imagine if you will finding a chest piece with 3 suffixes and 3 prefixes with a socket that you can then equip a glyph that is associated with a set piece like ESO 1 glyph of the same glyph gives you crit chance, the next gives you weapon damage, the 3rd gives you mana recovery, the 4th gives you an attribute bonus and the 5th and final glyph of the same set gives you dealing critical damage to a monster gives you a damage shield for 15 secs. The possibilities for better loot systems in endless in this system and you can tie different bosses so you can target farm glyphs. Just check ESO's set system in the wiki.
Dynamic stories was one of my fondest memory. Especially the shadow event and Shadow armor event.
Skills-AC was great for creating hybrid style characters. Skill modifiers based on attributes.
Sandbox open world with exploration based content with points of interests.
Pre-Buffing sucked, build those into the combat system and loot.
Allegiance system is a 1 of a kind guild system in the genre.
Lifestones and death penalty through vitae. Also removal of dropped items, good call there.
PvE and PvP servers
Procedurally generated dungeons is fun I like it but only for loot grinding or XP grinding dungeons. having a set layout for quest based dungeons is something I feel that brought the community together because for example people knew on my server of Leafcull I knew the Olthoi Queen dungeon like the back of my hand and could lead parties there with out a guide, I also did not know the aerfalle quest so had to rely on others to run me through that. It created a quest economy and bought the community together.
Salvaging and tinkering system but you sort of left out that the loot has workmanship, and components. Like a fine pine bow or a Exquisite Ruby ring etc. My only change would be to reverse the tinkering capabilities. In AC the lower the workmanship the easier the tinkering, new AC3 would reverse this. Meaning you could tinker a higher workmanship item easier and more often.
Things you got wrong:
New World is not a good comparison with skills other then the action combat which is BiS in the genre imo. However it is too restrictive and doesn't convey a good class style skills based system because everything is tied to weapons instead of a skills based system like AC. meaning if I want to cast magic I equip a staff. a better solution would be to acquire skill points like ESO but in a direct AC way like the base game meaning If I want to cast magic I chose the school of magic that spell is associated with.
Instead of limiting what skills you can acquire, it feels better to limit the keybind space used for skills. Part of the allure for me with AC's skill based classless system was knowing I could acquire almost all good skills. However I feel a more Elder Scrolls Online approach would be better where you're limited by time through skill points and more importantly bar space. 8-10 keybinds for combat skills and featured hotkeys for other related essentials like potion/healing kit/mounts/non combat abilities like salvaging.
NO to anything Dark Souls esque in the combat. All you need is skill button hotkeys for weapons and archery. Use a 2H sword and you have a set of skills you can train and specialize and place on your hotbar, Use a Polearm and get a new set of skills to put on your hotbar, Daggers a new set etc.
No to raids. Hard server wide quests like Aerfalle or Olthoi Queen is content enough to assuage the die hards. Also lengthy leveling times satiates the more harder core players.
Graphics style should definitely be reminiscent of AC but not stylized, it looks awful. Again New World is good enough and looks alright but it needs to be similar to AC. Here is a good example from Immortalbob's channel where he shows AC in Unreal Engine. Search AC Unreal by Immortalbob in YT
Things I think you missed:
XP used as a method for raising skills.
Using lifestones and dungeon ties for recall
Augments and Luminance as an alternate advancement system.
The friendly / welcoming community in Asheron's Call, and the unique skill system were the two main driving factors for me in Asheron's Call. The only community that comes close to it this day is Deep Rock Galactic.
The community is great!
One of my favorite things second to the combat of AC is the Loot, knowing that you can find that one insane weapon or piece of armor that no one else has is very appealing, even if they have exact same stats it will look different and have a different name. I think Expanding on AC 1 is very doable we have seen that in the emulators, but making a completely new game that still excites AC 1 players is going to be difficult, we saw that with AC 2 got rejected by the majority.
So far as crafting goes - if you've ever heard of it, there's a game called "A Tale In The Desert" that is crafting-only, and so has a ridiculously involved crafting system. I wouldn't necessarily advocate for leaning into crafting that hard (some of it is super grindy), but some of the things it does (players building their own buildings and filling it ad-hoc with various crafting stations) would fit really well with the more free-form nature of a skill system + random loot over class systems + static loot. It was also compatible with the monthly update / game master storytelling that I think modern MMOs should have.
I'll have to check it out
I've noodled over an AC successor for years myself, and I think for Spell Research, the problem was that it was brute force and not fun. To update it, I think you'd want to dynamically generate small quests when you're moving to a new rank of spells. Not quests in the sense of, "go here, get thing," but more in the sense of, "For understanding Rank 3 acid spells, you have to take acid damage, you have to do acid damage to a mob that is vulnerable to it and resistant to it, and you have to cast a certain number of acid spells."
Thats a cool idea
I must say nothing like the beginning, going down to the dungeon where the guardian held the fiery shield and the helmets 20 guys level 20 get dropped by the guardian, I recall, dragging that guardian all the way to the top level and running behind the wall and jab at him until i killed him. One of seven tries the other 6 he would drop me on the way up would kill me level 25 running to get the keys to get access to the doors to go down and pick up the sort of lost lights that was something Anyways, those days are gone I’m 70 now
That's awesome, I love hearing stories like that!
ABGFenix Gaming for lead dev on AC3! There's so many overlooked nuances that made AC great when it adds up, and you hit all of them. Now a hot take: will we get AC3 or HL3 lol
I don't know. I enjoy AC buffing system. Buff and have them on for a long time. I don't like how games make you use some kind of ability for only 5-15 seconds or something. I'm just old school I suppose. LETS GET AC 3 STARTED THOUGH!
All it would need is a more streamlined interface. And updated graphics.
Some of the core elements for me were story, character freedom, actual consequences and world changes, dev interaction, exploration, and a kind of a weird one Mob Respawn times. I also like the shared dungeon system, made the game feel alive. Sadly many of the systems that made the game fun and gave it the risk/reward difficulty won't work today. Todays gamers are in a rush to hit the finish line to grind gear, and they ignore 99% of the game. They aren't willing to take the time and try different builds when they can just look up the most popular min/max. I think one way to help with buffing would be a npc guilds could acquire for their halls. Much like the scripts that ran buff bots.
I also, think something that I have not seen ANY mmo do is have a sort of dynamic "soft" dungeon. Sorta like each Server has a specific node in the world where if you are getting Mats(such a digging or mining) you have a chance to dig into a random dungeon that could be a rare spawn or Mob.
as an artist, I would like to comment on the hypothetical graphics. why not make it looks like an old oil painted artwork from say the renaissance up to the 1800s? not only does it suit AC with the stylistic realism and borderline low fantasy vibe, but it is time tested. it will not age, it just ages like wine. people still pay hundreds of millions for it to this day, if they can get their hands on a painting even. plus if you look at the paintings in AC that you can buy in game for your house, many are inspired by this art style.
MO2 has a good amount of build/skill diversity. It's the closest thing i've found to AC thus far.
One of the things I loved about AC, and I still admire to this day, is how it seemed like the lore writers and game designers were on the same page. While it wasn't perfect, the lroe and the game mechanics meshed very fluidly. What I would disagree with you on directly, however, is the third party programs. Cool systems in AC like making your own spells were kind of ruined by things like split pea.
You nailed the key aspects. While I think AC is too hard for most modern MMO players, I think the older school / players looking for a challenge would flock to it. if they did AC 3, the people who would appreciate it and subscribe would be willing to $$ monthly for a game of that caliber. Problem is, MMO's are expensive to build, so getting a more niche MMO funded with the idea of charging a premium monthly scares investors.
The fact that we haven't' seen EQ3 still, which has a much larger audience than AC ever did, just shows how scared everyone is. Everyone and their brother tried to become the WOW killer, failed and lost money, so no one wants to test the waters again.
I had high hopes for New World, and while I enjoyed it, it only lasted a few months. Maybe I am too old for this shit at this point, but I do know I would pay a premium monthly amount for AC 3.
the reward for doing a hard thing IS the reward. You want too many changes to the core elements. Games should be difficult!
I think there needs to be a balance. As someone who has done most of the hard things there are to do in AC, I don't disagree. At the same time you'd want to attract a mainstream audience as well.
3 faction PvP is key. It's something that not enough games have tried, and even fewer have been successful at. 25k hours later and still play dark age PvP more than any other game simply because of that dynamic, and I'm actually logged into it as I watch this lol. AC already has the structure built in with societies, so I feel like it would be easy to build on from there. Also, no botting. Every MMO's life and identity gets slowly drained away by botting in the long run.
Definitely agree on no botting. They started to design AC for the bots at the end and it just hurt everyone.
You want to take out what made asherons call the best game to ever come out. taking buffing out? casting 7s back in retail when they came out was a god feeling. all they need to do is make it updated and leave it alone.
It's rough, but as someone who tried AC for a few hours and has played all the other MMOs you're talking about, AC is just a game that's tough for a new player to get into. The only way an AC3 could compete in a modern gaming environment is if it held the player's hand until around 20 hours in, so that it would retain those players. Because, unfortunately, you have to get a modern-day gamer invested in the game before you hit them with systems and game design that require hours and hours of learning.
New World has such a shallow skill/game design that it barely even exists at all, but was popular because of its simplicity. Where they failed was the game lacked any content and the end game was focused on chasing a number. AC, on the other hand, has so much content to explore, but is locked for a new player behind trying to figure out the basic systems, and that's where 90% of modern-day gamers would stop playing.
Random loot doesn't work on its own because you need to give the player the chance to obtain a specific item they want, or else you don't respect the player's time.
We don't get companies like the one that made AC anymore because game development is expensive and time-consuming. It's hard to pitch a game to a company that is just focused on making a profit. You can't pitch complex and intricate systems that your game is going to have to someone and expect them to give the green light, because they know that the chances of that game succeeding hinge on players wanting and liking those systems.
Also, your point about photorealism is insanely on point for modern games. Game studios are spending too much time on having a realistic-looking game that takes away resources from all the other aspects of game development like the story and combat/skill system. It's been an issue since 1996 onward, when games started making the leap to 3D. Every passing year, the game looks worse and worse. The only games that are fondly remembered IMO are those that focused on having their own unique art style or just excellent writing.
I do want to clarify that I'm not criticizing the design of AC when it came out, as I would have probably played it for years, but I was like 4, so I couldn't.
Its definitely a tough thing to balance. They whiffed hard on that with AC2.
You look exactly like an old friend who I played AC with in elementary school. You didn't live in washington ever did you?
That's funny, but I don't think its me
That would be a great game :)
Did you get a look at Ashes of Creation ?
I've been following the development a bit, I'm definitely interested
@@Fenix_Gaming That's the game I think that would be the most alike what AC3 could have been.
By the way, you’re doing a great job on this
Lotta good stuff here, but I gotta disagree about removing buffing. First of all, removing it really hamstrings the whole "for every spell effect there is an equal and opposite effect" lore component of spellcasting. Second of all, I don't think it's that cumbersome or "boring". It takes all of a minute to buff. Hey and guess what, if someone does think it's boring, there's a solution: Archmage's Endurance. If you get all the augs, you only need to rebuff every 3 hours. That's not that bad! And it lends value to that particular aug; you're rewarded with more convenient gameplay by reaching that stage of the game.
Instead, I propose a new feature of Asheron's Call 3: for anyone caught using vTank to buff, their character will lose their left hand PERMANENTLY. The 2nd time, they'll lose their right hand. Have fun casting with your wand in your teeth, chums!
Literally nothing feels like AC and it never got popular enough that its in the public conscience like eq will always be. On top of that, games have only moved further away from ac type of design over the years. Even loot based games like diablo 4 have such boring loot drops imo. Anyway, ill just throw out one game that kind of hit that feel for me was the open world single player game Outward.
outward is pretty great
I'll check it out, thanks!
all the mmo's out now are just weak, easy to play. There are NO consequences to dying and makes players weak.
imo new world is one of the very worst mmo's made considering how new it is.