Ten things I hope to see from 38 Studios

It would come as no surprise to me if you’ve never heard of 38 Studios or Copernicus. The former is a game studio founded by Curt Shilling and the latter is the yet to be named MMO that they are producing. There has been a lot of speculation about the project but the development shop has been tight lipped. If you visit their website and look at the individuals involved it is a “who’s who” of MMO developers. Back this with R. A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane and you’ve got a cornucopia of talent from the top to the bottom.

I, like many others, am quite excited about the project and have been following it closely. There is no doubt that there will be some time before details are announced and the project goes gold but if anything about 38 Studios can be said it is that they are receptive to players and their ideas. Of course I have a whole lot of them but I thought I’d boil it down to the top ten things I want to see in the project.

1. It is my hope that Copernicus is PvE only or at least PvE focused. I am tired of PvP balance having a major effect on the PvE experience. I’m unconcerned that a rogue can destroy a mage in two seconds. I want to know what they each offer to a group and a raid. There have been hints that this wish will come true. I just hope it stays that way.

2. I would like to see a whole new guild experience. A lot of games have been touching on the subject with new features and the like but nobody has recaptured the sheer importance of guilds that early MMOs had. WoW has brought a time where guild and server hopping is an everyday thing. I’d like to see a system where players receive tangible, in game benefits from being in a guild and by leaving they stand to have some loss. More importantly, however, players that are loyal and active to the same guild for a long time are additionally rewarded.

3. The return of proper class balancing would be a must for me. Select classes, state clearly what they should be capable of doing and ensure they can do that. If a cloth wearing close range and always in danger rogue is intended to be the maximum damage class then let them be! Forget what the chain wearing and shooting from afar rangers think about it. More survivability means less damage!

4. Bring back an epic sense of scale. EverQuest was large at release and is massive now. World of Warcraft is equally large. Both games felt like a real world with more than one way to get somewhere. The zones weren’t a simple linear trail. Return the wonder of exploration to the players and mix zone level ranges up a bit.

5. Make loot matter. I understand a lot of people don’t like gear centric games anymore but most MMOs will have at least some sort of itemization. Let’s be sure this matters again. Bring back long lasting items that actually felt like rewards. Cast aside the diabolized systems that are so prevalent. I feel proud to have owned a Ghoulbane and Watersprinkler. I could care less about the Healthy Longsword of Thunder. I do not want to replace my gear three times per level and I want to know where it came from!

6. Return the power to the group. Every MMO that is made these days must have a solo option. Look carefully at those words. I said solo option. When did that turn into, “solo is the best way to level?” Groups face more challenges and must work together to succeed. Reward them with better experience and advancement. Soloing is for when you can’t find a group or don’t have time to.

7. Explore new avenues in raiding. World of Warcraft is the main raid game right now. EverQuest 2 does well in this area as well. Both of them, at least in that department, are fine successors to EQ1. Everything else out in the MMO world is a bit lacking. Bring back raids and diversify. Everything doesn’t need to be the max raid size. Two and three group raids are extremely beneficial to smaller but still hardcore guilds. Spread the love across casual raiding, hardcore raiding and small raiding. Make a progression scale for casual and another for hardcore. It isn’t always about loot! For many of us it is about experiencing content and defining tactics to succeed. I have no issue with handing my mantle over to a new hardcore crowd and letting them have superior rewards. Just let those of us who’re retired play too! There is a Senior Tour in the PGA! Give us one in the MMO!

8. Resurrect the cleric. Somewhere along the road we lost the cleric. I think it was because of complete healing rotations. Forget the past! The cleric was a staple D&D class and I’d like to see them return in some form. I swear to you it is acceptable if one of the healers has as much armor class as a main tank. They won’t tank. I promise! I’d like to see the super survivable healer return.

9. Death should matter. MMO after MMO has watered the death penalty down so much that it is embarrassing. I continually used it as a free teleport in Warhammer. This was a frequent occurrence. If your “penalty” is used as a benefit you’re doing something wrong! You don’t have to go to the lengths of UO or EQ1 but something that actually makes me want to stay alive should exist.

10. Listen and talk to your players a lot. There are some rowdy player communities out there. A lot of them happen to hang around the PvP focused games but you’ll find them anywhere. They do not represent the majority of us. We do not like being left in the dark for two months waiting to hear word on a big patch or long standing bug. We do not like having our questions go unanswered. I will take a “no we’re not going to do that Ferrel” over nothing at all every time!

Those are some of the most important things to me in an MMO but that certainly doesn’t cover it all! Things like “patch frequently instead of waiting for large super patches” got cut for silly things like “bring back clerics.” Add in gnolls was also barely cut! In any event if Copernicus has the ten things I listed here I’ll be loyal for years. I am interested to read what others would like to see though.