It will be difficult to not use Star Wars Galaxies as an example of Sony Online Entertainment’s decision making but I will try not to. There seems to be a pattern of releasing strong games and patching it into relative worthlessness for PvP. Which leads me to believe that the major decision makers over at SOE are not fond of this type of gameplay. When Everquest 2 was initially released, SOE anounced that the game would not have PvP, nor were they planning on implementing it. Blizzard released the mega-successful World of Warcraft, essentially turning the mold of a hardcore Everquest (let’s call it Steak) into a more easily digested and playable cheeseburger. A clear indication of this is based on my fellow MMORPG playing friends Shinzo and Batman333. The three games we ran off to after Sony broke Star Wars Galaxies (wow didn’t take me long to say it) were Guild Wars (which we played daily with much praise and passion) and The World of Warcraft which served as a minor distraction for about 40 levels.  Had we rolled on a PvP server in WoW, we may have stayed longer but the fact that the battlegrounds rewarded power gamers in a major way over us working types, was enough to run us off.  Unlike SWG and Guild Wars I can honestly say I have not been tempted at all in the last 3 years to load up WoW again and give it another go.

So why is it that Guild Wars kept us so long?

The PvP was balanced, the instanced zones could be duoed (Shinzo and I ran through many a vicious beast) and it was made for a working class individual.  I could log in and get more done in 30 minutes than I could on the other two games.  The greatest part of Guild Wars however is the sense of ownership and individuality you felt with your build and class set, I met nigh a warrior similar to mine and that made me feel good.  There were Flavors of the Month, but it literally only lasted a month since there would be a counter class to destroy them.  The only reason we left Guild Wars was due to a lack of content after we maxed out at level 20. To put it bluntly PvP was not enough to keep us there, even if it had no monthly fee to play (yes a game this good was free… Diablo 2 anyone?)

Shortly after WoW was released, Sony began stealing little niches from Blizzard to improve Everquest 2. They had griffons, so they got griffons, they had a nice player mail system, so they adopted it.  The aesthetics on weapons and armor started shifting from semi-realistic to mythical and fantastical the way WoW does and the game was made a little easier to emulate WoW’s bubble gum wrapper questing and the ability for MMORPG newbs to hop in and get going.  This annoyed the older “hardcore” players and when PvP servers opened, alot of the bored end-gamers decided to give it a try (guilty!) Now if you have played any MMORPG dealing with PvP, you know that the ruleset should favor the PvP to keep it going. In Guild Wars, you had the choice of making a character, customizing his/her look and PvEing him/her to lvl 20 collecting exotic gear and spells in preparation for the endgame PvP arenas and Guild sieges.  At the same time, if you were a PvPer with little to no interest in playing the awesome PvE portion of the game, you could instantly create a lvl 20 character in decent end-game armor and spells. This pleased both parties and the game flourished for it.  SOE does things differently, it has a tendecy to alienate and pretty much piss off veteran players with every change… let me explain:

One of the most devastating changes SOE did on Star Wars Galaxies was to take a class that people grinded days upon days for (shudder at the memory of falling asleep at the keyboard farming Pikets to level)and making it into a starter class… namely Jedi. For Everquest 2 the greatest rewards remained in the PvE realm even on the supposed PvP servers, which is fine but the catch is the fact that half of the player classes are flagged “evil only” and the other half “good only” with a few neutrals sprinkled in for good measure.  This fact made some areas of the game unattainable to the PvP server raider due to the lack of necessary classes to complete.  the quick fix (which SOE always takes) was to introduce a 3rd faction called Exile. Though bittersweet in relativity to the game (being attackable by both factions and having no access to PvP rewards), Exile yielded the only way to truly get the best gear on the game.  My point can be seen from this very hot thread on the EQ2 forums: http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=413584. So now the dilemma is that the more competitive players, which pretty much describes the PvPer, are going exile and leaving the cities barren and forgotten.  It is game-breaking.

You know the phrase, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me?  Well shame on me, shame on me for playing a PvE game that was Jerry-rigged for PvP and actually expecting it to work. Shame on me for choosing a game by the same company that jerked me out of a few years worth of grinding meaningless hours.  The only worthwhile memory of any Sony game I have, are the people with whom I met/played with and that has little to do with the game. Buyer beware and I mean this in all honesty.  There are some new MMORPGS on the horizon, alot of them are by people who believe in their product, not corporate impulse types trying to make a quick buck by copying successful franchises.  The PvP servers of all the above mentioned games will be making an exodus to try out one or two fo these new games and I aim to give you the “real” synopsis when they launch.  Till then I can give you this, Blizzard isn’t perfect but the fact that WoW remains king of numbers in the MMORPG market is evidence of a well run company.  SOE alienates, disrespects and most of all flat out does not care about it’s player base.  Buyer beware and stay far away from whatever turd they launch next.

Thanks for reading.