(10-30-2013, 05:26 PM)Olofantur Wrote:(10-30-2013, 05:12 PM)Kismet Wrote: I also want dungeons that aren't timed. There are a lot of REALLY cool areas I would love to have more than 10-20mins to RP in... <_<
I also agree with K'dath in that SE's brilliant idea of locking players out of end-game content if they don't complete the story quests is a major turn-off. Perhaps I was spoiled by GW2, but let me choose how I want to progress through the game and access higher level content.
While I don't entirely agree with SE's decision, the End-game content is directly tied into the story line so I can kind of understand their views, as far as the internal lore of the world is concerned, behind gating the content, perhaps they think "well the raids are a part of the story, and to see the end, you have to go through the beginning."
Again, I don't really care if people are interested in the story, twelve knows you can right click and escape-cancel your way through it if you don't want to watch any cut scenes. But i've had enough people in Prae going "WHO IS THIS LAHABREA GUY ANYWAYS" to make me cringe.
But the dungeons and raids in WoW are connected to the story. Even some of the minor dungeons help tie up massive, glaring plot holes that go otherwise unaddressed. The raids, in fact, ARE the story. The entirety of the fate of Azeroth is tied up in them. They're arguably more important than the actual quests when it comes to that point. (WoW's story telling overall is somewhat weak, YMMV on that end)
But you don't have to do the story to enjoy them for what they are. In fact, because of the branching leveling paths and abundance of quests, you'll often out level and area/dungeon before you even get to the point where its dungeon becomes relevant. Some dungeon stories are completely missing if you play a different faction! The story compliments the content. It's the framing device. It is not the content itself.
In your regular JRPG, yes, the story is the content. But I think that's a bad model for an MMO. I would have preferred to been able to grind and do things with people and then do the story. Gods know I'd do it anyway because I am a lore nazi and need to know everything. But holding my nose in it and scrubbing my face like an SOS pad is not a good way to sell your narrative. For me, slogging through it is tedious and it's being used like a punishment instead of a reward.
Again, YMMV, but I think regardless of whether you think it's a good story or not, it's a bad design choice.
Please read all the above with a soothing, British accented monotone.
