The Stagnation of MMO industry/genre and why

I am not sure if hardcore correlates with IQ.

Yes, maybe those games were a niche, but if the IQ was higher or lower needs to be proven. So far I hardly met any managers with a 70 hours per week job in an MMORPG. One could assume that for one part success does correlate with some sort of IQ. And you would know that IQ measures what the test measures.

It's artificial. It does not measure if you can play an instrument, how your map, 3d world or real work orientation works. If you can solve differential equation or think outside of the box. If you can speak 4 languages or are empathic.

Only a small portion of Intelligence can be quantified in an intelligence test. So even if your statement would be true, there could be far more creative, musical and language abt people in the later than in the former.

If something is simplified and is successful, then it is a improvement. Some players donot have the time or energy to get deep into the workings of a MMO. Has nothing to do with thier IQ.

So if puzzles were made with 2 pieces instead of 500 would that be an improvement too?
If poker was made so that nobody, no matter how poorly they played, could lose, would that be an improvement?
Would bowling be improved if the lanes were designed so that every ball was a strike?
Would sports be better if anyone could play them and no one could ever lose?

Of course not. Some things are meant to pose a challenge so that there is a sense of accomplishment when you "win". Games fall into that category.

You are not a designer, you have no place critiquing them. You say that no one is claiming to be an authority, but then go right on promulgating the rules of "good designers".

That is exactly what I am speaking about. What you want, what the few "experts" on this board want, what they think is not indicative of what all players want and arguing what a good or bad gamemaster is based on that singular opinion is pointless.

As far as MMORPGs go, this one is pretty darn fun and entertaining. One would think it a disaster after reading the conjecture posted on this board day after day.

This is the entirety of the problem. You've taken a giant leap here in extrapolating your personal opinion out as a major issue with the game. You have decided that a random and particular issue, mentioned by a small percentage of the players on this board is a "major' issue and that the game designers are ignoring us because of that.

You've also chosen to ignore in that rant all that has been added to the game since release, all that they have acknowledged, all the player desires that have come to fruition.

What you have done here is to assume something, extrapolate it out to the entirety of the game, then promulgate that into law and write it up on a message board as a means of bashing the game and the design team while representing it as factual.

Wow has lost more players over the last six months then this game has (we've had this discussion and after your challenge I provided proof of that), yet you take every opportunity to promote Wow and disparage this game. In short, Wow's subscription losses mean nothing, but those lost here are indicative of poor performance on the part of the game designers?

Seems to me that you are grasping at and cherry picking any item that will support your desire to be negative toward this game....which, again, is the entirety of my point about the "experts" on this board.

In video games, there are different levels of challenges. Which is why you have heroic encounters. And any player can make even normal dungeon runs more challeging if they really want to. Run them with only 3 or 4 instead of a full grp. These different levels of challenges and the right type/level of rewards is important for a MMO. As the goal is to appeal to a larger group of players and not just to one type.

But even though we have normal and hard, people still cry when hard is to hard for them. They refuse to accept that maybe they just aren't that good at the game and any suggestion of them improving themselves is totaly unacceptable to them...

This is how the current generation is :/

I like me my trinity. thank you very much

(actually, I wish more games would go back to added supporter roles again.. dedicated buffer, CCer... )

I agree. Players can be unreasonable at times. However, if a normal encounter for the " end game " is too hard for the "majority" of the players base, then that is something the developers need to deal with and make it so more of the players can experence it. As every player pays the same sub price each month. There should allways be " heroic end game content " for those who want more of a challenge and rewards.