Quick Q: Comparison to other MMOs

[Nenad]

I was wondering what's the difference between AVWW and other 2D MMOs out there. The only one I know is Maple Story, so what's AVWW going to be compared to MS?

Sidenote: I don't know much about AVWW, and I've prepared a load of texts for me to read about it, and I haven't actually played Maple Story, but I just wanted to ask a quick question "Why should I play AVWW and not MS?". Sorry, I hope I'm not causing you much trouble with your work on the game 

[x4000]

It's difficult for me to answer with specificity, having never played an MMO, 2D or otherwise.  The most obvious answer would be that AVWW isn't an MMO, and isn't patterned after them.

That said, I've played a variety of single player games that imitate MMOs, and I've seen brief bits of Maple Story played.  Near as I can tell, MMOs like MS seem to be about social interactions, PvP play, and grinding up your levels.  Conversely, AVWW can easily be played solo or co-op, doesn't emphasize PvP play at all (to the extent it is even possible), and has EXP gain and such structured in a way that you can't grind monsters (they don't give EXP).

The focus of AVWW is more along the lines of traditional pre-MMO adventure games, mixed with a bit of city builder mixed with a bit of grand strategy, mixed with a bit of other stuff.  You're shepherding your entire civilization along, improving it either by yourself or in tandem with other players on a server, and everything you do matters long-term to the game.  Death is permanent for your characters and for NPCs, and so on.  But this isn't a hardcore penalty -- you just get another character when you die, which you will -- it's instead a story-building device.  You're writing the history of this whole civilization as you play.

There's more to it than that, but that's where all the queued-up reading you have comes in handy.   The game is, in almost all respects, closer to a roguelike than an MMO.  Hope that helps!

[Nenad]

I feel so embarrassed now 

I have no idea why I thought it was a MMO. Thanks for the info!

I have read something (not all... yet) about the game, and it seem pretty good. I have played AI War and I don't doubt in you Arcen, to make another great game.

P.S. What's this about monsters not giving exp? Got a link to a dev diary or something?

[x4000]

No worries!

On the exp thing, I think I talked about that in a random forum topic here, but not yet in a diary. The basic gist is that rather than being rewarded for grindable minutiae, you're instead rewarded for largerthings that affect the world in meaningful ways. Monsters, aside from bosses and minibosses, are basically just part of the obstacles of the terrain. You can kill them or (if you're able to, in a given situation) avoid them at your discretion.

I haven't talked about this much publicly yet, but the game is really starting to emphasize Expeditions. Both preparing for and executing them. You have to have sufficient supplies to euro e the monsters and the terrain, accomplish what you want, and get out.

More details on that last in the next dev diary! Oh, actually the latest co-optimus article has a bit more on the exp thing. Forgot about that somehow.

[Zhaine]

I haven't talked about this much publicly yet, but the game is really starting to emphasize Expeditions. Both preparing for and executing them. You have to have sufficient supplies to euro e the monsters and the terrain, accomplish what you want, and get out.

I like the way Expeditions has a capital E, like it's some thing:

[American salesman voice] A Valley Without Wind, now with added Expeditions [/American salesman voice]

But seriously I do like the sounds of that, like heading out into the wilderness is this structured piece of play that you have to prepare for properly for to get right.

[x4000]

Yeah, I capitalized that for that very reason.   

It's pretty interesting, because it really does give it more of a roguelike feel than it's ever had before, which I really like a lot.

[Zhaine]

Yeah, I capitalized that for that very reason.   

It's pretty interesting, because it really does give it more of a roguelike feel than it's ever had before, which I really like a lot.

Stop saying things that I like the sound of so much! :p

[x4000]

 

[Nenad]

I haven't talked about this much publicly yet, but the game is really starting to emphasize Expeditions. Both preparing for and executing them. You have to have sufficient supplies to euro e the monsters and the terrain, accomplish what you want, and get out.

I like the way Expeditions has a capital E, like it's some thing:

[American salesman voice] A Valley Without Wind, now with added Expeditions [/American salesman voice]

But seriously I do like the sounds of that, like heading out into the wilderness is this structured piece of play that you have to prepare for properly for to get right.

I always had that feeling in Runescape, I was always preparing runes for an Expedition, but sadly never actually gotten to do it 
I was dreaming of going into the wilderness with limited supplies (read: runes of magic), so I had to come back eventually, and if I used all the runes, it would get real hard to survive then. I was thinking how I was going to find new species of animals and dragons and the like...

Is it going to be anything like that?

Or like Morrowind? That was similarly cool too.

P.S. I've been reading, game sound cool, but must know more!

[x4000]

I missed Morrowind and Runscape, but played a lot of Descent:JITD and Neverwinter Nights.  In a lot of respects, yes, it's like that: you have limited supplies (scrolls, traps, MP/HP-restoring items), and you go on a journey and come back a while later before you run out of stuff and die.  It's something you might do for 30-60 minutes, after doing other things to prepare by exploring safer areas for a similar amount of time.

And sure, there will be new monsters, objects, and other surprises to find as you get deeper underground, further across the overworld, and so forth.