Why CoA is Fun
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First, I admit the title of this thread really should be why CoA is fun for me. However, I had a bit of epiphany a bit ago and thought I would share. Basically, it boils down to four words.
What You Do Matters
Thats it. Let me explain a bit. What you do in the game world matters in the game world, the only other game I have seen with a similar game play pattern is EvE Online (Log In: Never.More). When you log out at the end of the session from CoA or EvE the actions you have taken in game have had an effect on the game world, they mattered. I always sort of understood this (and it is no doubt what kept me playing), but it really hit me when I was playing Star Wars The Old Republic.
First, a free admission I am a huge Star Wars nut and when SWTOR came out I signed right up and dived in head first. I liked the mechanics, I -really- liked the story line. But as I played through I realized that what I was doing didn't really matter like it did in CoA or EvE. Did I kill that end boss? No? Oh well, next group would or the NPCs would wait around until I leveled enough to curb stomp them. When I logged off at the end of the gaming session, none of my accomplishments felt very rewarding because they hadnt really meant anything. This is the rinse and repeat cycle I have found with all games I have tried. They are fun for a few months while I try out the game mechanics, but then they lose their appeal as the newness wears off. I am not hating on people who enjoy those games, they are great. This is just my experience.
What I am trying to do is put in perspective why I think this is server is so awesome (beyond all the hard work of the DMs and Players). At the end of the day, what you do in game matters in game. The DMs have given us a sandbox with just enough rules to enforce the RP and keep the setting realistic to itself, and then let us have at it. Thoughts?
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I'd agree with this.
I'd also like to add in that CoA feels like much more than a game to me. It's a social interaction. It's a hobby. It's hanging out with friends.
Being estranged here at this new college really made me cling to CoA a little bit tighter, and I'm glad I did. I have a lot of friends here.
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You could say the same about most rp-heavy NWN servers.
What makes Arabel unique for you?
For me it's low level and low magic gritty and down-to-earth feel. I generally dislike stat quests, but i must say that being able to meet your character's mechanical goals in but a few days makes up for repetitiveness. You don't have to grind for months to be a powerful warrior or skillful rogue, so you can start working on your rp goals sooner and even avoid further grind altogether. And no "everyone's epic" nonsense is a real bless.
Another thing is story orientation rather than going social. Every other server i've played on previously had too many people playing SIMs. Too attached to a single character, going on for RL years. All conflicts becoming bland and pointless. -
I'd also like to add in that CoA feels like much more than a game to me. It's a social interaction. It's a hobby. It's hanging out with friends.
Definitely this, while I am not playing right now I still hang around the forums and IRC because after all these years its really like a second home.
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First, I admit the title of this thread really should be why CoA is fun for me. However, I had a bit of epiphany a bit ago and thought I would share. Basically, it boils down to four words.
What You Do Matters
snip
Same here! I really do think the MMOG market missing a trick here with thee only games that are using this nitch are both rather old. Yet they all try to copy WOW, despite the fact WOW has had it peak.
I understand with larger number of players and more complicated graphic engines that long term IG change based on player actions becomes more tricky… but look at how much of EVEs events are based on purely IG tools with massive events like Burn Jita not having a single DM involved. Course on Arabel we've had a few events that use a point system to effect the outcome of a long term event. That's codeable, even on a grand scale.
I mean even a new MMOG that used a more complicated and long lasting "capture the flag mechanic" mixed with some "lawless player controlled areas" could create more emergent gameplay and make players value there actions more than WOW , Guildwars and SWTOR.
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Those are called Sandbox MMORPGs in which there are few, though its a shame there aren't more but they do exist and have for quite some time with EVE being the most popular. Darkfall, Mortal Online and a couple others which are fantasy sandboxes but also P2P. The only one I do know of which is free to play (at least partially) is Wurm Online which basically allows you to build almost anything and if you join a PvP server its fair game.
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But as I played through I realized that what I was doing didn't really matter like it did in CoA or EvE. Did I kill that end boss? No? Oh well, next group would or the NPCs would wait around until I leveled enough to curb stomp them. When I logged off at the end of the gaming session, none of my accomplishments felt very rewarding because they hadnt really meant anything.
Read this, had to comment, if you think anything you did mattered (I assume you were highsec) in EVE, that's hilarious!
And re: the notion of a sandbox, the issue people have with that is that they expect to go in and make kingdoms out of nothing then get embittered, proceed to drop trousers and leave a special present for the next person to play in the sandbox.
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Nope, working towards Low Sec and then 0.0.
As for the rest, EvE much like CoA is hard. It takes time / patience / effort to accomplish what you want.
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Actually what I love about CoA is when time and patiance are not necessary in order to have fun. You're right, you need them for a great many things including achieving fun goals, but I enjoy it when player ingenuity and daring are the order of the day to achieve something great.
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it feels like a real and evolving story
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I enjoy it a lot. I'm still a newb, but I agree that this game takes a lot of patience, and its the only one i've run into where the players can make their own, mod approved, groups. (rather, dm approved)
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Here's what it has boiled down to me as a new and often frustrated (often ridiculously, tired, etc. ;-)) player:
NWN was always a video-game experience to me, more akin to Tetris, honestly: something to take my mind off things. I don't even "play" D&D, as I get bored as a player. I always DM. Playing on CoA is like being a DM (though limited a little). Discovering CoA and its awesomeness has made NWN and videogames something I never thought they could be: better than D&D. It is like a digitalized version of D&D that I can jump in and play anytime with any number of great RPs; and even create adventure and stories with those people without doing much work.
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Well, I had never played nwn nor rpg or p&p but I had seen friends play on this server. Now, 3 weeks of my first gaming experience in nwn and Arabel has been much more than I would've expected, I've laughed of good roleplaying and I've been mumbling to myself what my char was saying IG as if you were immerging into the game. It is rare I have such enjoyment so often in video games..
I also love the way you get punished for dieing, especially pvp and it makes the game much more exciting. This server being low lvl really helps giving the world of arabel a more real look, and I find that very useful for every kind of person in the way that you don't need to be high lvl to do stuff on the server. Last factor is the vast number (relative to players) of active DM's atm. it really is a true pleasure to have dm attention since it gives the rp an extra notch. -