Comments on: Stranglethorn Vale: Hot or Not? http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/ MMOs and game design Fri, 17 May 2013 13:40:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Wolfshead http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1120 Thu, 21 May 2009 21:03:40 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1120 Very well said Tesh! Brilliant design is only brilliant if the players can appreciate it. However players should not have to *understand* that something is designed well — that is the job of the designer. If at anytime the player senses any semblance of the designers hand at work then the design has failed.

Good design should not be noticed by players. :)

]]> By: SmakenDahed http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1091 Wed, 20 May 2009 12:36:13 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1091 I loved STV on both PVP and PVE/RP servers. It was one zone where my Hunter felt like he was hunting… people. :)

]]> By: tristanpej http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1087 Tue, 19 May 2009 18:14:42 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1087 If you are on a Normal or RP server you love it for its easy quests and fast XP

If not that Jungle turns into Vietnam and you are shellshocked from the fear of when you’ll see the next red name come by and 1-shot you…

]]> By: Tesh http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1086 Tue, 19 May 2009 17:36:57 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1086 Definitely. We turn a blind eye to the warts if we like the heart of a game. It’s not just games, either. ;)

]]> By: spinks http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1085 Tue, 19 May 2009 17:10:43 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1085 GArmadillo, Tesh: Yeah, I agree. He comes across as an ideas kind of guy, and I suspect that if he likes the ideas behind a game, he’ll give them a bye on the implementation.

But I can’t really talk because I was saying something similar about Galactrix a couple of days ago (ie. I loved what they were trying to do so I could overlook the fairly obvious failings). And I wonder if most people are like this about games to some extent. I was thinking that about the Darkfall review in Eurogamer too — the game clearly has some objective failings, but the people who love what it was trying to do can overlook them and still enjoy it.

]]> By: Stabs http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1084 Tue, 19 May 2009 17:03:24 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1084 I loved STV but that may be in part because I was treating all “reds” as kill on sight back then, as were most people on the server. So it was an intensely pvp zone punctuated by the rather grindy quests. A complicated and confusing quest chain would have not been helpful at all since 90% of my focus was on pvp and 10% was on pve.

]]> By: Tesh http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1081 Tue, 19 May 2009 16:07:44 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1081 Indeed, GA, Bartle seems to be lauding the design rather than the play. He’s stated more than once that he can’t look at these things like a player. His comments are great for anyone wanting to understand game design in MMOs a bit better.

Still, there’s something to be said for understanding the *players*, and if they don’t appreciate “good design”, perhaps “good design” doesn’t have as much of a place in MMOs as might be hoped for.

]]> By: Green Armadillo http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1079 Tue, 19 May 2009 13:12:01 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1079 My take on it is that Bartle sees the design, rather than the execution. For example, he describes a flexible system where players get to tackle exactly the right challenges for them. In reality, players have to do their hunting in precisely the correct order (no substituting tougher animals that you can actually find for the ones you’ve been ordered to kill).

]]> By: *vlad* http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1078 Tue, 19 May 2009 11:56:04 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1078 In the original Warcraft series, Thrall ended up in Orgrimmar because it was the only decent place he found in ‘The Barrens’ to set up a camp.
The Barrens can’t be made into an interesting zone scenery-wise; by it’s name it is simply that – Barren.
Personally I don’t mind the Barrens at all. I prefer it vastly to Dun Morogh and the whole Dwarf/Gnome starting area and quests.

Regarding STV. I actually enjoy the Troll-bashing quests. They are a bit grindy, because the requiremnts are too high: 30 ears or whatever instead of say 15, but having to solo 3 or 4 enemies at once can be fun.

The Nesingwary quests as well as most of the Goblin quests I find pretty tedious, so I skip those as much as possible.

]]> By: Namthe http://spinksville.wordpress.com/2009/05/19/stranglethorn-vale-hot-or-not/#comment-1077 Tue, 19 May 2009 09:54:34 +0000 http://spinksville.wordpress.com/?p=1439#comment-1077 Hate. Hate Hate Hate Hate Hate.

I can’t stand the place, much prefer anywhere on Kalimdor. I’ve got to be pretty creative about avoiding the place on my alts. The whole running back and forth from Rebel Camp to Booty Bay, pre-flightpoint was what killed it for me.

That and Hemet “If I never see you again it’ll be too soon” Nesingwary.

]]>