Exflar
08-02-2013, 11:25 AM
As someone who doesn't see the appeal in a Pokemon MMO, I would like to know the opinions of those who do.
Firstly, an MMO would completely deplete the purpose of playing for plot. As a long time player and Gen I veteran, I have always loved the games for their storylines. The supporting cast and gym leaders were endearing and the villainous teams always had odd motives, some for terraforming while others for temporal/spatial destruction. I don't see how they can keep a linear and comic/dramatic plotline when everyone is off fulfilling a subquest or waiting in queue to challenge a server gym leader.
Secondly, an MMO would force everyone to have to play and train competitively. How would the game regulate trainers with varying levels of pokemon? I EV train and IV breed as much as the next guy but sometimes I just want to play for fun. I normally do my first runthrough of each game without any type of special training and just focus on completing the league. In an MMO, in order to be a viable trainer who can hold their own against others, one would have to have a good understanding of the metagame and competitive training. Casual players will have absolutely no chance against competitive players.
Online. Yes, I understand that the current games are really pushing (well, for nintendo's standards) the online capabilities of the handheld series. But that's an option that many players forgo. Option being the operative word. With an MMO, players will have to have decent connectivity to the internet at all times during gameplay. The pokemon main series games were created on the premise of portability in order to spur social interaction. Having an MMO would render the game unplayable in situations when a pokemon game is most handy: roadtrips/long car rides, airplanes and airports, university libraries with cruddy internet connection, etc. I like being able to whip out my 3DS whenever and wherever I want to play. In an MMO setting, I'm at the mercy of the internet connection as well as the mercy of the server. If the server goes down I can't play.
And just for clarification, what battle style does everyone expect to see in an MMO for Pokemon. Turn based? Real time Click-to-attack? Because if it's anything other than turn based (which has been a key characteristic that's been instilled in the pokemon franchise since its inception) then that would completely negate the meticulous and extensive battle system that was built around turn based battling.
I hope I've made my points clear enough and possibly shed light on some of the drawbacks of having an MMO style pokemon game. I would certainly love to see the responses of those of you in favor of an MMO and hope that you can come up with possible solutions to the problems I've proposed. Maybe we can see a compromise.
tl;dr - No plot, extreme disparity amongst players, general online problems and limited playability, battle system. But seriously read the post, I go into detail.
Firstly, an MMO would completely deplete the purpose of playing for plot. As a long time player and Gen I veteran, I have always loved the games for their storylines. The supporting cast and gym leaders were endearing and the villainous teams always had odd motives, some for terraforming while others for temporal/spatial destruction. I don't see how they can keep a linear and comic/dramatic plotline when everyone is off fulfilling a subquest or waiting in queue to challenge a server gym leader.
Secondly, an MMO would force everyone to have to play and train competitively. How would the game regulate trainers with varying levels of pokemon? I EV train and IV breed as much as the next guy but sometimes I just want to play for fun. I normally do my first runthrough of each game without any type of special training and just focus on completing the league. In an MMO, in order to be a viable trainer who can hold their own against others, one would have to have a good understanding of the metagame and competitive training. Casual players will have absolutely no chance against competitive players.
Online. Yes, I understand that the current games are really pushing (well, for nintendo's standards) the online capabilities of the handheld series. But that's an option that many players forgo. Option being the operative word. With an MMO, players will have to have decent connectivity to the internet at all times during gameplay. The pokemon main series games were created on the premise of portability in order to spur social interaction. Having an MMO would render the game unplayable in situations when a pokemon game is most handy: roadtrips/long car rides, airplanes and airports, university libraries with cruddy internet connection, etc. I like being able to whip out my 3DS whenever and wherever I want to play. In an MMO setting, I'm at the mercy of the internet connection as well as the mercy of the server. If the server goes down I can't play.
And just for clarification, what battle style does everyone expect to see in an MMO for Pokemon. Turn based? Real time Click-to-attack? Because if it's anything other than turn based (which has been a key characteristic that's been instilled in the pokemon franchise since its inception) then that would completely negate the meticulous and extensive battle system that was built around turn based battling.
I hope I've made my points clear enough and possibly shed light on some of the drawbacks of having an MMO style pokemon game. I would certainly love to see the responses of those of you in favor of an MMO and hope that you can come up with possible solutions to the problems I've proposed. Maybe we can see a compromise.
tl;dr - No plot, extreme disparity amongst players, general online problems and limited playability, battle system. But seriously read the post, I go into detail.