Massively

I honestly dislike how open some developers have become about the mechanics behind the scenes. I miss all the superstition you could find in older MMOs. Warcraft at least seems to have a noticeable lack of it.

The nice thing about video games is that even random events can be, well, not random. At least if the developers choose so.

I miss keeping a four leaf mandragora bud in my bag at all times in FFXI. After all, if the developers don't outright say it does nothing, there's always the chance they programmed it to.

Reply

I'll admit to the occasional "oh, come *on*" or "this game hates me" when confronted by a particularly annoying string of misses and/or monster spawns, but I don't have any rituals. The RNG giveth, the RNG taketh away.

Reply

I have a couple family members that I play MMOG's with that do this. But I think it's more due to a lack of knowledge of game mechanics than "superstition". Usually with drops I'll hear something along the lines of "Wait, he drops something for a quest I have, let me hit him first.", or "He's still not dropping it, don't attack him this time, just let me kill him and see if it drops." even though I happen to be on the same quest and got the drop from the last one he killed. Grrrr, relatives frustrate me...

Reply

I think it was in DDO that everyone was certain that using the diplomacy skill on a chest before opening it improved the loot inside it. I've certainly seen my fair share of weird superstitions in MMOs. The shocking thing is that sometimes (though very rarely) they turn out to be true. Something caused by a bizarre overlooked mistake in the server code that the developers insist can't be true.

My favourite one was female characters in Age of Conan being weaker than male ones. That one turned out to be true and was caused by their attack animations being slightly slower.

Reply

The only thing I do is when I have to do something in town that has some randomness within (for example, wow profession leveling, PW item upgrades etc) I'd usually stay away from other player characters and try to do it all at once, when there is the least lag possible.

Reply

yes i try to effect the game with my awesomeness..........wait why are you looking at me that way. i really do both i like it when developers do odd things but in the end your like whoa that what that does.

but yea i try to effect the game to get better drops etc but i will not use tools that cheat the game because that no good. No i will try to effect the game within the games bounders.

Reply

Here is an excellent study on this exact subject. It is 10 pages, but each page is just a few paragraphs long.

http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001554.php

Reply

Nothing is random. Nothing.

Reply

No, thank God I don't bring OCD stuff into a game world that I know is programmed to act in a certain way. My character can not affect wind that doesn't exist, can't change the game in much of any way. The randomness of the game isn't even really random. You may get one of a few certain random items, but those "random" items are programmed as definites into the system, so it's not really random at all.

In the real world however, flicking my light switch on and off 7 times before I go to sleep and resetting my Gamecube 33 times in a row certainly does affect the flow of energy in strange ways that you guys just don't understand!

Reply

Havoc sade it flatly, "Nothing is random". WOW, which copied Kings quest, Asheronscall, Everquest and the french notion for stupidly simple with pretty colors is ROTE action incarnate, and the worst example of what not to do in an MMO. Dont throw the "we have 11 mill subscribers" at me either, AOL and twitter are popular too, it doesnt make them right. The simple minded will migrate to the easiest games or things out there, enough said.

Also the comment about the butterfly, stop freebasing your mikes hard lemonade and detox.

MMO's need to have devs messing with people on a daily basis or tossing random quests, items etc out there, not the GM hopping from server to server crap but dedicated screw with people fun that makes and keeps the game fresh, things need to happen that make a person logging on after three days go "WTF!" in a good way.

Sadly money will always drive what the devs do. With the huge amount of cash the french are bringing in every month you would figure WOW would be the MMO to beat, as random and unpredictable as could be, NOT.

To bad the money WOW brings in is running and supporting the french economy and not the game itself, as it is listed as one of frances top 20 incomes.

Reply

So on the subject of randomness and explotition,I for one am not a Great gamer,or even a Good gamer,I play because I love games.Honestly I'm behind the whole random concept even if it's just an illusition when in reality we all know it's hardcoded into a game with percentages 1-100 /roll the invisable dice.And I realize this isn't an mmo.but I'm still playing ff7,thank you very much psp.ff7 anywhere YAY!,I love having cat sith in my party just incase I hit a jackpot.
Monster Hunters fylenes are another example,who'll the old lady bring today? I've no clue but I'm excited to find out. Will they posion me in the kitchen or bestow upon me great strengths that only a kitty in the kitchen can pathom. LOVE YOUR CHANCE! because when it straight comes down to it mmo's to SPO single player offlines just in case your wondering. all games chance are still based on the concept Dungeons and Dragons made popular. roll the dice baby take your chance. Because in the end there's always going to be a DM,ala code whatever that Decides if your getting your drop/event/whatever If you don't suspend your belief you'll always be missing out on a the core fundamentals of video games,or any form of entertainment. that would be Entertainment. if you miss out on that part of a game,why game?

Reply