Players are like girls who say they want a nice guy. What they really mean is they want that nice guy on the side, just like their horizontal progression. When it comes down to it, it is the vertical progression that gets them going.
I hear a lot of lip service given to how bad vertical progression is and how much better horizontal would be. WoW would be the poster child for vertical progression. Each new major content release gives players higher levels, harder ( equipment wise) bosses and higher level equipment. As much as players are abused by this system, they always go back like it's some sort of Lifetime movie.
When WAR's launch was approaching, a lot of people liked it due to the focus not being on vertical progression. It has 40 levels and that will likely be the upper limit. Instead they provide things like Renown ranks, which are important, but not nearly as important as experience ranks.
They also put the highest end equipment in the game from day 1, the Sovereign armor set. I'm not sure how they could ever trump this set, as it comes from the supposed final encounter of the game. The ceiling in WAR has been set, all that is left is horizontal progression (renown and new characters).
What do I end up seeing in game? All of a sudden, everyone is a farmer. Rewnown farming is an age old practice in the game. When influence came out, folks farmed that. They are farming tokens now. All so they can fill up the bars and get the loot. What happens when they get to the end? Many Renown rank 80 players have left the game as there were no more bars to fill.
This seems to be all too common in WAR and other games. Do players really want horizontal progression?
AggroChat #517 – Aggressively British Fallout
2 hours ago
