Nostalgia

While I agree with those who state that most emotional content in MMO's comes from a player's societal connections, I don't think that abdicates designers from trying to create emotion in the games themselves.

One such emotion is nostalgia. The clearest example of this is in the Prismatic Quest (some spoilers ahead). By bringing the player back to the Isle of Refuge the designers evoked nostalgia. It was a zone you hadn't seen in a long time and probably thought you would never see again. And seeing it in a different state had an effect too. The whole thing created a perfect circle and to me was the culmination of the old world game.

One problem I had with DoF is that I never once left it after I gained access to the Court of Truth. There was just no need to. Everything I needed was right there in Maj and the game gave me no real reason to go back, except maybe to check on the zoo in my inn room.

KoS rectifies this problem by (mild spoilers ahead) sending you back to old zones. I went back to Lavastorm for a heritage (which I never finished but still) and to collect my first piece of relic armor (more on that another time - drool). And, of course, there are the spires themselves. You need to travel once again through Antonica, the Commonlands, the Thundering Steppes and other zones in order to return to KoS. Some complain about the inconvenience but I like the mild travel factor and I like riding through my old stomping grounds.

I would like to see even more use of nostalgia. I would like to see quests directing you to speak with old world NPC's like Fippy or Vida or even an Everling sister. I think it would be cool and bring about a little nostalgia as you see the old world in a new light. If the designers wanted to use say, the Ruins of Varsoon as a new instance related to a KoS quest, I wouldn't think it was laziness. I would think it was interesting.

But you can argue that you're just tired of old zones and would rather to stick to the fresh content. So I'm not sure if people would agree with me on this or not. I'd basically just like to see SOE get a little more mileage out of the original territories in a meaningful way.

Okay, sorry gang, but this is my last post until Monday because I'm leaving for FanFaire tomorrow. I'll try to get some good info for you. If you're going, looking forward to seeing you there!