This morning, I want to talk about horizontal progression systems in MMOs, of which I am generally a fan! And I’m gonna start with the one I like least, which is rep grinds in every single MMO. Nobody likes rep grinds. Nobody cares if the NPCs like us. They aren’t even pretending to be advancement; they’re just grinds. Stoppit.
My second least favorite is actually City of Heroes’ Incarnate system. I didn’t like it when the game was alive especially, though I know the rogue servers changed a lot of things I hated. The original version was super grindy, and it shifted the game’s philosophy dramatically away from being a midgamer alt paradise. It might not even be fair to call it horizontal at all.
As for horizontal leveling I like? I think Guild Wars 2’s mastery system is overall ideal, particularly since it’s account-wide and doesn’t ever make me feel as if I’m wasting time on one character instead of another one. I don’t love having mastery levels floating over my head, but as a system itself, it’s groovy.
What are the best and worst horizontal progression systems in an MMORPG?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
