Back when I cut my teeth on MMORPG play in Final Fantasy XI, there were accepted strategies for gaining levels via normal leveling. You got a tank, a healer, someone to pull, a damage dealer, and so on. Ultimately you were pulling single enemies who were, let’s face it, basically incapable of harming a moderately coordinated party. That was the gameplay.
However, people were not limited to these strategies even then, as “burn parties” were a thing. Get one tank-ish character and a quintet of Black Mages, then pull things and hope everyone could nuke it into oblivion faster than it could kill the party. It was risky, but quite efficient if it worked.
Some people really liked these sorts of parties and variants upon the same principle, which were risky but could be useful. Others would rather go with the standard option because it was just a heck of a lot more reliable even if a theoretical burn party could be more efficient. Which leads naturally to the question: Do you prefer risky or reliable strategies in an MMO? Are you happy to roll the dice on something that might not work or would you rather do something that will definitely work even if there might be mildly faster options?
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!
