The Daily Grind: How do you feel about load screens?

You can't have an immersive world with loading screens. AoC has taken this to a new level, for instances within instances. It just feels worse than Guild Wars, if you're into MMOs. AoC really isn't an MMO.

Honestly, after playing EQ years ago, these "load screens" are flashes of light by comparison. Sure, the EQ screens move fast now, but back then, it was a guaranteed place to get a drink, make a sandwich, shift your laundry around, catch a few minutes of TV, etc.

I don't mind them, really. The important thing is that they not make me go back to the EQ days with 3-5 minute load screens, and that there's an interesting enough story on the other side of the load screen to make me want to keep playing.

I hate load screens in single player games because they shouldn't be necessary as you follow a set script. For an MMO though I'm ok with it for major cities and dungeons. The whole world map should be open though.

I hate loadscreens. They break the illusion of a seemless virtual world but more important are in general a bad idea in an open PvP environment. Why?

1) Loadscreens are between Zones - Zones have Zone entries - In a PvP Environment those entries are artifactial choke points.

Example: In AoC you can deny access to 3 or more zones by controling one single zone entry point. You dont need an army - just one or two teams will be enoth.

2) After a loadscreen you spawn in on a fixed point in the world - in a PvP environment you'll prolly spawn within a hord of gankers.

Example: Eve Gatejumps - You dont know what is behind the gate befor you jump and after you jumped you prolly sit withhin the camp and have a hard time to get out of there! In eve this results in exploiting alternate noob chars as scouts..

3) Before a loadscreen you disapear from the world - in the PvP environment you'll prolly just ran away from your enemy.

Example: You are about to die in the Underhalls in AoC? Just zone into the next room to get a small breath - or keep zoning till your enemey get bored by loadscreens...

Conclusion: No MMOG using loadscreens solve those problems. Sure they all (but AoC) have some dirty hacks - cloaks and invu timers, multiple entrie points etc - but those are just fixing the symptoms.

For someone who was brought up on Everquest I find it doesn't really bother me to be honest.

"AoC really isn't an MMO." Sorry, but you need a reality check I think, instancing is a way of reducing lag to the client and with a graphically rich game such as AoC it's quite necessary to do so. EQ2 had instancing within instancing and no one really complained at that too much. They had multiple instances of the zone when it got to heavy load for one instance as to not cover the entire zone with players fighting for spawns.

All of the games have zones, I have constant loading screens when playing wow as all I do is raid, do I find it breaks the immersive feeling? Not really, not for me anyhow.

AoC's loading is a touch excessive at times in the smaller places, if you have only played the first Tortage place then I could forgive you for thinking it's quite bad, but when you tend to move onto other areas it's hours before I see a loading screen, just as I do in WoW.