The Daily Grind: Does viewpoint matter to you?

First person is by far superior, as the immersion factor is huge. As an example, walk around the Tauren starting area in first and third person views. Did you even realize there were hills in 3rd? In first, the rolling hills become such a beautiful part of the zone, you get a new appreciation for it.

That said, WoW put absolutely no effort into first person view, so I can't stay in it for long. No head bob, you can't see yourself (weapons, hands, etc).. can hardly tell when you're in combat or not. So, much to my regret, I will continue in 3rd person in WoW.

I like having both. I would find it difficult to play an MMORPG with only first-person view. Third-person only would be acceptable, but ideally I'd have the choice of switching between both viewpoints.

As has been stated a few times already, 1st Person works for the immersion and feeling like you are there sensation. While 3rd person has its advantages for gameplay, I rather hate that it exists in MMORPGs.

IMHO, the 1st person only, at least in the early days, is what made Everquest develop its fabled moniker of "Evercrack". It was truly immersive and encompassing.

It also really made you "play" your character/class/race to its fullest. The trend toward 3rd person has really made it more like a tabletop game with moving pieces. Not nearly as fun!

Two words: chase cam. I want to see my character, but in a somewhat 1st person view, with the camera right up behind my character. I've always found it far more immersive than full 1st person, and while I don't really mind 3rd person isometric views, you asked for our favorite. :)

One view I *do* hate however is the FPSy chase cam that isn't centered. Mass Effect, SWG, etc do this by default too, pushes the character off the side, presumably to better see your target, but it bugs the heck outta me. Field of view, though, is even more important. Abnormal fields of view (to see more than you normally should) just makes the whole game look like a ridiculous fun-house mirror.

I prefer a choice as there are times when I each type of view. I like being able to adjust via scroll wheel.

Would love to see a new AAA title that is isometric. Everquest felt epic when it was first person view only. 3rd person is the standard these days and it is fine but I miss the immersion and scale of the world that first person felt and the depth that isometric can have.

I'm feel more immersed in a game world when I play in Third Person. I love being able to see the character I made and seeing their story fold out, rather than me being in their eyes.

Actually, First person isn't more immersive at all, it's a very false statement. First and Third person can be just as immersive. Third person just feels more real to me than First, because if I am this character, in his eyes, then I want to smell the things, feel exactly what he feels, etc, like virtual reality. Third person, you know you aren't at the characters level in that way, and your watching something fold out while you are inputing commands.

The only FPS that I really felt immersed in was Half Life 2, because that was my first introduction to the havok engine, and that really brought the scope to life and was fully immersed. When is came to Elder Scrolls IV...I switched that into third person and felt much more immersed.

In Mortal Online I felt really disorientated all the time in First Person and just felt disconnected.

Definitely first person, it makes me feel more like I'm playing my character than watching him. Being a ghost floating above my body at all times has always seemed a bit weird. Probably because i grew up on Everquest. Id be fine with both modes available as long as some effort is put into the first person, animations and realistic camera views, otherwise its just annoying.

First-person is best for great game play and epic environments. Third-person on the other hand is great for character design, armor design and the likes. Personally I would rather have developers spend their time making a great game then trying to make all the armors match and look pretty.

I hate the first person point of view. It doesn't feel more immersive but instead makes me feel like a floating head with arms.

I won't even bother with an MMO if it doesn't have 3rd person perspective.

I almost wish I were one of those unfortunate souls that got motion sickness from playing first person perspective games. At least then I could have some excuse for hating first person view. To me it feels very claustrophobic, as if running around with blinders on... a forced tunnel-vision if you will. They cannot, on a computer screen, allow for the full field of vision unless you set up 5 monitors in a semi-circle around you. For myself I feel much less immersed in a game that forces first person view... well, with F.E.A.R. being a notable exception lol.

This is a topic I have long pondered.

The benefits for either are quite apparent, but I still want to lean towards the first person perspective. When I first playing Everquest those many years ago, I had felt nothing like it before. For all of the years I had been playing RPG's, mainly of Japanese decent, when I thought RPG I thought Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger, Lufia, etc. all third person controlling a party. When I first playing Everquest, I had become my character. I was in the world, not the character. It was an exhilarating feeling and lent itself to my vast enjoyment of the game.

Unfortunately, in recent games (such as WoW), strolling in first person is a quick way to get murdered and play the game improperly. It was made to be played in third person. This is fine, I just wish more games were made to be played in the first person perspective (outside of shooters, naturally). For me it adds tenfold to the immersion and gives a greater sense of fun when you are actually doing the things in game and not just a character avatar. I think the inherent dispute is that with the greater audience of gamers being introduced to MMORPGs with World of Warcraft, there are those who play these games as just another game, whereas there is a minority of people who want to play these games as virtual worlds.

Everquest was a step in the direction of a virtual world. Whenever you see a television program or some such regarding Everquest or games like Everquest back about 5+ years ago, there are always players hanging out in taverns, roleplaying like they would in D&D, basically acting as if the game they were playing was a seperate world. Current MMORPGs (again, like WoW) tend to not have that kind of goal in mind. The greater population is trying to rush their way to end game, they are exploiting the games' flaws for every advantage to be above the next guy and for many, it is just as similar as sitting down for a game of Counter-Strike or Madden.

This is not a terrible thing. Everyone is entitled to their preferred play style and I am well aware that I am in the minority. World of Warcraft has it's own style of gameplay and Everquest (before recently), did as well. When people played MUDs years ago, they didn't have shiny particle effects to gawk at and they had great communities of players to play with nonetheless. Immersion is a factor that I am having trouble with in almost all games that are being released lately for the MMORPG genre. Gaming sessions are meant to be played in short, quick, bursts rather than extended marathons where you can have an extraordinary adventure.

First-person view is actually less immersive in many cases. The limited field of view available in gaming means that an FPV case leaves you unnaturally unaware of your surroundings; third-person view and especially top-down view force some of this information back into the channel. People will get around the real/virtual divide and make that immersive jump, display size is an amazingly weak factor here. But the lack of perceptual information can easily break the perception of presence - the ease with which you can perceive the virtual environment is far more important than the viewport option used to display it!

Maybe the fallacy comes in inappropriately confusing it with immersion in virtual reality? There are many parallels, but also many places where the rules are just flat different. If anything, you are more free to create a focus-grabbing interface when you're not constrained to emulate our perceptions of our real environments.

I played EQ in 3rd person. I never much used FP until recently, playing Fallen Earth. In that game, I find myself operating mostly in third-person, but, as a pistoleer, I find when the combat gets intense, or fighting with others in close quarters, the FPS, first-person mode is extremely handy. But only as a temporary situation. I couldnt (well, wouldnt) play the whole game like that.

That being said... I stopped following or caring about Mortal Online specifically because it's first-person only. For both immersion and connection to my character, I prefer 3rd person view.

For MMOs and RPGs, definitely 3rd person. 1st person is good for getting you into a pure action setting, but to feel attached to my character I want to be able to see him on-screen. The 1st person camera is probably the number one reason I might not get attached to Mortal Online.