i'm also not part of the millions who like twilight. does that make those movies good?

the mmo genre has seen the evolution of accessibility and convenience. haven't you guys seen the ******* complaining about "forced grouping"? they don't understand that mmos are fundamentally different from single-player rpgs, that solo content in mmos is *********** dull, and that playing with your robot pet is a step down from playing with other human beings. soloing SHOULD be inefficient a la eq, dungeons SHOULD be difficult to navigate alone, and people SHOULD understand that interaction with other players is what makes these virtual worlds fun.

i'm willing to bet an updated everquest that followed the original blueprint would attract over a million americans and would capture the asian market with enough server support.

people believe games that are more casual-friendly and have instances are more sophisticated, but the truth is the genre has pretty much seen nothing more than the evolution of accessibility and convenience. developers gradually abandon designs that make older games worthwhile in order to attract more casual players and "non-gamers." even wow's raid system suffered from this long after the game's success had been established. a game like everquest may have had its flaws and an "archaic" blueprint, but it provided social elements that you can't find in other games.

you have to be kidding. earlier mmos attracted a largely adult audience and the gaming communities were much more mature than today's as a result. priorities and a person's status as a "gamer" aren't mutually exclusive. you can play an hour or two a day and still enjoy challenges and interaction in a virtual world. who gives a **** if you have friends in real life? i have friends and still like playing with other people. the social aspect of mmos has been lost on players and developers alike because mmos are getting easier while the content hasn't gotten less dull.

it wouldn't work anymore because mmos are now made for casual players.

"class balance" is the worst thing to ever hit the genre

the genre has changed to attract people who never played and can't possibly appreciate the earliest MMOs. hell, most of the people in this thread didn't own computers when games like ultima online and everquest came out. mmos have become something else entirely and we'll see the trend continue until an indie developer returns to the genre's roots.

that's the whole point of a *********** mmo. mmo content is fundamentally different from single-player games. soloing is for easily amused idiots.

mmo content shouldn't be easy enough to solo. if you wanna solo, stay away from mmos.

people who think they should be able to solo through most of an mmo are unable to grasp the elements that strengthen the sense of community. i have to ask why these people even play mmos and how they can rationalize paying a subscription fee.

everquest peaked at 500,000 active accounts. that's not the same thing as 500,000 over the course of its lifetime. are you forgetting that wow had 2 million american players at its peak? like i said, most of its players are asian and they'll play anything from ncsoft grief fests to mindless cartoon crap.

the idiots who keep bringing up the "negatives" of everquest either never played it or were addicted to it like heroin.

yeah. popularity equals quality, right? and games that came before wow popularized the genre. give credit where credit is due.

blizzard changed elements that had defined the genre but it wasn't to suit the needs of players. most wow players in the u.s. had never played an mmo before. i think they diminished the value of the mmo community but i won't really get into that.

what does wow's popularity have to do with anything?

3/4 of wow's subscribers reside in asia where mmos had been immensely popular nearly a necade before wow came out.

mmos had already entered the mainstream in the west by the time wow was released. games like uo and everquest popularized the genre.

it depends on the game. i still enjoy quite a few games from older generations

mmo content is fundamentally different. things like outdated graphics and a lack of community can impair your enjoyment of an mmo.

your frame of reference changes. why would you expect to experience a 30-year-old game the same way?

again, everquest is 13 years old and was in its prime almost a decade ago. it's not the same game. here's hoping everquest next goes back to its roots.

you really should try to understand that game design being dictated by newcomers isn't always a good thing. furthermore, you should stop equating popularity with superiority. do you think everyone who played uo and everquest was hardcore? you DO realize wow owes its success to those games, right?

it's unfortunate that most mmo players will never realize how sterile and linear world of warcraft is. basing the mmo standard on wow's popularity is like trying to copy the twilight series' success because roaring masses of teens gather at every movie premiere.