RIP MMORPG, we will miss you dearly

[Aisar]

I just had one of those lightbulb moments. You know, they dont happen often, but you know when they do. WHAM, a realization you never saw coming. If you had you would have dreaded its arrival.

 

The death of the MMO, as the most loyal and obsessed fans know them. The noobs cannot understand, how could they? They never experienced EQ1 or any of the other "true" old school MMOs (or any real MMO at all for that matter). The ones where you actually had to dedicate part of your life to play them well, that actually felt like a real thriving world. Back then if you did not feel a true connection to the world, its creatures and your own character, well MMOs were not for you!

 

So what happened exactly? I think the community changed, and it took a nose dive straight into the dumpster. Yes I am refering to World of Warcraft. Those of us who started in Beta or when the game first came out have very fond memories of this game. In fact, ask a group of WoW players, all from Vanilla (basicly old school WoW, back when it was at its prime) and see what they say about their favorite memories from the game. Personally I will never forget some of my experiences in that game, and I hope I never do. The community was amazing back then, so alive, so fiery, so happy (ok most of the time). We loved WoW, and it was good for a long time.

 

January 2012, SWTOR. An MMO where you could quite possibly level to 50 in 10 days.

 

STOP!

 

That's right, I said it is entirely possible to level from 1-50 in 10 days. How..could this happen? Who decided it was a good idea to cut out the point of an MMO? I don't know, but as you all know, SWTOR is what we got. Now we are stuck with it. Only time will tell if the MMO genre as a whole is destroyed utterly, or if TOR will simply die quickly and allow a new, hopefully far more experienced company to try again. Either way, it is a sad day for the hardcore community, the MMO community as a whole, and gaming as a whole.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Aisar

[zootzoot]

I just had one of those lightbulb moments. You know, they dont happen often, but you know when they do. WHAM, a realization you never saw coming. If you had you would have dreaded its arrival.

 

The death of the MMO, as the most loyal and obsessed fans know them. The noobs cannot understand, how could they? They never experienced EQ1 or any of the other "true" old school MMOs (or any real MMO at all for that matter). The ones where you actually had to dedicate part of your life to play them well, that actually felt like a real thriving world. Back then if you did not feel a true connection to the world, its creatures and your own character, well MMOs were not for you!

 

So what happened exactly? I think the community changed, and it took a nose dive straight into the dumpster. Yes I am refering to World of Warcraft. Those of us who started in Beta or when the game first came out have very fond memories of this game. In fact, ask a group of WoW players, all from Vanilla (basicly old school WoW, back when it was at its prime) and see what they say about their favorite memories from the game. Personally I will never forget some of my experiences in that game, and I hope I never do. The community was amazing back then, so alive, so fiery, so happy (ok most of the time). We loved WoW, and it was good for a long time.

 

January 2012, SWTOR. An MMO where you could quite possibly level to 50 in 10 days.

 

STOP!

 

That's right, I said it is entirely possible to level from 1-50 in 10 days. How..could this happen? Who decided it was a good idea to cut out the point of an MMO? I don't know, but as you all know, SWTOR is what we got. Now we are stuck with it. Only time will tell if the MMO genre as a whole is destroyed utterly, or if TOR will simply die quickly and allow a new, hopefully far more experienced company to try again. Either way, it is a sad day for the hardcore community, the MMO community as a whole, and gaming as a whole.

 

 

10 days? People were 50 in under 90 hours played.

[displaynameinuse]

I just had one of those lightbulb moments. You know, they dont happen often, but you know when they do. WHAM, a realization you never saw coming. If you had you would have dreaded its arrival.

 

The death of the MMO, as the most loyal and obsessed fans know them. The noobs cannot understand, how could they? They never experienced EQ1 or any of the other "true" old school MMOs (or any real MMO at all for that matter). The ones where you actually had to dedicate part of your life to play them well, that actually felt like a real thriving world. Back then if you did not feel a true connection to the world, its creatures and your own character, well MMOs were not for you!

 

So what happened exactly? I think the community changed, and it took a nose dive straight into the dumpster. Yes I am refering to World of Warcraft. Those of us who started in Beta or when the game first came out have very fond memories of this game. In fact, ask a group of WoW players, all from Vanilla (basicly old school WoW, back when it was at its prime) and see what they say about their favorite memories from the game. Personally I will never forget some of my experiences in that game, and I hope I never do. The community was amazing back then, so alive, so fiery, so happy (ok most of the time). We loved WoW, and it was good for a long time.

 

January 2012, SWTOR. An MMO where you could quite possibly level to 50 in 10 days.

 

STOP!

 

That's right, I said it is entirely possible to level from 1-50 in 10 days. How..could this happen? Who decided it was a good idea to cut out the point of an MMO? I don't know, but as you all know, SWTOR is what we got. Now we are stuck with it. Only time will tell if the MMO genre as a whole is destroyed utterly, or if TOR will simply die quickly and allow a new, hopefully far more experienced company to try again. Either way, it is a sad day for the hardcore community, the MMO community as a whole, and gaming as a whole.

 

agreed in a way.

 

WoW changed teh Genre from an immersion RPG to a loot collection game.

 

SWTRO copied wow...so...this is what we get.

 

At least we have GW2 to look forward to. And I expect Project Titan to do something new and fresh, as opposed to the incredibly lazy and talentless bioware developers.

[Papazooki]

You're the guy that said SWTOR runs terrible on all computers right?

 

And then you didn't post your specs because you knew you were clearly wrong?

 

Stop trollin' bro.

[Aisar]

10 days? People were 50 in under 90 hours played.

 

Errmm, I was trying to be a little nice about it. But yeah..

[Erosith]

and i should care why ?

if people dont take the time to enjoy a game thats not my problem

[Gokkus]

OR this is not a hardcore MMO. It still is a MMORPG, just one that levels too easily. Are there not still hardcore MMORPG's out there?

 

I think you are slightly overdramalamatizing.

[imtrick]

At least we have GW2 to look forward to. And I expect Project Titan to do something new and fresh, as opposed to the incredibly lazy and talentless bioware developers.

 

Based on what? All indications are that it'll be a casual MMO, and while Blizzard may have once been able to innovate a bit, that was before WoW launched. Nobody in their right minds could call WoW original, and what else have they done since then? The only really major project that comes to mind is Starcraft II, which was little more than a prettied-up Starcraft.

 

If you're looking for something "fresh," I have no idea why you'd expect something like that from a company that gave it up years ago.

Edited January 9, 2012 by imtrick

[Icewulf]

This has been the case for a while in MMOs. Normal levelers like me will still spend 10 days /played to level to 50. Plus we will enjoy the leveling.

 

As a comparison, WoW was closer to a 16 day average to max level at launch.

[Quip]

Meh, I remember the "good ol' days" in UO, and then later in EQ. They weren't good, the games were played by tiny numbers of obsessive, bitter players and it resulted in communities that held new players in a station beneath contempt. No those days are gone for good and the MMO world is far better off for it.

 

Good riddance, the old days sucked.

[PjPablo]

You're the guy that said SWTOR runs terrible on all computers right?

 

And then you didn't post your specs because you knew you were clearly wrong?

 

Stop trollin' bro.

 

What did he post that is wrong? It's his opinion and I actually kinda agree.

 

The 'Hardcore' MMO gamer is a dying breed I think and the games out there reflect it. This game is extremely easy to play and that is fine for this fanbase. It just seems that there isn't as much appetite anymore for the hardcore, crazy time-sink MMO anymore. Kinda sad really.

[Wager]

The ones where you actually had to dedicate part of your life to play them well, that actually felt like a real thriving world. Back then if you did not feel a true connection to the world, its creatures and your own character, well MMOs were not for you!

 

Well, first of all ... Thank goodness. This does not sound like fun. In fact, I tried EQ and it was clearly not for me. DAoC was a little better, but mostly not. That's great that you loved it so much. Since there are many millions more playing now than played then, I'm going to have to assume that the market has spoken on the more successful model.

 

January 2012, SWTOR. An MMO where you could quite possibly level to 50 in 10 days.

 

Where were you when Star Trek Online came out and you could level cap in three days?

Edited January 9, 2012 by Wager

[Vitellius]

Wow....drama much? Not that I disagree with some of your points, but who said every MMO had to cater to hard core players? Who said that you had to care how fast someone else made it to level cap? What's wrong with having options?

 

The core of almost every issue people have been having with TOR is that they have already decided the game that they want to play and if the game doesn't cater to that, then it's fail.

 

Let developers make what they want and let it stand. If it works it works, and if not, then it will pass. Doing what you want and then changing it to try to make EVERYONE happy just ends up down the path SWG took.

[Riotus]

Pre-Ren UO player here.

 

I know what you mean dude, our style of mmo is long gone. Killed by blizzard. Gone are the days when death meant you could lose all your equipment... Gone are the days that you could be a murderer and kill other players and lewt all their stuff.....

 

Our style of mmo was killed by the casuals. They just plain and simply outnumber us.

 

its sad to say but i myself have become a casual along with them. Its kinda funny mmos evolved as I did, UO came out when i was in middle school and i could play it 8-10 hours a day. now i would never have the time to dedicate to an mmo like i once did as i have a job and a wife to keep happy.

 

I do wish someone would make a hardcore old school mmo... but itll never happen, they wouldnt get the sub numbers that they could by catering to the casuals....

[Papazooki]

What did he post that is wrong? It's his opinion and I actually kinda agree.

 

The 'Hardcore' MMO gamer is a dying breed I think and the games out there reflect it. This game is extremely easy to play and that is fine for this fanbase. It just seems that there isn't as much appetite anymore for the hardcore, crazy time-sink MMO anymore. Kinda sad really.

 

Welcome to the world of business. Casuals make up for the majority of subscriptions, a company would be crazy not to cater to them.

 

But his example of leveling is kind of moot, leveling is never challenging in any way.. in any MMO. It's just tedious. BIG difference.

[Nattvard]

Agreed with OP.

I miss the days with Ultima Online and EQ1 where you had to really live in those worlds to get somewhere, but you got rewarded for it, with unforgettable experiences and adventures.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Nattvard

[youwillburn]

lol wut? 10 days /played is lot. You can get to lv85 in WoW for less time than that. City of Heroes you can do in ~5 hours, DCUO probably 5 days /played or even less Edited January 9, 2012 by youwillburn

[displaynameinuse]

Based on what? All indications are that it'll be a casual MMO, and while Blizzard may have once been able to innovate a bit, that was before WoW launched. Nobody in their right minds could call WoW original, and what else have they done since then? The only really major project that comes to mind is Starcraft II, which was little more than a prettied-up Starcraft.

 

If you're looking for something "fresh," I have no idea why you'd expect something like that from a company that gave it up years ago.

 

sounds like a hater.

 

either way. WoW was pretty damn original. Sure it's blueprint was EQ...but it added tons of new ideas and innovated on nearly every aspect of EQ/DAOC.

 

SWTOR is just WOW with starwars paint, as everyone has said for years now. Bioware did nothing to innovate the genre. They just added a few small "spins" on specific ideas, like being able to perform the same WoW crafting system without having to sit in town.

 

Companions are just Pets. Your ship is just another instance that youre required to waste time in, and nothing else is new.

[pairadox]

Why are we still having this sad, sorry discussion, like... 8 years later?

This discussion started when wow came out....

 

 

 

And yet, ironically. Despite posts like this.... MMO's modeled after WoW continue to make truckloads of money.

 

 

Apparently you're in the minority.

Edited January 9, 2012 by pairadox

[JulioRodriguez]

I just had one of those lightbulb moments. You know, they dont happen often, but you know when they do. WHAM, a realization you never saw coming. If you had you would have dreaded its arrival.

 

The death of the MMO, as the most loyal and obsessed fans know them. The noobs cannot understand, how could they? They never experienced EQ1 or any of the other "true" old school MMOs (or any real MMO at all for that matter). The ones where you actually had to dedicate part of your life to play them well, that actually felt like a real thriving world. Back then if you did not feel a true connection to the world, its creatures and your own character, well MMOs were not for you!

 

So what happened exactly? I think the community changed, and it took a nose dive straight into the dumpster. Yes I am refering to World of Warcraft. Those of us who started in Beta or when the game first came out have very fond memories of this game. In fact, ask a group of WoW players, all from Vanilla (basicly old school WoW, back when it was at its prime) and see what they say about their favorite memories from the game. Personally I will never forget some of my experiences in that game, and I hope I never do. The community was amazing back then, so alive, so fiery, so happy (ok most of the time). We loved WoW, and it was good for a long time.

 

January 2012, SWTOR. An MMO where you could quite possibly level to 50 in 10 days.

 

STOP!

 

That's right, I said it is entirely possible to level from 1-50 in 10 days. How..could this happen? Who decided it was a good idea to cut out the point of an MMO? I don't know, but as you all know, SWTOR is what we got. Now we are stuck with it. Only time will tell if the MMO genre as a whole is destroyed utterly, or if TOR will simply die quickly and allow a new, hopefully far more experienced company to try again. Either way, it is a sad day for the hardcore community, the MMO community as a whole, and gaming as a whole.

 

 

[Nautius]

I just had one of those lightbulb moments. You know, they dont happen often, but you know when they do. WHAM, a realization you never saw coming. If you had you would have dreaded its arrival.

 

The death of the MMO, as the most loyal and obsessed fans know them. The noobs cannot understand, how could they? They never experienced EQ1 or any of the other "true" old school MMOs (or any real MMO at all for that matter). The ones where you actually had to dedicate part of your life to play them well, that actually felt like a real thriving world. Back then if you did not feel a true connection to the world, its creatures and your own character, well MMOs were not for you!

 

So what happened exactly? I think the community changed, and it took a nose dive straight into the dumpster. Yes I am refering to World of Warcraft. Those of us who started in Beta or when the game first came out have very fond memories of this game. In fact, ask a group of WoW players, all from Vanilla (basicly old school WoW, back when it was at its prime) and see what they say about their favorite memories from the game. Personally I will never forget some of my experiences in that game, and I hope I never do. The community was amazing back then, so alive, so fiery, so happy (ok most of the time). We loved WoW, and it was good for a long time.

 

January 2012, SWTOR. An MMO where you could quite possibly level to 50 in 10 days.

 

STOP!

 

That's right, I said it is entirely possible to level from 1-50 in 10 days. How..could this happen? Who decided it was a good idea to cut out the point of an MMO? I don't know, but as you all know, SWTOR is what we got. Now we are stuck with it. Only time will tell if the MMO genre as a whole is destroyed utterly, or if TOR will simply die quickly and allow a new, hopefully far more experienced company to try again. Either way, it is a sad day for the hardcore community, the MMO community as a whole, and gaming as a whole.

 

I would venture to guess your dissatisfaction will translate to a subscription cancellation, right?

 

Is that what you're trying to tell us? You're hating TOR and want to leave? You're leaving, right?

 

Please leave.

 

Please.

[youwillburn]

Why are we still having this sad, sorry discussion, like... 8 years later?

This discussion started when wow came out....

 

 

 

And yet, ironically. Despite posts like this.... MMO's modeled after WoW continue to make truckloads of money.

 

 

Apparently you're in the minority.

 

wut? Every mmo modeled after WoW has failed terribly so far. Only the ones not modeled after WoW stood the test of time (City of Heroes, Eve, Guildwars)

[displaynameinuse]

Wow....drama much? Not that I disagree with some of your points, but who said every MMO had to cater to hard core players? Who said that you had to care how fast someone else made it to level cap? What's wrong with having options?

 

The core of almost every issue people have been having with TOR is that they have already decided the game that they want to play and if the game doesn't cater to that, then it's fail.

 

Let developers make what they want and let it stand. If it works it works, and if not, then it will pass. Doing what you want and then changing it to try to make EVERYONE happy just ends up down the path SWG took.

 

What hes trying to say is that in EQ, etc. the point of the game wasn't so much to lvl to max level...but to explore, make friends, and feel like youre part of the world.

 

WoW destroyed that idea and formed the phrase, " the game doesn't start till your 60 "

 

This wasn't the case in EQ. In fact, I played EQ quite a bit and never reached max level, though I had a great times and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

[Nattvard]

What hes trying to say is that in EQ, etc. the point of the game wasn't so much to lvl to max level...but to explore, make friends, and feel like youre part of the world.

 

WoW destroyed that idea and formed the phrase, " the game doesn't start till your 60 "

 

This wasn't the case in EQ. In fact, I played EQ quite a bit and never reached max level, though I had a great times and enjoyed myself thoroughly.

 

This. So much this.

[RichLather]

They have been reskinning and reselling FPS games since the original Wolfenstein in the 1980's. In comparison MMO games are one of the newest genres and will be around for a long long time, just like all genres.