Has the love affair with mmo's ended?

[Tsukuni]

Hi my first mmo I ever tried was asherons call followed by for me was then and still is the pinnacle of the mmo genre dark age age of Camelot. Looking back at that game now the levelling process was pretty basic....find a group, camp the same spot for hours until you levelled high enough to progress to the next area. Saying that I was truly hooked with the game purely do to the interaction with other players from around the world. Gameplay seemed to be secondary to having a great laugh and learning about other peoples lives....have to admit my conceptions of yanks being brash and gung ho were wrong and I have never met a better community, the yanks were great people. Something seems lacking now when almost every mmo has European servers....I miss the yanks

Now games are more visually impressive but something seems missing. Hardly anyone seems to hang around now, even when tor was being released people were already waiting for the next big release. Almost every mmo follows the same process now...leading you from each zone to the next so tor isn't alone in that respect. People only group to do harder heroic quests then go their separate ways. You barely have to interact now.

 

For me it seems mmo' s have lost there ability to bring people together and therefore the longevity is short compared with the likes of daoc eq etc....I remember server numbers approaching 3k mark on Lancelot server when I played daoc. Would any server in any game reach those numbers now?

Edited May 11, 2012 by Tsukuni

[Sammm]

The average mmo player age keeps increasing. I think it's around 35 years old now, not 100% sure. With more responsabilities (family, kids, "real job", new "adult activities", parents to care take of, house and private jet to pay, retirement to plan, etc.), it's just harder and more complicated to socialize a lot in mmos. I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just harder.

 

I remember when I was a teenager and a young adult, I used to play Diablo 1-2 (I know, I know, it isn't a real mmo but it was close enough for me) and some asian mmos for hours upon hours because I had so much free time. Those days are gone for me and my priorities changed so much. No more crazy and insane xp and loot grindings for me, no more. But the bright side about all that grinding was that I was with the same players for so many hours, so many hours! I ended up socializing and knowing them a lot.

 

So I guess that if I'd want to socialize more in SWTOR, I'd join a guild. I think guilds are the last socialization bastion. In the end, I think the main reason is time: less time to play so less time to socialize ingame. That being said, I bet I'll have much more time for gaming when I'll retire irl. That elderly care home better have a great internet connection...

Edited May 11, 2012 by Sammm

[Crixaliss]

I think that with all the MMOs that have gone before, people build up massive expectations of how the game should be, and the game always falls short. So people say its rubbish, and build up expectations of the next game, and the cycle repeats. After trying swtor, it seems that forum-complainers are now saying GW2 or TERA will be "that game" for them, but I guess those will fall short too and they'll have to hope that the next thing catches their attention. I think its hard to imagine now how any MMO will truely match a vast quantity of people's hopes for a game.

 

 

For myself, I can imagine an MMO with no levels (i.e. not seperated into leveling then end-game, its all just 'the game'), with of course character and gear improvements as you play, allowing you to attempt harder content, but none of the 'we level from 1 to 50, then can do end-game stuff'. It'd be a fully explorable single world, without all those pesky load-screens inbetween. It'd have questing and group content all the way through, so you could group for the equivalent of a raid soon after you've mastered the basics. It'd have event-like-area-quest-things appearing at non-specified times for you to group up with people on the fly to overcome that danger. You could make a career out of crafting stuff and it'd be worth going off and exploring for the sake of exploring. And most of all, it wouldn't have that ridiculous cutesy asian anime look to it, I don't want to carry a sword three times as tall and twice as wide as me, thats ridiculous and I don't want to see a beaver with fairy-wings and elf ears running around either, this game would have a bit more of a 'real-world' look to it, still with fantasy beings, but a bit more gritty.

 

Sadly, I'm sure this game will never be made for me, and anything that looks like it might come close won't live up to the idea in my head of how a game should be. So I'll have to just be content with my weekly EV/KP/EC cycle.

[Redcorn]

The want for a quality MMORPG is alive and well. People are generally social creatures, and at its heart an MMORPG should be the finest of social media.

 

The problem is that the powers that be, the developers, the producers, and the money men have all lost site of what an MMO coupled with RPG should be.

 

I stand by this statement with all of my considerable weight....PVP and PVP players are antithetical to the MMORPG PVE world. PVP is anti-social. Yes, PVP is fun, but you can't be both a PVP and PVE environment and please your players.

[Shensen]

I agree with the OP thoughts on DAoC and also someone elses thoughts on the age thing. I'm in a fairly large community on my server and the median age seems to be around 28-33, with a lot being older but that's probably about the average range I see. Speaking just for myself, I have about 2-3 hours a night to play so when I do log in I am more focused on leveling and accomplishing something. My guild has plenty of events I could attend, but each one would eat up most, if not all, of my playing time. It is nice to know that I have that outlet if I want it, but it seems we all communicate more on our forums for the socializing aspect - it's far more convenient and only eats work time

[BlueFromMoon]

I started when I was young and now I play almost MMOs almost exlusively, so answer is no. I just hope Elder Scroll Online gets it right. Btw, can you even call SWTOR as MMO, single playing online game is alot better for SWTOR. Edited May 11, 2012 by BlueFromMoon

[TSgtSeuss]

To me, modern MMOs all seem to have lost that "epic" feel...

 

EverQuest was my first real MMO, and I have very fond memories of truly epic moments in that game... Solo-stealthing the Plane of Hate for my rogue's epic weapon quest, knowing that at any moment a wrong turn would mean my character could possibly lose everything. What a rush!

 

A couple of years after I quit EQ and dabbled in several other MMOs, I tried World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft is another game I have fond memories of because, in its youth, it was a very epic game. The first time my guild downed Ragnaros in Molten Core (with me as the Main Tank, no less!) gave me an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. Then came the multiple expansion packs for WoW, which made everything easier and more player friendly, so it could appeal to a broader audience.

 

Every game I have played since WoW has followed this pattern... Easier content that smaller, incompetent groups can tackle = more players = more money = less "epic" game. I'm an adult player, with a wife, kids, and demanding job... But I want to have to work towards a sense of accomplishment in an MMO... To me, "Massive" doesn't just refer to the number of players online, it also refers to the grand scale and feeling of the game.

 

My love affair with MMOs is far from over, I'm just looking for the right one... An MMO with developers that are more interested in creating a game that's "massive" in all its aspects, not just massive subscriptions.

[Cynomen]

I agree that most are still looking for that quality game that can keep our attention. We are very social beings and only need the right mix of things to allow that to happen.

 

What I think hurts today's games more than anything, and this will be picked at of course, is the lack of depth and intricacies. We are playing "dumbed" down games to attract the masses. Some games, while you do want to bring in as many as possible, should be made for a certain type of player.

 

Games that had difficult or challenging professions are gone now. Layered skills and detailed abilities have been bumped for the quick and easy. Not everyone wants, or needs a crazy difficult game, but oddly enough, eventually those games remain interesting due to all the work needed to remain competitive or play to the level you want.

 

Once you have done most content in a game now, there is no longer a challenge and you get bored. Take the crafting system in the game. It is nothing like other games and is totally boring.

 

I think we need a game that not only has the title of interest, but the skills, abilities, and methods to remain a challenge, leaving us with a true sense of accomplishment once something is completed.

Edited May 11, 2012 by Cynomen

[Shensen]

What I think hurts today's games more than anything, and this will be picked at of course, is the lack of depth and intricacies. We are playing "dumbed" down games to attract the masses. Some games, while you do want to bring in as many as possible, should be made for a certain type of player.

 

Games that had difficult or challenging professions are gone now. Layered skills and detailed abilities have been bumped for the quick and easy. Not everyone wants, or needs a crazy difficult game, but oddly enough, eventually those games remain interesting due to all the work needed to remain competitive or play to the level you want.

 

I think that pretty well nails it. What you said made me think of SWG - not to say that game was EVER perfect, but that game at launch had a skill system you could truly tailor - not to mention no "levels". Player housing\decorating and all of the little things that made RP easy and immersive, and a crafting system that required work if you wanted to be decent at it. Huge planets to explore - the game was one huge sandbox and imo has offered the most, they just couldn't make up their minds and work with what they had.

 

DAoC had a big appeal for me primarily because of their RvR system - the rest of the game was fairly cookie cutter. Every game since WoW has tried to emulate that style of gameplay due to its popularity, but that doesn't always translate well into the Star Wars realm. I like this game for what it is and will play until I've achieved everything I want to achieve. The difference is when I finished everything in SWG, I stuck around for probably a good 2 years just focusing on RP with friends. I can't honestly say the same thing will happen with this one...who knows? Maybe by the time I reach that point, the game will be different or I will be.

[BJWyler]

I started when I was young and now I play almost MMOs almost exlusively, so answer is no. I just hope Elder Scroll Online gets it right. Btw, can you even call SWTOR as MMO, single playing online game is alot better for SWTOR.

 

Which will only be an ES game in name only. From the sounds of things, it will have no relationship to the ES worlds and canon from the other games (Major Fail). And it will apparently be built upon the Hero Engine, which SWTOR uses, and is supposed to be a bad thing (though I've never had issues yet).

 

GW2 will be the only real threat to any other MMO in this genre, but if GW1 gives any indication, it won't have too much of a long term impact, and we'll all be able to copy and paste these threads to their forum as they'll be going through the same thing.

 

BJ

[iRouven]

I never had the chance to really play pen and paper back in the day, once or twice maybe. But I cannot imagine anyone ever asking - "Hey, when are we getting to endgame here?" - "How many more monsters do we have to kill before xyz?"

 

A lot of the culture has changed and thus the spirit a bit. I myself am no longer blissfully unaware of the "stats" and "mechanics". I didn't know what was to come, hadn't looked up stuff online (partially because nothing or not much was available). You got information in the game, from other players, that would often venture with you and help you.

 

The occasional "drop" was exiting, even if you didn't need "willpower", it was new and the numbers where higher, that had to be good!

 

I like the term love affair, because like with actual partners, after a few you start noticing flaws, maybe even looking for them however conscious and might not be as forgiving anymore as with your first love.

[Hajizan]

No, least not for me it hasn't. I was hoping that swtor would break me of my ffxi habit. Unfortunately, I still have reasons to log in there everyday be it chocobo digging, events, gardening, or just chatting with the wonderful friends I have made there.

If you are meaning mmo's that are used by parents to babysit their twelve year olds, I think so. That was wow's claim to fame and now with almost every new mmo that is released being a wow clone, people just jump from one to another looking for something different.

[HumanSheild]

I never had love for mmos and didnt wanted to get into them until my d2 buddies stoped playn d2 to move onto wow. So like a good friend i tried it and it was fun only becuase it was somthing new. And no im not talking about wow. Im talking about the experiance of MMO. First couple of months were fun till i got leveld cap and started getting into the pvp and bG's then started to grow hate for the game itself of the MMO. Why? Im forced to player with complete ******* for one. No uniqueness in the game period. Hundereds if not thousands of players that look just like you with the same stats as you and using the same skill rotations as you do because you are forced to spend skill uses because of the super stupid system called cool downs.

 

Only reason i bought this game is because its STAR WARS! Didnt expect is to be a copy of wow. But hey i learned my leason and to research more then i normaly do for a game before i get involed. Ontop of that I also learned to never buy another product from biofailware or EA and anything that holds either names to the product.

[RobNightfall]

The average mmo player age keeps increasing. I think it's around 35 years old now, not 100% sure. With more responsabilities (family, kids, "real job", new "adult activities", parents to care take of, house and private jet to pay, retirement to plan, etc.), it's just harder and more complicated to socialize a lot in mmos. I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just harder.

 

I remember when I was a teenager and a young adult, I used to play Diablo 1-2 (I know, I know, it isn't a real mmo but it was close enough for me) and some asian mmos for hours upon hours because I had so much free time. Those days are gone for me and my priorities changed so much. No more crazy and insane xp and loot grindings for me, no more. But the bright side about all that grinding was that I was with the same players for so many hours, so many hours! I ended up socializing and knowing them a lot.

 

So I guess that if I'd want to socialize more in SWTOR, I'd join a guild. I think guilds are the last socialization bastion. In the end, I think the main reason is time: less time to play so less time to socialize ingame. That being said, I bet I'll have much more time for gaming when I'll retire irl. That elderly care home better have a great internet connection...

 

This. Most of us only have so much time, and have things to get done in that time. If I can find a group, or if my guild is available and we can all do things together, great. If not, then I play a solo game. It's not as much fun, but I don't make $9/hour "working" as a security guard while going to college any more. I work for real, and I'm searching for the future Mrs. NightfallRob lol. I don't need a time sink any more.

[Jeffleigh]

I don't think MMOs are finished - I think developers need to design a game to assist grouping and social interaction

 

A game with a great home city and player housing could be a start

 

Easy transport after you have explored is a good idea

 

It needs to cover as many aspects of a game as possible - crafting, pvp and pve

[Darth-Malice]

The Average gamer is 35 and has been playing for 12 years. They are used to games and expected something fresh or semi new with each game. MMO's lately offer nothing new and are currently stagnant. There are no next generation features, noground breaking or intuitive content or fresh ideas. Why? Because to implement them it costs money, and its a risk. And nobody these days has the gull to take a risk.

[Dalwhat]

No MMO will ever live up to the memory of your first one garnished with the unrealistic anticipation of the next.

[Darth-Ironlung]

Nah just need player bounties, your ship to be something else than 4 loading screens to get somewere, to beable to buy a personal small moon or spacestation. And just some other perks to play. Then more people will play and people will beable to find more like minded peeps to play with.

[Caspian_Rho]

There is NO love affair with bad MMOs. There is definitely a place for a quality MMO especially a quality Star Wars MMO... is this it?? That'd be a NO.