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The #1 rule about buying a new MMORPG at release is...
Kez95
Member UncommonPosts: 53
The #1 rule about buying a new MMORPG at release is...
don't do it. 
Give it at least 3-6 months before jumping in. Read the forums, talk to people, whatever, but don't jump in.
I have started about a dozen MMORPGs from day 1 or week 1 and regretted it each time. I have started another dozen within the first month and again, regretted it.
Just put any new MMORPGs in the back of your mind and wait, play something else. Then check back and see if it's worth it.
About half the games I bought in the store had a free week, and downloadable trial versions after 3-4 months. The MMORPG'er in me wants to buy the new stuff as soon as the hype starts piling up high, but my inner self has learned many times from past mistakes, and thus I have saved a boatload of cash and frustration by adhering firmly to this rule.
MMORPGs are virtual skinner boxes.
Comments
I tend to disagree with this. Clearly you have not had yourself informed good enough not only about the game, but also the company making it. Learn from your mistakes made, you will know with companies to trust and with not.
SoE I would not buy an game from blindly even if they have an lose affiliation with it. Blizzard however have shown up to the promise and seems to be an good company to trust.
While some games stink at launch (VG cough cough) WOW and now LoTRO are proving a good launch is possible.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I very much enjoyed World of Warcraft upon release. I mean there were server issues but I moved to a different server on day 2 and was fine, and the game was a lot of fun.
Some MMOs are really buggy at release and others arent. It helps if you pay attention to the beta and what is happening there (or if you can play there yourself to judge).
Still waiting for your Holy Grail MMORPG? Interesting...
i expect a month with the box...
the best thing to do is play the beta, then you know if a) it is your type of game, and b) if it is in a condition you are willing to pay for. just remember, being in beta is a previledge (especially closed beta) so repay the faith by doing more than using it as a free trial...
there is something to be said for being a release-day player - you get to be a trailblazer in discovering the content, and there are economic benefits to be a market setter...
playing eq2 and two worlds
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
If nobody buys the game at release, how are they going to receive the funds that will allow them to continue?
If I beta test it and like it, I buy it. The only rule to buying an MMORPG is if you think it is fun, you play it.
Under your thinking, if nobody bought an MMORPG for 3-6 months, then the first mmorpg would likely have canceled their server because there were no subs which means they are only losing money for months after already spending money to create the game with two months of no hint that the game will finally sell. If everyone listened to the OP there would likely be no more mmorpgs because of that.
The issue is that on the one hand I love the thought of trailblazing and being of the first "class" to venture through the game together..... on the other I can not put in power gamer hours and am prone to real world problems intervene restricting my playing and I fall behind and get irritated
--
psyconius Cthulhu
Gothika Studios
What interests me is the brand new world. I can't really enjoy MMOs that already have an established economy and people that are farming all the good spots. I have to start a MMO on a brand new server otherwise I loose interest fast.
I cant really explain it other than remember playing single player diablo? It was a ton of fun and you enjoyed upgrading your character the best you could. Then a long came battle.net and realizing that the other players were farming the best items in the game. Multiplayer ruined diablo for me. I didn't feel like trying to keep up with the joneses. I like exploring a game before there are guides and databases that give you all the answers. That analogy is the only way I can explain why I only play MMOs when it releases or a new server opens.
So, if you found that you enjoy MMOs better after they have a little polish, great. Stick with what works for you. However, other people enjoy other things. Waiting for a game to mature would ruin the experience for me.
The answer here is no.
Trying the game in beta is always a good thing.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
My youtube MMO gaming channel
I would say the #1 rule is to not expect perfection or over hype yourself and others on release. There are always going to be bugs/issues not found in beta that are discovered on release. I think alot of players set games to be released on such an impossible level of expected perfection and are sorely disappointed when they really shouldn't be and miss out or leave too early on a really great game.
Give it some time, let the bugs be fleashed out and you will usually be pleaseantly surprised in your game choice.
"If we don't attack them, they will attack us first. So we'd better retaliate before they have a chance to strike"
I played beginning on release night. The first server I rolled on got fried that night. Blizzard sent a note around the following morning saying that we should reroll, and so I did, and I NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM AFTER THAT ... no queues, no lag, no nothing. It was fine, and the game was fine. Yes I know there were issues at launch and others had issues with queues and so forth, but it was very much YMMV ... I experienced none of that beginning on day 2 and it was quite a smooth game at launch.
Rule No. 2, don't listen to Rabid SOE haters otherwise you'll end up getting soakin wet from the flying froth.
It says alot about a Publisher/Developer who takes a game that is NOT ready for that commitment and releases it before it's done. What sort of company would put years into a game and then throw it out there incomplete?
1 - People who are in it for the money.
2 - People who advertised more then was even capable of achievement
3 - Poorly managed groups failing to meet any and all deadlines.
Personally, it's disgusting to me that there are Studios out there who think they have all the time in the world till the last 6 months of Development.
So, if a company says the game is going gold, they should know what they're talking about. If that game is unplayable / buggy / unfun on day 1, then it says much about the company who created it...
...sure, 6 months down the line they will have fixed many things. But why would they say it's ready if it's not? Would you trust that they fixed things if they said it was ready and it turned out to not be true? Would you willingly be duped by the same company twice?
- CaesarsGhost
Lead Gameplay and Gameworld Designer for a yet unnamed MMO Title.
"When people tell me designing a game is easy, I try to get them to design a board game. Most people don't last 5 minutes, the rest rarely last more then a day. The final few realize it's neither fun nor easy."
To the OP: That's why sites like this exist. To come here and read and be informed. I have "saved myself" from trying plenty of games that didn't worth it after collecting info from these forums and reviews in hyper meter or rating and if you're aiming about buying a game since day 1, ofc reading the beta testers opinions after the lift of the NDA etc.. Some games that I tried them since day 1, I can say it's 50/50. Some of them I liked, some others I didn't, only because different people have different tastes, and not because the game itself wasn't worth it (buggy, unfinished, etc). Times that I didn't listen to people warning in various forums and did try a game, I can safely say I regreted it.
2 examples with "known" games I didn't try and didn't regret: I was very hyped about Dark and Light and Vanguard. After reading about them in forums, I saw something was wrong about them, I didn't try them and I didn't regret it.
2 examples I tried regardless and regreted: Roma Victor (buggy, unfinished, etc) and Lineage II (I didn't listen to the gold farming, r/l money purchasing of items etc)
I can sort of see where the OP is coming from. I quit wow just before the expansion and went back last week. I just didn't want to deal with thousands of people all doing the same quests at the same time. I dont care that Im a lower level than most people are. I dont need to do anything first. In the end we will all be the same level. So they will get their epics before me..what does it really matter? It is just a game. I think a lot of people that play MMO's feel like they need to be in some sort of weird race to get to the end first or to kill a boss first. I dont see why it matters. Games like WoW take no real skill just time. Hardcore in wow just means you dump tons of hours in to the game. So I can see where the OP's post makes sense by waiting a few weeks after the launch if you look at it from a point of view that he doesnt need to be first at anything he just wants to play a polished game. It is sound advice but people have addictions that just cant wait.
You hit it on the nose bud. The levels and loot don't matter at all. Thats the core issue with the newer MMO's, they are not virtual worlds anymore, they are level grinders or point grinders of some sort.
The players and devs forgot these games are about communities first, hence the massive multi player part and role playing, hence the RPG, part. Todays games like WoW / GW / and even LotR have very little to do with any of that outside of the technical realm. They are all about jamming as many levels as possible into a day, and ramming superficial kill task down the players throat and making them believe they are doing something fun and role playing because an NPC wants you to kill 10 rats or deliver 10 pies. First one done wins! Then we can play capture the flag when we cap in the "endgame"..........
But hey, thats the playstyle today.
/shrug, what can you do? There are alternitives to the generic fantasy treadmills. They may not be as "fancy" or high budget and you won't be able to swing the epeen around about "8 zillion people play my game" but they got it where it counts...the communities.
3-6 months is too long. 2 Weeks shouldbe enough to read a bit in several forums and see how the game works. If it works, then the pioneers are not that far away yet.
)
It helped me a lot to avoid DnL and Vanguard (kk, Vanguard because of my hardware
...while I was too greedy with Roma Victor.