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Being one of the First is Important to me, how about you?
PokemonTrainerRed
Member UncommonPosts: 375
I was thinking about why I have trouble getting into games recently, and I think it has something to do with being one of the first people to play the game. I like to be one of the first to experience the game, to be able to give advice and to help newer players. It's the kind of experience I enjoy when it comes to MMOs.
Joining later on in the game seems to be quieter, and less social to me personally. Perhaps it's just me though!
What is everyone else's opinion?
Comments
Have fun with those bugs/broken features, mate. Thanks for leading the charge.
Haha! Love 'em!
I used to Alpha test a lot of games, so I don't mind fixing a game!
Get my own 2 cents counted, which is always nice.
Leading the Charge, now and forever!
This is interesting!
When i first discovered MMORPGs, they were all old already. So for a few years i was always "not first" playing a MMO. But since the last years, i have always atleats been in beta for every MMO i were interestet in. And played from day one.
Dont think i could jump into a "old" MMO today. Have no clue why. It is about it being good or bad. Its just the way i feel.
Playing any game within a month of release is just asking for headaches and frustration. I'm perfectly content not being "first" at anything, especially in an MMORPG.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
No, being first has no appeal to me these days. In fact I do NOT want to play the beta of a game if I think it will be good, because it will ruin the experience for me on release.
On the other hand, I don't want to play a mature game either, where everyone is already leveled up, everyone is already in guilds, everyone is already a vet, and the newbie levels are barren except for some people power leveling their alts. who don't even have time to say hi.
For me, it's meaningless. I do not play PvE to compete in any way. The only advantage I can see to playing fresh content right at release is that you can more easily get help with group quests. The downside is that you are often competing with other players for mobs or items needed to complete quests. Since I never group, I'd much rather wait until the crowd is gone.
PvP or PvE, doesn't matter which game I play I do not care about being first in anything.
I play game to spend some time to have some fun.
If I really want to be first, I'd go do it in real life since it is more rewarding.
As for the part about helping less experienced players, you can do that even if you are not "first". Plus usually the "first" people end up being asshats in the end even if they started out as saints.
Don't need to be first to help people. Helping others only require empathy, patience, and kindness. Which strangely the "first" usually lacks.
There was a time I felt that way but not any more. Most of these companies just put so little effort into their product or expect people to pay them while they work out all their game's issues and for some of them it seems that customer service/support is a complete afterthought to them.
I find any more holding off to see how things pan out with how the company handles things with their game is the better avenue least for me. A lot of these launches seem to be just as bad as launches that happened years ago, which frankly is inexcusable. Hell, to some degree they're even worse because nowadays these companies won't even offer any comp time at all regardless what happens and have worse in game support than games had years ago. As much as the technology and amount of data these companies have to go over to formulate their gameplan and design it is amazing to me how bad a lot of launches are even now and they're completely unapologetic about it.
I thought when LotR came out that mmos had turned the corner and that companies now had a new standard to live up to when they launched a game. Little did I know that apparently LotR was a fluke and most companies to launch afterwards would still try to release games half finished or a product that in most other industries would be considered an embarassment if it was made available to consumers with all of its issues and flaws. I mean the least some of these companies could do is have a stable service/support staff to handle consumer issues and most of them cannot even handle that. It is absolutely ridiculous what some of these companies get away with within this genre. Of course, it appears least for some of them that the error of their ways is catching up with them.
Doubt anyone else will learn much from them though. Sure looks like Cryptic didn't. Hell, they didn't seem to even learn much from their experience with CO that they launched a few months back.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
TBH, I don't start a game until about 6 months to a year after it's launch. That way the devs have had some time to work out major issues (hopefully).
It's a hard wait, especially for a game I have waited a couple years for, but it's worth it to me.
PLAYING: NOTHING!!!
PLAYED:FFXI, LotRO, AoC, WAR, DDO, Megaten, Wurm, Rohan, Mabinogi, RoM
WAITING FOR: Dust 514
well I for one do not want to beta test any more games at all, since being in beta makes it really dull to replay the first few lvls again, am sure I had bought chronicle of spellbourn if hadnt been in the beta for so long fx...I love to be able to help other players, but its the best if its a give and take advices imo.
now what I think your real problem is that when you come in late in a game, you sorta have to work harder on becoming part of the community, and if you d already play an MMO its atleast to me abit of a turn off....am a lazy bastard ayep :P
With so many F2P and P2P MMORPGs released in a single Month/Year, I've since decided that being "first' is no longer possible, and instead bide my time in the shadows until something great comes along. I only stick my head out if I am certain something will be successful, and the majority of the time I am wrong (RF Online, Aion, etc).
~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
Come Join us at www.globalequestria.com - Meet other fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!
Not at all, I don't try to "win" MMORPG's so it doesn't really matter if I start at the beginning.
Looking back at it now, of the 3 games I stuck with more than 6 months (EVE, DAOC and WOW) I only was at the start of one of them. (WOW).
Most game launches are pretty miserable, and I've been in many of them and am starting to think that early starts may have sent me leaving a game too soon (LotRO is one I think I might have stuck with longer)
Going forward I'm always going to try and wait at least 3 months or so to see how everything shakes out.
"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 lack patience and have the attention span of a threshed dormouse, so I do tend to try new MMOs early, but that's just my own magpie tendancy of being drawn to anything shiny, new and different .. not from any desire to experience the game before other people.
Playing: EVE, Final Fantasy 13, Uncharted 2, Need for Speed: Shift
I refuse to play any new game until it's been "in the wild" for at least 3-6 months to allow them to work out the bugs (that they should have fixed in beta). I have zero interest in anyone who has to be first, in fact, I have a great disrespect for anyone who has to be on top, just for the sake of being on top.
It's just a game, stop acting like it means something.
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
I've noticed the early adopter types are a different crowd. More helpful and more driven to complete content fast.
Well shave my back and call me an elf! -- Oghren
I always wait for a free trial before i actually buy an MMO. So i have never experienced being one of the first. This might change when Earhtrise comes out....i might try to be a blind fan boi for once...looks like fun.
The rain falls upon the just
And also on the unjust fellas
But mostly it falls upon the just
Cause the unjust have the just's umbrellas.
I must say when i played Darkfall beta invited in january it was very exciting and i loved it even tho it was flawed game at time.
Running around and got feeling i was running in a world that was so familiar to me of morrowind man i loved Darkfall beta.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
All the more power to them I say. If that tickles their fancy then good for them. Sure I don't give a shit, but there has to be an incentive for the company to work over its issues and fix or add content for when I decide it's worth taking a look at. So all the more power to those that feel the need to be "top dog" or are fans of the game concept or company that are willing to purchase and sub to the game from the word go.
I mean who cares if that's their motivation?
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
A psychologist would theorise that you crave the attention of others. You want your voice to be heard. No hard feelings.
Personally I dont care if I'm the first or not. You could compare MMO's to women in this case. There'll be a few lovers in their lives until they settle down, but you can try to be the best of them when it's your chance to be loved.
I really couldn't care much about being the first one to the finish line. What I do care about is running alone to the finish when most people are already there and enjoying the after party fun.
I
think it's more the other way round. When you are among the first, and you are even one of the first to reach max level, then there ain't much to do, because most players then still have to catch up.
Also about helping newbies: there are always newbies in all games, no matter how old they are. No matter when you start, someone will know less about the game and you can help that person.
Not to mention that many games are early on plagued with lacking content and tons of bugs, that alone makes it a good idea to start somewhat later.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
I'm after the gameplay itself.
Being first -- and specifically things like exploring areas that feel seldom-explored by players -- has its merits, but it's always lower on the hierarchy compared to whether or not the core gameplay is fun.
Personally I had fun exploring the vast wilderness in Haven & Hearth. It was fun, but I'm not sure I would want an entire game designed like that (although the game design doc I drew up for a sandbox MMO actually had constant reasons for players to be out exploring new resource deposits.)
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
I don't get my jollies out of being the first either. I never try to be the first. I however get my joy out of knowing everything there is backwards and forwards about areas/zones/dungeons, that way when someone asks me what the deal is I can if I chose to answer any of their questions with EXCUTIATING detail.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
I like being involved with MMOs when they first start up but it's not so much about being the first, it's more about playing before the game gets theorycrafted and documented to death. Going into a dungeon where none of your group know what to expect is a lot more fun than running after a bunch of players who have been through the place countless times already.
Mind you the last game I played at launch was Vanguard. Oh boy, was that ugly!
After a decade of gaming I started to realize that the price you pay for being the first is too high.
Nowadays its on hundreds of dollars.
Come play "insert random F2P game", they say
then later...
"Want to win? pay to win."
Stick to real life grind, be the first in real life.