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I want themepark MMOs because I fail.
Meowhead
Member UncommonPosts: 3,716
The first MMORPG I ever played was Asheron's Call when it first came out. When I dreamed of the perfect MMO that would come out in the future, I dreamed sandbox dreams, grand and wonderful... games so immersive and broad that I could feel like I am living the game, I could taste the wonder of the world with every action I do.
Nowadays, I find myself looking for a nice solid themepark. So I started wondering why? What's wrong with me?
Back in the day, I realized that having a girlfriend would cut significantly into my gaming time. Despite my best attempts to avoid this fearsome fate, I ended up getting one. Failure on my part.
Well... I still had plenty of time to game. It's not like we lived together or anything. As long as we spent a lot of time seperate, it was fine! I could delve into worlds to my heart's content when she was busy with other things. Except once again, abject failure on my part, as we ended up getting married.
Not to worry! Our schedules weren't perfectly compatible, there were times when I was alone at home... I could still go deep into crafting systems, wander trackless wastes... being a couple was (wonderfully) time-consuming, but it still left me free time. Then... you guessed it. Failure again. Somehow we ended up making a baby. What was I thinking? Babies take up lots of time!
Now I had a baby, but I realized there were still chances in life... there were places I could skimp, cut short, make time for gaming. All I had to do for example was be an irresponsible parent! Cut back on work time, refuse all overtime... not care about what sort of life I can afford for my wife and baby. It seemed like such a good plan, but I've noticed that once you start failing, it becomes a habit. I don't even LIKE work, why do I spend so much time there, failing my attempts to avoid it?
Wait I cried! There's still time in my schedule! I can give up reading books! Abandon my friends! Throw my baby in the crib while she cries! Perhaps I could take up cocaine as a habit to help me cut down on all that sleep I'm doing! All my grand plans, ruined by me being a failure.
A failure who doesn't have time for anything fancy, and just wants to sit down and play a game for thirty minutes, with everything clearly and neatly laid out so I can get in, play a little bit of an MMORPG, and then go back to all these other, less important things I've somehow ended up cluttering my life with. A failure who puts having a little bit of fun and playing a game over important things like immersion and the richness of world-building you can only get from taking an hour to run to the next town.
(You probably shouldn't be taking this too seriously, and my post is not meant to denigrate in any way people with better time management skills than me, who can play games as much as they want while still having an active life. This post is purely meant as an exercise in humor, and not to offend the fine members of the sandbox loving community, of which I'll always be one at heart.)
Comments
Might wanna hang on to a copy of this post, so that in future, if there's a Nobel prize for sarcasm, you can submit this entry.
<QQ moar plz. kkthxbai.>
Not marrying a gamer chick was your first mistake. The rest are all collateral damage.
And if you must choose... Books > MMORPG's. Cancel your subs and go buy The Way of Kings instead.
She totally plays games. Even MMOs. Heck, we originally met on the internet in a game. (At least I'm not like my one friend who married a Chinese gold farmer.
)
Well, she used to. She's just as busy as me. Maybe busier. Though it's with college, rather than work. Learning to be a teacher is hard work! (At least, if you're planning on teaching Earth & Space science, while simultaneously juggling a toddler)
... and I agree, books > MMORPGs. Even the best MMORPGs.
It's the vice I can't give up! (Luckily it's incredibly portable, and I dont' feel bad neglecting the baby to read if I'm at work on lunch break.)
Just want to point out that a family that you've chosen to participate in is waaaaay more important than video games. That doesn't make you a failure, it makes you an escapee.
Just wait until they get older and you try to warn them away from playing the exact same games you're playing right now so it doesn't affect their grades in college.
:-)
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
Whatever works for you man, y'know? Do whatever fancies ya. Games ain't goin' nowhere (literally and facetiously). Some will fall by the wayside but in general there will always be one to play when your ready.
Themepark or sandbox, I don't care, I don't even try to pay attention to any of that anymore. If it's got stuff I like to do in it and it ain't lightening my wallet to bad then I play it til I get bored and move on to the next, which doesn't take to long anymore.
Godspeed my fellow gamer
Oh then you're fine. Its just a temporary hiatus until the baby can follow some basic rules without wrecking themself. After that you'll have a third party member! The best thing about an extended break is that you will have much better games to play once you return.
Instead of getting excited about Rift, GW2, and SWTOR, you can focus on the next generation. Blizz's Titan, WH40k, Turbine's secret project. Its the generation of games after the current gen that should start to show signs of progress in the genre. The 2011 games are just going to be a mix'n'mash rehash of ideas from the last 10 years.
Got to help you tweak your plan a little. You can't afford the cocaine unless you start working some overtime. But maybe, if you juggle the overtime/cocaine combo just right, you'll still net more playtime.
Seriously, that's the best post supporting the themepark style of gameplay that I've read yet.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
Kudos to the OP - that post made me grin.
I think some people may not have read the fine-print disclaimer though
A wonderful slant on the need for themeparks, beautifully done.
Haha, thank you to both of you. I just wanted to, in a light hearted way, point out that wanting theme parks was not necessarily the sign of somebody being stupid, adolescent, or unfamiliar with what a 'real' MMO is.
I have to say the OP has a point. Relationships, dirty nappies and MMOs don't mix.
Well exactly, you've just put in a nutshell one of the main reasons why there are so few sandboxes made.
Of course the people here on mmorpg.com who criticize this situation are the "successes" who have somehow contrived to still have 15 hours a day to spend on living in virtual worlds
Well .. they could in a game like Second Life, but not in a GOOD way.
Humor aside, thanks for the hilarious write up Mr. OP. Growing up certainly does make a big dent in your goofing off time.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
Aganazer, so right, on both counts.
@ Meowhead
Good stuff man...I right there with ya....
@Rockgod99
Hey that is my game time too...you playing rift when it goes live?....lets work out a time to game man!!
The only thing I find sad in this entire thread is the fact that the OP had to put in a DISCLAIMER and tell everybody that he was in fact joking...
it's kind of sad that people can't understand sarcasm anymore, and seem to have trouble with other varieties of humor as well...
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 could have wrote this post word for word. It's like you're in my head, man.
QFT.
Striving for Silver Stars since Gold is so effeminate.
OP is smart and didn't want DSS called in!
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
Oh man having a family is such a bother,,,,,
Basically clicking away text windows ruins every MMO, try to have fun instead of rushing things. Without story and lore all there is left is a bunch of mechanics.
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You do realize all those 'things' aren't terminal, there is still time to turn back - Xsyon is coming out in March and could easily take up enough time to get your fired from work, divorced, and maybe even starve to death from forgetting to take time to eat. I started as a sandboxer with dreams like you and got caught in that same trap for a little while. But alas the kid grew up and moved out and the now ex doesn't care what I do anymore. All I can say is there really is such a thing as HAPPILY divorced!
Dont give up hope man!!
(DISCLAIMER - The use of the word YOU in the above post is not directed at any one person in particular, but towards those who fall into the category itself - there is no personal attack here, neither intentional nor implied.)
Don't bother doing any dungeons or raids in your "themepark" unless you got 2 hours to spare. And don't bother answering the phone, the door, doing anything but 100% concentration for 2 straight hours. And if you leave for any reason expect to be kicked out of the group for being AFK in your "themepark" (wow clone), and when you're kicked out of the group before doing the "end boss" at the "themepark" (wow clone) you wasted all your time.
There's nothing casual about those games.
I play them casually all the time. I just don't do the parts that are not so casual. Those games usually offer me more activities for the time I do have and so they will continue to get my money.
Venge
Well you just denied yourself half the game then.
The most casual friendly games are not wow clones, but games like pre-cu SWG (some people call sandbox).
I truely see it the opposite of OP. I play EVE way more casually then i ever played a themepark and still feel like im progressing at a really good pace. Sandboxes get a really bad rap for being time wasters where themeparks are just as bad or EVEN worse in my case.
If I was busy with a family EVE would be the game I would still be playing while all themepark games would get uninstalled due to there addictiveness.
just my 2 cents.
Playing: PO, EVE
Waiting for: WoD
Favourite MMOs: VG, EVE, FE and DDO
Any person who expresses rage and loathing for an MMO is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.