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Am I the only one who feels pushed away from paying monthly for games due to lack of time?
darkman
Member UncommonPosts: 767
Yea, It kind of dawned on me after reading a few topics here in these forums. I kind of feel pushed away from paying monthly for MMORPGs due to lack of time. Like now, I do have a lot of free time on my hands, probably for like the next 6 months, what I consider "an ample amount of time" to play an MMORPG. However, after those 6 months, I'm going to be busy again, and back to the status of "casual gamer". It kind of makes me not want to pay monthly for a game, because in my opinion, 6 months just isn't a lasting impression with an MMORPG for me. I really do want to play some of the current/old/upcoming games out there, but I feel that I would just be wasting my money/time for 6 months to realize that there would be no point to continue after that because of lack of time. For this reason I find myself playing a lot of free MMORPGs, because I enjoy the genre, but I don't want to put a commitment because of my timeframe I am looking at. Do you think it's time for Developers to address these issues, and make a game more suitable to casual players, yet still appealing to hardcore players?
*EDIT*
I change my mind, feel free to give me suggestions on games, I'm curious to see what king of upcoming/current/old games you have in mind. But don't suggest WoW, I already know about it and have played it, it just wasn't for me.
Comments
Address them how? By making the game free?
There are plenty of games that will allow you to put a coulpe hours per week and actually accomplish something. You don't want suggestions, so I'll exclude what I feel are good examples of this.
In the end, you need to evaluate what your goals are in a MMOG. If you want to be the top dog on the server, then you have to go toe-to-toe with those who can spend 80+ hours a week playing. If you just want to log in and bash a few things, or craft a few things, or explore a few areas then there's really no reason your time constraints should stop you from doing so.
I currently maintain accounts in two separate MMOGs (UO and EVE). I get plenty of value out of those two accounts, and it's still cheaper than buying a latest-release title from EB Games. This works for me, because my goals allow me to do this...but I don't expect to be the best character in either world.
I am fortunate enough financially that this is not an issue for me, but the way it does come up for me is what game(s) I am willing to commit to, because the kind of games I prefer tend to be the kind of games that are deeper and therefore more time consuming type of games. There are plenty of games out there that can be played more casually and still enjoyed quite a bit (and some of them you may be quite thoroughly finished with in less than 6 months time). So the conundrum is really what kind of game you prefer. There's always a tension between going back and forth between being a more involved gamer and a less involved one, and that's hard to work out at times because you don't keep up with others and so forth -- but that's an issue for any MMO.
Play World of Warcraft. Whenever you aren't play WoW, your Bonus XP bar goes up. When you come back to play, all that accumulated bonus XP doubles the amount of XP you would normally get.
By not playing for a full 5 days you will have an entire level worth of Bonus XP.
It may not seem like much, but it's better than nothing!
I go to work, come back home, do all my bonus XP and a little more, stop, go to sleep. Come back the next night from work, play again, do all my bonus XP and a little more, repeat.
Once you reach level 40, it's tougher to get XP, but I still manage, as a casual player, to gain a new level every 3-4 days now thanks to the bonus XP!
WoW is definatly the best MMORPG for someone that doesn't have much time to play cause they have a life. Unfortunatly those that do not have a life have an advantage over us, but who cares really. They don't affect us in any way.
___________ ___ __ _ _ _
Stealth - Ambush - Hemorrhage - Sinister Strike x2 - Cold Blood - Eviscerate - Vanish - Preparation - Cold Blood - Ambush - ... you're dead! :P
Tried WoW during beta, wasn't really the game for me.
Anywho, a bit of an oxymoron with me is I really do want to be up at the top, yet I can't afford to spend 40 hours+ a week at it. Yes, since I know that really isn't a realistic goal to work for, what I think I am looking for is a game that helps you out along the way for a casual gamer. Sort of like World of Warcraft, yet casual gamers get more of a boost when playing. Maybe I guess a little more towards Guild Wars, except without the whole "instance" idea, basically a little of Guild Wars into an actual MMORPG. Providing a little skill when battling would be nice, catered with a little strategy in battle, would probably provide a more rewarding experience for me, definitely something I'd pay for in a heart beat. Maybe if companies can go in that direction it might be good, but I doubt they will.
*update* in case you didn't see the edit on the beginning, I would like to see some suggestions now if you have any, except for WoW. Oh, and no GW either, already know about it and will probably end up playing it.
True, but as much as I like EVE, I would not recommend it as a casual game. The learning curve is steep and takes time to learn, it is easy enough to skill (because it happens offline) but it's very hard to amass money for ships and skills and upgrades and so forth on a light gaming schedule, travel times around the world of EVE are long, etc. You at least need a good solid initial investment of time to learn the game and get some money together, I think, to progress in EVE other than in skills.
As long as you have 1 free hour a day, you can have fun playing MMORPGs like SWG, EvE Online, and even AO.
2 hours free time a day is more than enough free time to get your moneys worth.
Or 4 hours of free time on weekends, or how ever it comes out during your 7 days.
$15.oo per month is a bargin compared to other forms of entertainment people spend their limited free time on.
problem with paying for me... is that i get bored of games easily and i dont feel like i get my worths out of it.. so i try to avoid p2p..
~Greatness~
Currently Playing:
Nothing
You mean "don't", right? :P
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"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
-- Ken Olson, chairman of Digital Equipment Corp, 1977
~Greatness~
Currently Playing:
Nothing
Come try CoH.It is exactly what you are looking for.
Lemme list the good things for ya:
1.Upcoming consenual PvP arena leagues.
2.Pickup teams are the easiest.The interface allows you to announce in a zone you are available.Ive never had to wait even 5 minutes to get invited.
3.Zero travel time.
4.The mission system has actual storyarcs within the game.
5.You can log on for an hour and feel a sense of accomplishment.
6.Customizable avatars at creation.There are stores where you can tweak your character as well.
7.The sidekick system insures that you are never far behind your teammates or supergroup.A level 25 sidekicks a level 15 and the level 15 is fighting at level 25.
8.Free exapnsions.Not all fluff either but real changes and improvements to the game itself.
Ive played to date at least 13 mmo's that were supposed to change the genre.Most of them fantasy type games.This and EvE are the only 2 to do so imho.This is the perfect game for those of you who are turned off by the idea of a grind fest for levels.This game is so much fun you FORGET your grinding out a level.Find a good group of players and its even better.
Ive played EvE and i really really liked that game but it became time consuming.The upper level skills become a month and even longer to train.A longterm vision is what you need for EvE.I may return to it soon for a while.
CoH is well suited for casual gamers.Apply a longterm vision to it and you will see City of villians added to the mix.Sure you do a lot of the same things over and over again but that can be said for ANY mmo.the key to enjoying a mmo is finding one thats fun.Find that and levels dont matter.I quit playing CoH and came back it is vastly improved and is pushing the genre forward.
Want to ENJOY an mmo?
Dont start a guild and dont be a leader or volunteer to be coleader or captain.
Just play the damn game:)
Games are starting to do 'time cards'. This seems to be what you'd be interested in.
No that's not really what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a game that after playing for an hour, you still find that experience rewarding.
Like a game like EVE for instance, where it heavily revolves around time, if you don't play a long time, you really won't find it rewarding. I would prefer a game more suited to a rewarding experience after a short time. That and the fact that I'm not really a BIG fan of sci-fi, so EVE never really caught my attention.
However, CoH looks pretty interesting. Not only that, but I never really heard that CoH can appeal to the casual gamer. Thanks for the suggestion puoltry, I might go play that after reading up on it.
Greatness, If you would have read my other post, it said not to suggest Guild Wars, but thanks anyway.
xplororor, not really interested in AO and EVE, but I'm curious about SWG. Could you elaborate please how SWG can be rewarding to a casual gamer? Thanks in advance.
I've not found a game that isn't 'rewarding' to casual players. Its all about what your expecting to gain from playing.