I don't "pretend" anything. But thanks for the concern.
If you're really curious, I started WoW during the last 2 months of Vanilla, and played (off an on) until Cataclysm.
I never touched an MMORPG before WoW. I played Guild Wars for the PVE with my GF. I messed around in who knows how many F2P since, and pretty much gave up looking for something I enjoy.
I built a personal TBC that's LAN only. A couple mods and it's a fantastic COOP-RPG. When I'm not in 'work mode' that's what GF and I play.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Well there could be a game that came out in the 80s but played it in the 90s, like i did with certain games, which is still 20+ years of experience. So, there's that.
What i'm trying to say is that maybe you're giving it too much thought. Why even care what other ppl say? Especially on the internet.
If you don't care what other people say then forums seem like an odd place to hang around.
Not quite true. I usually lurk around forums knowing that most of the comments have nothing to offer me. However I keep reading for that 1 out of 100 posts that's actually constructive or in some cases even give me a new perspective I haven't thought of on a certain topic. You can find small chunks of gold even in a huge pile of mud, you know. And because gaming forums are typically the domain of immature trolls craving for attention, that doesn't mean that all of us are like this.
Doesn't matter if you've played Eve for years, if you are doing anything but praising it to high heavens the response will be "You mustn't have gotten past the first free month".
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been-Wayne Gretzky
Look at the teens and young 20 year olds that act as if ATI/AMD drivers are bad, because they used to be around 15 years ago when they weren't even gaming yet.
Look at all the people who state how terrible ESO was at launch (ooooh, literally a couple quests that didn't work and bots camping dungeon bosses you'd still get credit for), when it barely changed after a year. Now... the additions they have made SINCE people started praising it are pretty awesome. But you have to realize that even before these changes there were a ton of fakers. It applies to a lot of MMO's that were fine at launch and people pretend otherwise cause of what they read from one dudes experience.
This is how advertising works too, we take advantage of these people. Through marketing, we tell people that THIS IS POPULAR, or THIS IS THE BEST and you people listen A TON. Hipsters are the easiest to persuade now a days. They are very conformist. One major area to look at is music too. A song can launch, literally unheard as the most popular thing ever, regardless of how good it is, and people WILL LIKE IT. Why? Because we told you that you did. It only has to be acceptable to be popular. It doesn't have to be good.
People will always lie and want to be part of something. Its easier to do on the internet. You just have to be blunt and cut through the BS with a sharp knife. If I was actually there playing a game, I will call BS on someone who wasn't. Such as when people say UO was a gankfest and you couldn't even play it because of pk's.
I believe every so often a new ideology comes into play in society. I wasn't born until the late 70s and I doubt I can ever understand what it was like to live in something like the 60s truly. Growing up in the 80s and 90s I know the attitude was a lot different both in society and towards playing games. Many things were accepted that I find are not accepted today. One good example is being rude both in real life and online. It was accepted in this 80s and 90s to be rude and bullish. I find that it is a lot less accepted today. People often made shuns like your gay and that was accepted. Gaming was mostly a hobby of young males. Those who were not might as well have been outcasts as most wouldn't accept them into the gaming community. Most tech people were also males/introverts, and they didn't let many into their community. People were in general far more serious about gaming, but also in general a lot less serious about real problems in real life. Obviously there are also the trends that come with music groups and movies. They tended to be more violent in those days. Guys generally hung out in groups and girls generally hung out in their own separate groups. They were segregated in most cases and grew up with different attitudes most of the time. It's hard to explain, but this world where facebook dominates and it's encouraged to tell people your problems is a far cry from when I grew up. Generally you were told just to suck it up (that's life). Obviously having to play in arcades and only having a small segment of society with access to video games/computers in general also had a huge impact on what it was like. It feels like a different world to me now. Something foreign and unknown. I guess that happens to everyone at some point. Things change.
Why do people lie? For the usual reason: they want to manipulate your perception of reality typically to sell you a product or idea.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
I'm not going to say people don't do this (i've definitely caught a few on this site in the past).
However, be careful of assumptions; especially when based on perceptions. I used to work with a guy (who may actually be some sort of vampire, hard to say), but I could've sworn the guy was 20something. Everyone else apprently thought so too. I just recently found out he's actually 53. No idea how he does it, especially in this industry (long hours, high stress), but there are a lot of things that trick our perception when it comes to the senses.
Just because the guy looks 20 doesn't mean he actually is.
Originally posted by ceratop001 Not sure what this thread is really about. Perhaps it's more about psychology not really sure.
It's about the old-school vs. new-school conversations / debates / arguments. It implies that some people who think old-school games were special / different / fun / more correctly called MMORPGs, didn't even play them, and are simply jumping on the bandwagon sided with the disgruntled vets.
As I see it, the OP isn't incorrect. I've seen some very questionable statements and can only conclude the person is just making shit up so they have something to talk about.
But in fairness, I've seen it on both sides. I don't think 'fakes' are limited to fans of old-school style gaming.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Originally posted by Iselin Why do people lie? For the usual reason: they want to manipulate your perception of reality typically to sell you a product or idea.
Pretty awesome condensation of the whole human experience.
Well Said.
As to the topic, this is not uncommon in other parts of life either.
People love to say that they were there when "insert band" played their first gig.
"I was in Berlin when the wall fell"
"I saw Malcolm X give his speech"
"I watched the JFK murder from a book repository not that far away"
Etc.. Etc..
People like to feel as if they won, much like cheating in games, the fact that by definition they automatically lost is beside the point for some, they care much more about how other people see them than they care about how they see themselves.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Originally posted by Jerek_
I wonder if you honestly even believe what you type, or if you live in a made up world of facts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Iselin Why do people lie? For the usual reason: they want to manipulate your perception of reality typically to sell you a product or idea.
"If you pick up on it quick, you can say you were there."
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Personally they can say all they want, it doesn't really bother me. If they can get away with being part of something they feel a connection to than more power to them. Personally, I was around when fire and the wheel were made and unless it's a blatant lie I really wouldn't be able to tell if people are lying or not. This is the internet after all!
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Originally posted by hallucigenocide because starting with "as a vanilla player" you win every argument (atleast that's what wow players seem to think)
Originally posted by hallucigenocide because starting with "as a vanilla player" you win every argument (atleast that's what wow players seem to think)
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
Originally posted by Iselin Why do people lie? For the usual reason: they want to manipulate your perception of reality typically to sell you a product or idea.
But part of the whole issue is that old school opinions are more valid than newbie opinions simply for having been there. Two old school people could have played say UO for the same amount of time and loved it but loved it for different reasons. Their perception of the game can be different.
Newbie opinions are just as important. Sometimes they will question or see things that the veteran will just accept as the proper and only way to do it.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
What I find humorous is the concept that Old-School wasn't Old-School when it was new. Back then it WAS New-School, and Old-School were people playing text MUDs via telnet.
Damned New-School Ultima Online players are killing gaming !!! *BIG GRIN*
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
she looks in her late twenties, but a couple of the guys look in their mid thirties' and talk about playing games which came out in the eighties. So they were five to ten and she was about five years old?
You mean you didn't play video games when you were six or seven years old? Back then, it was all single-player games, or multi-player meant multiple people sitting next to each other. But a single-player offline game in the comfort of your own home (or rather, your parents' home) doesn't bring the same dangers to young children as being online with random strangers.
I remember when Brian Williams and I used to roam doac and uo, I remember it like it was yesterday. Back then they paid us to beta test the games, Brian made so much money dual boxing that year was great.
You mean you didn't play video games when you were six or seven years old?
When I was six or seven, we didn't have Color TV and everyone listened to AM radio. :-)
I am so not helping this thread. *grin*
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Well, I started gaming at age 3, so it is possible. Also, as someone mentioned before me, just because a game is released at one date, it doesn't meant that I couldn't have played it several years later. I distinctly playing games from the early 80s during the mid-90s. I never did care for graphics, so it didn't bother me.
I understand what you mean, however. And yes, people seem to think it's cool to say they've played certain games, as if that meant anything. A good analogy would be to say "Yeah! I did totally fap to that pornstar's video!". Pun intended.
You started at age three? But what can you remember about games you played then? These gaming journalists talk as if they can remember a game well enough to place it in gaming history and they must have been about five years old.
Lol... He didn't game at age 3. just let him tell his stories so he can pretend. Have you ever let a 3 year old try and play a game? Using a keyboard, or controller? Hell... Let them try and figure out angry birds. It's funny to watch. I don't like lies.
Originally posted by Iselin Why do people lie? For the usual reason: they want to manipulate your perception of reality typically to sell you a product or idea.
But part of the whole issue is that old school opinions are more valid than newbie opinions simply for having been there. Two old school people could have played say UO for the same amount of time and loved it but loved it for different reasons. Their perception of the game can be different.
Newbie opinions are just as important. Sometimes they will question or see things that the veteran will just accept as the proper and only way to do it.
Well yeah... moving on beyond lying into different experiences, of course we all perceived it differently. I've been playing computer games since I got my first Atari 800 with the fancy optional external 5 1/4 floppy drive in 1980 And even though I did some Basic, Fortran, Pascal and even 6502 assembler programming back in those days, I make no excuse, I was primarily interested in gaming.
Chris Crawford's Eastern Front was the very first game I bought shortly followed by Temple of Apshai and Ultima (1 before it was called 1.) I've been gaming on computers ever since.
But oddly, I find that my tastes are more compatible with the younger generation's than the bitter old vets who seem to hate everything post 2004. I have fond memories of Asheron's Call, my first MMO and DAoC, my second. But I've lost my rose colored glasses somewhere and can't find them. Those games were just rudimentary first efforts not even in the same ballpark with respect to story, mechanics and technical expertise as some of the middle of the road MMOs today... never mind the excellent ones. I don't put them on pedestals and worship them.
I see both single player games and MMOs as a steady progression of advancements and improvements making what we have today in 2015 infinitely better than anything we had back then.
That's my bias and my unique perspective despite having all the needed credentials to be a certified old timer bitter vet. And I hardly ever mention my gaming background. I'd rather discuss my take on games based on what they are without resorting to artificial soap box props to tell you how my opinion is more informed than someone else's... because it isn't. 35 years of computer gaming doesn't make my opinions any more right than someone else's who just started 5 years ago. It just makes them different.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
she looks in her late twenties, but a couple of the guys look in their mid thirties' and talk about playing games which came out in the eighties. So they were five to ten and she was about five years old?
You mean you didn't play video games when you were six or seven years old? Back then, it was all single-player games, or multi-player meant multiple people sitting next to each other. But a single-player offline game in the comfort of your own home (or rather, your parents' home) doesn't bring the same dangers to young children as being online with random strangers.
Parents back then also spent a lot less time fretting about dangers to young children.
Originally posted by Iselin Why do people lie? For the usual reason: they want to manipulate your perception of reality typically to sell you a product or idea.
But part of the whole issue is that old school opinions are more valid than newbie opinions simply for having been there. Two old school people could have played say UO for the same amount of time and loved it but loved it for different reasons. Their perception of the game can be different.
Newbie opinions are just as important. Sometimes they will question or see things that the veteran will just accept as the proper and only way to do it.
Well yeah... moving on beyond lying into different experiences, of course we all perceived it differently. I've been playing computer games since I got my first Atari 800 with the fancy optional external 5 1/4 floppy drive in 1980 And even though I did some Basic, Fortran, Pascal and even 6502 assembler programming back in those days, I make no excuse, I was primarily interested in gaming.
Chris Crawford's Eastern Front was the very first game I bought shortly followed by Temple of Apshai and Ultima (1 before it was called 1.) I've been gaming on computers ever since.
But oddly, I find that my tastes are more compatible with the younger generation's than the bitter old vets who seem to hate everything post 2004. I have fond memories of Asheron's Call, my first MMO and DAoC, my second. But I've lost my rose colored glasses somewhere and can't find them. Those games were just rudimentary first efforts not even in the same ballpark with respect to story, mechanics and technical expertise as some of the middle of the road MMOs today... never mind the excellent ones. I don't put them on pedestals and worship them.
I see both single player games and MMOs as a steady progression of advancements and improvements making what we have today in 2015 infinitely better than anything we had back then.
That's my bias and my unique perspective despite having all the needed credentials to be a certified old timer bitter vet. And I hardly ever mention my gaming background. I'd rather discuss my take on games based on what they are without resorting to artificial soap box props to tell you how my opinion is more informed than someone else's... because it isn't. 35 years of computer gaming doesn't make my opinions any more right than someone else's who just started 5 years ago. It just makes them different.
For me, I was a gamer when I was a little kid in the 60s. Had my first computer class at 13 in 1973 and it was cool. played dnd when it came out and chainmail before that. I was interested in computer and wanted to go to work at IBM which was a big deal back then. Started writing more code but computer games were a past time just like board and war games.
Still play board games and war games with a regular group. See myself as a gamer who just loves games and game mechanics. I do see games as a building process from all the work that came before. I personally laugh inside when people make claims about whatever game they want to claim at the one that created mmorpgs as if it didn't stand on a massive amount work that came before it.
When you think of games like maze war from about 40 years ago you could see one day a 3d game like dnd might be possible. Well, at least in my imagination. I still have a fondness for text based games as I feel they engage your mind more than all these shiny sparkly graphics we have today. Not that open worlds are bad, it just seems we have lost some potential of it all.
It seems more likely that the people behind the scenes dealing with the dollars just see how to make the most income from the least dev resources. If that is really the truth, then the industry has grown up and left the child-like part of gaming behind.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
Everything around us is so sensationalized, by the media, by other people, even by ourselves. We should take more pride in who we are as individuals without the need to embellish.
As a young person I have to say I was more than a little guilty of dramatizing my experience. That is until the army. Now I am more than content to be well fed, well rested and enjoying the time I have playing MMO's.
Del Cabon A US Army ('Just Cause') Vet and MMORPG Native formerly of Trinsic, Norath and Dereth. Currently playing LOTRO.
Comments
I don't "pretend" anything. But thanks for the concern.
If you're really curious, I started WoW during the last 2 months of Vanilla, and played (off an on) until Cataclysm.
I never touched an MMORPG before WoW. I played Guild Wars for the PVE with my GF. I messed around in who knows how many F2P since, and pretty much gave up looking for something I enjoy.
I built a personal TBC that's LAN only. A couple mods and it's a fantastic COOP-RPG. When I'm not in 'work mode' that's what GF and I play.
Not quite true. I usually lurk around forums knowing that most of the comments have nothing to offer me. However I keep reading for that 1 out of 100 posts that's actually constructive or in some cases even give me a new perspective I haven't thought of on a certain topic. You can find small chunks of gold even in a huge pile of mud, you know. And because gaming forums are typically the domain of immature trolls craving for attention, that doesn't mean that all of us are like this.
Doesn't matter if you've played Eve for years, if you are doing anything but praising it to high heavens the response will be "You mustn't have gotten past the first free month".
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
People love to hop on bandwagons.
Look at the teens and young 20 year olds that act as if ATI/AMD drivers are bad, because they used to be around 15 years ago when they weren't even gaming yet.
Look at all the people who state how terrible ESO was at launch (ooooh, literally a couple quests that didn't work and bots camping dungeon bosses you'd still get credit for), when it barely changed after a year. Now... the additions they have made SINCE people started praising it are pretty awesome. But you have to realize that even before these changes there were a ton of fakers. It applies to a lot of MMO's that were fine at launch and people pretend otherwise cause of what they read from one dudes experience.
This is how advertising works too, we take advantage of these people. Through marketing, we tell people that THIS IS POPULAR, or THIS IS THE BEST and you people listen A TON. Hipsters are the easiest to persuade now a days. They are very conformist. One major area to look at is music too. A song can launch, literally unheard as the most popular thing ever, regardless of how good it is, and people WILL LIKE IT. Why? Because we told you that you did. It only has to be acceptable to be popular. It doesn't have to be good.
People will always lie and want to be part of something. Its easier to do on the internet. You just have to be blunt and cut through the BS with a sharp knife. If I was actually there playing a game, I will call BS on someone who wasn't. Such as when people say UO was a gankfest and you couldn't even play it because of pk's.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I'm not going to say people don't do this (i've definitely caught a few on this site in the past).
However, be careful of assumptions; especially when based on perceptions. I used to work with a guy (who may actually be some sort of vampire, hard to say), but I could've sworn the guy was 20something. Everyone else apprently thought so too. I just recently found out he's actually 53. No idea how he does it, especially in this industry (long hours, high stress), but there are a lot of things that trick our perception when it comes to the senses.
Just because the guy looks 20 doesn't mean he actually is.
It's about the old-school vs. new-school conversations / debates / arguments. It implies that some people who think old-school games were special / different / fun / more correctly called MMORPGs, didn't even play them, and are simply jumping on the bandwagon sided with the disgruntled vets.
As I see it, the OP isn't incorrect. I've seen some very questionable statements and can only conclude the person is just making shit up so they have something to talk about.
But in fairness, I've seen it on both sides. I don't think 'fakes' are limited to fans of old-school style gaming.
Pretty awesome condensation of the whole human experience.
Well Said.
As to the topic, this is not uncommon in other parts of life either.
People love to say that they were there when "insert band" played their first gig.
"I was in Berlin when the wall fell"
"I saw Malcolm X give his speech"
"I watched the JFK murder from a book repository not that far away"
Etc.. Etc..
People like to feel as if they won, much like cheating in games, the fact that by definition they automatically lost is beside the point for some, they care much more about how other people see them than they care about how they see themselves.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Jerek_
I wonder if you honestly even believe what you type, or if you live in a made up world of facts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"If you pick up on it quick, you can say you were there."
- Jumping Someone Else's Train, The Cure
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
I think "beta player" trumps "vanilla player."
VG
Dev>alpha player>beta player>vanilla player>...
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
But part of the whole issue is that old school opinions are more valid than newbie opinions simply for having been there. Two old school people could have played say UO for the same amount of time and loved it but loved it for different reasons. Their perception of the game can be different.
Newbie opinions are just as important. Sometimes they will question or see things that the veteran will just accept as the proper and only way to do it.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
What I find humorous is the concept that Old-School wasn't Old-School when it was new. Back then it WAS New-School, and Old-School were people playing text MUDs via telnet.
Damned New-School Ultima Online players are killing gaming !!! *BIG GRIN*
You mean you didn't play video games when you were six or seven years old? Back then, it was all single-player games, or multi-player meant multiple people sitting next to each other. But a single-player offline game in the comfort of your own home (or rather, your parents' home) doesn't bring the same dangers to young children as being online with random strangers.
For example, someone can say they like MMOs as they are now. Saying "well you didn't play them in the beginning so you don't know what it was like."
And?
That doesn't change that person 1 likes what they like. Same goes for the reverse.
When I was six or seven, we didn't have Color TV and everyone listened to AM radio. :-)
I am so not helping this thread. *grin*
Lol... He didn't game at age 3. just let him tell his stories so he can pretend. Have you ever let a 3 year old try and play a game? Using a keyboard, or controller? Hell... Let them try and figure out angry birds. It's funny to watch. I don't like lies.
Well yeah... moving on beyond lying into different experiences, of course we all perceived it differently. I've been playing computer games since I got my first Atari 800 with the fancy optional external 5 1/4 floppy drive
in 1980 And even though I did some Basic, Fortran, Pascal and even 6502 assembler programming back in those days, I make no excuse, I was primarily interested in gaming.
Chris Crawford's Eastern Front was the very first game I bought shortly followed by Temple of Apshai and Ultima (1 before it was called 1.) I've been gaming on computers ever since.
But oddly, I find that my tastes are more compatible with the younger generation's than the bitter old vets who seem to hate everything post 2004. I have fond memories of Asheron's Call, my first MMO and DAoC, my second. But I've lost my rose colored glasses somewhere and can't find them. Those games were just rudimentary first efforts not even in the same ballpark with respect to story, mechanics and technical expertise as some of the middle of the road MMOs today... never mind the excellent ones. I don't put them on pedestals and worship them.
I see both single player games and MMOs as a steady progression of advancements and improvements making what we have today in 2015 infinitely better than anything we had back then.
That's my bias and my unique perspective despite having all the needed credentials to be a certified old timer bitter vet. And I hardly ever mention my gaming background. I'd rather discuss my take on games based on what they are without resorting to artificial soap box props to tell you how my opinion is more informed than someone else's... because it isn't. 35 years of computer gaming doesn't make my opinions any more right than someone else's who just started 5 years ago. It just makes them different.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Parents back then also spent a lot less time fretting about dangers to young children.
For me, I was a gamer when I was a little kid in the 60s. Had my first computer class at 13 in 1973 and it was cool. played dnd when it came out and chainmail before that. I was interested in computer and wanted to go to work at IBM which was a big deal back then. Started writing more code but computer games were a past time just like board and war games.
Still play board games and war games with a regular group. See myself as a gamer who just loves games and game mechanics. I do see games as a building process from all the work that came before. I personally laugh inside when people make claims about whatever game they want to claim at the one that created mmorpgs as if it didn't stand on a massive amount work that came before it.
When you think of games like maze war from about 40 years ago you could see one day a 3d game like dnd might be possible. Well, at least in my imagination. I still have a fondness for text based games as I feel they engage your mind more than all these shiny sparkly graphics we have today. Not that open worlds are bad, it just seems we have lost some potential of it all.
It seems more likely that the people behind the scenes dealing with the dollars just see how to make the most income from the least dev resources. If that is really the truth, then the industry has grown up and left the child-like part of gaming behind.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Everything around us is so sensationalized, by the media, by other people, even by ourselves. We should take more pride in who we are as individuals without the need to embellish.
As a young person I have to say I was more than a little guilty of dramatizing my experience. That is until the army. Now I am more than content to be well fed, well rested and enjoying the time I have playing MMO's.
Del Cabon
A US Army ('Just Cause') Vet and MMORPG Native formerly of Trinsic, Norath and Dereth. Currently playing LOTRO.