Does running a BBS in the early 90's count as my first online game? I was SYSOP of The Tiny Zoo (it was a WWIV board) and my alias was The Zookeeper.
If that doesn't count, then my first MMORPG was EQ. I was five months pregnant with my 4th child when we finally bought the game. My husband has wanted to get it a couple years earlier when it first came out but I was highly resistant to paying for the same game every month! We bought our first 2 boxes of EQ right about the time Velious came out. So we were a little late in the game but still early enough to experience to wonder and excitement that existed in the early days of the game. After the 30 day trial period, guess who was more addicted to the game? (Yes... *hangs head in shame* me.) We played EQ for 3.5 years. We eventually had 6 accounts and nearly all the expansions for all of them at that point. (There are 11 expansions now, we are no longer up to date as we no longer play the game.) We quit playing when so many of our friends had left that there was hardly anyone left to play with, and the daily grind got to be more of a frustration than a fun experience.
We got in on the Beta test of WOW and EQ2 both, and from that experience we chose to play WOW on the first day it was released. Love it. main problem with WOW is that it plays too fast, then there is nothing to do when you get to 60. Still a fun game though.
EQ2 would be alright if it wasn't so laggy that you have to have a top-of-the-line computer to play, and if they would relax the quest system some so that you don't have to be level 10 before you can realistically group with your friends.
I was never really interested in the realm vs. realm combat so DAOC didn't have much attraction for me. Played the 14 day free trial, but it wasn't sufficient to capture my interest to buy the game.
For me what really holds my interest in a game world is friends. If my friends don't play I have very little motivation to come back. If the structure of the game doesn't encourage players to befriend one another, then there is little motivation to form new friendships and thus very little reason for social types like me to maintain a character in the game. I need that social aspect of the game - beyond just seeing other people moving around, need to have interaction with them. And no, I really don't like single player games... Does that mean I'm not a "true gamer"? Perhaps. But For 3 years I played EQ more than 15 hours a week (sometimes for 8 hours in a day on the weekend). So I think that makes me more than just a casual player, yet perhaps not quite hardcore. I fit into a different category that I am not sure has been defined yet, although I know many people with similar playstyles. I think we are Social gamers.
I'm anxious for Vanguard to come out. I hope it is everything we're anticipating it to be!
-Sparkling
(Edit: fixed timeframe error.)
I'm recruiting volunteers to help create Visions, a new MMORPG set in the 2nd century Holy Land. Are you interested? http://www.visionsgame.com
At the time I didn't have a computer fast enough to run EQ, so my first MMO was Everquest Online Adventures (PS2) and Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast).
Comments
Everquest: Online Adventures for Ps2
If it ain't broke, don't fix it...
You guys make me feel old...
Does running a BBS in the early 90's count as my first online game? I was SYSOP of The Tiny Zoo (it was a WWIV board) and my alias was The Zookeeper.
If that doesn't count, then my first MMORPG was EQ. I was five months pregnant with my 4th child when we finally bought the game. My husband has wanted to get it a couple years earlier when it first came out but I was highly resistant to paying for the same game every month! We bought our first 2 boxes of EQ right about the time Velious came out. So we were a little late in the game but still early enough to experience to wonder and excitement that existed in the early days of the game. After the 30 day trial period, guess who was more addicted to the game? (Yes... *hangs head in shame* me.) We played EQ for 3.5 years. We eventually had 6 accounts and nearly all the expansions for all of them at that point. (There are 11 expansions now, we are no longer up to date as we no longer play the game.) We quit playing when so many of our friends had left that there was hardly anyone left to play with, and the daily grind got to be more of a frustration than a fun experience.
We got in on the Beta test of WOW and EQ2 both, and from that experience we chose to play WOW on the first day it was released. Love it. main problem with WOW is that it plays too fast, then there is nothing to do when you get to 60. Still a fun game though.
EQ2 would be alright if it wasn't so laggy that you have to have a top-of-the-line computer to play, and if they would relax the quest system some so that you don't have to be level 10 before you can realistically group with your friends.
I was never really interested in the realm vs. realm combat so DAOC didn't have much attraction for me. Played the 14 day free trial, but it wasn't sufficient to capture my interest to buy the game.
For me what really holds my interest in a game world is friends. If my friends don't play I have very little motivation to come back. If the structure of the game doesn't encourage players to befriend one another, then there is little motivation to form new friendships and thus very little reason for social types like me to maintain a character in the game. I need that social aspect of the game - beyond just seeing other people moving around, need to have interaction with them. And no, I really don't like single player games... Does that mean I'm not a "true gamer"? Perhaps. But For 3 years I played EQ more than 15 hours a week (sometimes for 8 hours in a day on the weekend). So I think that makes me more than just a casual player, yet perhaps not quite hardcore. I fit into a different category that I am not sure has been defined yet, although I know many people with similar playstyles. I think we are Social gamers.
I'm anxious for Vanguard to come out. I hope it is everything we're anticipating it to be!
-Sparkling
(Edit: fixed timeframe error.)
I'm recruiting volunteers to help create Visions, a new MMORPG set in the 2nd century Holy Land. Are you interested? http://www.visionsgame.com
Current Games: