What did you expect from MMORPGS, before you ever played one?

sacred_band

i know my post is long but i like to babble to relax so feel free to not read it and just post your own response for what you expected from mmos before ever playing one

Were you dissapointed or impressed? Where you an actual "role player" or just a gamer looking for a new genre?

1. Idealistically: Did you picture signing on to a completely seemless online world with the ability to attack somebody anywhere but with real penalties like jails and fines, interacting with intelligent poetic role players like yourself and riding a glorious steed into battle knowing everyone you saw in their 1 of a kind heraldry and being hailed by your friends and insulted by you foes, then signing onto the official forums and sorting out the daily political issues before putting your character in their bed? meanwhile wondering what the hp lovecraft, robert e howard, george martin, reymond feist quality story line will bring next week? Did you picture "crafting" as a detailed difficult art in which you would place your signature mark on the sword and auction it off to some powerful clan, did you picture pvp as cinematic fps (oblivion/mount & blade) type sword swinging where hundreds of players clashed and those who died lost years of work?

2. Rationally: Did you expect it to be like regular rpgs (think elder scrolls, or KOTOR) but online?

3. Correctly: Did anyone expect that every game would be so similar? Youre a hero with no memory and you need to kill rats/worms/find old mans watch to hit level 1, grind to max level then buy the best gear, try to make a conversation with somebody only to realise they are a 10 or illiterate, then get banned by the mod for being too political or insulting while trying to get people to actually RP in an RPG by creating national or racial conflict and making threats and challenging to duels, and have to resort to posting "man this game sucks" on mmo review forums because overall the experience wasted months of your life only to realise you could have more fun reading? did you picture crafting as finding 4 iron 2 steel 1 feather and pressing go then having a clone item you will find laying on the ground in 2 levels? did you picture pvp as a semi-turn based semi-real time anti-climax where everyone knows what tactics are available to whichever vocation and sits there dead typing "hes using mana absorb u noob stop hitting"

i expected the first, got the last

Squall15

I didnt even know what a MMO was before i played one. I started with Dark Age of Camelot and back then, i thought it was amazing. That was actually my second game that i played online with others ( Diablo 2 first). Before i started DAoC, i thought it would just be "some game". Soon came FFXI, Linage ][, SWG, WoW, EQ2, ect.

IMO, Diablo 2 was prolly my best experience, then WoW. Man, i miss the good old days... Baal Runz to collect xp and trading for some good gear... I hope WAR will bring this type of experience

JennysMind

A co-worker was in the beta of AC and after hearing him talk about it, I wanted to try it. I thought it was going to be similar to single player RPG's and was amazed at the complexity of the game. AC has a patron/vassal relationship so it was easier to learn having a mentor with you. Little did I realize AC was going to be the deepest MMO I've played.

I came from the Baldur's Gate series and Diablo II and figured AC would be something like that. MMO's are completely different. Diablo II being by far my favorite RPG.

IdesofMarch

I basically expected an MMO to have a world occupied with thousands of players I could interact and play along with, be fun, and suck hours out of my life. That's the simple version of it, and I'm happy to say I was right in thinking so.

blacksheep

What i expected from my first MMO?

I dont rember what it was! I think the first real online game I played was DeltaForce,That rings a bell must have been '99 or '00? Not really a MMo but i think the feilds had like 30 to 40 people and my comp could barely handle that.

What did I expect???? I guess to be able to kill other people that i haddnt killed 1000 times already, plus quest/missions, and help figuring them out!

Wasnt really looking for friends, ohh wait I remeber My wife slipped by the pool and got pregnant, which means i got grounded, and I needed something to do and i wanted to play games with my buddies and not leave the house, cuz we used to play consoles and have bears and stuff, wink , wink. And u know how gurls are when they are loaded and ur buddies want to come over.

Had to play, had to stay at home, wanted to play/pwn.. ha before pwn was a word, my buddies and the ringers they would try to bring over. Welcome the world of MMo. It gets it done Now hurry up and Make the most awesom MMOrpg Zombie game in the world already!!!!!!!It has to look like Oblivion, play flawless and so much to do, that i just have to finish the quest.... and yes i realize i am late for work again!!!!!!hunny! And what do u mean its weird for a 35 year old stays up for 2 days playing with a little computer guy/gurl, and people ive never meet, Shoot ive know that dude for like 3 years and he having a ruff time cuz his wife left him!!!! i'll be done in 15 minutes!!!!!

nomadian

I had no expectations really, just picked the game up in what seemed to be quite a concealed place in Electronic Boutique and I tried it and it blew me away.(Everquest) The idea of so much depth, the other players and this massive world with rain at the very start! was just great.  It was about up to level 20 ish and I said /ooc 'what else do you do in this game?' to which the answer was 'just kill'. I think it was about that moment I swore to myself I wouldn't be playing this game much longer, but I somehow did for another few years. I think that moment perhaps revealed an early state of tedium or disbelief at the nature of a 'mmorpg' game and having 'extra' expectations. As it was I think I kept myself amused by the new content, by playing the economy and by playing twinks as well as getting sucked in by new expansions.

daadamo

Ever since the days of the Commadore 64, playing the D&D gold box games I dreamed about playing in a virtual world with others...but back then the internet was in it's infancy and very few people had it or knew about it. Then came (for me) Ultima Online. I played all the Ultima games and and the idea of getting online with thousands of others in a RPing game was euphoric!

So I went and purchased it, went home and loaded it. Using my dial-up modem and AOL internet service I entered a new world! I thought it was great, I got a pick-axe and started harvesting ore...over and over. It wasn't very long after that that I was ganked by what could only have been a thirteen year old with an attitude. From there it was an exercise in frustration...constantly getting PK'd and endless dial-up lag. I bowed out before 2 weeks time, my blood pressure couldn't hang.

Since then I have cable access and have tried and loved several MMORPG's

Razorback

As someone who played a LOT of tabeltop RPG's before and during my time on computers, I actually wasnt looking for a big RP experience in MMO's. I kind of felt like MMO's may offer an RP opportunity but that it wasnt going to be the same as face to face so I kind of didnt have any major expectations.

My main motivation for getting into MMO's was twofold.

Firstly and always most importantly is exploration. I just love exploring virtual worlds. In every MMO I have ever played, you can track my character from the trail of noob corpses across the land as I trail blaze into areas I shouldnt be seeing for 40 levels yet

In UO I used to die and ghost run all over the place, just checking stuff out. I made the run from Qeynos to Freeport at like L4 in EQ1, took me over 4 hours and a few ALT-TABS to map sites to get through but I did it so a RL buddy who started in Hallas and I could play together, his Barby and my Half Elf.

Since then I have deleved the depths of most MMO's at one time or another. Im pretty dissapointed in the expolorability of most new MMO's though. Instancing pretty much kills my main play enjoyment. 

My second motivation in MMO's has always been PvP. Now most people assume from hearing this, that Im some sort of l33T PK type d3wd. Especially since I still rate UO years 1 & 2 as the peak of MMO gaming to date. When in fact I SUCK at PvP I just happen to enjoy it regardless.

I still maintain (and I will go to my grave doing it) that the open PvP environment of UO year 1 & 2 created a level of tension and excitement in the gameplay that no other MMO to date has come close to. Risking everything, everytime you leave town is a feeling that cant be replicated any other way except with the same risk.

Hopefully there is at least one large, seamless, explorable, open PvP MMO left in the genre before the mainstream really waters down our little hobby to a point where it has no flavour left at all. Hopefully.

daadamo

I gotta agree with you on most of your post. The rush of going out of town and risking it all, kill or be killed sounds great! Add perma death to that and people would think twice before blindly PK'ing. I think that open PVP is a must as well.

Instancing has really taken the exploration out of MMORPG's. I'm not a big fan of it.

These and many other reasons made D&D Online a huge dissapointment for me.

Razorback

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Originally posted by daadamo

I gotta agree with you on most of your post. The rush of going out of town and risking it all, kill or be killed sounds great! Add perma death to that and people would think twice before blindly PK'ing. I think that open PVP is a must as well.
Instancing has really taken the exploration out of MMORPG's. I'm not a big fan of it.
These and many other reasons made D&D Online a huge dissapointment for me.

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Yup DDO held my attention for all of about 10 hours. I played UO for 6 years btw so that gives you some idea of my opinion of UO lol.

The trouble with D&D imho was it was too much the vision of one mans opinion of what DDO was. I always remember when playing tabletop DD that feeling of limitless exploration and possibility that always seemed to be in the background. In DDO you felt like a fish in a bowl from day 1. Many people on this site predicted that DDO would quickly offer soloing opportunities etc, despite the total "NO WAY" from the developers. But its amazing how losing money will change your views and now you can solo in DDO.

Point being : Why dont Devs just do what players want in the first place instead of trying to foist thier own personal spin on somthing on people, only to have to change it later anyway.

The combat system in MxO was another prime example. Every other Beta tester said "we dont like it" the devs said "your too simple of mind to cope with it" and the game tanked.... are we learning yet ?

As for perma death, I have never seen perma death as a huge negative. I would definately play a perma death game. I think it could also offer excellent opportunities for both excitement, risk and player management. I guess its another catch 22 for the devs though. Its going to take some courage to implement it in a game and if the majority dont like it..... you know the rest......

Im currently playing WoW and having more fun than I would have thought was possible in such a linear MMO, however its a highly polished product and Im in a good guild. Its just a lot of fun if you focus on something other than just grinding.

sacred_band

I loved UO and early Tibia both, which i think came out the same year

Yep a lot of us love free PVP and a lot of us want it back but you dont see exploring mentioned as much, try exploring in a game like guild wars or knight online, you walk about 20 feet then youre in another town, its just a series of mentally disabled monsters that sit in between cities waiting for you to hit them i guess.

daadamo, I think perma death could work if done right definately would add to RP one idea ive seen is with a bloodline/heir feature, where once you die you get an heir that gets some of your former characters strengths, that would mean bloodlines who have lived you know, say 20 generations, would be able to become a noble line, so there would be a point to keep making new characters. sort of a family tree system. But dont get me wrong it would still permanently kill that character, setting you back to 0, get you to throw your mouse at the wall and travel paranoid & loaded with weapons.

razorback, that brought back memories about your map checking journey, i walked for 2 or 3 hours once in an old 2d game and when i was literally 1 step from walking into the bank with 1 hitpoint after encountering a pack of wolves some guy killed me in 1 hit respawning me back where i started, ahh it was great because when i finally got there it felt like i just watched some epic movie, I really hate instant travel in newer games

pyrofreak

I had a basis in MUDs, and I thought that a MMORPG would be a MUD with graphics.

I was pretty much right.

Antarious

To answer this honestly...

I saw an ad for Ultima Online (before the beta started).  I thought... hey I could play "ultima" with other people.  That could be fun.

Now keep in mind I bought my "first" computer a C64 around 1982.  So I had played most of the Ultima single player games.

The I logged in the first time lol... I only made it past the first 30 days because of some friends I made.

It however, is one of my favorite MMO's just because of the freedom you had.

That's my answer anyway.

daadamo

Razorback, you are so dead on, good points. (After your post I noticed you and I are the same age...it makes sense.)

Sacred; Yes, that bloodline idea would work. Perma death would sure make everyone a little more paranoid, I think that would add that "rush" that so many MMORPG's are missing.

bouncingsoul

My first MMO to subscribe to and play was Everquest. Before I had it, me and some friends discussed how immersive and big the world of the game was and according to what we heard, how amazingly realistic it would be. I remember, as the nub I was, asking "Is the game bigger than THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: OOT??!?!" and getting the response "HAHA, dude, much bigger". I remember even being amazed at the fact that it rained at random, and that monster battles COULD be ran away from. Have to remember most of my RPG experience, like many, was based on turn based random battles so that was revolutionary for me :P


About 7 years later, however, that naive state of mind has faded and I find it more fun to focus on gameplay elements rather than admiring the fact that a game has zones or not.

sacred_band

can we possibly gather, from the replies on this threat, that MMO players have evolved too quickly for MMO games which have evolved quite slowly? (technologically theyve changed tons but i mean the gameplay) it seems everyone is quite fond of their first experience, even if nowadays they look at that game and cant figure out why, but 5, 8, 10 years later you expect more than graphical updates which is really about all weve got

i dont really know where im going with that, i just noticed an obvious pattern, i cant think of another genre where games from the mid 90s are still competing directly with games from 2006, imagine the Ultima Underworld game from 1994 or something still sitting on wal mart shelves next to elder scrolls oblivion, or doom 1 from 93 taking away from Halo 2 sales like ultima online still DOES next to WoW