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MMORPG Burn Out- Does it really exist?
Tearsnsorrow
Member Posts: 48
You've played several MMORPG's, non has grabbed your attention like your first. Each new game you join holds your attention for less time than the last.
Sound familiar? Another MMORPG.COM,member (KAPinAZ) hope I got the name right, described these as symptoms of "MMORPG Burn Out".
Do you think this really exists,or is it a way of explaining that once you are familiar with the genre, no game can truly live up to an experianced players expectations?
You know, in the way that the film of your favorite book is generally a dissapointment?
Any one else feel they may have this "Burn Out" phenomenon?
Comments
Its funny that I saw this post. I was just logging on MMORPG.com to read up on eq2, because I miss everquest 1 so much. I tried to go back to eq1, but aside from the graphics beings terrible, too much that I loved about the game had changed. I remember when the way you could see at night depended on what race you were, talk about immersive! Now even though that little add on was only trivial, it is gone. That one thing annoyed me and only added to the synergy of all the other problems I remember from the game. I played Daoc for years, Wow for a little while, and countless other games, but with each one I was less into it. No game was quite the same as everquest, where I remember waking up on my keyboard, and ordering in pizza everyday. I can't seem to find a game anymore that I can get in to like that.
Gods and heros has my interest peaked, but that might be another massive dissapointment like vanguard or eq2 has been. Though I hear with the last expansion eq2 has gotten alot better.
mmmm yeeeah, thats greeat, a little to the left would be greeeat, ::sips coffee mug:::
I play EQ 2 just for fun here and there. I play Vanguard a lot more, though. I have not experienced any burn out from each. If I start to feel bored or burnt with Vanguard, I play EQ 2....
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
And in the milder degree, I can play one for a few hours a week, but I will not get caught up in it at all (This would be the, Meh, a bit same old, same old, really phase. I will be annoyed at "fetch" quests, "kill X wolves" quests, group quests, or even the prospect of progressing to top level / maxing out skills might be heavy on my shoulders!... Notice this has more to do with the "burnout" itself than with the true degree of originality in a game - now it's the basic gameplay mechanics of the MMORPG genre that's boring me).
Yeah, I'm a Cyborg, but It's OK. I'll go and catch up with those nice single-player games I've been missing, like "Fahrenheit" ("Indigo Prophecy"), "Sin: Episode One" or or even "X3". Or do away with my gaming time altogether. And then check back and see in a year's time or so - Let's call this the OK, but will I have to raid? phase
MMOGs are very repetitive. Usually you can stand this with one game at a time because you are either playing with friends or still leveling up or still actively achieving something (PvP or max-level PvE content) but after a while the fact that all you are really doing is the same half dozen actions over and over again catches up with you and you probably stop playing that game as well. Then, because the MMOG genre really doesn't change much from one game to the next in the current crop of titles, when you go to pick up a different game you start out feeling bored with it because it plays exactly like the game you left.
That said, I'm currently playing a game which I'm having a ton of fun with, even more so than I did with my first MMOG and it's great to have that feeling again. But, I think the best thing to do when you seem to be bored with playing every MMO is just to stop playing them for a bit unless you can find one that is a huge change from what you normally play.
It exists, and you will see MMO burnout increase as more and more games become alike.
Sadly the MMO business is heading towards a focus on getting new players only, without really trying to hold on to veteran players, outside of offering veteran players the same old grind they have played for years.
Funny tho, I know more people with MMO burnout in Real Life(and neighbourhood) than I know people that still play MMO's. It's a huge market of burned out veterans waiting for games that allow them to experience something new, something that they can play their way, and change if needed... But until they stop offering the same grind of grind themeparked storyline games...We'll just see more and more MMO burnout.
At least there are some great SP games out now that can occupy me.
Of course it exists, game burnout exists too.
It's just one of the things about the human brain, i mean some people suffer depression from work related stress.. because they're just burnt out (occasionally too many things in their life have just taken their toll).
it's perfectly normal to feel burnt out, or meh'ed eventually by an MMO. Not the first time, i've restarted a sub.. went to start a new character, got to level 10.. and then saw the game spread out before me again.
all that grinding, the AH prices, the PUGs, finding a guild, people whinging, all the places you have to visit...
it all hits you, and you log out.. and do something else.
it passes like all things, the MMO market is in need of an injection. And another "delay" is just making us.. want the next MMO even more.
Of course i'd like to have my brain wiped, and then restart the MMOs i love. I'd enjoy them, thats what i miss... that feeling of aweness you got when you first saw the world.. and wanted to explore, when you told yourself "one more quest" until it was 4am, and you started work at 9
But, game developers know we are tired of the current MMORPG market, and they are trying their best to either: Take what works, and make it better in their own world (WAR), Implement completely new combat styles, rather than the everyday Stand-hit-get hit-combination to hurt them-rinse wash repeat. (AoC).
You know, I think that perhaps the best hope for those of us with burnout is a half n half sort of situation. Here's an example. Neverwinter Nights, the original. You CAN play it online, but that doesn't mean that you have to play it online. In fact, I've played it mostly offline by downloading many of the thousands of player made mods. It's like never running out of adventures within the same game. But if you want to be social, and go online, you can certainly do so. The reason that I think that this is a good idea is that not everyone wants to be friendly and sociable all of the time. But we do want to be social some of the time. A game that gives you the option may be the best choice. Dungeon Siege 2 is another example. Very entertaining for a long period of time. But if you want to step it up, you play online.
The truth as I see it is that game developers tend to follow the trends that sell games and create millions of subscribers. It's more important to them to create games with huge player bases than to do something cutting edge or different. They want to give people incentives to playing online exclusively, as that's where the bucks are. Monthly fees make it worth the while for them. But if you pay attention and look around closely, you will see that in strange places from all over the world, small time developers are making a truly unique product worth looking into. www.thewitcher.com is one such example. This is offline, but it's trying to be different, which I can appreciate.
I'm also interested in looking out for Age of Conan when it's out. Then there's Two Worlds, which seems to be a cross between Gothic and Oblivion. Different stuff is out there if we keep a lookout for it. Still, I think the crossover games that bridge the gap between MMORPGs and offline goodies is the key to keeping things on your own terms. Play online or don't play online. And use the same CD to do so.
"We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing."
It's not a burnout thing, it's the MMO's that have changed. When they started there were no predecessors and therefore every developer was on his own artistic/creative island, coming up with different ideas, different solutions. Back then it was more a hobby gone mental than a business, so they made what THEY felt was right, with game rules and ideas who weren't clouded by any other example MMO.
As such they were much more creative, much more 'true' to what an MMORPG is, they were mmoRPG, now we have MMOrpg... built on proven mechanics, treaded paths and beaten to death game mechanics. Because we now have a paradigm MMO concept every new game will be molded from that and thus end up being completely uneventful, no grandness, no brilliantly different ideas or concept... it's all been there, done that.
The problem is that it's not the developer's fault (not completely anyway). For some stupid reason people will leave an MMO being bored by it but DEMAND that their next MMO has SIMILAR design features, which is ofcourse idiocy at it's best because if you left the previous one being bored why on EARTH would you want to play a second, similar one.... thing is, people do. If you make an MMO that does not have mounts like in WOW, isn't as easy as WOW/GW, isn't as forgiving as WOW/GW, doesn't have the soloability of WOW/GW people will complain. Same with game mechanics, people SAY they want something different but when some developer actually makes such a game no one will buy it because it's not familiar... talk about being stupid.
Case in point (non MMO) any of the EA sports/driving/whatever games, WHY do you want NBA 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.. WHY??? they're the same games with similar graphics and similar gameplay... WHY BUY THAT CRAP! And when someone make a little gem of a game like Psychonauts (for instance) it fails to sell because it's too different.... Gameplay is marvelous, graphics are cool, it's funky, it's fun but... it flukes... because it's not the mainstream type of game.
So again, developers only make what the customers want (up to a point, if they're not creative and lack vision they'll never make anything extraordinary. One of the non-creative developer's name start's with a T and ends with ...urbine). People are stupid, people are cattle and people have no idea what's best for them, all they know is that they want instant gratification...
Nothing will change.
I think it does exist... in fact I think right now I have it. Nothing really seems attractive to me and most of what I have tried, has not been.
However, I think the reason for the burn-out is that so many MMOs these days are just re-skins of pre-existing games. So when I start playing, say, LOTRO or Vanguard, I already know how to play the game. It's all familiar... there's hardly anything to really learn... and so I can practically play them in my sleep. This means I hit boredom way faster than, say, a completely different game that is nothing like I have ever seen before.
Because MMO companies keep recycling ideas, I think players will get burned out faster and in greater numbers as time goes on. So yes, it's real, but it's exacerbated by the fact that games are so similar that it feels like regardless of the game, you keep playing the same thing over and over again.
C
The games being released this year really don't interest me, and the way everyone is hyping them is just insane. They are setting themselves up to be disappointed big time. If anyone remembers the hype surrounding DnL and Vanguard before they were released you'll know what I'm talking about. Like many others have said, no game will ever replace that nostalgic feeling that you get when you think about your first MMORPG.
Apologies to KLPinAZ- I did get the name wrong at the start of the thread. Anyway it was KLPinAZ's astute comments on another thread that made me wonder if there realy is such a thing, because as others here have said- I deffinately have it, but I didn't realise what it was.
I have been happily moaning about recent games I have played, but infact, as another member pointed out. The games are probably ok. If Lotro is your first MMORPG, I guess its probably a pretty good one to start with. Same can be said of others. They just dont press my buttons at the moment.
Soooo, I have decided to reactivate WOW and play TBC from lvl 1 slowly, and concentrate on crafting and hang the race to lvl. Little and not too often. Maybe I could set up a guild of like minded people- darn it there I go again!! (No guild this time).
Thanks to all who contributed to this thread- thoughtfull comments from all.
think its possible to get easily fed up of mmorpg type gameplay which really is the same from one to the next. Thats when you crave fast gameplay games like fps' or many console games.
When you start your first MMO-experience, you do not know what to expect. You play the game to just play the game and keep going and going and you find yourself addicted and having tons of fun. Even the bugs/annoying things of the game eventually become normal to you. And then for some reason you stop playing (for me, College).
A few years later you want that feeling again and you pick up the latest and greatest MMO out there. Your first reaction is "these controls are weird" as it will be different from that previous game. But eventually as you start leveling up and learn the controls inside your head you realize that you need 60 more levels and then you can start raiding.... ok 59 levels left.... ok... 58.... wow 58 is a lot.... I think I'll try a different game.
Of course this doesn't happen to everyone, but I think everyone gets the small notion in their mind that there is a lot of work ahead of them and just THINKING about the hours they will have to put in they can no longer enjoy the game because your mind is always thinking about the work ahead. We can no longer just play the game to enjoy it like we did prior to end-game... least thats what I think.
"They essentially want to say 'Correlation proves Causation' when it's just not true." - Sovrath
Recently I decided that LoTRO was a nice game, well put together, however nothing was that different from its predecessors and I was quite bored.
So I gave EVE a try, and its quite a bit different from the games I've played before, so I'm having a lot of fun again. I think we just need some games that take a new approach to come out and we'll recapture that old magic again....
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
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