Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
General: Player Perspectives: The Comeback Kids
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com contributor Jaime Skelton continues her Player Perspectives column with this look at veteran players and their returns to their old games of choice.
The years have grown and expanded the MMO community significantly. It's still hard to believe that it's been over a decade since Ultima Online chugged along on our connections to AOL; that Dark Age of Camelot seemed like it would have a permanent place in some of our hearts. Even the fact that World of Warcraft is five years old seems a long stretch of time, enough to make some of us feel old. There's a lot that we, as an MMO community, have seen, many people we have known, many games we have left behind, and new horizons that we continue to look to. Once in a while, however, our nostalgia kicks in, and we wander back to where we started.
It's a simple truth: players come back. With all the time we invest in our gaming, and all the changes that each game undergoes over time, we become curious. What have our "old friends" gone through while we've been gone? Who still remains? Why did we enjoy the game? Why did we leave? So, we come back. Sometimes we stay a while, reconnect with old friends and guild mates, or find ourselves enjoying the game. Other times, we wonder why we bothered with the downloading and installing in the first place.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I've come back a few times to games, Lineage 1, DAOC and WOW, to varying degrees of success (3 mo to 9 mo) however it just never seems quite the same, especially if too much time has elapsed (i.e. several years) in between.
Some games like LotRO and AOC probably deserve a 2nd look since I left in the first few months, but there's always new games I still haven't gotten to (DF, FE etc) on my plate and I never seem to get around to going back anymore.
"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™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I try new games occasionally, but none of the MMO's that have come out the past few years have had anywhere near the depth of hte older MMO's.
For me it's not a question of going back. While I may have visited other realms, Norrath has always been the one I called home.
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin
I came back so far only to one game (EQ2) after a long break and playing others for almost two years - because I liked the patch notes. That is now 1.5 years ago and I still enjoy the change EQ2 took for people with private life and family a lot!
The point in the article is true: a good conclusion on the most important changes in patch is very important. I was considering for example coming back to Vanguard too out of curiosity what changed. But ... the forum is closed to any external reader. The patch notes page is broken so you can't even check out the complete patch notes. There are no fan pages found that list the patch notes themself but they just link to the forums or the broken patch notes page. Great and essentially shooting one in its own foot.
Played: Pretty much any fantasy MMO, some did not even make it to release ...
Favorites: UO, EQ2, Vanguard, Wurm Online, Salem, ESO, Creativerse
Playing: ESO, Creativerse, Guild Wars 2
Anticipating: (sigh) ... maybe Ashes of Creation
Shadowbane and UO were the only games that held my attention span (and made me WANT to log in) forever. Unfortunatly UO has become too much like the original EQ....they tried...but in the end they ravaged the game that was, and replaced it with mediocre content.
I play all ghame
Well I had left SWG, and went to EQ2 and got disgusted with the nerfs, left that went to LOTRO. I have a lifetime at lotro but even with som I find myself board. I went back to eq2, only to find the latest update that I now hate. Had a good 3 months in eq2 untile the released this tyrant update and destroyed stuff in freeport.
OH well I guess im just hard to please atm. I might just give up mmo's for good for a while until they can make something fun.
I tried coming back to WoW and FFXI but those games are old now and its much tougher to really enjoy those games like it was meant to be. I tried going back to AOC and WAR but the populations are so low now in those games you can't enjoy those either. My best bet is to wait for The Old Republic, FFXIV and Guild Wars 2. I guess int he meantime I'll continue to play Guild Wars sparingly and play games on the console like Borderlands, L4D2 and Dragon Age.
Tbh, almost all of my many comeback experiments were bad. Usually most friends where gone, so I carried tons of sad memories of places where once I had adventure and which bogged me down. Esp. in my several coming backs in EQ2 and SWG, it depressed me endlessly. I still have those rich, uber chars there and it breaks my heart for all I put into them, but no way I ever go back. All the wonderful memories would kill me comparing it to any "now".
Usually when I leave a game it has a good reason, but boredom and false hope of "change" persuade me to try some things again, only to find that I was right to leave the game in the first place. I try not to fall into that pit of coming back anymore, at least much less often than I used to.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Only 2 games so far recapture the magic for me when I leave and come back. WoW and LOTRO. These games just add great content, albeit slowly, but still great stuff and each time I find something completely new to explore or do. EQ2 almost gets me, but then I get bogged down in the leveling process and wonder what's the point of this game?
Some games, I would get back into but they are so different compared to today's MMO's that I can't get past the sheer drudgery of such a once great game. For example, FFXI. One of my favorites, but now, far too much work to just level, etc. Good thing for me ,they are making FFXIV to bring the game style up to date.
Yep, same here. Came back to WoW twice, and War once.....both times it was sad, nobody there, and realizing why I left in the first place. Would like to go and see what's happening in LotRo, but been so long I don't want to spend ages with patches only to find out I was wasting my time.
"It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that syren, till she transforms us into beasts. ... Are we disposed to be of the number of those, who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not?" --Patrick Henry
Your timing is uncanny, as I just got a "come back!" invitation for Eve Online in email about two messages before this one. For five days. Five days in Eve? Ye gods, I couldn't start to remember what I'd forgotten over the last two or three years in five days...
Hmmm... but I might do it anyway, just to see the new art. (heh) But Eve was the only game I ever had to quit cold turkey because it was too artibitrarily deep/rich a sandbox -- it started taking the economic/political circuits away from real life, and be a seriously impacting distraction. Trust me, that's a compliment to the game!
But yeah, 5 days ... it'll be safe... right?
Uh. yeah. Seeya in a week!
Yrs
Shava
The main impediment for me is the size of the download. I hate having to wait a day or more to finally get everything up and running. Then its another few hours before getting all my old settings right and figuring out how to work the controls again.
hmm I wonder... why is WOW not offering free comback when Icecrown is opened ?...
These comback campaigns tells you alot about how much of a failure the game has been. AOC - WAR - and now even LOTRO are offering combacks cause the fact of the matter is... there are very few gamers actually paying and PLAYING these games. And a MMO game that has no players... is a dead MMO game...
These combacks and "endless" trial offers also help the games look better on Xfire... specially when they are dropping below games like Runescape...
It kinda tells you a story when a multimillion project has dropped below a 5 year old fashioned free to play browser game ... doesn't it ? It puts things into perspective when it comes to the future....
Ha ha the reason why games are offiering free comebacks is they are bleading subs. Wow does not have to do that they ahve more than enough subs.
LOTRO and other games are in trouble. After January when the force 3 month upgrade that most of folks took to get SOM for free runs out I have a fealign there is going to be a huge loss in subscriber base.
I get comeback offers quite a bit, although almost never to WoW, which is fine, since it's a game that never really grabbed me, even though I consider it quite good, from a technical standpoint. The only game I've had any real joy coming back to so far is CoX. The main reason for this is because I actually have had some success in forming friendships, or at least close acquaintances, with the player base. So, when I come "home," it actually FEELS like home, regardless of what changes have been made. It's because of the community that I continue to invest, not only in play time, but also in booster packs, because I figure any game that can rekindle my joy of the game after such a long absence deserves extra support, as that's a different sort of success than one where I enjoy a game for a time, but finally leave and never look back with the least bit of regret for having left.
Great article! I recently went back to EverQuest, having left after the Planes of Power expansion and found that too much had changed for the game to really be any fun. Not to mention the fact that everyone I had played with and had known have moved on. I tried leveling my character and actually did get a few levels but as the weeks went on I found myself going back to some of the old zones where I had enjoyed so many hours with friends and guildmates.
I think it would a great idea if they would include a "what has changed" doc. That would have helped me considerably in taking advantage of the new content.
On the plus side, the walk down memory lane did get me back playing EverQuest 2 and I have been having a blast! I was really surprised since most of the time when I try a game again after quiting I remember quickly why I quit in the first place.
My main problem with coming back to EQ, besides the levelling, was all the different sockets and slots and crap that I also needed to learn and fill in. When you're playing it's easy to keep up with one new thing per expansion, but when you take 6 expansions off, it's mind boggling all the changes that they've made to basic characters and gear.
My main problem with coming back to EQ, besides the levelling, was all the different sockets and slots and crap that I also needed to learn and fill in. When you're playing it's easy to keep up with one new thing per expansion, but when you take 6 expansions off, it's mind boggling all the changes that they've made to basic characters and gear.
Amen! It was easier to find another game then it was to try to learn everything that had changed!
I call BS on this. I've been playing LOTRO for over 2 years now, and even on a low-pop server there has *never* been a lack of players. From my observation, LOTRO has continually been on a slow, steady growth pattern - not so much that it's great (I think it's pretty good, however), but from a lack of solid competition, and that portion of the player base that's loyal to the IP. I used to play WAR, so I know what a game that's bleeding subs looks like! LOTRO is doing fine.
The last offer I took to return was SWG. They gave me a free month. I used to play on Kettemoor. In the month that I played I never saw another player, EVER on that server. This was before they merged servers. I went around soloing content and typed /who and there was never another player on the server. I'd later take the free transfer to Bestine and was surprised by actually running into other players.
Uhm....
You do know that WoW HAS been offering free comebacks now for WELL over a year, right? It may have even been two years now. So, like...I'm not sure where you got the idea they didn't have such a critter. Besides...no developer ever throws their hands up and says, "Okay...we don't need any more money, we have ENOUGH SUBS now." lol
And like the other fella in this thread said, LotRO actually has a very solid subscription base that fluctuates VERY little. Then, like other games, they have the people like ME, that come back and play for a month and leave again. I'm really bad about that, tbh....I've bounced in and out of EQ2 and LotRO like a basketball. I just can't seem to settle.
I was settled in WoW for five years. That's a pretty long haul for ME. Within that 5 years, I took two 1-2 month breaks, and now I've been away another 2 months. But I'll probably go back for Cataclysm, provided I have time again by then.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
I like this post, fun stuff getting back into games from yester year, usually.
I remember i played horizons when it was called horizons now its istaria, i played it for a month and rememberd why i left, no guided quests so you end up lvl 20 and no idea what to do next, also pvp in that game would be kick ass.
I jumped back on second life only to remember its the massive amount of porn that ran me off.
And then theres "there" with its terrible graphics and super lagtasticness.
I can remember eq1 being my first experience with super long buffs, which i rarely see anywhere else.
So many games and if i could have told a dev what im leaving the game for a second time for, perhaps they could fix that stuff.
"If they had played the game, theyd probably be far more upset. Dragon Age also features digital prostitutes, lesbians, rather clean three way sex, inter-species erotica, war, decapitation, thinly veiled social commentary, alcohol, drug addiction, slavery, racism, sexism, sexual harassment, genocide, the death of children, demons, and more blood than a vampire drinking game." -Dana Massey
Funny timing on this article since there are only 2 games I've ever returned to and I've returned to them a few times now.
Eve Online and WoW.
EVE just emailed me a "come back" promotion too! With a free ship to boot. Though I'm sure I can't use it since it's an explorer ship and I'm a miner. Still it's the thought that counts. Almost makes me want to go back for a while.
I just signed back up to WoW last night becasue my wife has rejoined and is checking out the new updates and tweaks since we left after Wrath. She's getting geared back up to be ready for the next expansion, I'm more along for the ride.
So yeah out of all the other games I've tried none really make me want to come back to them but Eve online and WoW.
Current Game: Asssasins Creed 2(PS3, Gamer Tag: Happy_Hubby)
Current MMO: World of Warcraft and World of Tanks
Former Subscribed MMO: Star Trek Online, Aion, WoW, Guild Wars, Eve Online, DAoC, City of Heroes, Shattered Galaxy, 10six.
Tried: Too many to list
I've had about half a dozen comeback offers in the last couple of months. I've visited most of them because I still have them installed (500gb drive for games and other bulky stuff). All I have to do is let the updates download and then defrag so that performance doesn't get degraded.
As others have mentioned, it is often a lonely visit with few players on, no friends online and no longer part of a guild. In some cases I'll just poke around a bit so see if it still looks the same. For games that only give you a week to play, it can be too much effort to remember how to play effectively again, i.e., you've got 50 actions on your hotbars and you don't remember what all the icons stand for.
I'm just finishing up a revisit to AC1 where it was easier to start some new chars and relearn the play from the start rather than try and fumble around with an old high level char. that I'd forgotten how to play. I'm going to visit my EQ2 chars next, but its going to take several hours to readjust to the play-style there. AoC had a come-back offer that I just poked around on, but now they have an unlimited-time trial account that I signed up for so that I can visit whenever I'm in the mood. I have a similar account on WO and now that DDO is F2P, I play there freqently too.
So between all the F2P games, unlimited trials, beta tests and free comebacks, I've got lots of variety in games to play without the need to subscribe to any of them. Just today a got a free offer from Eve to play for another 5 days on one of my old chars. I've got over a month to take them up on it, so I'll wait until my other offers have exired.
PS. I guess its time to uninstall DR, now that it will be gone in a couple of weeks. Oh well, for each one that dies, there are a dozen new ones to replace it.
I've received NUMEROUS free return offers from Blizzard for WoW. They even sent me a free disc for the burning crusade expansion...free, while the rest of the masses payed for it. I guess that means they are bleeding subs too....I guess WoW is in trouble by your logic?
Your blind hatred for LOTRO has really clouded your judgement. I always get a good laugh at how you try to tie every little thing to a LOTRO failure. It would be hilarious if it weren't so pathetic.
Einherjar_LC says: WTB the true successor to UO or Asheron's Call pst!
Uhm....
You do know that WoW HAS been offering free comebacks now for WELL over a year, right? It may have even been two years now. So, like...I'm not sure where you got the idea they didn't have such a critter. Besides...no developer ever throws their hands up and says, "Okay...we don't need any more money, we have ENOUGH SUBS now." lol
And like the other fella in this thread said, LotRO actually has a very solid subscription base that fluctuates VERY little. Then, like other games, they have the people like ME, that come back and play for a month and leave again. I'm really bad about that, tbh....I've bounced in and out of EQ2 and LotRO like a basketball. I just can't seem to settle.
I was settled in WoW for five years. That's a pretty long haul for ME. Within that 5 years, I took two 1-2 month breaks, and now I've been away another 2 months. But I'll probably go back for Cataclysm, provided I have time again by then.
Can you link me the free combacks for WOW ? Havn't seen one yet. There was a free TBC 10 day trial for those that didn't buy that expansion. Since then I have had no news of any free combacks for WOW.
But hey - maybe you can enlighten me. IF you can I might take the rest of your statements as belivable. Until then your talking total nonsense.