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General: Ten Reasons to Hate MMO X
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's Jon Wood takes a look at the most common complaints about any given MMORPG and puts them together into this week's MMORPG.com list.
Over the last few years, it seems as though the MMORPG audience as a whole has become more cynical. Now, that could be because of a perception that the quality of the released products that we have seen over the last few years has dwindled since the heyday of MMOs (though no one can really pinpoint an exact time when everyone loved the games that launched perfectly and butterflies and unicorns pranced merrily overhead). It could be because in a post 9/11, housing crisis and economic depression era, we're all just a little bit more cynical and jaded than we used to be. Or, it could just be that it's easier to complain on the internet now than it ever was before.
It could be any one of those reasons and any one of a dozen more, and I'm not going to be the one to decide. That's going to be the job of some poor, unwitting anthropologist or sociologist that's braver than I am.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
HAHA
Nice list.
Need a top ten reasons to hate List X.
"Your list doesn't include Y."
"You put Z ahead of X, its obviously the other way around."
"How could you put W on your list? Everyone knows W doesn't belong there."
/chuckle
Nothing excites jaded Grandmasters more than a theoretical novelty
Haha I liked. Sadly though it is too true.
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
Very good list, and so true.
Maybe every new forum should have a sticky poll where objectors can indicate from 1 to 10 their reason why they want the game to fail.
I like my old game
Playing daoc and loving it totally..
have Played
Eq,Eq2,WoW,Coh,Cov,
and other..
which i have forgotten..
This is a good article and will become useful. Now when I bitch about other games I can just use the link to the article and reference the appropriate numbers that apply.
Good article. Many posters could benefit from reading it, if only to avoid such useless cliche statements when commenting on a game.
If you dislike a game, say specifically why, without using a phrase like "it's just a grindfest".
Game mechanic gimmicks that hide lack of content.
Random rare spawns with random rare drops is particularly annoying. Whatever developer first came up with the idea should be virtually drawn and quartered daily in every MMO town square.
Blind, deaf, mute, toothless, hairless, peltless, clawless, tailless, gutless, boneless, meatless, quadroplegic animals that still manage to be able to find and hit you for significant damage. If I kill a wolf and I need its eyes, every kill should have 2 eyes.
If I kill a knight that is wearing full platemail and waving a flaming sword in my face, he better have platemail and a flaming sword on his corpse. It's rather stupid to find 2 copper and a rusty dagger when I can clearly see the flaming sword in his cold, dead hand.
Repeatable quests. Instead of actually developing new and unique content, developers have created "daily" quests so you can grind away your boredom doing the exact same stupid quest every single day.
I also find the whole "lag is terrible!" thing ridiculous, especially when people can't even differentiate between ACTUAL lag (caused by internet connection and server-side connection or infrastructure) and their own client's hardware performance issues (weak PC)... even more when those very same people complain about lag in singleplayer games. /face palm
Good read.
I don't think the word hate is the correct one. Dislike would be a better one. I don't think any of us hate these games for your reasons, we just dislike many of the problems these games have. First and foremost is the fact that many of them are released with large bug lists and missing promised features.
I think the developers misinterpret the word innovate with the idea of making things simpler. While simpler probably gets you a wider audience, it also ups the criticism from those that post on this site.
I think one of the reasons we have become so jaded has been that choice has been taken away from us. Most of the games made recently pigeonhole you into a certain class with class restrictions on garb and equipment. You get lead around by the hand by quest givers who practically solve the quest for you before you start.
Where is the challenge? Where is the mystery? Where is the fun? I don't think the genre is evolving, it is devolving in my opinion.
You could also add:
1) Game did not ship with the features they promised
( or that I read about somewhere or someone told me or I dreamt about last night)
2) Game is totally instanced and that spoils the immersion
(I have a crap computer that takes ages on the loading screens)
3) The Char creator is shit
( I cant get big enough muscles on the men to satisfy my homoerotic slef loathing or big enough breasts on the female - im so lonely)
4) This game was so overhyped by the marketing team
(I do not understand business and have a jaded opinion that devs make games just for me and I own their very souls)
5) I hate SOE
(I still cant let go of the SWG past - even though there is a good probability i never even played that game)
6) It is is not a sandbox
(I have no idea what a bloody sandbox is)
7) Its just more fantasy
( dragons make me pee myself a little)
8) Leveling is too damn hard / the quests are shit and repetitive
(I may have to put some effort in)
9) Botters and spammers are ruining this game
(I cant find teh IGNORE command or do not want to use it in case I miss something interesting)
10) They will not / could not / ignore / never will fix that bug that makes this game unplayable
(I cant really be bothered playing anymore so all I have left is an opinion - must hate)
To err is human....to play is divine
I remember years ago having this discussion in game with my guild about how wolves don't drop eyes or skulls. Basically the only feesable conclusion we were able to come up with was that during battle the corpse was left so mangled that the parts you actually needed weren't salvagable. Same with the killing npcs that were using particular armor and weapons. The fight left their main weapon broken and their armor unusable.
I have to disagree with rare spawns though. I loved running across rare spawns that dropped better than average loot. I've even had friends that in their spare time would hunt rares just to kill them.
Agree with the rest though. Hate gimmick fights and daily quests.
Haa
I7@4ghz, 5970@ 1 ghz/5ghz, water cooled||Former setups Byggblogg||Byggblogg 2|| Msi Wind u100
You left out a big one - "Paid Beta."
There are lots of complaints about bugged out, unfinished and unpolished games being sold prematurely.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
dont forget "forced PVE, forced PVP, forced SOLO, forced GROUP, forcer RAID..." the mostly current
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
Nice list and sadly too true.
1999 Graphics... I don't know about you but it is basicaly thanks to 1999 that amazing graphics like AION exist. The founders and fathers of the technology that is still widely used today made it's official market debut in 1999. ID TECH3, Unreal Engine are more then just FPS engines, they are the direct reason to today's modern graphics.
As for lag, it's most of the time the user's fault. People seem to think that a 2003 PC can run Crysis without a hunch. I've often seen people setting up their game way too high for their PC. Take for example EVE-Online where you can 400+ ships in your screen at the same time. If you want to keep your precious 60 frames per second then you might want to either upgrade your kit or lower your settings. Even in 2010, when Vista and WIN 7 have been around for a while, we're still stuck with several people using Direct X 9.0c. For crying out loud, Direct X 11 is out. Help yourself! Getting a better modem, network card and internet connection is also a huge factor. Basicaly, it's 99% of the time, the user's fault. Aside from release days, I've rarely seen a game that lags on it's own. Of course, when I used to play Gundam online, I was lagging like a madman but then again, my server was in Japan.
My conclusion is that people don't actually know what they want and in many cases, it's all about nostalgia. I admit, I too would love to be back in the good old SWG with my guild, pvpinga and RPing it out everynight. Then again, my life context wasn't the same back then, even if I had SWG today, I wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much. People want hardcore but it's strange, when presented with "hardcore" games like EVE or I guess Darkfall, the so called hardcore players often silently slip out through the backdoor. People want a sandbox but if provided with one, many will complain on the lack of story and content. You want hardcore but you don't want any griefing? You want a game as cool as WOW but you don't want WOW? ermmm
boggle boggle!
The three that I use the most from your list all go together - Not interested in another themepark, grindfest, WoW clone. See? Three in one.
The thing I don't like about this post is its intimation that most gripes are irrational, coming from the simple fact of human nature that we all like to bitch. The general notion that most MMO's are not particularly original, being slight variants on other recent MMO's, is a legitimate complaint. The problem with MMOs isn't that they've all gotten terrible since the good all days. It's that they're mostly the same. They have somewhat improved interfaces, slightly nicer graphics, slightly different combat, a slightly different setting, but they're not really doing anything different. And people do have a right to expect innovation.
And yes, to return to my favorite bitch, no one is really looking to create an immersive world anymore. That's too much work. Quest/grind/level/repeat until endgame, cliche though it may be, is still at the heart of 99% of MMOs these days. There's nothing wrong with combat and advancement, but is a game that allows one to discover a new world too much to ask? It's a big job, but if you're not creating immersive worlds, then why are you creating an MMO?
That was a good read Jon. I agree with alot of your points. Especially on lag, grindfest, etc.
Nice list, but truthfully, I just like to bitch.
Who the hell are you, and why should I care?
Congrats! You are a victim of Trollstar!
I agree that something in the industry needs to change. Someone needs to step outside the box and STICK to what their initial intentions are, and not cave-in to any outside pressure to ultimately change the core of their game.
Size does matter. The game worlds are way to small.
I have played LOTRO more than any of the current titles and Moria comes to mind. After steamrolling the content I placed a wager with a guildy that I could run (no mount) from the entrance of Moria to the Lothlorien side in under 15 minutes. It ended up taking me just over 16 minutes. It made the game from there on seem so small.
If a small company like Aventurine can make a persistant world that is many times the size of WOWs,the companys like Blizzard, Turbine, and SOE should be able to make something truely massive.
It is a nice list..... though somewhat understandable too.... people expect more from well established product types that have been around for years and have had years to develop and advance... and are alot less forgiving of shortcomings in then.
When Cell phones first came out... no one really cared that much that they were the size of bricks, coverage was spotty at best and they had very limited features.... the coolness factor of a product that was able to do something that had never been done before bought alot of leniency for any flaws. These days, there is neither excuse nor tolerance for those sorts of flaws. People are alot harder on cell-phone makers today.... and are willing to pick their shortcomings apart..... and for good reason... the technology isn't a mystery anymore...the manufacturers have had decades to understand/improve it.... and there is alot of competition between makers. A similar dynamic holds true for MMO's or pretty much any product type that becomes well established.
In part though there is some legitimacy to alot of the complaints as well. In the begginings the MMO was alot closer to a hobbiest market (just like cars and planes were the first few years after they were invented). The relationship between the producers and thier audience was ALOT closer because the audience was so much smaller.... and the producers really didn't know what worked well and what didn't until they tried it out...so they were dependant on much more direct communication with thier user base. Also not being an established industry.... the people working in it...including the guys at the top running the studios were alot closer in mentality to the audience that they served. They were doing as much because they loved the work as they were to make a proffit.... because frankly no one had a freaking clue that those products WOULD be proffitable until they started proving that they were. Producers were also alot less "risk averse" then because EVERYTHING they were doing was brand spanking new....and therefore a risk.
MMO's have become more and more of a "Well Established Industry" over time....and while that comes with many upsides...there is also ALOT of baggage associated with that as well.
I think you should add the following to the list: "I'm an MMO vet, and I decree that this game sux / is broken/ is epic fail."
As someone else pointed out, the VAST majority of supposedly "game-breaking" problems or shortcomings or flaws most games have are based solely on personal preference, opinion, and taste, rather than on factual problems or demonstrably flawed game design.
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
thanks for giving common sense.
There is no knowledge that is no power.
The only reason why I get sick of an MMO is if I get bored with it. I don't cry, complain or use a lame excuse. I just move on.
I always will give a game a atry; usually I know within a week if I want to invest dollar one into it. If not I just move along quietly.