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Off all the reasons to play a MMORPG, after years one reason is taking precedence.
Interesting
Member UncommonPosts: 973
When I started playing MMORPGs I got completelly overwhelmed by choices and the cheer complexity of everything in my MMORPGs.
I could find multiple reasons why people played MMORPGs and all of them seemed to weight the same.
Nowadays, one thing is getting clear, the main reason or shall I say, the most popular reason that influences/boosts players (because they have no choice, since its the developers who created this cultural monster) into playing ANY GAMES (and this includes MMORPGs) is none other than
Power over others.
I used to think that represented just one piece of the pizza, now I know its almost all of it.
A MMORPG without the element of "power over others" will go nowhere, will get no subscriptions, will sell no items on the cash shop, will get no players time and effort investment, its taken as "pointless" by its player base.
A game where people cannot satisfy their hunger for Power over Others.
With this topic, I bring to attention a paralel relation between:
the decay of our genre is directly related with the disappearance of the other "motives" to play a MMORPG. One followed the other. The excessive focus on combat and power, directly related with the "motivation" of satisfying the "power over others" needs. At some point, all the other reasons why people played MMORPGs disappeared, or transmuted into this aberration, this is more a side effect of phenomn of industrializing MMORPGs cheaper and faster, than an cause to it.
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Comments
I blame PvP. I always thought PvP has no place in mmorpgs. FFXI got it right. But this is actually one thing in which the japanese are better. They favour cooperation instead of competition. A much better environment to build a mmorpg in.
If you stand VERY still, and close your eyes, after a minute you can actually FEEL the universe revolving around PvP.
He's not just talking pvp, at least I don't think he is.
The main thing I got out of his post, was things like guild and world politics.
Heh. The goal of most ambitious people in the entire world is to have power over others. Most wars and terrorist attacks (no I would say ALL wars and terrorist attacks as well as gang fights and even hockey games) are as a result of the desire for power over others.
Fortunately in an MMO (a fantasy world ususally) this Power over others is immaginary. There is no way anyone in an mmo could make me do anything I dont want to do. OK they can kill my pixelzated avatar a few times maybe. But I can always go somewhere safe and thumb my nose at them.
My guild leader can say "you will donate 1000 gold per month to the guild ... I can say screw you and either quit or get kicked from the guild. There is always something smaller than me that can "take on" .... even if it is lvl 1 wolves in the starter area.
To be honest I do not play to have power over anyone. I do compete some but not really seriously. I play for the sheer fun and to see the creations of the developers and find fun ways to interact with them. In fact I would say that my main reason to play MMO's (fun) is to escape the real world power struggles that have real consequences ... for a while.
As to cheap games contributing to the immaginary control of others, I cannot see any correlation between the two. Crappy cheap immaginary control is the same as smooth fun immaginary control. Though I prefer the fun Kind.
Just have fun!!!
If Ya Ain't Dyin, Ya Ain't Tryin
<--same thing I got from it and can't say I really disagree
I don't think he means something as simple as PvP. PvP does not really give you power over others anyways. In most games it is consensual and if someone derives so much self esteem from winning at PvP in a game? uhhhh, lol
PvP can be very fun, competitive and exhilarating as long as it is a game where you can't talk to any of your enemies
That way you don't have to even know if some enemy is childish, you never hear them.
Power over others, vanity, and shameless ego stroking over having the biggest and best shinny shinny toys and meaningless accomplishments.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
MMOs are giant virtual worlds where people can be someone that they couldn't be in the real life. They're fun, they create other personas of us that beats living in the real world. Thus why it's becoming addictive. You have the power over others and the competition to be better than them just by outleveling them, having better gear, have an attractive pixelated wife who plays 4 states over from where you are, etc. While having power over others in real life or single player games makes it boring cause you always power over an NPC, and its a lost cause to power over your supervisor at work without being fired.
I play MMOs just because I like to compete and change strategies around when one fails. If person beats me out on something, I have the same chance to get back at him without any repercussions. It's a constant rollercoaster of power pretty much that keeps people striving for the better.
Eh, I'll allow that the OP's case is certainly true for some people, but people play for plenty of other reasons than that. While it may be hard to believe, some people actually like cooperating toward a common goal. Some enjoy crafting things that let other people succeed. Some actually enjoy the deep and fulfilling storylines (although I'm skeptical of this
). Me, I tend to like healing roles, and it's actually quite satisfying to play an important role in getting a group of people through a difficult section.
Personal success doesn't have to come at the expense of others, and many players are well aware of this. Unfortunately, not all MMO's are good at giving people a chance to realize these goals.
A Modest Proposal for MMORPGs:
That the means of progression would not be mutually exclusive from the means of enjoyment.
I have to agree with this. MMOs are becoming more and more obsessed with combat and gear progression (i.e. becoming more powerful than other players). It's sad to see for those of us who would actually like to see other things to do in these games but like you say, it's the devs fault for forcing players into it.
Actually there are two groups of ambitious people. There's the group whose only goal in life is to become wealthy even at the cost of another's well-being and then there is the group of ambitious people who are not driven by power and money, but instead by passion. These people get to the top and have all the wealth and power the first group has, with one key difference: They make those around them better off instead of worse off.
What the OP calls Power over others can effectively be summed in one word - competition. PVP is not the only factor that instills competition as someone claimed. In fact, the competition in pure PVE environments can be just as bad, if not worse. Think for a second, how much loot drama comes up with every raid? Wars will be started over who should get that awesome new dagger that dropped, alliances will be broken, friends will become enemies - just for that epic off-hand dagger.
Cake, MMOs with out Cake with fail always ... come play my MMO it has cake!!!
These days, you even compete while cooperating. Always gotta do more DPS than everyone else. Always gotta get more kills in PvP.
I miss the days before PvP ranked players by kill counts and DPS counters were invented, so that all groups became nothing but DPS races.
If you don't perceive the Social Element to be the hidden glue that makes all of these games successful, you're intentionally missing the point.
While it's not the highest factor on my own list of criteria, it's the #1 thing for many (perhaps most) people: finding people to enjoy playing the game with.
Really without listing the other factors in a balanced-sounding fashion, I'm not even sure the OP argument holds weight. After all "power over others" can be expanded to encompass nearly every aspect of every multiplayer/social game (which raises the question of whether it actually was balanced back in the day, or were you simply not perceptive enough to realize that was one of the underlying elements.)
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
Turning that reason as subjective as yourself is an easy way to set goals, it's that simple, let the primal instinct of being the best (or at least better than your friend or target X so you won't fail or you'll actually stand a chance) takeover. That, and the fact the magic of being into the impossible seems to have faded - everyone's in the impossible and the impossible became more mainstream and therefore adapted for mass consumption. If that didn't make sense, you should check indy games concepts and how incredible they are compared to popular games crafted with quality but no innovation.
It's the way real life is setup, it was bound to eventually get mixed into MMORPGs, along with other "plagues" like RMT.
Working as a team to overcome a final boss, feeling that you are an able and necessary part of your community, having a 'place' in the virtual world, having your own virtual space, beautiful and emcompassing environments....that's what mmorpg's are all about.
When I am 80 and can no long run and jump and be young...then in my virtual world all these things will still be at my fingertips.
MMORPG's give us a window into everlasting youth and a sense of immortality.
Personally, I agree with some points of the OP's philosophy and in other ways think its total bunk.
Agreement
That the mentality of most online games has always been: I am better than you because _______.
Where you just have to fill in the blanks with whatever carrot is hanging on the end of the stick. Being the "Look at my sparkly gear" crowd to the "Look at my achievement title" crowd and the old fashioned "Look at my rank and number" crowd who've been around since online gaming started.
Now you get into the political side of things you have the "Look at what I/my clan/my corp/my guild owns." In some cases you have the "look at how much money I have" crowd. These are the clearest examples of the POWER OVER OTHERS play. But it still boils down to two kids in the sandbox fighting over shovels.
Disagreement
Not everyone logs into an online game looking for any one of those things. What the OP is saying is a gross generalization. Some people, including myself, don't care what the other lil' johnnies and lil' maries are doing in the game. We are just looking for some fun and a way to socialize with interesting people. Have a few laughs and get away from the daily grind of what I mentioned above.
Isn't that why people started playing online games for in the first place?
Really? Power over others? So in bold type? And it's the main hook for every game coming out these days?
So if I play a city builder game offline and alone on my PC, I'm doing it to gain Power over others. Why, I would never had guessed. If I play FarmVille (and I can hear the stalwart mmo defenders howling at this 'Nooo, you fiend, you traitor to the true faith!'), I'm using my virtual grains, vegetables, fruits & livestock to gain Power over others? (Though I admit my combine harvester is an awe inspiring sight that really humbles them all into submission.)
Funny thread.
I played and will continue to play the MMORPG because I like adventuring. The chatting, ownership, crafting, fighting are things I do inbetween my exploration and self-induced wonder. When people aggrivate me, I simply run away. When I am not "good enough" to join an adventure, I find people like myself and not worry about perfection. There is no scale ibn adventuring, you simply show up and explore. You share your findings with those in interest, and ignore the nayers.
The largest problem with MMORPGS isnt "power over others". It's not PVP. It's not the super-ego state of "being better than the next guy". In my mind, the reaction to global issues by developers that affect my ability to enjoy the game as they advertised is a huge problem with me.
A certain game decided to allow PVP between factions; then within factions; then player to player... afterward, they allow players to PVP in controlled arenas (ROFLMAO). Each evolution PVP created a newer and more unique problem (in my eyes), but you know what...PVP sells subs.
Just as it is in real life, everyone can't be Einstein nor Bill Gates. Some people will never be more than a bus driver or manager at a local bank. So be it. You gotta love communicating to logon to any MMORPG. Plain and simple, it's the fastest known way to get immediate feedback without suffering and real social gain or loss. Unless, of couse, you marry that pretty pixel girl on the number one MMORPG... which is a whole other story.
The most popular game is WoW where you can solo to the level cap.
No one has power over anyone. You just solo to the top while you chat. Once in a while you get in a group to do a dungeon at the end of a quest line, then you go kthx bye.
Where's this power you speak of?
Done said Hockey games....awesome.
I would contend my local fantasy football league(8 friends competing yearly since 95) would fall into this as well.
Bragging rights can be a bitch when you are on the receiving end of them :P
Asking Devs to make AAA sandbox titles is like trying to get fine dining on a McDonalds dollar menu budget.
I play for fun and straight up enjoyment partying, soloing, PVP and anything else.
Only beef I have ever had with MMORPG's is how the player base (mainly CB/old school players) will influence and progress the ingame economy and the inevitable character class (job) structure to the point of re-writing the book on fantasy and virtual word and play ow you want to play to new rules made by them stating ,play by the book "our book". And now-a-day Guilds.
Guilds are tending to be a joke these days. Paying maintenance fees so the guild will help with dungeons, boss/god fights. Paying upkeep fees on top of that to stay within the guild, rank order lists on where your ranked within that guild etc etc.
We've all probably walked into those other guilds where "You need to play at this time, to this time to be of use to us or to be in this guild. ".
Sorry, people can call themselve hardcore all they want because they play so many hours a day per week that they really do vomit or have seizures or welfare taking their kids just so they can say they have uberness. Doesnt mean anything to me. It's laughable.
Its not that I didnt recognized there are other motives, I did.
What I afirmed was
in the past, those "other motives" were more prevalent, to the point where developers tried to satisfy them, not nowadays.
There are two main reasons why i like MMOs
The false sense of accomplishment (persist world, improving a character you are emotionaly investen in etc.)
Interacting with other players (Friend and foe alike, tho with the great friends i've made the past few years they are a huge part of why i still play)
Since the invention of the internet the worlds rotation has been solely propelled by English teachers rolling over in their graves.
MMO player since Meridian 59
Very clever.
But you could say this about virtually any human activity. Because all of them are exactly the same way at their core.
So whats that say about us?
Laudanum - Romance. Revenge. Revolution.
Crappy, petty people breed and raise crappy, petty kids.
I think this power over others meme is spot on. I remember when I first started playing MMOs back when they were text based and it was always about the power. I was thinking were else can a 14 year old guild leader get 100 people to follow orders and be placed in such a position of authority. Even the captain of the football team did not get that much respect. It is no wonder that has become the most addicting part of MMO gaming.
Taking this subject with a lighter side of perspective:-
I got a 10 year old guild so when we even consider about trying (or coming back to) any current or newer beta MMO, the only question we generally decide on:-
"So all of us are in or what?."
That's the only important thing to us.We've been together so long and since we're a small bunch (the number dwindled to low 20s now.Ya know guys getting married,girls getting better careers etc etc..) of by now mostly casual players we just tend to skip the game mechanics, features and even chosen MMO's level of service talks out of the loop.Because no one wants to bother with wasting their intellectual and critical energies for what seems to be a surefire pointless exercise.All of us unanimously went off that (for example) "Let's get organized.Let's compile a proper list of improvements to the official forum.We gotta make this happen for this MMO." enthusiasm probably like 5 years ago.And hell when that happened it was only on those MMOs we had a lot of fun in and had not much regrets in counting invested money and time.If we're sticking with one we'll stick with it.If anyone feels like "Meh..I'm out .See ya in the next one peeps" at some point they're free to go no notice no dramas required.1 guild member might post about a beta on our Facebook group,pitch about the MMO's basic content and maybe feature diffs and why it should be fun for us to give it a shot.But almost no one would campaign for a long term stay.That's how it is for me...
So yeah it got to up to this point and you can't really escape from feeling if slightly how unfortunate the situation is from time to time.I mean this is a hobby that me and my guild share so sometimes it does hit us hard about how 1 or 2 previous MMOs we were in,we were REALLY INTO those get what I mean?