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Play for Months or Years? Has the model changed?
Kyleran
Member LegendaryPosts: 44,057
I think when MMORPG's first came out, (and choices were far fewer) there was a strong tendency for players to stick with a certain game for a long period time, frequently across several years. It actually became an expectation really, and all newer games have been judged in these terms.
But now there are so many more choices out there. New MMO's release all the time (even if most aren't up to par) and it's not uncommon for players to play multiple games, change games frequently, or bounce back in and out of a game when new content launches.
So, have player expectations changed signficiantly and are more of them looking for a shorter term experience, say 3 - 6 months and if they get that much out of MMO did the game meet their expectations?
Time for a poll I think:
"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
Comments
Sadly, they don't make games for the long term anymore. You can follow a very clear path to max level withing a few weeks now.
Not buying MMO as new and when bought just play untill I don't get satisfaction anymore. Same as with single-player games, compter game is computer game...
As far as I'm concerned for what I look for and expect out of an MMO, if an MMO only keeps me interested for a few months then that MMO has failed (for me).
Well, depends what you have to do when you get to max level, but its true, when first launched most games built today don't really give the player much to do, especially if they are the type of player who can burn through content very quickly.
"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 probably won't make it past the 7 day free trial on most games. My tolerance for repetition is much lower than it use to be, inversely my expectation of quality and my need for variety has increased over the years.
All men think they're fascinating. In my case, it's justified
the modern MMORPG has taken over a lot of features and design paradigms from the single player RPG: mainquest, questhubs, linearity, refining, cutscenes, fast levelling, fast learnig curve, ....
and so you can play it like a single-player RPG until maxlevel pretty fast and then jump on the next waggon before the questgrinding is replaced by grinding of raidinstances. these new games are no MMOs imho, so they dont deserve, that we player play them like an MMO and stay with them for years.
i would love to stay again in a game for years. but there is no game out at this point of time i would be willing to play more than days or weeks at best. unfortunately all tests have been negative so far. and i tested a lot of them.
PS: 2+ years is not very long. i am missing the 5+ years option
so i hope 5 years, but due to the sad reality i expect something like 5 days again.
played: Everquest I (6 years), EVE (3 years)
months: EQII, Vanguard, Siedler Online, SWTOR, Guild Wars 2
weeks: WoW, Shaiya, Darkfall, Florensia, Entropia, Aion, Lotro, Fallen Earth, Uncharted Waters
days: DDO, RoM, FFXIV, STO, Atlantica, PotBS, Maestia, WAR, AoC, Gods&Heroes, Cultures, RIFT, Forsaken World, Allodds
There is a large group of people still playing the same game for years, but there are more people switching from game to game. It is quite easy doing so now that there are more options than there used to be.
what made your standards go up in regards to new MMORPGs?
I wonder
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
What people plan on vs what people end up doing is very much different. I had planned to play WAR for a very long time, because I thought that's where I would get my DAOC fix. But upon entering tier 4, and saw the endgame in both PvE & RvR, I realized they really messed up.
When I first went back to WoW's Wotlk expansion, I thought I would be there for a long time. I had great fun for awhile, but 6 months in, I had accomplished all I cared to do, and everything else were just reptition after reptition. So again, that was another short lived that went against my plan.
I think you'll find most people planning to (or wanting to) play their next MMO long term. But I think most people will end up changing games a lot sooner than they think. This jumping back & forth between games is happening more and more these days.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
Personally, the mmos I've been hooked on I have played closer to the 2+ year mark. If a mmo can't keep me interested for at least 2 years, then I feel that game is a failure (in my eyes only).
I played Asheron's Call 1 for 2 years, Asheron's Call 2 for about 18 months, DAoC for a little over 2 years and WoW for 6+. Everything else I played through my free month and then I either went back about a year later to see if things had improved, or never went back at all. LotRO is a game that I want to love, but can't play for more than 2-3 days before feeling bored.
I am also the type of gamer who will draw a lot of enjoyment out of single player games as well. Games like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, FF Tactics, Oblivion, and even TF2 I have either played through numerous times over the course of the years, or I continue to play off and on for years. The games I love, I play the hell out of them, put em down and pick em back up 1-10 years down the road and play through them again.
My most important factor for play a mmo is whether I can see myself playing the game for years with minimal breaks.
Its all games really not just MMOs,
As soon as start playing a game it seems I start pointing out flaws and thinking of ways it could be better, which basically keeps me from enjoying most games.
All men think they're fascinating. In my case, it's justified
Well there's your problem, thinking. Knock it off! :P
Well, I might have to change my vote. I originally picked 1-2 years, because I always hope to find a longer term playing experience.
But my son wants us to give Rift a go so I'll have to say if I can get a good 6 months out of it I'll be happy. (at least until GW2 or Tera come out)
"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 put down 1-2 years because that's what I expect games to deliver but its not what I expect to get. Most games I expect a few months at best, although with Xyson I am hoping to get at least year.
Sent me an email if you want me to mail you some pizza rolls.
i put some brackets into your post. basically modern MMOs are not much different from Online-Golf, imho. they are made to play a hole or more, not even 18. they are no virtual worlds, where you like to spend your time in and forget the time. they are just online-storybooks. fully plotdriven in handy 30 min portions.
how could you watch a soap for years? well, a lot of people can. and so a lot of players can stay with such MMOs for years.
but not me. i dont want to play a game. i want to live in a virtual world. and this is something totally different.
played: Everquest I (6 years), EVE (3 years)
months: EQII, Vanguard, Siedler Online, SWTOR, Guild Wars 2
weeks: WoW, Shaiya, Darkfall, Florensia, Entropia, Aion, Lotro, Fallen Earth, Uncharted Waters
days: DDO, RoM, FFXIV, STO, Atlantica, PotBS, Maestia, WAR, AoC, Gods&Heroes, Cultures, RIFT, Forsaken World, Allodds
I'm totally an "MMO hopper". And I think most MMO players are.
Reason being, you will NEVER, EVER get the same magical feeling from any subsequent MMO to your first, but you will keep trying, reaching for the next shiney and hoping.
People stayed with the early MMOs for a long time because there was no competition. Now, there's no real reason to stick with one unless it's a sandbox in which you can have a second life - but not everyone wants a second life/second job, but many people do want something of the feel of a virtual world, only something they can pick up and put down easily.
Plus also, it's actually fun being in different virtual worlds AND LEARNING NEW ONES. It's a form of meta-gameplay all to itself.
How about looking at it another way?
I think that people spend a long time (years usually) on their first MMO, and that after they lose interest in that (for whatever reason) then the game-hopping starts.
We all know that it's nigh-on impossible to recapture the feeling of wonder experienced on first playing an MMO, on seeing these other people running around like you in a world that has not yet revealed its secrets and seems full of possibilities.
That doesn't mean that people don't expect their second MMO to live up to the first, many do, not only that but they expect it to surpass it in many ways (look better, run more smoothly, have a unique "hook", etc.).
Personally speaking I don't approach a new game with a time-frame in mind. I'll pay for it as long as I continue to enjoy it, and I always hope to be landing in a game that will keep me in fun for a good long while. Trouble is, the games I've enjoyed and continued paying for past the 18-month mark can be counted on one hand.
I don't consider myself a game-hopper, but there are games I've only played for the free month (or a month beyond that) and I've walked away from them with no regrets.
I would suggest that the first MMO someone gets drawn into will benefit from a long sub period, and after that the sub periods will get exponentially shorter, unless they have the good luck to find another "good fit" for themselves reasonably quickly afterwards. Familiarity with the genre (outside of that first game) makes people more critical and less willing to be seduced by the newness over all else.
I think your poll says it all. Right now that 61.9% that say 1+ year with another 26.2% that say time doens't matter, when fun runs out which could mean 1+ year as well if the game is good. That puts the potential at 88.1% possible for 1+ year and up in time. Sure its only 42 votes so far but thats more than we have in our politcal polls that decide which way our president moves on issues lately.
Only few i manage to play 2 years rest from few hours to year.
When building my character and crafting takes long plus it have decent free for all pvp i manage to play at least 2 years these are mainly sandbox, when game is to easy and to fast to end game i quit between few hours and year themeparks hehe.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
I prefer the time card method. Pay for 100 hours of game time and that can last 2 months or 4 months depending on how many hours you play.
It's great for people that hit max on a game and want to cut back on there playing time.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...