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Is your MMO an escape from real life?
CalmOceans
Member UncommonPosts: 2,437
Is an MMO just a game to you, or is it your sea of tranquility, your escape from the stresses of daily life.
Comments
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
'Sandbox MMO' is a PTSD trigger word for anyone who has the experience to know that anonymous players invariably use a 'sandbox' in the same manner a housecat does.
When your head is stuck in the sand, your ass becomes the only recognizable part of you.
No game is more fun than the one you can't play, and no game is more boring than one which you've become familiar.
How to become a millionaire:
Start with a billion dollars and make an MMO.
I would say it's for a different experiance. I love my life so I don't need to escape from it, but I also like to enjoy other stuff. I read a lot, I watch a lot of shows, I play many sports, I go camping by the lake at least a weekend per month and I play a lot of games. I get something good from all of it, most of the time.
I think the firsts MMORPG did a better job at an escapist way as they were more immersive. Now i would say they have become just games.
In what sense? I mean, I work for CCP, but I can still get lost in the universe of New Eden, the world of Nave, the land of Dereth, etc. Is it that you review/blog about MMOs? If so, I can see how you'd be coming at the games from a different angle, but there would still be some you play just for entertainment, no?
What part of your job hinders your immersion into MMOs, and why do you feel it does that?
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
All kinds of entertainment is kinda an escape from real life, watching a movie, listening to music or playing a game.
Most people do need something else to think about than work and other crap now and then, that is just healthy. The problem becomes when you start only living for escaping reality.
No, it's not an escape. When real life turns up the volume, I try to turn up the Real Life footwork; this just works for me. My MMO is a hobby, like Chess, playing an instrument, or learning a martial art. It's a fun activity, but nothing to replace real life.
/2c
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance
Not an escape necessarily, but more than just a game. An alternate reality I guess where I spend some time in every day for a few hours.
Very similar to the alternate realities of "work", "family life", "running time" and "yard work". I behave differently in each of those situations and enjoy and dislike different things about them.
Besides, my wife has far fewer issues with me playing MMO's vs partaking of beer, blow and hookers, and it's less destructive too.
"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
In a world where lying, cheating, and stealing are now the fastest way any kind of success in life I found mmo's to be a great escape. Hard work could give you a sense of accomplishment , and even feed the ego a bit. I really liked the structure of a more logic based rule set, one that was harder to exploit and manipulate. Enter the masses and the rule set of the real world. Now I play single player games.
Maybe I am a misanthrope.
Imagine if mmorpgs were like heroin. The first taste makes it seem like the best feeling in the world. But soon your tolerance builds up. Mmorpgs just don't give you that high and endorphin rush satisfaction they use to. So you get desperate and start trying more and more mmorpgs. You try them all but they just don't give you the same rush they did in the past. Soon you are hooked but you don't even like the mmorpg you are playing...you just play because it's what your mind and body tell you to do. Soon you get mad and start bashing all the new mmorpgs because they aren't as good as your first mmorpg. Eventually your body and mind can't take anymore because your brain is burnt out and warped. You can't process endorphins on your own anymore and NEED mmorpgs to help pick you up, all the while secretly hating them.
Good thing that mmorpgs aren't like drugs right.......right?
They should be, in the same way that some TV, film and books should be. Surely the intention of many of these mediums is to create an immersive world, intriguing plots and compelling characters that allow you to become lost in their creation for a few hours.
Unfortunately I haven't been sufficiently immersed in an mmo for some time to to provide any real escapism. Recently they all seem to be about bombarding the players with trivial distractions rather than creating a deep, immersive world to become lost in.
So if I want a few hours escapism these days I am more likely to put on a decent boxset or read a decent book.
Sith Warrior - Story of Hate and Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxKrlwXt7Ao
Imperial Agent - Rise of Cipher Nine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBBj3eJWBvU&feature=youtu.be
Imperial Agent - Hunt for the Eagle Part 1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQqjYYU128E
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
No, I'm a designer. When I play most computer games its always an analysis. That's great dialogue, the tree must have been huge, kudos to them. Look at that animation, did you see that hitch? We need to send our walk animation back for another pass. It's almost there but not quite. That was a long quest, but was it fun? It seemed to drag in the middle there, we could have gotten to the point faster on that one. Man we could have cleaned this up a lot more if we had more time...
I'm thinking about what it took, how well/poor another design team did, notable new approaches to a problem I see, etc... I'm just always working the problem rather then getting lost in the narrative. Don't get me wrong, I can get lost in a frenetic game like an FPS, but that's hardly an escape. Honestly for escape I turn to tabletop now, and I still have a tendency to think, how can we get that moment into our game?
'Sandbox MMO' is a PTSD trigger word for anyone who has the experience to know that anonymous players invariably use a 'sandbox' in the same manner a housecat does.
When your head is stuck in the sand, your ass becomes the only recognizable part of you.
No game is more fun than the one you can't play, and no game is more boring than one which you've become familiar.
How to become a millionaire:
Start with a billion dollars and make an MMO.
Originally posted by Arskaaa
"when players learned tacticks in dungeon/raids, its bread".
Just a game.
Oh fuck you...
...I want a churro now.