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[Column] General: MMOs As a Grown Up
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Full-time jobs, children, spouses… It happens to all of us: the good things swoop in and steal game time right out from under you. It begs the question: are MMOs even for us anymore? We’ve been through the wringer and have your answer, and eight crucial tips to make sure you succeed.
Read more of Christopher Coke's MMOs as a Grown Up.
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Comments
I'm 35. I have a wife, two kids, and a job. Thus, my playing time is usually late in the evening or on the weekend.
I used to enjoy MMOs. However, now that I'm older, I yearn for more depth and complexity. I want a game where I can be me and not some "destined" quest hub to quest hub hero. I hate games where I'm simply going through the motions. I want to be able to shift the engine into neutral and do my own thing.
This is why I enjoy games like Star Wars Galaxies so much. I enjoy delving deep into crafting, bartering for rare tissues for my weapons, and hosting one of the more popular trade shops on the server.
There are also WoW/EQ-like features that I yearn for in my sandbox game, e.g., multiple raids, dungeons, etc.
I want it all...
#1. A world so big that it makes the land of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes look like an atom.
#2. A world so big that mounts can actually move as fast as mounts should run.
#3. Player-built cities / World Housing
#4. SWG-like crafting, where material statistics alone are completely random; thus, allowing for "once in a lifetime" dream weapons.
#5. LoTRO's Musical Instruments - Ability to play actual musical notes live for nearby adventurers. I love social building features like this.
#6. EverQuest-like raiding.
#7. EverQuest 2-like World PvP - Faction vs. Faction or the ability to go neutral and combat anyone. Kill on sight...
#8. Age of Conan-like gore.
#9. Age of Conan-like soundtrack.
#10. Star Trek Online-like Character Creation - especially the "create your own race" option.
#11. A game with endless weapons, armor, and apparel.
#12. Social Tools, e.g., incentives to use INNs, Taverns, and Cantinas. Gambling hubs would be nice, too - perhaps the ability to gamble gold with other players via mini-game poker or whatever other type of card game.
#13. World PvP
#14. High-End 2nd class features, e.g., ArcheAge's Naval Combat / Ocean, SWG's Jump to Lightspeed, etc.
#15. ArcheAge's ability to mix 'n match classes.
#16. ArcheAge's trade-run ability, but with more depth.
#17. In addition to World Housing, I would like to have the ability to rent apartments or storefronts within the game's major cities.
#18. Player Bounties - ability to hunt down lowbie griefers etc.
Just some of the features that I want...
amen brother. SWG ruined most other MMOs out there for me these days. Crazy how a game that came out around 2003 has more complexity and content than ones that came out 10+ years after.
It is not always complexity. I find that the older games offered a higher level of mental challenge, they were games that required that I learned, not that my character learned. Combat was a puzzle that I had to solve each time, else pay the price. Now combat is either brainless key presses, or dynamic muscle memory. The same applies to crafting and questing. I have lost my interest in the new games due to their lack of ability to engage me mentally.
Personally I am still very new to the gamer + family life. I have been with my GF for 4-5 years now and for the most part, I didn't have internet for 2-3 years of that time because of location and prices.
For the past couple years now we have had and it has been a struggle. To be completely honest, my GF has a 8 soon to be 9 yro son and we are living as a family. It has been hard during this time not only to balance some gaming with family but also knowing what I can and can't play because of the curiousness of my son.
Now he is turning into a avid gamer and I have to becarefull since some of the games just aren't for him nor would I want him to see them. I've found in the end to try and make gaming a family affair and we've done well with xbox kinetic. Anything else is purely a "late-night" affair for me.
Welcome to the club, great column
Now it's an easy time for playing like this, since the majority of the playerbase is sharing these views. I play like this since, dunno, the late MUDs in the '90s (and I was still in college back then, so not because of a wife+kid combo
simply that seemed the more rational way), it was way more tough then, but also fun.
With voices like "how DARE you roll an alt, and wasting the precious time you could spend on getting the most überestest gear available for the Tier23784 version of the raid"
Heck I had a buddy who was kicked out of his guild because on raid night he logged in 5 min later... "you F-in casual your not dedicated enough to be among us" 
It was a nice read, and I agree all the points (except 6. G600 ftw, I don't wanna keep all my setting in their cloud, this whole cloud-mania is overrated imo). But the most important line I think is in the 8th paragraph: "This is something you do for fun." Playing is not a chore, nor a second dayjob (like many thinks it is), not something you dedicate your life to, it's just an activity you do for having fun.
It's too rarely stated here sadly, probably that's why I like narius's posts, even though our preferences in games are way too far from each other, we share this view. Games are for fun, simple as that. As you wrote too in the column, "Logging in because you have to, when you have so little time to begin with, is only going to make you resent that game." Living by the raid-calendar is oboslete now (most older players don't waste their time for that, and the new players doesn't even bother with that playstyle in the first place) and I think it's a nice change. You can like a game and even being dedicated to it casually too
I have plenty of free time to play MMO's when I am not at work.....my problem is none lately have been worth that time. All of the free to play simpleton crap is simply mediocre gaming to me. Archeage came SO close to being the greatness I have been waiting for but it was a squandered by poor support and cash shop greed.
I will never have 20 hour marathons like back in the day, but no MMO requires that kind of playing...we did it to ourselves.
Nice article! I'm 53, have 3 grown children in the low 20's, 2 of the 3 still live at home along with a grandson and two additional dogs. Lots of years of doing sports and Scouting with them as they grew up while letting the house take a back seat. Nowadays outside of gaming I still do some volunteer work, run a music website, enjoy supplanting my comic book vice and trying to get the house in a condition to one day sell.
I've done many of the things Christopher speaks about in my many years of playing. Paying a sub has always bothered me a little bit because I didn't think I was getting the hours "worth" in for my $14.99 / month. I've stopped letting that bother me due to the "fun factor".
Yes it is tough under these conditions to play more than one MMO and "feel" effective.
I also agree with the above "too simple" comments above as I'm playing a new toon in WoW now (a hunter) and through the first 60 levels it has been pretty solo-ably easy. On the flip side I've tried to deal with "land grabs" in Archage and quit due to trying to acquire land taking up too much of my limited game time.
I'm in pre-alpha for The Repopulation and Shroud Of The Avatar but wonder if they are too complex given my limited time play.
Shameless plug, if you're one of these gamers that Christopher speaks of and you need a guild check out The Old Timers Guild as we're many people, in many games with the same life challenges :-)
Yeah, this is true for me as well.
Having always been a "grown-up" during the rise of MMORPG gaming, I've had to deal with the issues the OP raises since the beginning.
I learned to accept that I likely will never have the top level gear, experience the most time consuming content, (except as noted, on rare occasions) and the one time I tried to play the hard core raiding game, I had to let it go because it was impacting my work and family life too much.
Even now in EVE I have to make compromises, I don't have time for the 0.0 wars that can occur at all hours of the day and night, and require long term time commitments to participate actively in.
So I focus on activities that I can progress or do that take's 2 hours or less in most play sessions, and leave the rest for others to enjoy.
"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
"4) If you play more than one MMO, learn to smell the roses
It’s hard to play more than one MMO as a full-time player, let alone as a part-timer. Going into multiple MMOs expecting to make swift progress is like trying to push a tractor trailer up a hill. Learn to enjoy the ride. Find joy in the journey and finally accept that the “real game begins at level cap” is the biggest line of bull to ever come out of the MMO industry. The cake is a lie."
Pretty much what I've been doing, and why SWTOR, TSW, ESO and Neverwinter are my favorite MMOs, all are story-driven and have an amazing leveling experience. (The former three more than the latter, but I still enjoy it as a whole)
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
WELL said!
It made me chuckle how both you guys only mentioned "full time jobs" and perhaps haven't had to throw in factors for kids, home maintainence, volunteer work and other hobbies :-)
1) Face it, you’re a casual
- known this for a while - I keep a console for pvp - I can't compete with hardcore pc crowd, especially in games with pvp gear grind.
2) Make time wherever you can
- I find it works better to schedule my time still - that way there are less surprises
3) But give up on keeping up with the joneses
- absolutely do not try to keep up with the Joneses. I have several free games I play solo for the most part and don't bother socializing because I dont want to get caught up in trying to keep up with the Joneses
That's Mr Filthy Casual to you good sir :P
As a person that slaves away for 10 to 12 hrs a day 5 to 6 days a week I find My Me time slipping away
.
Imagine when all these people enter old age and start to play games and MMOs in the homes of the elderly. Don't need much sleep, don't need much food, can't move around all that much anyway ... 20 hours a day hard core super-granny raid commanders. Grumpy old men spawn-camping revival spots in world PvP to abuse all those annoying adolescent (anyone under 50) whippersnappers. They will SPIT on us working life filthy casuals ;-)
Have fun
Hooooow?! If I don't study constantly I fail quizzes because they give you freaking 5 question quizzes over 100 page content where I go. Freaking ridiculous since you basically have to hope whatever you memorized is on the quiz because I literally have a day and then the next day it's the quiz Q~Q
Smile
Late night playing is exactly what happens to me as well. I still get 6.5 hours in but it seems not enough.
I've taken to WoW the same way with my Hunter.
I was going to say the same thing. The game is pretty complex, a bit of reading :-)
40 here and with a 1.5 year old. . So I had a lot of time to play away. It changed when I started working full time and really got into my job. Now I am lucky to get a few hours in a week. Since I had a kid so late I now have to wait . . retirement and kid moving out will likely happen around the same time!
I have found I am preferring sandbox games like 7 Days to Die with multiplayer more than MMOs. I do like SWTOR because it is pretty casual friendly.
I remember spending hours waiting for the UO beta to come back online and chatting in ICQ with guildies etc while we waited and planned what we were going to do. Those days are gone. At least the $15 a month is not so bad at this point in my life. I can sub to two games and not worry about it at all. I just don't :P
Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!
Very good article. I have only gotten into MMOs (mostly LOTRO) since I have been a husband/father/breadwinner, so there was not a really a transition for myself. I sometimes do long for the potential of playing more, but I think I would become too obsessive if it weren't for my real life responsibilities.
One thing I do like about MMOs is that some of the "daily grind" things actually offer me a way to work towards something without having to put a huge chunk of time in one sitting. For instance in LOTRO to be able to craft top tier weapons you need to craft rep items for the weaponsmith guild. I have almost completed it while I'm still 25 levels from actually be able to use any weapons from that tier.
I might have to check out that mouse, though that is what my 3 y/o likes to play with the most.
Try Repopulation then... If your about graphics, forget it, to many kids are, about graphics, this game is in beta but nearly what your talking about, very close to SWG.
Your parents must pay the bills lol.