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It Is Gone
drakaena
Member UncommonPosts: 506
First of all, let me start off by saying that I realize I am about to sound like such a cliche which many posters on this site get labeled as being. Oh well.
I mean, I am usually a pretty optimistic guy. While I have read these forums for a long time, and occasionally post from time to time, I haven't necessarily been doom and gloom about the genres future.
Then it kind of hit me.. its done. MMORPG gaming is done for me. It will never again be what it was.
A lot of that has to do with just growing up and responsibilities and the like, yeah sure, but its more than that.
It is the games themselves.
MMO"RPG" for me, my opinion, what I always wanted from it, was a dungeons and dragons PnP like-experience in a video game. Games now are missing the attachment to character and the world at-large. I know this has been beaten to death here and no need to go into semantics about what all that exactly entails. Its just a thing, a feeling, and you know it when its there, and when it isn't then its a bit more meh, imo.
Now I have played and enjoyed all sorts of MMO's that didn't exactly have what I am trying to describe, so I am not hating on that kind of game, because it is a different kind of fun. But that really isn't what an MMORPG is to me. I don't think it is what it started out being. And now I feel it is gone, which makes me feel a bit sad, like I lost an old friend. Sappy I know :P
And don't tell me about some kickstarter project that promises all these old school rulesets. It ain't ever happening. And that Korean game that sounds so awesome is going to be a P2W cash shop, bot/hak infested cluster. Also the private retro game servers (ime) are full of exploits and it kind of kills it.
Apologies for the rant. Flame away.
Comments
I've got a feevah, and the only prescription... is more cowbell.
Don't worry. 90% of the stuff no this forum is beating dead horses anyway ... so you are in good company.
Yeah, MMORPG evolved, and you no longer like it ... it is not like all entertainment genre will always last forever. There are plenty of other entertainment out there.
Step 5: acceptance.
I don't think that is the problem here, the problem is that MMOs have become very similar to eachothers with very few exceptions. In the old days there were fewer but more varied games so it was easier to find something you liked.
Now the games are focused on the exact same group of players (again with a few exceptions like Eve) and that is bad. That doesn't mean the games in themselves are bad at all but it does mean that the potential numbers of players in the genre actually are fewer now then 10 years ago, and since 99% of all players actually don't belong to the current focus group (easy PvE games with fast leveling and endgame raids),it is more something like 50%-60%, the dip in potential players have dropped a lot.
The kickstarter games might fix this or not, but it is a problem. Evolution isn't always a good thing if it just means that we just get more of the same. It will alienate many of the former players and limit how many new players start with the genre.
As an example the average time a player spends playing a specific MMO is down a lot now then 10 or 20 years ago. The genre is somewhat larger then 10 years ago but if a player just play a specific game a month instead of 6 months that means that most of the MMOs profit is from the first 2 months after launch which is bad for players staying longer, there will be fewer expansions and less content patches that way.
50 Great MMORPGs ................go ahead i for one like to see this impossible list ....there may be a dozen Great or bordering great mmos at best ... And for most players they can count on one hand MMos they would consider great ..
I absolutely feel the OP's pain. Funny, but over the past week I did some talking to myself (non-medicated, tyvm! lol) and I think I have arrived at essentially the same feeling. As much as it does hurt to say it, since I have been a fan of the genre for years and love gaming period, I am going MMO-less myself and don't see a return in the cards at all, really.
I've lost count of the sheer number of MMOs I have tried, and while a few kept me going, those too have fallen away. I was sticking with Guild Wars 1, until I realized that all I was really doing was making more money in a game where I am already beyond rich, which is basically pointless. I still love WoW but can't play this iteration, and don't see it getting any better, imo. There are several games I've tried more than once to like and just couldn't, due to limiting systems/bad design/forced content, etc.
I just think the state of the genre is bad for some of us now, and that's OK. Now is the time that I am glad I enjoy console gaming also, glad that I bought an XB 1. Honestly have never been a big PC gamer outside of MMOs because I tend to find that console controllers are simply better for shooters/action/fighters, and the whole "master race" argument is just foolishness.
At any rate, OP, I am with you. It may take a while to get mentally and spiritually adjusted to being MMO-less, but that's fine, too. When there's nothing on the market that excites me and nothing on my PC I want to touch, methinks it's time to say goodbye. Heck, I'll really only miss them until TES 6 hits next year, and then I'll probably forget MMOs altogether anyway lol.
Good luck to all of you who are like us, I hope we all find something to stick with, regardless of what platform it's on.
Excelsior!
"Why would I want to loose a religion upon my people? Religions wreck from within - Empires and individuals alike! It's all the same." - God Emperor of Dune
It is not gone Everquest has launched progression server it is back to original launch condition lots of grouping needed to finish quests and areas and no killing 3 mobs and your level 10 either.
What are you talking about?
There are so many variations now. You have the MOBAs, the instanced pvp games (like WoT), the world pvp games (like PS2), the instanced pve games like Warframe, and action RPG-ish MMOs like Marvel Heroes, and you have settings from fantasy to sci-fi to superheroes.
It is MUCH better than the UO/EQ days where you only have fantasy, and only very few game modes.
There is no problem per se.
Just a matter of how discriminating your tastes are, some folks can play anything and have fun, others are looking for a more specific experience which isn't really available anymore except in a few small pockets.
I agree, there hasn't been 50 great MMORPG's in the genre's entire history, perhaps 10-15 at best, and most of those long ago.
The rest fall in the category of mostly average.
"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
backpedal ... backpedal ... your entire post is about mmos ... ahh now it its only games it those 3 words from the 200 word post ...lmao ... ffs
Listen, MOBAs and instanced PvP games are multiplayer games, not MMOs. Instanced PvE games are at best CORPGs, but fine.CORPGs are at least almost MMOs.
The mechanics of games like UO, EQ, AO, DAoC, SWG and AC were very different from eachothers and far from all of the old MMOs were fantasy.
95% of all current actual MMOs use the same basic mechanics (levelbaseed, questdriven, using the exact same mechanics for combat, the same general difficulty and time to play it... The settings of actual MMOs are still 90% fantasy with a few sci-fi games as well. Yeah, there are a few superhero games and TSW but the superhero genre been around since City of heroes as well. They have the same raiding for gear endgame.
Whenever I pick up a new MMO I almost always get the feeling I already played it for years.
The PvP crowd have mostly moved away from MMOs to Mobas and FPS games. The majority of the PvE ers bungee between F2P games or are still playing Wow.
The average time a gamer plays in a game is far shorter today, just that should tell you something is wrong. If not that, consider that all larger western publishers have given up on the genre, there are zero of them with a MMO in the making now.
If you count FPS games like Destiny, games like Diablo and LOL as MMOs then everything are fine but the actual MMO are fading right now. Blizzard canned Titan, CCP WoDO, Bioware their Dragon age MMO and that is just a few.
All that still doesn'yt mean there is something wrong with a particular MMO but devs can't just continue doing what they have the last 5-10 years now or we will soon just have a few low budget kick starter games, Korean and Japanese games and none MMOs to play. We need the spirit that got the genre started again, the experiamantation and variation instead of copying what is already done over and over.
want 7 free days of playing? Try this
http://www.swtor.com/r/ZptVnY
Such a load of crap. Really... you had so much fun playing that you stopped after 30 minutes but back in the day you forced yourself to endure 12+ hours of something that wasn't fun. What a load of utter crap. You choose to play or not to play... just as you did back in the day. Difference is, you chose gaming over all else because it was that engaging back then. Today you could just as easily skip it as do it. That paint drying on the wall is just as entertaining, but that holds your attention longer.
Games today aren't better, they're just disposable... like everything else we use today.
Sad. I too have asked myself recently why do I even come to this site? I know why, to see if anything new is on the horizon. Every day I come here and expect to see a new UO, EQ, Daoc (still praying CU is what it says it is), etc. Every day I say...maybe tomorrow.
The OPs orginal thot of this thread and spirit of his post was MMO"RPG" rulesets and expectations .. your entire post references MMOs .. You seem to be like you have been around the block .. you know dam well what the OPS thoughts and feelings on a traditional MMORpg were ... It wanst a what is what isnt discussion ... so why drag that in...You know exactly waht type of game the OP was referencing ... dont you ...
haha well said Pepeq,there are 3-4 people with 6k - 23k posts each on these forums who say the same shit over and over.I just have them on ignore but unfortunately I sometimes see their BS posts when someone replies to it.
That's the problem though, the MMORPG genre did not improve on what it was, it completely changed. When we say we want to go back to its roots it does not mean exactly that. This is a myth that is constantly repeated on these forums and it simply is not true. If I wanted the same EQ experience as back in the day I would just play one of the classic EQ free servers. I want improved versions of EQ, UO, Daoc, etc. Not EQ skins and zone names with quest hubs, solo-centric play, and shallow player interaction. I could do without sitting staring at my spellbook for minutes to regain mana in between pulls. I could do without losing hours of xp because I got killed over some idiot training mobs. But I would love the things it did great.
Amen. So well said, bravo. His logic has always been 1+1=3 on this subject. Drives me insane.
Look at all of the movies and shows that have gained a huge following from fans that didn't grow up nerding out to AD&D. LOTR and GOT for example.
Those are stories that are all about character development, and an interaction with the fantasy world they inhabit, and the meaningful impact the have in it.
One would assume there'd be a huge demand to experience this type of adventure through a video game format.
Also, I should say I do like some of the new elements of gaming. Return to how things were was a poor choice of words on my part. I meant how I felt about my character and virtual world - the connection.
That element is what feels dead to me and what I miss most about the genre. This wasn't meant as old school vs new school. Only that the older games offered this aspect because I feel they were a truer representation of MMORPG.
Thanks for all of the replies.
There is no need to apologize when stating facts. MMORPG's have gone from slower paced, deeply driven social experiences based around community and exploration to (instant map quick traveling adventures), 6 month long leveling cycles to (overnight power leveling sessions to end game), player driven economy's to ( one character can craft everything, and level it up in an hour), one class per character with unique skills to (everyone can to everything I don't need your help), massive open worlds to ( canyons and loading zones), cryptic and challenging quests to (quest markers and arrows). Self policing communities to (F bombs and insults flying around from day one), level playing field for everyone to (Cash shop driven progression), slower combat with 20 abilities to ( flashy spaztic action combat, that's based on dodging and using your 5 abilities).
Those reasons aren't your opinion they are facts. MMORPGS went from novels to comic books, simple as that. Comic books are easier to read to understand and to pick up and set down, they have colorful pictures and flashy images. That's what most gamers want these days, so the big developers and publishers are simply creating what the majority of players expect from a game.