I have been warned lol. Apperantly coming to gaming forums and calling gaming "a complete waste of time" and trying to impose this view on others is acceptable by the mods here, but responding to such ignorant claims is wrong. It is even funnier when you consider these people also consider reading/writing posts a complete waste of time but still get offended by posts. Sorry I made your forum experience worse than "a complete waste of time", whatever it means in your deranged minds.
Seriously, look at MOBAs which are the most accessible MMO type out there. The communities might start okay, but they quickly devolve into vitriol when left unchecked and not even developers can stop this from happening. Making something more accessible gets more customers, but it also makes them worse experiences socially.
I don't think it's the "unchecking" that shapes the community. It's the intrusive cash shop model. We, gamers, consider a game worse if it offers less of what games should offer (fun, an environment to use your social/mental skills, etc. ), but developers consider a game worse if it makes less money for them. It is just a product like any other as far they and several posters in this thread are concerned, but it is much more than that for someone who can appreciate playing for what it is.
You didn't respond to my point, you seemingly were questioning my intelligence, as well as didn't realize I was referring to gaming in the modern sense (not what it meant historically in ancient civilizations like Greece), huge difference. Not that I reported you for it, the actual post was gone before I even saw it ( I saw it in Vermillion's quote of it).
Anyway, when I say it's a "waste of time" I mean it's a recreational activity it's not meant as a negative toward the hobby (I game a lot myself, as well as post here), it just means it's a form of entertainment. There's no reason to get defensive over that.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
For example, you like the LFG system, so you'd be more inclined to go into games that are about getting you into the action as fast as possible. Basically, you play the game like a single player game, only you have other players also playing with you during a "mission", and part of the games challenge is getting everyone to do what is necessary to complete that mission adhoc.
No, I like to play it like a multiplayer game. Where as others like to treat these games like they're social centers or playgrounds.
Well, you are playing a multiplayer game. The reason it is like single player is that with an LFG system people skip the entire process of relationship building, which is part of the original experience that many MMORPG veterans feel is lacking. It kept a lot of bad behavior in check because bad apples couldn't get groups or would have a really hard time getting groups to progress further in the game.
This curated some of the best communities we've had in years. Sure, the games didn't boast the same population that current MMOs have, but that was the point. It filtered out a lot of the worst that online communities had to offer in exchange for a little more effort, and the game had many aspects of being an off hour hobby.
Seriously, look at MOBAs which are the most accessible MMO type out there. The communities might start okay, but they quickly devolve into vitriol when left unchecked and not even developers can stop this from happening. Making something more accessible gets more customers, but it also makes them worse experiences socially.
Personally I'm happy with the great little communities I have been part of in games with an LFG tool. Also, as I PUG a lot the ignore feature stops me being grouped with idiots.
The main reason IMO that communities had a lot less idiots is the cost of playing the games. During the early MMORPGs you had to pay a subscription fee. Also here in the UK most were still being charged a pay per minute rate to use the internet.
I just think the LFG had very little to do with toxic communities as the people being idiots aren't the solo/asocial players. It's the people who like to group and be social.
It isn't a hobby either. You will see kittens playing but you won't see them do something purely as a hobby. For humans it's even more essential, especially in the creation of culture. Computer gaming is an evolved form of past games, where the computer is a tool as opposed to the football in the football game, for example. One can argue social aspects of playing takes a hit when players don't share the same physical environment, but that's another issue.
A hobby is nothing more than something someone does regularly in their leisure time, so what do you mean it's not a hobby? I get that you're trying to be profound in your reply, but you're taking that a bit far when saying it's not a hobby, it's the text book definition of one for most who partake in it.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
It isn't a hobby either. You will see kittens playing but you won't see them do something purely as a hobby. For humans it's even more essential, especially in the creation of culture. Computer gaming is an evolved form of past games, where the computer is a tool as opposed to the football in the football game, for example. One can argue social aspects of playing takes a hit when players don't share the same physical environment, but that's another issue.
A hobby is nothing more than something someone does regularly in their leisure time, so what do you mean it's not a hobby? I get that you're trying to be profound in your reply, but you're taking that a bit far when saying it's not a hobby, it's the text book definition of one for most who partake in it.
Textbooks don't define things by what most consider them to be, thankfully.
They do define the words we use to describe things though.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
It isn't a hobby either. You will see kittens playing but you won't see them do something purely as a hobby. For humans it's even more essential, especially in the creation of culture. Computer gaming is an evolved form of past games, where the computer is a tool as opposed to the football in the football game, for example. One can argue social aspects of playing takes a hit when players don't share the same physical environment, but that's another issue.
A hobby is nothing more than something someone does regularly in their leisure time, so what do you mean it's not a hobby? I get that you're trying to be profound in your reply, but you're taking that a bit far when saying it's not a hobby, it's the text book definition of one for most who partake in it.
Textbooks don't define things by what most consider them to be, thankfully.
They do define the words we use to describe things though.
I think sometimes we forget that words started as pure imagination. They never existed until someone made them up. When someone makes up words in today's society they are often frowned upon unless they are a scholar, scientist, etc. Apparently Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge (in his opinion). I think part of the problem with current games (for me) is there is little room for imagination. They are very structured. Either that or my imagination is in decline as I get older. It could also be a combination of the two.
They do define the words we use to describe things though.
I think sometimes we forget that words started as pure imagination. They never existed until someone made them up. When someone makes up words in today's society they are often frowned upon unless they are a scholar, scientist, etc. Apparently Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge (in his opinion). I think part of the problem with current games (for me) is there is little room for imagination. They are very structured. Either that or my imagination is in decline as I get older. It could also be a combination of the two.
Well sure but I think that's a bit out of the realm of the topic at hand . We're communicating our opinions so it's best to use words we're all familiar with haha.
The main reason IMO that communities had a lot less idiots is the cost of playing the games. During the early MMORPGs you had to pay a subscription fee. Also here in the UK most were still being charged a pay per minute rate to use the internet.
are you implying intelligence is determined with how RICH you are?
They do define the words we use to describe things though.
I think sometimes we forget that words started as pure imagination. They never existed until someone made them up. When someone makes up words in today's society they are often frowned upon unless they are a scholar, scientist, etc. Apparently Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge (in his opinion). I think part of the problem with current games (for me) is there is little room for imagination. They are very structured. Either that or my imagination is in decline as I get older. It could also be a combination of the two.
Well sure but I think that's a bit out of the realm of the topic at hand . We're communicating our opinions so it's best to use words we're all familiar with haha.
It seems in persistent MMOs I played we often came up with words that no one else would have understood. When I was a kid that was also often the case with me and my friends. I'm sure it's still the case with kids today in many cases. I believe as we get older we are less likely to make things up though. This is especially true the more we learn.
The main reason IMO that communities had a lot less idiots is the cost of playing the games. During the early MMORPGs you had to pay a subscription fee. Also here in the UK most were still being charged a pay per minute rate to use the internet.
I tend to agree. You had to have dedication and desire to play in the early days which I think is something sorely missing today.
Ease of access through cheep widespread Internet access and games adopting F2P business models mean that literally anyone can play today. If someone really wants to be a dick, act stupid, do things to piss people off today they just turn on their device. There are many examples of this type of person on this site now to prove the point.
Anyone playing 10-20 years ago would probably be an enthusiast, probably coming from a tabletop or computer background and was willing to pay a premium to do so. It was highly unlikely for someone to be a douche when they had to pay a lot for the right to do so.
The main reason IMO that communities had a lot less idiots is the cost of playing the games. During the early MMORPGs you had to pay a subscription fee. Also here in the UK most were still being charged a pay per minute rate to use the internet.
I tend to agree. You had to have dedication and desire to play in the early days which I think is something sorely missing today.
Ease of access through cheep widespread Internet access and games adopting F2P business models mean that literally anyone can play today. If someone really wants to be a dick, act stupid, do things to piss people off today they just turn on their device. There are many examples of this type of person on this site now to prove the point.
Anyone playing 10-20 years ago would probably be an enthusiast, probably coming from a tabletop or computer background and was willing to pay a premium to do so. It was highly unlikely for someone to be a douche when they had to pay a lot for the right to do so.
If you guys didn't run into douchebags back then, I'd say you just got lucky. They were there. I remember them. Maybe they didn't stick around as long, but they still popped their ugly heads up quite often.
If you guys didn't run into douchebags back then, I'd say you just got lucky. They were there. I remember them. Maybe they didn't stick around as long, but they still popped their ugly heads up quite often.
They were there but they were the exception rather then a sizable proportion of the playerbase.
You also didn't have many options back then either. If you were a dick you didn't stay around long because no one would interact with you and all that would happen is you would rack up a big bill and be unable to play anymore. Not saying it didn't happen, just that you had to make an effort to do so whereas today, no effort is needed to be a dick online.
One of the things I see a lot of people talking about is how much better social aspects of old MMORPGs were. But I don't fully agree to that. I'll agree there were some factors. Like less anonymity and people knew who you were on your servers. I also think there was a higher concentration of players looking to be social back then. But for all the arguemtns, I can only say this.
Social is what you do. If you want social, be social. It won't look for you, it didn't back then either. The best guild I was ever in in my MMORPG history was my 2nd GW2 guild. We had a blast. It was an old GW1 guild that moved over and had been together for years already. It was great until, we got this girl who had figured out that most guys online will do WHATEVER their told. (Such as scamming a guy out of a precursor) Most of the guys still came to her defense after and left the guild to follow her........Now that was a DB right there. I hated being in Vent when she was online.
A lot of social interaction derives from a need for something that cannot be achieved alone.
So when you are able to solo everything any social interaction is simply to shoot the shit with...total strangers on the internet....which leads eventually to 'Barrens chat'.
So while I do agree people need to be pro-active in instigating and maintaining social interactions, I feel that game design has taken a huge leap backwards in actually providing those social 'needs' for interaction.
The main reason IMO that communities had a lot less idiots is the cost of playing the games. During the early MMORPGs you had to pay a subscription fee. Also here in the UK most were still being charged a pay per minute rate to use the internet.
are you implying intelligence is determined with how RICH you are?
I will point to Trump as a counter example.
Not really. When I say idiots, I don't mean thick people. I mean people who are being dicks. Plenty of intelligent people can be dicks.
And both poor and rich people can be dicks. Yes they were present in the older games. I come across more of them in newer ones due to the influx of players playing them.
However, I still think they're a lot more nicer people playing games today than in the older ones for the same reason.
I do not see why people argue back and forth about so many of these things. Obviously people like or dislike, want or do not want, pay or do not pay for, make or do not make, different things in different games for different reasons. And sometimes people just settle for something. And some of us are having a hard time finding what we want to pay for and enjoy.
If anyone knows of several games that fall into what I, and seemly so many other people, are looking for then please list their names. I will happily go through 2 week trials to find something that I will then pay for and play at length for awhile. But if after several shots and many others do the same things, if there are many of us that do not find what it is, then there is at least one game to be made.
I tend to agree. You had to have dedication and desire to play in the early days which I think is something sorely missing today.
"dedication" to play games?
I am glad today's entertainment does not require dedication to enjoy. I am dedicated to my career, to my family, but games? nah ....
You can be dedicated to whatever you want to in life.
There are some scientists that spent their whole life mostly watching different kinds of moss or starting at the starts every night to try and identify planets.
Nothing really has meaning unless you give it meaning.
You can be dedicated to whatever you want to in life.
There are some scientists that spent their whole life mostly watching different kinds of moss or starting at the starts every night to try and identify planets.
Nothing really has meaning unless you give it meaning.
Exactly.
By dedication back then I mean having to edit the Autoexec.bat and config.sys files to get games running. or further back to having to wait 15 minutes for the game to load from the tape and listening to the screeching noise while it loaded. The dedication to getting an additional phone line installed for the modem. The dedication to paying for an expensive hobby. The dedication to buying expensive equipment. The dedication to learning about a new technology while your friends were trying to work out how to break dance.
Anyone who is old enough will know what I mean by dedication in the early days of gaming and not try to pervert it.
By dedication back then I mean having to edit the Autoexec.bat and config.sys files to get games running. or further back to having to wait 15 minutes for the game to load from the tape and listening to the screeching noise while it loaded. The dedication to getting an additional phone line installed for the modem. The dedication to paying for an expensive hobby. The dedication to buying expensive equipment. The dedication to learning about a new technology while your friends were trying to work out how to break dance.
Anyone who is old enough will know what I mean by dedication in the early days of gaming and not try to pervert it.
Ahh, the days before Plug N Play. I did like trying to free up conventional memory to get games working in a weird way.
One of the things I see a lot of people talking about is how much better social aspects of old MMORPGs were. But I don't fully agree to that. I'll agree there were some factors. Like less anonymity and people knew who you were on your servers. I also think there was a higher concentration of players looking to be social back then. But for all the arguemtns, I can only say this.
Social is what you do. If you want social, be social. It won't look for you, it didn't back then either. The best guild I was ever in in my MMORPG history was my 2nd GW2 guild. We had a blast. It was an old GW1 guild that moved over and had been together for years already. It was great until, we got this girl who had figured out that most guys online will do WHATEVER their told. (Such as scamming a guy out of a precursor) Most of the guys still came to her defense after and left the guild to follow her........Now that was a DB right there. I hated being in Vent when she was online.
LOL Good times.
The social aspects came because the games were harder to figure out and there wasn't alot of help sites. Players had to rely on one another for info, grouping got you the best stuff and the games were harder. Now, the games are easy, you can solo most of the content and a month after release, you can go online and find walkthroughs of every quest or craft profession.
Oddly enough I'm playing Istaria. Gfx are not good but learning the game is not so easy. Especially how the crafting really works. it takes some trial and error and though you won't die often if you're semi-careful its not all spelled out for you. I've also gone back to P1999...again to level up my ranger. Why? Because I refuse to pay for junk i'll just shelve in 3 months. Full loot, unhindered PVP sounds fun to some people but after a while? it gets just as old due to little content. After a while, its either you get killed or you kill someone else, rinse, repeat.
You can be dedicated to whatever you want to in life.
There are some scientists that spent their whole life mostly watching different kinds of moss or starting at the starts every night to try and identify planets.
Nothing really has meaning unless you give it meaning.
Exactly.
By dedication back then I mean having to edit the Autoexec.bat and config.sys files to get games running. or further back to having to wait 15 minutes for the game to load from the tape and listening to the screeching noise while it loaded. The dedication to getting an additional phone line installed for the modem. The dedication to paying for an expensive hobby. The dedication to buying expensive equipment. The dedication to learning about a new technology while your friends were trying to work out how to break dance.
Anyone who is old enough will know what I mean by dedication in the early days of gaming and not try to pervert it.
During the middle ages, some people were dedicated to not die before the age of 30. Sounds like fun, right, when we live in a world where medical progress increased human live on average to the high 70s/Low 80s.
Same thing about what you're talking about here. Back then, there was no choice, so we did it. That doesn't mean we should replicate that today just for the sake of the good old times. I enjoy my broadband Internet at low costs, my SSD, and my MMORPGs where I can focus on playing rather than on tedious and boring micromanagement like eating between each fight, making arrows, XP loss, corpse runs, etc...
I see it the same way as if we were talking of racing games - one is a simulation and the other is an arcade game. I'm pretty sure majority of gamers wouldn't like an idea of your car being able to crash or spin, or that you had to switch gears manually by pressing keys.
Afterall, it's boring and unnecessary to have to micromanage your car when all you want to do is to drive fast, right?
Surprisingly, there are markets for both of these playing styles, whether you like it or not.
Edit: Don't want to be disrespectful in any way. I'm just a bit tense because of some poster in other forum regarding about this same subject.
During the middle ages, some people were dedicated to not die before the age of 30. Sounds like fun, right, when we live in a world where medical progress increased human live on average to the high 70s/Low 80s.
Same thing about what you're talking about here. Back then, there was no choice, so we did it. That doesn't mean we should replicate that today just for the sake of the good old times. I enjoy my broadband Internet at low costs, my SSD, and my MMORPGs where I can focus on playing rather than on tedious and boring micromanagement like eating between each fight, making arrows, XP loss, corpse runs, etc...
My post was pointing out the social aspects of gaming rather then the technological aspects and why you were less likely to find dicks online due to the effort required back then.
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
You can be dedicated to whatever you want to in life.
There are some scientists that spent their whole life mostly watching different kinds of moss or starting at the starts every night to try and identify planets.
Nothing really has meaning unless you give it meaning.
Exactly.
By dedication back then I mean having to edit the Autoexec.bat and config.sys files to get games running. or further back to having to wait 15 minutes for the game to load from the tape and listening to the screeching noise while it loaded. The dedication to getting an additional phone line installed for the modem. The dedication to paying for an expensive hobby. The dedication to buying expensive equipment. The dedication to learning about a new technology while your friends were trying to work out how to break dance.
Anyone who is old enough will know what I mean by dedication in the early days of gaming and not try to pervert it.
During the middle ages, some people were dedicated to not die before the age of 30. Sounds like fun, right, when we live in a world where medical progress increased human live on average to the high 70s/Low 80s.
Same thing about what you're talking about here. Back then, there was no choice, so we did it. That doesn't mean we should replicate that today just for the sake of the good old times. I enjoy my broadband Internet at low costs, my SSD, and my MMORPGs where I can focus on playing rather than on tedious and boring micromanagement like eating between each fight, making arrows, XP loss, corpse runs, etc...
I see it the same way as if we were talking of racing games - one is a simulation and the other is an arcade game. I'm pretty sure majority of gamers wouldn't like an idea of your car being able to crash or spin, or that you had to switch gears manually by pressing keys.
Afterall, it's boring and unnecessary to have to micromanage your car when all you want to do is to drive fast, right?
Surprisingly, there are markets for both of these playing styles, whether you like it or not.
Edit: Don't want to be disrespectful in any way. I'm just a bit tense because of some poster in other forum regarding about this same subject.
Your comparison makes little sense. Sitting to eat between each fight, having to macro-craft arrows, XP loss, corpse runs do NOT make combat easier, it just adds tedium and time wasting. What you describe between the two car games makes one game easier, and also in both car games, you spend your time PLAYING, what you describe is activities part of driving (aka combat in a car game).
I don't see how it doesn't make sense. Sitting to eat is like having a service between races, micro-managing arrows is like filling up for a next race, xp loss equals damage taken to your car while corpse runs can be seen as a new vehicle being delivered to replace a wrecked car.
If you play well you could avoid or lessen these events. It's a reward itself for a good play and should be encouraged much more by developers.
Comments
Anyway, when I say it's a "waste of time" I mean it's a recreational activity it's not meant as a negative toward the hobby (I game a lot myself, as well as post here), it just means it's a form of entertainment. There's no reason to get defensive over that.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
The main reason IMO that communities had a lot less idiots is the cost of playing the games. During the early MMORPGs you had to pay a subscription fee. Also here in the UK most were still being charged a pay per minute rate to use the internet.
I just think the LFG had very little to do with toxic communities as the people being idiots aren't the solo/asocial players. It's the people who like to group and be social.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I get what you're saying about imagination though. It's a valid question to raise whether that's because of the overly structured nature of current games, or whether it's us as players not taking the time or lacking the ability to do so on a community level as whole. Personally there are MMORPG's today I can feel immersed in, like ESO, yet it's a different level of immersion than say the -epic-roleplay- © we came up with in SWG on a greater community level on the Bloodfin server.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
I will point to Trump as a counter example.
Ease of access through cheep widespread Internet access and games adopting F2P business models mean that literally anyone can play today. If someone really wants to be a dick, act stupid, do things to piss people off today they just turn on their device. There are many examples of this type of person on this site now to prove the point.
Anyone playing 10-20 years ago would probably be an enthusiast, probably coming from a tabletop or computer background and was willing to pay a premium to do so. It was highly unlikely for someone to be a douche when they had to pay a lot for the right to do so.
You also didn't have many options back then either. If you were a dick you didn't stay around long because no one would interact with you and all that would happen is you would rack up a big bill and be unable to play anymore. Not saying it didn't happen, just that you had to make an effort to do so whereas today, no effort is needed to be a dick online.
Social is what you do. If you want social, be social. It won't look for you, it didn't back then either. The best guild I was ever in in my MMORPG history was my 2nd GW2 guild. We had a blast. It was an old GW1 guild that moved over and had been together for years already. It was great until, we got this girl who had figured out that most guys online will do WHATEVER their told. (Such as scamming a guy out of a precursor) Most of the guys still came to her defense after and left the guild to follow her........Now that was a DB right there. I hated being in Vent when she was online.
LOL Good times.
So when you are able to solo everything any social interaction is simply to shoot the shit with...total strangers on the internet....which leads eventually to 'Barrens chat'.
So while I do agree people need to be pro-active in instigating and maintaining social interactions, I feel that game design has taken a huge leap backwards in actually providing those social 'needs' for interaction.
I am glad today's entertainment does not require dedication to enjoy. I am dedicated to my career, to my family, but games? nah ....
And both poor and rich people can be dicks. Yes they were present in the older games. I come across more of them in newer ones due to the influx of players playing them.
However, I still think they're a lot more nicer people playing games today than in the older ones for the same reason.
I'm too new on this site to make a new thread yet....
You can read my first post over at Sandbox vs Themepark Discussion Thread to get an idea of what I'm looking for in a game.
I do not see why people argue back and forth about so many of these things. Obviously people like or dislike, want or do not want, pay or do not pay for, make or do not make, different things in different games for different reasons. And sometimes people just settle for something. And some of us are having a hard time finding what we want to pay for and enjoy.
If anyone knows of several games that fall into what I, and seemly so many other people, are looking for then please list their names. I will happily go through 2 week trials to find something that I will then pay for and play at length for awhile. But if after several shots and many others do the same things, if there are many of us that do not find what it is, then there is at least one game to be made.
alright, GO!
There are some scientists that spent their whole life mostly watching different kinds of moss or starting at the starts every night to try and identify planets.
Nothing really has meaning unless you give it meaning.
By dedication back then I mean having to edit the Autoexec.bat and config.sys files to get games running. or further back to having to wait 15 minutes for the game to load from the tape and listening to the screeching noise while it loaded. The dedication to getting an additional phone line installed for the modem. The dedication to paying for an expensive hobby. The dedication to buying expensive equipment. The dedication to learning about a new technology while your friends were trying to work out how to break dance.
Anyone who is old enough will know what I mean by dedication in the early days of gaming and not try to pervert it.
I wouldn't want to see it come back mind.
Oddly enough I'm playing Istaria. Gfx are not good but learning the game is not so easy. Especially how the crafting really works. it takes some trial and error and though you won't die often if you're semi-careful its not all spelled out for you. I've also gone back to P1999...again to level up my ranger. Why? Because I refuse to pay for junk i'll just shelve in 3 months. Full loot, unhindered PVP sounds fun to some people but after a while? it gets just as old due to little content. After a while, its either you get killed or you kill someone else, rinse, repeat.
HBS-HELLBOUNDSOLDIERS
http://hellboundsoldiers.org/portal/forum.php
https://discord.gg/brgbpvY
Afterall, it's boring and unnecessary to have to micromanage your car when all you want to do is to drive fast, right?
Surprisingly, there are markets for both of these playing styles, whether you like it or not.
Edit: Don't want to be disrespectful in any way. I'm just a bit tense because of some poster in other forum regarding about this same subject.
you are have a major dedication to post on mmorpg.com. That is your 'game'
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
If you play well you could avoid or lessen these events. It's a reward itself for a good play and should be encouraged much more by developers.