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The Almost MMO and Me - Bill Murphy - MMORPG.com

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  • Panther2103Panther2103 Member EpicPosts: 5,779
    I'm not as burnt out on MMORPG's as most, they are still a lot of fun for me. I also have a full time job and other obligations, but I still find time to put into MMORPG's. I've been trying out games I never got the chance to try, and just playing random games off and on. Loot Shooters and almost MMO's are really great, but they don't fully scratch the itch for me. I like persistent worlds and non instanced content. Recently I've been jumping on older games just to try them out, Ryzom has honestly been pretty fun, and yesterday I tried Tibia for the first time and absolutely hated it, but now I know that!
    PhaserlightRoxRocks
  • paulythebpaulytheb Member UncommonPosts: 363
    TimEisen yes! The fact that WoW was playable on all those "Dude, I'm gettin a Dell !" computers was a huge factor in it's success and one that is often overlooked.
    [Deleted User]Maddog666TacticalZombeh

    ( Note to self-Don't say anything bad about Drizzt.)

    An acerbic sense of humor is NOT allowed here.

  • cmacqcmacq Member UncommonPosts: 331
    Great thread Bill and wow I didn't realize you were so young. I am going to echo what others have said here. As someone with 3 fully grown children, they have to be your priority. The time passes so darn fast and all of a sudden they are gone from your home. You don't want to miss a moment. Something us old guys realize when all the other stuff is done: those games, pastimes, etc., they are not going anywhere. They will still be there when you have the time to play them. Your children will not and while you can easily regain the game things you missed, you can never again find that time you didn't spend with your kids.

    I loved the earlier comment: "If I die in-game because my 5 year old wants to show me his latest Lego Creation, so be it" - Perfect!
    [Deleted User]Hluill
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    I would settle for an Armored Core almost-MMO. 
    EponyxDamor

    image
  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    I don't think the MMOs, even traditional MMOs, where ever the problem.

    The problem is us, as players, who feel we need to burn through the content as fast as possible. And for some reason feel like we have failed if we don't get that world first achievement.

    Many MMO communities have this prevailing attitude - "What can you do for me?" Which means that if you, as another player in my game, don't have the gear/skill/experience to help me further my goals, then you are a dead weight. That lead to leaning on things like gear score, DPS charts, min/max builds, etc. Since that was what the players were doing, some developers started to accommodate that, which is where I started to get turned off.

    Now, not every MMO community is like that, and it's always existed in some form.. but pre-WoW it seems like it was a minority opinion, post-WoW it became the majority opinion.

    The number one reason I play MMOs is for the community. That, for me, is far and away the single most important item in a MMO for me. Gameplay is a very distant second. I stuck by EQ, and WoW, and Eve for years of playtime, not because I liked the gameplay or the mechanics or the graphics, but because I had close knit friendships and ties to the in-game communities. I can't count the number of hours I would just sit around in game chatting running around in circles trying to get stuck in geometry, not even playing the core game... and that was entirely because of the community.

    There are some experiences which are just focused on community - Second Life comes to mind. But I do like having some sort of unifying objectives and challenges to overcome, an MMO is more than just a virtual hangout.

    Games have evolved - Discord/TeamSpeak/Ventrilo have pretty much entirely replaced text chat. Friends lists now exist outside of any specific game and are now tied with launchers/platforms (PS, Steam, Blizzard, Discord, etc).

    Game mechanics have changed as well. The experience and objectives have migrated from long, involved objectives that required a lot of steps and dedication (think Epic Weapons in EQ, or figuring out new raid events), to short bites of instanced content that can be completed in 15-45 minutes. Group finders can get you into content with complete strangers, and it's not uncommon for a group to never speak a word to each other, or for people (usually me) to get randomly kicked for not knowing the content well enough.

    Not necessarily a bad thing how the games have evolved. But it does make it harder to establish that community that I always thought was so essential.
    [Deleted User]Hluill
  • klash2defklash2def Member EpicPosts: 1,949
    edited March 2019


    Its REALLY funny to see the same people who spit on me for explaining "MMO-Lite" accept this article for explaining "Almost MMO" as if its something different lol.

    Call it MMO-Lites or Almost MMO whatever you choose but newsflash, its the same thing. The point is and always has been for me that MMO's have evolved to meet the demands of the new society. This isn't the last time either. Its going to happen a few more times in our lifetime. 

    I said this same exact thing already. But whatever, as long as you can see you were wrong I'm happy.  MMOs evolved right in front of you. 

    I super agree with this article. I think its weird that people who love MMORPGs cant see the MMO in these games but hey.. whatever I guess.

    More to come.
    Post edited by klash2def on
    BillMurphy[Deleted User]
    "Beliefs don't change facts. Facts, if you're reasonable, should change your beliefs."


    "The Society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools."



     
    Currently: Games Audio Engineer, you didn't hear what I heard, you heard what I wanted you to hear. 


  • laseritlaserit Member LegendaryPosts: 7,591
    Riqqy82 said:
    Casual players are the contamination to quality product, how well would a business run if the employees only showed up for an hour a few times a week? The problem is there are astronomical amount of people that do these in the mmo's, so then the company has no choice but to cater to them to make money, and you cant blame the company, the problem is the whiny casual player who never had a spanking or any type of discipline in their life and the world owes them. Just facts, sorry if you fit the bill, an "astronomical" amount of you do.
    What is your definition of a casual player?

    I play games casually as in an hour or two here and there. I like to be challenged and my games usually last me months and/or years.

    Life is short and there are so many things in life to discover and enjoy.

    I can assure you discipline wasn't lacking in my upbringing. I even got the strap a couple times back in school all because of that asshole Jack Meoff ;)
    [Deleted User]Hluill

    "Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee

  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 12,262
    The user and all related content has been deleted.

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  • InteritusInteritus Member UncommonPosts: 236
    Riqqy82 said:
    Casual players are the contamination to quality product, how well would a business run if the employees only showed up for an hour a few times a week? The problem is there are astronomical amount of people that do these in the mmo's, so then the company has no choice but to cater to them to make money, and you cant blame the company, the problem is the whiny casual player who never had a spanking or any type of discipline in their life and the world owes them. Just facts, sorry if you fit the bill, an "astronomical" amount of you do.
    I would almost argue the opposite. Especially now. Hardcore players are going to be the ones the grind out levels and reach endgame the fastest. Then they grind that out until they get bored, and they move on.  If it's an open world live EVE, it works because players can fight other players.

    But in the old school PvE games, it's the casual ones, or the ones that take their time. Hell they could even be hardcore explorers or the ones who want to do all the quests. It's the ones that take their time to get to the endgame that give the devs enough time to add more content to keep the game fresh. 
    StrahmHluillMaddog666RoxRocks
  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332
    edited March 2019

    paulytheb said:

    TimEisen yes! The fact that WoW was playable on all those "Dude, I'm gettin a Dell !" computers was a huge factor in it's success and one that is often overlooked.



    Oh yes that was their reasoning,that is why it never made it to consoles because they were aiming at more customers.

    geesus,when you people can time warp back before all of this nonsense,you might see what really went down and why gaming became so bad.

    I can sum it up very easily although the topic really needs days of discussion to go over all the chronological events.The easy simple version?
    The market was built on competing game versus game,VERY few marketing gimmicks back then to have any other approach.So if you could not deliver a good game,you simply failed or never got in the first place.

    Along comes cheaper affordable cable/dsl and cheaper personal computers,gaming is about to explode.The recipients of early success,such as Wow springboarded the gaming market into a massive flooding of developers and games,everyone saw $$$$.

    So now TOO MANY studios,too many games,they need to thin kof new gimmicks and their lies the point in time where al these modern gimmicks arrived to deliver shitty games but still manage to compete.
    Streamers,marketing,deceptive marketing "many tactics",Early access,crowd funding,kickstater,cash shops,websites partnering with game studios to help market their products,You Tubers,Sponsors,Justin Tv>>Twitch Tv,Twitter,Facebook,Discord,SOooooo many people and businesses trying to pull dollars from that same dollar buying a game.
    So instead of competing game versus game,now it is about tactics outside of gaming.





    Hluill

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    I'm not really sure how much this has to do with age (you're the same age as my son @BillMurphy :)) and IRL circumstances and how much with just what happens to be new and shinny.

    Other than a handful of crowdfunded wild and wacky full MMO ideas that may or may not ever see release day, there hasn't really been any exciting new things in the MMO landscape for years. I think if we're being really honest all of us are highly susceptible to the attraction of something new that we haven't played before.

    I'm sure that the short episodic nature of games like The Division and Anthem where you can go through a beginning, middle and end of something in 30 minutes has a lot to do with it as well - certainly it has a lot to do with their appeal to a mass audience. Unless you're just doing quick instanced stuff in MMOs most of those 30 minute times you spend in an MMO will be all "middle."

    IMO you and most others are playing these things more than MMOs simply because that is what is being produced and highly anticipated. It's what's trending.
    BillMurphy[Deleted User][Deleted User]Hluill
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • ZoeMcCloskeyZoeMcCloskey Member UncommonPosts: 1,372
    Still waiting on the next SWG pre-themmessingitupcompletely.

    But for now World of Tanks, Warframe, Fortnite work. Still do play Atlantica Online some too, so at least one MMO still in there.
    [Deleted User][Deleted User]

    image
  • Riqqy82Riqqy82 Member UncommonPosts: 91
    Interitus said:
    Riqqy82 said:
    Casual players are the contamination to quality product, how well would a business run if the employees only showed up for an hour a few times a week? The problem is there are astronomical amount of people that do these in the mmo's, so then the company has no choice but to cater to them to make money, and you cant blame the company, the problem is the whiny casual player who never had a spanking or any type of discipline in their life and the world owes them. Just facts, sorry if you fit the bill, an "astronomical" amount of you do.
    I would almost argue the opposite. Especially now. Hardcore players are going to be the ones the grind out levels and reach endgame the fastest. Then they grind that out until they get bored, and they move on.  If it's an open world live EVE, it works because players can fight other players.

    But in the old school PvE games, it's the casual ones, or the ones that take their time. Hell they could even be hardcore explorers or the ones who want to do all the quests. It's the ones that take their time to get to the endgame that give the devs enough time to add more content to keep the game fresh. 
     This solidifies my opinion btw XD, you came into a hardcore setting and made developers make games super easy to cap because there are more casuals than hardcore players on an astronomical scale. You see if can make 15 bucks per person and make a game casual people prefer whereas the leveing doesnt seem short and the content seems plentiful because you log in for an hour every few days and sell 10 millions subs or copies of the game thats way more profit than selling to the 1 million hardcore players, now you might say well hardcore players should play hardcore games, well we get pissed and complain because they games we start playing and give excellent ratings to are hardcore games, then casuals catch wind play for an hour experience how awesome it is and tell their casual friends and they come in, before you know it the developers are now patching the game to cater to those players because its 70% more profit, which on the scale of millions is a huge dollar amount.
    Palebane

    image
  • Riqqy82Riqqy82 Member UncommonPosts: 91
    laserit said:
    Riqqy82 said:
    Casual players are the contamination to quality product, how well would a business run if the employees only showed up for an hour a few times a week? The problem is there are astronomical amount of people that do these in the mmo's, so then the company has no choice but to cater to them to make money, and you cant blame the company, the problem is the whiny casual player who never had a spanking or any type of discipline in their life and the world owes them. Just facts, sorry if you fit the bill, an "astronomical" amount of you do.
    What is your definition of a casual player?

    I play games casually as in an hour or two here and there. I like to be challenged and my games usually last me months and/or years.

    Life is short and there are so many things in life to discover and enjoy.

    I can assure you discipline wasn't lacking in my upbringing. I even got the strap a couple times back in school all because of that asshole Jack Meoff ;)

    The discipline comes in at accepting that if you join a MMO community you should accept that because of your limited playtime the game shouldnt be easier or manipulated to you, not syaing you are this way but its tthe way alot of people are these days i play alot of different game and pay attention to general chats because the typical gamer these days are pretty spacey, almost like so much gaming has prevented them from aging mentally. And everytime i make a post supporting the long game and steering away from the short game more people are against it than support it.

    image
  • AeanderAeander Member LegendaryPosts: 8,060
    Torval said:
    Most of the time multiplayer online doesn't add what I'm looking for in a game. There are some friends I enjoy gaming with though so having some MMO-lite options is great for meeting up with them.

    Sometimes massive concurrency is important like it is in classic MMORPGs. Most of the time it just means other aspects get homogenized. Even games like Secret World Legends would be so much better as optional multiplayer coop with greater game play depth.
    The Secret World should have been single player. It has all of the hallmarks of a single player game. Everything it does well (story, characters, customization, faction stories for replayability) are single player hallmarks, and everything it does poorly (combat, quest design, PvP) is it trying and failing to be a MMO. 

    I mean really. If TSW had been a small, but quality single player choice-driven story game akin to Vampire the Masquerade or Vampyr, it would be a cult hit.
    Sovrath[Deleted User]RidelynnAgent_Joseph
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    edited March 2019
    klash2def said:


    Its REALLY funny to see the same people who spit on me for explaining "MMO-Lite" accept this article for explaining "Almost MMO" as if its something different lol.

    Call it MMO-Lites or Almost MMO whatever you choose but newsflash, its the same thing. The point is and always has been for me that MMO's have evolved to meet the demands of the new society. This isn't the last time either. Its going to happen a few more times in our lifetime. 

    I said this same exact thing already. But whatever, as long as you can see you were wrong I'm happy.  MMOs evolved right in front of you. 

    I super agree with this article. I think its weird that people who love MMORPGs cant see the MMO in these games but hey.. whatever I guess.

    More to come.
    I don't think many would argue these games don't share traits with MMOs.

    "Does a country song having an electric guitar in it make it metal?  Why not, metal has electric guitars?  In fact, electric guitars are actually a staple of metal music!" That kind of thing.


    Most are simply saying that merely including multiplayer does not mean it's automatically the same genre as WoW.
    IselinPhaserlightScot

    image
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    klash2def said:


    Its REALLY funny to see the same people who spit on me for explaining "MMO-Lite" accept this article for explaining "Almost MMO" as if its something different lol.

    Call it MMO-Lites or Almost MMO whatever you choose but newsflash, its the same thing. The point is and always has been for me that MMO's have evolved to meet the demands of the new society. This isn't the last time either. Its going to happen a few more times in our lifetime. 

    I said this same exact thing already. But whatever, as long as you can see you were wrong I'm happy.  MMOs evolved right in front of you. 

    I super agree with this article. I think its weird that people who love MMORPGs cant see the MMO in these games but hey.. whatever I guess.

    More to come.
    I don't think many would argue these games don't share traits with MMOs.

    "Does a country song having an electric guitar in it make it metal?  Why not, metal has electric guitars?  In fact, electric guitars are actually a staple of metal music!" That kind of thing.


    Most are simply saying that merely including multiplayer does not mean it's automatically the same genre as WoW.
    I'd go even further in that despite having some RPG elements they have the soul of a shooter.

    What we're seeing a lot of - what's hot - is shooters, be they PvP, BR or co-op, that adopt some RPG elements and some persistence.
    MadFrenchieScot
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • ShaighShaigh Member EpicPosts: 2,150
    If I found it as fun as it once were I would make sure to have enough time to play these games but instead I got a different hobbies that takes up 2-3 evenings per week that has filled the gap. Problem is that the almost MMO games lacks the social aspects which make mmorpg unique. The level and skill progression gameplay do nothing for me anymore.
    Iselin: And the next person who says "but it's a business, they need to make money" can just go fuck yourself.
  • ExistentialistExistentialist Member UncommonPosts: 60
    1. Why not just call them MO's - Multiplayer Online

    2. I'm in my 50's and I still casually play Lotro - it is the only MMO that doesn't feel like a waste of time

    3. The other 2 gaming shortcuts on my desktop are Diablo 3 and Witcher 2, but neither are getting any attention just now

    4. My biggest issue with playing anything right now is that after a day sitting at a desk at work, I don't want to come home and just sit at a desk again
    cmacq
  • StrahmStrahm Member UncommonPosts: 1

    Riqqy82 said:


    laserit said:


    Riqqy82 said:

    The discipline comes in at accepting that if you join a MMO community you should accept that because of your limited playtime the game shouldnt be easier or manipulated to you, not syaing you are this way but its tthe way alot of people are these days i play alot of different game and pay attention to general chats because the typical gamer these days are pretty spacey, almost like so much gaming has prevented them from aging mentally. And everytime i make a post supporting the long game and steering away from the short game more people are against it than support it.



    You are mistaking the InstaGrat Gamer with the Casual Player. Casual Players, by definition, play at a leisurely pace whenever they have an hour or so to kill. Most players who work full time, are married and have full custody of at least one pre-teen child fit that description. The Casual Player rarely sees end-game content for games that require 2+ hour raids and months of grinding and is perfectly fine with that.

    InstaGrat Gamers are furious when they complete the initial character generation process and their avatars aren't decked out in end-game gear.
  • ChildoftheShadowsChildoftheShadows Member EpicPosts: 2,193
    Multiplayer Online
    Persistent Online World
    Multiplayer Online World
    Multiplayer Online Persistent World
    Multiplayer Online Game
    Multiplayer Online Adventure
    Persistent Multiplayer Online

    Trying to tie it to MMO when they deserve their own moniker. The shame.

    Scot
  • jonp200jonp200 Member UncommonPosts: 457
    Right there with you. Not just the dearth of new content, I have changed. We are playing the same games and I too am waiting for the ESO Expansion to try out a Necromancer.

    Although I have many fond memories of my time in MMOs, the idea of getting fully engaged again doesn't appeal to me. I have a regular date with F76 which is greatly improved from launch. I've started with the Div 2 which so far hasn't really hooked me but it too is greatly improved from the 1st game. I gave Anthem a hard pass after the beta. Here's hoping it improves a lot so I feel like jumping in. Far Cry New Dawn has been fun as of late too.

    Seaspite
    Playing ESO on my X-Box


  • AlmostLancelotAlmostLancelot Member UncommonPosts: 135
    I'm really on the fence about the Division 2.

    Having been burned by so many full priced purchases that turned out to be of questionable quality, the latest having been Anthem, I'm just not willing to drop another sixty bucks to end up disappointed yet again.

    I haven't seen anyone say a bad word about the Division 2 yet, which is a refreshing change from what we saw with Anthem, Fallout 76, etc... that in itself has to be a somewhat positive message about the state of the game right out of the gate.

    Maybe next month I'll bite the bullet. We'll see.
  • BananableBananable Member UncommonPosts: 194
    edited March 2019
    "Bill Murphy & The Almost MMO"
    LOLZ

    The Division 2 is almost good.
    I almost bought it.
    This comment is almost funny.



    SBFord said:

    I agree 100%. I don't have long hours to spend in traditional MMOs and these "almost MMOs" fit the bill perfectly. Even games like Assassin's Creed Odyssey manage to provide that same feeling without the time commitment that I simply can't give any more. I can get in, get something done and log out. I can play with friends and, well, for me that's enough. :) I'm not sure I'll ever commit fully to another MMO again.



    Heh

    This comment sums it up.

    ALL MMOS SUCKS. LOLZ

    Ofc ACO provide that feeling, cuz its FULL OF MMO mechanics...but Ubisoft just small company that cant afford servers. Isnt last Far cry the same? :P

    Now the question is...why do everyone keep calling em MMOs and why do you even need MMO...if simple multiplayer is enough?


    P.S. I played TESO casually all these years. And recently tried to get it serious... and watching how those 810 cp pros play (and latest POE leagues) made me thinking. TESO isnt mmo...its just hack n slash (like D3 or poe). Everyone rush to get max cp. High lvl cp just speedrun everything like bunny on viagra.

    ITS SO STUPID.
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,004
    I'm also waiting for Elsweyr, but my time is full playing Odyssey and Division 2.
    [Deleted User]klash2def

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

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