ESO was a special case back at launch, I thought they were going to be a spiritual successor to DAOC (my fault I guess) with a similar design. My friends and I joined, planning to level to cap (50 as I recall) and hit the RVR campaigns.
Not too long after launch they announced their next expansion would increase the level cap to 60, with players being asked to complete quest content in the other two factions via a very slowed down level grind to get there.
I quit immediately as I already had fallen well behind my friends so had been mostly solo playing and this change would only mean many more months of going it alone, so back to EVE I went.
I much prefer the newer One Tameril design in place when I returned this year which has been far easier to hang with friends and guildies, though I realize the system has its flaws and doesn't appeal to some.
It's always hard when a game changes on you.. and what you have come to expect, even love about a game, gets ram rodded off into the corner, and they just try to change the whole feel of how things should go.
That is not the same as "giving the game a try" you were already at the "I am enjoying this game" part, so they hooked you, at least until they did something that made you jump ship.
Well, not quite, you are describing what happened with DAOC and their Trials of Atlantis expansion.
All of this occurred in ESO with 3 weeks of launch, I was level 35 at the time, and didn't expect this abrupt extension of the PVE experience as I was there mostly to RVR with friends which I never really got to do much.
I know they had the level up mechanic but I definitely felt under powered when going in at level 25, mostly as I was missing quite a few active and passive skills at the time, levels not withstanding.
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
I think it depends on how much fun I am having. I have found some games are not to my liking even when I have had some fun. The game has some mechanic that I decided was something I could not handle and dropped it in the end.
We are not talking about obviously bad games but those borderline ones.
It depends on how well setup the new player experience is and when it came out.
If it launched around the time I started playing it:
Good controls, enjoyable gameplay (honestly somewhat lenient with MMOs as it comes with the territory combat is not always great), and good UX design. Those are all super important for me to get into it, but it also comes down to hype levels. Are my friends playing it? Is it the talk of the town? These things can often get my foot in the door, though sometimes leaving me skeptical. I also look at things like if the game is PvE focused or PvP (lean towards PvE in most cases) sandbox or themepark ect. But mainly the first line of this blob of text is the most important for me. After the first experience I have in the game it is all up in the air. I could get bored / burned out in 20 hours or 200 hours. It is really hard to pinpoint what turns me away at that point, but it is almost always a combination of things. Stuff like other games coming out that are not MMOs, personal life changes, other MMOs content / expansions, and/or friends leaving all play a role here.
If it launched a while ago:
If the NPE is very good and easy to comprehend in a game that has not launched the day I started playing I usually give it somewhere in the ballpark of 5 hours. Usually I know by the time I hit that point, but only if the NPE is good. It is rare that I even play games I have not played before, but when I do, being overwhelmed with stupid UI elements and mechanics will push me out VERY fast. If I get in and the game has been out for a while, unless I paid money to play it for the first time (usually don't have to in most MMOs at this point) then I tend to scare away easy. If I login and am presented with a login bonus, a daily quest, a weekly quest, a battlepass ui, a cash shop ui, mail notification and new player tutorials I tend to run for the hills. If the cash shop has multiple currencies that serve as a confusion factor when looking at MTX I run for the hills as well. I am okay with playing a "beaten" game as long as it does a good job at not shoving all it's gameplay features and monetization features down my throat within the first half an hour of playing it. I actually had this problem with Lost Ark. By all accounts, a good game; for me however, all the UI crap and confusion regarding p2w or not with monetization scared me off and I will likely never play it again.
Mostly trying to get into a beta. Normally thats enough to decide, whether give it a try or not.
With some games it gets clear very fast - fo rexample as one of the few gamers not finding anything in all the Elder Scroll Games I was surprised, that the MMO got me so fast and kept me over 2 years. In other games I need a bit of testing- such as New World, where I got into a beta last year and again this year - which convinced me, it is not for me and most probably a DoA MMO due to so many facts. Atm I think nothing will pull me as TESO did until Ashes of Creation arrives.
Comments
All of this occurred in ESO with 3 weeks of launch, I was level 35 at the time, and didn't expect this abrupt extension of the PVE experience as I was there mostly to RVR with friends which I never really got to do much.
I know they had the level up mechanic but I definitely felt under powered when going in at level 25, mostly as I was missing quite a few active and passive skills at the time, levels not withstanding.
"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
The Stranger: It's what people know about themselves inside that makes 'em afraid.
We are not talking about obviously bad games but those borderline ones.
So What Now?
If it launched around the time I started playing it:
Good controls, enjoyable gameplay (honestly somewhat lenient with MMOs as it comes with the territory combat is not always great), and good UX design. Those are all super important for me to get into it, but it also comes down to hype levels. Are my friends playing it? Is it the talk of the town? These things can often get my foot in the door, though sometimes leaving me skeptical. I also look at things like if the game is PvE focused or PvP (lean towards PvE in most cases) sandbox or themepark ect. But mainly the first line of this blob of text is the most important for me. After the first experience I have in the game it is all up in the air. I could get bored / burned out in 20 hours or 200 hours. It is really hard to pinpoint what turns me away at that point, but it is almost always a combination of things. Stuff like other games coming out that are not MMOs, personal life changes, other MMOs content / expansions, and/or friends leaving all play a role here.
If it launched a while ago:
If the NPE is very good and easy to comprehend in a game that has not launched the day I started playing I usually give it somewhere in the ballpark of 5 hours. Usually I know by the time I hit that point, but only if the NPE is good. It is rare that I even play games I have not played before, but when I do, being overwhelmed with stupid UI elements and mechanics will push me out VERY fast. If I get in and the game has been out for a while, unless I paid money to play it for the first time (usually don't have to in most MMOs at this point) then I tend to scare away easy. If I login and am presented with a login bonus, a daily quest, a weekly quest, a battlepass ui, a cash shop ui, mail notification and new player tutorials I tend to run for the hills. If the cash shop has multiple currencies that serve as a confusion factor when looking at MTX I run for the hills as well. I am okay with playing a "beaten" game as long as it does a good job at not shoving all it's gameplay features and monetization features down my throat within the first half an hour of playing it. I actually had this problem with Lost Ark. By all accounts, a good game; for me however, all the UI crap and confusion regarding p2w or not with monetization scared me off and I will likely never play it again.
With some games it gets clear very fast - fo rexample as one of the few gamers not finding anything in all the Elder Scroll Games I was surprised, that the MMO got me so fast and kept me over 2 years. In other games I need a bit of testing- such as New World, where I got into a beta last year and again this year - which convinced me, it is not for me and most probably a DoA MMO due to so many facts. Atm I think nothing will pull me as TESO did until Ashes of Creation arrives.