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In the New Year is it Time for a New MMORPG? | One Good Roll | MMORPG.com
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In the New Year is it Time for a New MMORPG? | One Good Roll | MMORPG.com
In 2023, however, there is nothing but a proverbial open road of new adventures to be had. I've decided to branch out and try some new MMORPGs in 2023. Will you join in on a new adventure next year?
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FFXIV for me, lately, feels more social than EQ does nowadays if I'm just sitting around in a hub city or something. But once you DO go into a roulette for dungeons, everyone just wants to wrap it up and get it over with. Sometimes that's fine, but other times I do long for EQ/EQOA era stuff where we sat for a couple minutes between pulls and chatted for a bit before continuing.
MMO? There is already enough available, don't really need more. Tbh.
That happened at first, and it was great to casually talk with the rest of the party while planning pulls or after wiping. I still remember fondly my time spend on AK, for example, even when it took more than an hour to complete it (and also when the timer got to zero, lol). There was no rush. In fact, I met some of my in-game friends that way. But then some people complained that dungeons took too long and/or were too hard, and add to that the people that wanted to pull the whole dungeon despite their party (and sometimes them too) not being up to the task, and we got the current mindless dungeons. And of course everyone wants to finish those asap, both the people that complained and those that find them just a chore to do quick and forget. That also leads to people becoming more burnt of the content.
Don't get me wrong, some of these have great ideas and mechanics, but they lack the slight learning curve that the old ones had (before the players became overgeared, and the nerfs) and that required the party to have a minimum of communication. But well, we even had Steps of Faith nerfed, and it was a trial that only required the bare minimum coordination to be completed (like just clarify what each one was going to do, before starting).
That's why people don't communicate anymore on most content, as there's no reason or even time to do it. I think that people sometimes forget that the point of playing a game is to have fun and enjoy the ride, and not to finish it fast and easily. "Rewards! Rewards, ASAP!!". I still enjoy doing my blind runs on patch day, but it's not the same. Only the alliance raids come close to that feeling (again, on patch day), but still lack the fun that we had with those during Crystal Tower's era.
Evidently, Savage and Ultimate content are a different beast. But most people avoid doing those with randoms, so those don't matter in this context. I also consider them a bit above what the old regular content was in terms of difficulty, which was more accessible and not just for the above average players. In other words, I was talking about content that just required people to pay some attention and communicate a tiny bit, and not have a flawless execution or learn 10 different mechanics per boss.
People keep talking about MMORPGs and the social aspects but you cannot change the people that look at dungeon running as chores that need to be completed pronto. You can design any number of things in there but as long as players never stop, breath and take their time when they play we aren't going to get much socializing in dungeons.
So this is why I prefer when possible to solo dungeons with hired help because I can at least take my time to look around and actually appreciate the damn dungeon for Pete's sake.
I thought Wildstar was a beautiful world and I simply adored the music in that game but good lord the dungeons were like total chaos and completely turned me off that game. If they ever bring it back I would be happy to play with an AI companion or two so I can really read the lore and take my damn time.
As for a new game sorry got a bit carried away with my mini rant I would actually go back and play some old games for now.
No fate but what we make, so make me a ham sandwich please.
Well, the root cause of this "problem" (I put "problem" in quotes because it's a matter of perspective and your goals in the game) is that dungeons are now instanced, and people want to min/max their characters ASAP. The fastest way to do that is to speed run the dungeon in order to hit the cocaine button at the end of the maze as fast as possible to grind through the RNG machine so it finally coughs up the item you need. Repeat as necessary. Then you move on. That's why everyone wants to speed run the things. Stopping to smell the roses and socialize does nothing but make this process take longer.
In older games like EQ, dungeons weren't instanced. Instead bosses respawned on a timer. You had to wait in line to get in the group that was farming the boss. Once someone got the drop, they left the group and the next person got in. It was completely absurd as far as immersion goes, but it did mean there were long periods of time to kill waiting your turn to get in the group or waiting for the boss to respawn once you were in.
Personally if that's what it takes to create socialization in MMO's, I'll stick to single player game. If you're pining away for that kind of experience, you and I are very different gamers. I lived that in original EQ and it was shit.
That being said it seems like you could join or form a guild that's about doing full clears on dungeons and want that slower, socialized experience. Nothing is really stopping you.
Oh wait.....it's 2023, not 2032. My bad, dyslexia acting up again.
Every year I try a title, but there is no magic in them, only grind, monetarization and the feeling of "been there, done that"
https://biturl.top/rU7bY3
Beyond the shadows there's always light