My husband I tried to play World of Warcraft together. I bought it for him and I because he was a big fan of Warcraft III. He lasted with that for about a month before telling me it sucked. I stuck with it for a while longer, but not much longer. Only because some girlfriends I have at worked played it with me. They quit too.
When we first got it, (before we opened it and installed it), we talked about maybe letting our boys play it with us. But after playing for a little while and seeing some of the chat that was going on, there's no way we were going to let them play and think talking like that was okay. It was really sad. I wouldn't let them play without us around so I don't see how other kids parents didn't care enough to keep an eye on their kids. I wonder if they knew half the stuff they were saying.
World of Warcraft was my first MMO. I missed the boat on the earlier ones. Too bad because I would have loved to have experienced the fun times that people always talk about before. I just can't find one that has a good community now and that is populated. The community in DAoC was very nice, but it was really empty. Everquest II community is panning out pretty well. I'll see how that goes. If it doesn't work out though I'm going to wait for a while to try again. Maybe we should start a middle aged gamer revolution!
============================= It all seems so stupid It makes me want to give up But why should I give up When it all seems so stupid
I am a 40 yo female gamer (married mom of 3) My first mmmorpg experience if you can call it that was phantasy star online on my sega dreamcast. God i loved that game lol. Since then I think i have played pretty much every one out there. My favorites being SWG pre cu, daoc, and ragnarok online (beta/alpha time).
I have met many people my age in everquest 2 (seems to be the most mature community atm) but after reaching 70 on my brigand it became boring to me. I have the end game boredom syndrome unfortunately. WoW was the worst :P It is nice to see many older gamers that lurk here
Originally posted by Riverstar I am a 40 yo female gamer (married mom of 3) My first mmmorpg experience if you can call it that was phantasy star online on my sega dreamcast. God i loved that game lol. Since then I think i have played pretty much every one out there. My favorites being SWG pre cu, daoc, and ragnarok online (beta/alpha time). I have met many people my age in everquest 2 (seems to be the most mature community atm) but after reaching 70 on my brigand it became boring to me. I have the end game boredom syndrome unfortunately. WoW was the worst :P It is nice to see many older gamers that lurk here
I agree with you and Kimmar. WoW was the worse. For a younger gamer I think it's a heaven sent game. And I probably would have ate it up at that age too. But at my age I'm looking for something with more complexity. I want to get to know my character, not race him to max level and then go for uber equipment. I also want to meet some pretty nice people along the way and not have to type /ignore 50 times a session.
It's kind of weird that there is that split out there. I wonder at what age you get tired of the race gaming and sit back and enjoy yourself. I guess it's different for different people.
"I used to think the worst thing in life was to be all alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone." Robin Williams
I'm glad you brought this topic up Arcken! Yes they are trying to squeeze out the generation Xers! Why would they do that? IMO it's because older people are far more sophisticated than young people are, and are therefore much harder to please. I DEMAND MMOGs that are much better than anything we now have, so to do all my friends. We aren't being catered to at all!
I hear all these little kiddies whine and cry about paying a measly little $15. a month sub fee when I would gladly pay $100. a month for a really good, high quality MMOG! What a joke!
I'm 20, born in 1985 at the end of Generation X and the Beggining of Generation Y (Otherwise known as the
Millennials). We're the people that grew up with Video Games in the mainstream. Certainly Gen Xers made video games what they are today, but Gen Y was thrown in to the middle of a technological revolution being born at the dawn of the information age.
Many games which would have once been extremely fun to me are now boring. I simply don't have the time to play like I used to being in college and all and while games like WoW did set some milestones. For the most part, many in my generation are also finding MMOs to become huge grind fests which take hours on end. Of course these new MMOs appeal to little kids, little kids love big flashes and booms. It's no lie when someone says all kids have ADHD, because in truth, 90% of kids have ADHD (It's just that some have it more than others).
Developers haven't forgotten about their core group...The Children. Yes, the core group for almost all video games is kids. Reason being, kids can get their parents to dish out cash, sometimes in huge amounts. The Video Game market has gone to hell in a handbasket because they are all about money now. They got a taste of green blood and they want more of it.
The "Children" they once captivated are no longer children anymore and we now want to see games which have a little more depth and let us be more flexable with play time. I feel this is even worse for those in their 30s.
(1997) UO --> EQ -> Runescape -> DAoC -> WoW -> EVE + WAR (2008)
Originally posted by bonzos ...... they know im in my teens because i complain about collage or my pearents....
i feel ya bro. I hate collage too. All those different materials mixed together. It just looks like someone forgot to go to the trash after they clipped coupons.
GEE, why ARE new games so boringly simply stupid?!?!?!
Originally posted by porgie Originally posted by Riverstar I am a 40 yo female gamer (married mom of 3) My first mmmorpg experience if you can call it that was phantasy star online on my sega dreamcast. God i loved that game lol. Since then I think i have played pretty much every one out there. My favorites being SWG pre cu, daoc, and ragnarok online (beta/alpha time). I have met many people my age in everquest 2 (seems to be the most mature community atm) but after reaching 70 on my brigand it became boring to me. I have the end game boredom syndrome unfortunately. WoW was the worst :P It is nice to see many older gamers that lurk here
I agree with you and Kimmar. WoW was the worse. For a younger gamer I think it's a heaven sent game. And I probably would have ate it up at that age too. But at my age I'm looking for something with more complexity. I want to get to know my character, not race him to max level and then go for uber equipment. I also want to meet some pretty nice people along the way and not have to type /ignore 50 times a session.
It's kind of weird that there is that split out there. I wonder at what age you get tired of the race gaming and sit back and enjoy yourself. I guess it's different for different people.
look at me sounding so old. Yikes.
I'm 33 and I too am tired of the "level and loot" race. So far Saga of Ryzom is the best I've found. If the mmo developers actually did a market test for the 30+ age group and paid attention to what we want, they would find a very lucrative market, as much if not more than the current younger demographic they cater to.
The mmo market isn't changing due to the fact of it cost 500k + to make a mmo now adays a decent one. The mmo makers are not takeing chances cause there thinking if its not broke why fix it?
Originally posted by MentalCrash The mmo market isn't changing due to the fact of it cost 500k + to make a mmo now adays a decent one. The mmo makers are not takeing chances cause there thinking if its not broke why fix it?
But it is broke. The games pretty much suck. That's broken.
Everytime I buy a new MMO lately, I install it and I already know how to play it right when I start it up. That's so sad. I want something new and different. I want to be completely lost and have to learn my way around again. I want complex character creation. I want monsters that get smarter and smarter with each new game coming out. I don't want a copy of every other game with new art.
thank God someone else said they want SMARTER monsters. I am sooo sick of grinding mobs and especially boss mobs that never change their patterns even tho millions of their number are killed.
Could you imagine how much it would change an MMO if game developers created a raid boss that learned from his/her/its mistakes?! My god, players would flip out.
If MMOs want to expand into the mainstream, as WoW has, they have to appeal to a wider demographic than UO or EQ did.
On the other hand, I have a lot less time for long game sessions at 30 than I did when I was 20. Life changes. Unfortunately, game designers seem to equate short sessions with lack of depth (and vice versa).
I'm not going to try sell the following game, just mention it incase it fits the "do something else than EverQuest over again" mantra you're looking for; Dreamlords. It's a MMORTS about to start closed beta where you'll be managing your town, resources and research through a browser interface while at work, and then get home and log in with the gameclient to rid of problems and advance through PvEing or PvP fights with the army you've been building and equipping.
I still get a few kicks out of messing around in PlanetSide or WoW, trying the occasional trial here and there, but none of it all holds me attention for more than a couple of hours a day. Seen it all before ^^
I play for the challenge, not for the chance of rare items to drop. I don't need a pair of shiny shoulderpads to feel good about myself and as such once the challenges completed the game has been beat imo. The Dreamlords thing looks interesting mostly because it can be won. An era ends and everything restarts once certain global goals have been met. That's the kind of competive approach which kept me playing Utopia before.
Conan and Darkfall look nice too methinks. Seems they're both going to promote alot of player politics and conflicts as well as try to make combat about more than pressing two hotkeys and a panick button every now and then. o/
It seems like the games we started on initially, like EQ, or UO, and the like have pretty much burned out what they can do for the long term player. And new games it seems like cater to a younger demographic, and of course I understand thats probably where the money lies.
That's where the "safe" money lies. These companies fear retribution from conservative democrats in congress, like Tipper/Al Gore, Joe Liberman, and Hilary Clinton. Hell, the only reason I didn't vote for Gore is because his wife keeps trying to ban video games and metal music, which are two of my big hobbies. Mature games will make more money though, because the average gamer is 30. I keep repeating this because no one seems to beliieve it, but the info is right there on wikipedia.
Originally posted by Arcken
I find myself contemplating quitting MMOs altogether, none of em are original, the communities are terrible (sorry kids, you arent as much fun to hang out with when yer not a kid yourself) and whats worse is ive found myself playing games even worse than what was out 5+ years ago!.
Have you ever heard of H.P. Lovecraft or Stephen King? What if I told you there was a game coming out that's based on the writings of one of the horror authors who influenced them both? Forget about those cheesy 80's movies. They are a lie. They butcher Conan more than Woo butchered the Incredible Hulk movie. If you're fed up with kiddie content in MMO/s...
Step 1: Check out REH's work, and discover the works of a truly Shakespearian talent.
Step 2: Eagerly anticipate Age of Conan.
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
you said it yourself, playing with kids is not fun when you are not a kid.
As we get older having fun just becomes more complicated.
When you are young everything is fun, try and go back and remember how much easier it was to just have fun with the simple things, when you were 18 did you really care why or how a game was fun? no you didn't, you just played it and if it was fun it was cool if it wasn't in to the trash bin it went and you moved to the next, with no need to analyze the reasons.
As we get older for something to be fun, it must have depth, meaning, effort, character, and we usually use these terms without actually understanding what it is we miss from a game, and each year we get older the more complicated we need things to be, what we actually miss is the youth and games will just be created the same way they have been created for centuries now, and in the end it is the young that will make it or break it.
You want my advise, find yourself someone young to play with, it may cost more but believe me it is fun.
I'm 60. loved WOW for the first month....i thought of D@D Online but wondering how the new solo content is working out.......? Tried Auto Assault.. I have a feeling this one will never catch on.....Bought Minions Of Mirth....became dissappointed with the lack of content......Not giving up yet though!!
Trying the Faction Earth Beta...i must have been one of the few subscribers of the old Faction Earth...So far i see nothing fun at all about the new one..
Originally posted by sleepyguyftl Well what do you think companies should do to make games more friendly to 30+ gamers?
go back to more skill systems. make games more complex. think back to the tabletop games and even ultima online.. they didnt feel like video games in the sense that you only had to pay attention to a small handful of details (a,b,c, left,right,click)
i think adults have a longer attention span, they appreciate steep learning curves and depth in their games
some younger adults do as well, or the dungeons and dragons p&p games would have never had the success they have.
its knowing the line between tedious and intricate
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
I would make it so that some thought is required like say the Geneforge series of single player rpg's....if your not careful when leveling..your character is too weak to advance in the game so you just have to start over...that would remove a lot of the instant gratification.........Building your /character should take a lot more skill than just increasing, strength, dex and whatever.
How about say a series of challenges every 10 levels that are skill based...if you can't complete those your basically screwed.. it could be frustrating but think of the care you would use in crafting your character.
Originally posted by MentalCrash The mmo market isn't changing due to the fact of it cost 500k + to make a mmo now adays a decent one. The mmo makers are not takeing chances cause there thinking if its not broke why fix it?
Get real man! $500,000 to make a decent MMOG, yeah right; try $5,000,000. minimum for a low level MMOG!
WoW cost more than $75,000,000. and millions of man-hours to create...WoW is a decent MMOG. But, alas, it is only the McDonalds of the video game industry!
Make no mistake, MMOG developers aren't taking any chances 'cause they don't have to; they know there will be plenty of retards who will be mesmerized by their hype and hand over $40. to get in the door and $15. a month for rent.
Originally posted by Rayx0r Originally posted by sleepyguyftl Well what do you think companies should do to make games more friendly to 30+ gamers?
go back to more skill systems. make games more complex. think back to the tabletop games and even ultima online.. they didnt feel like video games in the sense that you only had to pay attention to a small handful of details (a,b,c, left,right,click)
i think adults have a longer attention span, they appreciate steep learning curves and depth in their games
some younger adults do as well, or the dungeons and dragons p&p games would have never had the success they have.
its knowing the line between tedious and intricate
I disagree some of the best games that I have played in my lifetime (I'm 31) were ones that didn't have much of a learning curve at all. The fun was playing the game not trying to figure out how to play it.
I think the the real truth is that our age group has come to expect way too much of MMO's. Instead of expecting games with a finite play time. We expect them to entertain us forever. Then after playing a game for a year, we get bored and start to say how games just aren't the way they used to be. When the reality is games used to only provide us with 40 hours of gameplay, not 4000 hours.
IMHO I feel the 30+ mmo players should stop expecting one game to last us the rest of our lifetime. If a game lasts us one or two years we shouldn't be complaining about how boring the game got, instead we should be thankful it gave us so much fun for so long. Then start looking for another game.
Comments
When we first got it, (before we opened it and installed it), we talked about maybe letting our boys play it with us. But after playing for a little while and seeing some of the chat that was going on, there's no way we were going to let them play and think talking like that was okay. It was really sad. I wouldn't let them play without us around so I don't see how other kids parents didn't care enough to keep an eye on their kids. I wonder if they knew half the stuff they were saying.
World of Warcraft was my first MMO. I missed the boat on the earlier ones. Too bad because I would have loved to have experienced the fun times that people always talk about before. I just can't find one that has a good community now and that is populated. The community in DAoC was very nice, but it was really empty. Everquest II community is panning out pretty well. I'll see how that goes. If it doesn't work out though I'm going to wait for a while to try again. Maybe we should start a middle aged gamer revolution!
=============================
It all seems so stupid
It makes me want to give up
But why should I give up
When it all seems so stupid
I am a 40 yo female gamer (married mom of 3) My first mmmorpg experience if you can call it that was phantasy star online on my sega dreamcast. God i loved that game lol. Since then I think i have played pretty much every one out there. My favorites being SWG pre cu, daoc, and ragnarok online (beta/alpha time).
I have met many people my age in everquest 2 (seems to be the most mature community atm) but after reaching 70 on my brigand it became boring to me. I have the end game boredom syndrome unfortunately. WoW was the worst :P It is nice to see many older gamers that lurk here
Perhaps it is not so much casual vs hardcore (in terms of consecutive hours needed to play)
but
Adults vs younger folk? With a job and family, my game time can be limited at times.
"...and with that cryptic comment, I'm off to bed!"
Most of Ryzom's playerbase is 20-40.
-----------
In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on August 13, 2008.
It's kind of weird that there is that split out there. I wonder at what age you get tired of the race gaming and sit back and enjoy yourself. I guess it's different for different people.
look at me sounding so old. Yikes.
-----------------------
</OBAMA>
Y'all are a big bunch of babes in the woods.
I hear all these little kiddies whine and cry about paying a measly little $15. a month sub fee when I would gladly pay $100. a month for a really good, high quality MMOG! What a joke!
Millennials). We're the people that grew up with Video Games in the mainstream. Certainly Gen Xers made video games what they are today, but Gen Y was thrown in to the middle of a technological revolution being born at the dawn of the information age.
Many games which would have once been extremely fun to me are now boring. I simply don't have the time to play like I used to being in college and all and while games like WoW did set some milestones. For the most part, many in my generation are also finding MMOs to become huge grind fests which take hours on end. Of course these new MMOs appeal to little kids, little kids love big flashes and booms. It's no lie when someone says all kids have ADHD, because in truth, 90% of kids have ADHD (It's just that some have it more than others).
Developers haven't forgotten about their core group...The Children. Yes, the core group for almost all video games is kids. Reason being, kids can get their parents to dish out cash, sometimes in huge amounts. The Video Game market has gone to hell in a handbasket because they are all about money now. They got a taste of green blood and they want more of it.
The "Children" they once captivated are no longer children anymore and we now want to see games which have a little more depth and let us be more flexable with play time. I feel this is even worse for those in their 30s.
(1997) UO --> EQ -> Runescape -> DAoC -> WoW -> EVE + WAR (2008)
I'm a Baby Boomer. I remember when The Rolling Stones were YOUNG.
And, yes, I still love MMORPGs.
~ Ancient Membership ~
i feel ya bro. I hate collage too. All those different materials mixed together. It just looks like someone forgot to go to the trash after they clipped coupons.
GEE, why ARE new games so boringly simply stupid?!?!?!
Which FF Character Are You?
It's kind of weird that there is that split out there. I wonder at what age you get tired of the race gaming and sit back and enjoy yourself. I guess it's different for different people.
look at me sounding so old. Yikes.
I'm 33 and I too am tired of the "level and loot" race. So far Saga of Ryzom is the best I've found. If the mmo developers actually did a market test for the 30+ age group and paid attention to what we want, they would find a very lucrative market, as much if not more than the current younger demographic they cater to.
The mmo market isn't changing due to the fact of it cost 500k + to make a mmo now adays a decent one. The mmo makers are not takeing chances cause there thinking if its not broke why fix it?
Everytime I buy a new MMO lately, I install it and I already know how to play it right when I start it up. That's so sad. I want something new and different. I want to be completely lost and have to learn my way around again. I want complex character creation. I want monsters that get smarter and smarter with each new game coming out. I don't want a copy of every other game with new art.
thank God someone else said they want SMARTER monsters. I am sooo sick of grinding mobs and especially boss mobs that never change their patterns even tho millions of their number are killed.
Could you imagine how much it would change an MMO if game developers created a raid boss that learned from his/her/its mistakes?! My god, players would flip out.
Which FF Character Are You?
If MMOs want to expand into the mainstream, as WoW has, they have to appeal to a wider demographic than UO or EQ did.
On the other hand, I have a lot less time for long game sessions at 30 than I did when I was 20. Life changes. Unfortunately, game designers seem to equate short sessions with lack of depth (and vice versa).
I still get a few kicks out of messing around in PlanetSide or WoW, trying the occasional trial here and there, but none of it all holds me attention for more than a couple of hours a day. Seen it all before ^^
I play for the challenge, not for the chance of rare items to drop. I don't need a pair of shiny shoulderpads to feel good about myself and as such once the challenges completed the game has been beat imo. The Dreamlords thing looks interesting mostly because it can be won. An era ends and everything restarts once certain global goals have been met. That's the kind of competive approach which kept me playing Utopia before.
Conan and Darkfall look nice too methinks. Seems they're both going to promote alot of player politics and conflicts as well as try to make combat about more than pressing two hotkeys and a panick button every now and then. o/
Error: 37. Signature not found. Please connect to my server for signature access.
you said it yourself, playing with kids is not fun when you are not a kid.
As we get older having fun just becomes more complicated.
When you are young everything is fun, try and go back and remember how
much easier it was to just have fun with the simple things, when you
were 18 did you really care why or how a game was fun? no you didn't,
you just played it and if it was fun it was cool if it wasn't in to the
trash bin it went and you moved to the next, with no need to analyze
the reasons.
As we get older for something to be fun, it must have depth, meaning,
effort, character, and we usually use these terms without actually
understanding what it is we miss from a game, and each year we get
older the more complicated we need things to be, what we actually miss
is the youth and games will just be created the same way they have been
created for centuries now, and in the end it is the young that will
make it or break it.
You want my advise, find yourself someone young to play with, it may cost more but believe me it is fun.
Hey
I'm 60. loved WOW for the first month....i thought of D@D Online but wondering how the new solo content is working out.......? Tried Auto Assault.. I have a feeling this one will never catch on.....Bought Minions Of Mirth....became dissappointed with the lack of content......Not giving up yet though!!
Trying the Faction Earth Beta...i must have been one of the few subscribers of the old Faction Earth...So far i see nothing fun at all about the new one..
go back to more skill systems. make games more complex. think back to the tabletop games and even ultima online.. they didnt feel like video games in the sense that you only had to pay attention to a small handful of details (a,b,c, left,right,click)
i think adults have a longer attention span, they appreciate steep learning curves and depth in their games
some younger adults do as well, or the dungeons and dragons p&p games would have never had the success they have.
its knowing the line between tedious and intricate
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine a robot foot stomping on a human face -- forever."
Hi
I would make it so that some thought is required like say the Geneforge series of single player rpg's....if your not careful when leveling..your character is too weak to advance in the game so you just have to start over...that would remove a lot of the instant gratification.........Building your /character should take a lot more skill than just increasing, strength, dex and whatever.
How about say a series of challenges every 10 levels that are skill based...if you can't complete those your basically screwed.. it could be frustrating but think of the care you would use in crafting your character.
WoW cost more than $75,000,000. and millions of man-hours to create...WoW is a decent MMOG. But, alas, it is only the McDonalds of the video game industry!
Make no mistake, MMOG developers aren't taking any chances 'cause they don't have to; they know there will be plenty of retards who will be mesmerized by their hype and hand over $40. to get in the door and $15. a month for rent.
go back to more skill systems. make games more complex. think back to the tabletop games and even ultima online.. they didnt feel like video games in the sense that you only had to pay attention to a small handful of details (a,b,c, left,right,click)
i think adults have a longer attention span, they appreciate steep learning curves and depth in their games
some younger adults do as well, or the dungeons and dragons p&p games would have never had the success they have.
its knowing the line between tedious and intricate
I disagree some of the best games that I have played in my lifetime (I'm 31) were ones that didn't have much of a learning curve at all. The fun was playing the game not trying to figure out how to play it.
I think the the real truth is that our age group has come to expect way too much of MMO's. Instead of expecting games with a finite play time. We expect them to entertain us forever. Then after playing a game for a year, we get bored and start to say how games just aren't the way they used to be. When the reality is games used to only provide us with 40 hours of gameplay, not 4000 hours.
IMHO I feel the 30+ mmo players should stop expecting one game to last us the rest of our lifetime. If a game lasts us one or two years we shouldn't be complaining about how boring the game got, instead we should be thankful it gave us so much fun for so long. Then start looking for another game.