I consider myself a casual gamer. By this, I mean that I don’t play a game 24/7 and learn everything there is about it, nor do I rack up hundreds upon hundreds of hours playing a multitude of games on a variety of different platforms. I’m the sort of gamer who enjoys games that have the option to explore the limits of the virtual world – scaling mountains or swimming oceans just to see what’s there. I’m the sort of person who, if the option is there, will spend an entire gaming session standing on a rock in the middle of the sea, casting a fishing rod and chatting to friends. This sort of behavior generally means that I should be a perfectly happy MMORPG player.
For those who aren’t game-savvy, MMORPG stands for Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. I have played a dozen of these in my lifetime; World of Warcraft (Beta through to the Cataclysm Expansion), City of Heroes/City of Villains, Lord of the Rings Online, Vanguard, Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Rift, Star Wars: The Old Republic and finally Guild Wars 2. These are the type of games I enjoy playing. They are potentially limitless.
With that in mind, I think I’m going off MMORPGs.
I don’t know… I’m finding it increasingly difficult to log in to games at the moment, as it just feels as though I’m sat waiting for this awesome incredible game that hasn’t even been made yet.
All of the most recent games have been great. I adore Guild Wars 2 but none of my friends play it anymore as, like most MMOs, there’s not enough End Game content to keep us occupied. The game ends up being repetitive and boring. Plus, no-one plays it anymore. Did I mention that? So, I end up sitting there like a billy no-mates doing the equivalent of what I did back when I played WoW (before they brought in the Pandas).
I’ll describe the scene. My Character, Kib, was a Night-Elf Druid (technically he still exists, though I’ve not logged in for 2 years). I’m in Bird Form, hovering as high as I can get above the canals in Stormwind. I shift out of Bird Form and plummet towards the ground. Just before I hit the ground, I shift back into bird form. I keep repeating this action to see how close I can get to the ground without slamming into the street cobbles. Then I fly around for about 10 minutes before /sigh -ing and logging off.
The differences between what I did in WoW and what I do in GW2 are as follows:
- Instead of a male Night Elf Druid, I have a female Asuran Engineer
- Instead of Stormwind, it’s Lions Arch
- Instead of flying, I clamber to the top of one of the ship houses and throw myself off it
- Instead of trying not to hit the floor (well, I still try and not hit the floor), I aim to fall into the deepest part of a pond
I don’t know what all this plummeting to my (character’s) potential death says about me (it’s probably best not to think about that) but the result is the same; increasingly I find that MMO’s have become, well… boring.
I’ve dabbled with Rift and I love it. It’s got a good class system and the combat can be dynamic but it just feels like it’s missing something.
Maybe it’s because Rift seems to hate my PC. With Guild Wars 2 and WoW, I can run my graphics settings on high/ultra. With Rift, however, I’m lucky if I manage to run it on medium. Mobs, NPCs and other players take a long time to load in reasonably (not even high) populated areas and sometimes it just bugs out and refuses to work altogether. I know I need to update my PC, but Rift is quite an old game now and it surprises me how much trouble I have in playing it when newer games seem fine.
I also don’t actually care about the story or the people in Rift. I cared in WoW, I cared in GW2, but Rift… who cares? I didn’t ask to be brought back to life by the gods to fight a holy battle against a demon dude from another planet. Normally that would sound awesome but I can’t help but go ‘meh’.
Rift doesn’t seem to have grabbed me like other MMOs have. With WoW, I used to get very real withdrawal symptoms; I still do, now and again, even though I’ve not played for nearly 2 years. In the beginning, it was the same with GW2 but I played it to death on release and felt that I’d done everything I wanted to do after a few months. But I don’t get that longing with Rift, which is probably reflected in the fact that I’ve never managed to get a character above level 30. Maybe that’s it. Maybe I need to make the effort and push through to max out a character. Maybe only then will I get what the game is trying to do. Then again I may get bored again and end up committing gaming suicide like a frustrated Tim Bisley drowning a flailing Lara Croft over and over (incidentally, something that is far too horrific to consider doing in the new Tomb Raider….and far too easy).
As for potential future releases, Wildstar looks fun but again, I don’t think it would keep me interested. Elder Scrolls Online looks like an exciting return to Tamriel but I’ve not even finished Skyrim yet! Also, we’ve got to wait a whole year before release and by then, who knows what I’ll be doing.
Of course, I’ll still play Rift. I’ve invested some time in it now and the MMO-er in me can’t let that go to waste. I do have a PS3 but get sad when I complete a game. I think i have been spoiled by the seemingly endless worlds of MMOs.
Maybe I’ll finish writing this and read it back and tell myself “what a load of bollocks – you love that game!” and become an uber-l33t haxx0r wit al teh shinies… maybe. Until then, I’ll carry on fishing (almost max-skill in Rift now… at level 30… just sayin’) and reminiscing about how the world of MMO gaming used to be.
What do you think? Are you feeling the same as I do? Feel free to let me know in the comments below, or by voting in my poll.
Related articles
- Did WoW Kill a Genre? (nerdfarmblog.com)
- Response: Are MMOs too easy? (totemploppin.wordpress.com)
stuffbykib 
July 9, 2013 at 8:10 pm
There is a strange x-factor with MMOs that’s kind of hard to pin down. I play WoW regularly, mainly because it just feels ‘right’. But I’ve also played GW2, SWTOR, The Secret World, Neverwinter, RIFT, TERA, and LOTRO. For some reason, none of the others can seem to hold my attention long-term. Not sure why. They have a similar feel and play very similarly. I’m not sure what makes WoW feel ‘right’ to me, but it does.
July 9, 2013 at 8:12 pm
I also agree that Wildstar looks very promising. I’d love something with the features and feel of WoW in a scifi setting. i was hoping SWTOR would be that game, but it was not to be.
July 9, 2013 at 8:15 pm
As you probably know I hop around MMOs too, at the mo I dabble in a biut of WoW now and again, after a 5 yr gap I went back with a new account and levelled another druid to 90 (my original class lol) It was fun but after a couple of months its starting to lose me a bit like most games seem to these days.
I am looking forward to checking out Wildstar, I am starting to not be as interested in Elder Scrolls Online, cant put my finger on to why but I will still of course check it out. You need to check out Archeage 🙂 Trion will be bringing it to the Western World soon. It has so much content, its kind of a combination of Theme Park and Sandbox MMO. I want to be a bit of a rebel in it though so I can steal peoples ships that they have spent ages building 😉 teehee x
July 9, 2013 at 8:29 pm
The closest I’ve gotten to an MMO is Borderlands, but this is mostly because I’m aa console gamer. Also, iI like to play several games, and I feel MMOs demand too much time to reach the highest levels.
The next gen games coming out will be something special since they’ll start blending single, co-op, and MMO style of play, like in Destiny! Should be a good balance of play for the casual gamers that are looking to get just a bit more.
July 9, 2013 at 9:51 pm
Awww, it’s really sad to hear that Kib!
To be honest, GW2’s fate is a bit tragic, this game has huge potential and it’s not even the end-game (or lack thereof) that bothers me all that much, it’s simply that no matter what you do, you don’t feel the appropriate level of reward for the task. The game does give you great things supposed to act as rewards (Vistas, beautiful scenery, a combat that feels good.. but mostly it’s all in the artistic department) but when it comes to actually giving you what you’ve worked for, it falls flat. The amount of currency you need for anything is always through the roof, and the RNG factor is too big to be enjoyable.
Well… the rewards, that’s one thing, but writing this something else came to mind: the total disregard for the RP community. Which is always pretty much shooting yourself in the foot in MMO’s as roleplayers are basically the only playerbase that keeps on going even if your game is relatively dead. The town costumes are far and few and require you to pay real money /or/ grind your ass off forever because gold is hard to come by, and if there isn’t a way to looking good or how you want to, that diminishes the RP aspect of the game. The new armor introduced is immersion breaking and has little to no explanation that makes them fit inside the lore. That’s not such a big problem in other games where the lore is fairly loose but I feel it’s more of an important point in GW… Then, the lack of player housing and customization on the overall game is also disappointing. Specific chat channels would also be nice, along with more open spaces to roleplay in…
Butbutbut I’ll stop ranting now. I’m sorry you feel that way ’bout mmo’s Kib and if you ever want to (role)play in one of them, just gimme a shout ❤
July 9, 2013 at 10:00 pm
I agree that mmos lack the ‘grab me’ factor at present. Like Hecate I have a nagging doubt that ESO will be any different and though I look forward to Wildstar, if I am honest I am not expecting it to be a long lasting infatuation. Perhaps we have too much choice, there have been studies into human behaviour that suggested more choice actually decreases satisfaction in the choices made. Maybe the days of a community being truly massive… or static long enough to have the community feel that the early mmopg’s had is past and we have to adjust to this new gaming environment of having so much choice and freedom to flit between games that none feel like home… or we could just go and read instead 🙂
July 9, 2013 at 10:15 pm
I definatly have the same feelings. I do still play Wow but struggle to log in. GW2 is pretty and the world itself is awesome but I don’t feel connected to the lore even though i love my Emi charr. I do play rift and find the ability to kill people with music oddly entertaining but again have no real interest in the world or lore. I seem to be playing rather alot of mmos. Defiance also, but that is when I just want to shoot stuff in the head 😉
The one game I do still love is The Secret World. I love the stories and the acting (hearing Jeffrey Coombs from Reanimator made me squeel with delight) but because nobody I know plays it I don’t get on much and so am not attached to a guild and therefore have no idea what I am doing. It is a very hard game and quite impenetrable for me in places with regurds the skill system but i do still love it.
I am also looking forward to Wildstar but fear I may be disappointed again. i hope not, it’s humour is right up my street.
July 10, 2013 at 10:10 am
Hi all,
Thanks for all the comments, it means a lot to me and I’m glad i’m not the only one out there at the moment who is feeling that MMO’s are a bit stagnant at the moment.
As Hukka said, I think game developers are too busy focusing on the MMO part whilst forgetting the RPG bit even exists. Guild Wars 2 is a prime example of this. You level from 1 through to 80 on this resonably epic storyline which tries to promote immersion into the world, only to end up standing next to someone in Lion’s Arch with a Panda hat on their head. It wouldn’t be so bad if there were pandas in the game, but I’ve got 100% world completion and I can tell you, there are none. I understand that it’s a FtP (Free to Play) game and they need to get money in somehow, but seriously? Panda hats?
I do enjoy roleplaying, and that is something that Rift offers good potential for with it’s Dimensions. I was discussing this with tixinim last night and some people have essentially built towns in their dimensions. It limits who can go in there meaning you are less likely to be disturbed by non-RPer’s who want to break your immersion. I plan on checking some of these out.
In the meantime people, stick with what you’re doing. Thanks again for the comments, and I’ll be posting again soon!
Kib
July 10, 2013 at 12:15 pm
I seem to have too many MMOs on the go at the moment. WoW, Rift, GW2, Defiance, The Secret World, Dino Storm, City of Steam! Husband even loaded Eve on my comp so the temptation for that is there. So much to do and yet nothing 😦
The last WoW expansion although I did like the pandas lol just was not my cup of tea. I didn’t care about the story and very early on was wanting a new expansion to do. I HATE DAILIES! at least WoW ones. GW2 is better at that. Dailies do not feel like a chore but I do not feel invested in the worlds lore as beautiful and expansive as that world is (it is the best world scape i have seen so far what with all the underwater tunnels etc).
The one game I do still adore is The Secret World. I love the storylines and the atmosphere. I squeeled with delight when I heard Jeffrey Coombs voice! The problem is I am a sad shy geek who isn’t very good at making friends in game without outside help. Thus I do not pug on my own. As I am the only one I know who plays this game I haven’t seen any of the dungeons or lairs and as a result do not have the best gear. Nor have I found a guild to join as I don’t play much (again due to being a sad shy geek). I have played the various issues on offer but many missions are just too hard for me. I really have no understanding of how the skills works or the gear. Silly really, all down to me being afraid to say ‘Hi’ on my own. Anyway enough about my social problems.
I am looking forward to Wildstar but am wary that they may be making promisis they are unable to keep. I love the humour of the game and the questing seems fun, what happens at endgame, well I hope they keep it interesting.
It’s funny as many articles I have read have stated gamers are going through content faster and I think even WoW is finding this out. An expansion every 2 years doesn’t cut it anymore. I have heard some games have released content at a much faster rate and that that is the norm although I do not know enough about the asian gaming market to know for sure.
OMG wall of text.
I guess gaming is our passion still 🙂
July 10, 2013 at 12:27 pm
Welcome to blogging Kip! I’ve cycled through MMOs trying to find “the one” to replace WoW. Sadly replacing the guild, friends list and general buzz of such a monster population game isn’t really possible at present. Still I have fun a few games playing in static groups (SWTOR, GW2).
I’d highly recommend you try EQ2 if you haven’t, it’s a really awesome game despite its age. The free to play is pretty generous now and there’s a vast amount of content to do. Plus it has one of the best housing systems around and arguably more interesting crafting than most games (except maybe FFXIV).