MMO Diary

[Arbitrary Cidin]

Tell me if the following sounds familliar, MMO players.

Day 1
Okay, so I'm trying out this new MMO and it's really cool. I mean it took forever to download the game and all the patches, but when I started playing it was great! I took a bit of time to make my character, and when I logged in, it was a double exp weekend, so that was cool. I got used to most of the controls; pretty much the same as any other with a tweak or two.

Day 2
OH MY GOD, I SAW SOMEONE REALLY HIGHLEVEL TODAY, AND I CAN'T WAIT!! It's gonna be so cool when I get to that level! Anyway I got my second set of weapons which are a little cooler, and I leveled up to about 8, thanks to the bonus exp weekend. It's over today though, since I started on a Saturday. Anyway, the game is great!

Day 14
I made a new character today. Not so much to start over, but to check out the other classes and appearance choices. I did it a couple times, and made a cosplay once or twice, but that didn't really work out. Leveling was harder, and I went back to my other character. The games pretty good so far.

Day 30
I'm about level 20 now, but I wasn't on today. I was on youtube checking out raid videos and stuff. I'll be on tomorrow maybe.

Day 42
Okay guys, I found a new MMO! That last one was so annoying, but this one has some NEW IDEAS that look great! I finally finished downloading it with all the patches, but it's a bonus exp weekend, so that'll make up for it. I started it up, made my character, and started playing. It's AWESOME! I figured the controls pretty fast since they're like other MMO's for the most part, but thee new ideas are cool. This is going to be great!



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Here's the problem with MMO's. They're going to be online, so it's gvoing to cost the company to host servers and keep them managed, along with new content and such, so they put in a monthly fee. But since it's monthly, if they want to make more than $15 off every customer, they have to make it really long. So they make progress very slow and that makes things repetitive, because they can't make enough areas, quests, stories, and ideas to keep it fresh for the whole ride. But to keep people in, they make flashy, high-level exclusives, like mounts or access to special areas or games (PvP type stuff and the lot) for newcomers to drool at. Even then, it's an illusion, because it's all the same crap. Because it has so many people in one place, they also have to have a small engine to make space for hundreds of people together in one server. That means point and click with skills to click on a UI tab. But that's BORING; there's no combos or immersion or excitement, and the worst part is that any MMO forum will shun you for disliking the game if you didn't reach the level cap because you "didn't get the full experience". Which brings me to the other point, the community is a subsocial cluster of uncomfortable dicks, douchebags, and trolls. That's the kind of people that would play the games, and the kind of people these games turn you into. The progression sucks, the graphics suck, the community, sucks, the engine sucks, the game sucks. The truth is that MMOs were released before technology was available to mke them live up to the standards of other games. Maybe in 30 years they'll be fun by my standards, but right now,they're shit.
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[flare09]

You should really try to not group all MMOs with WoW.

 

[Mirroga]

I've never gotten into MMORPGs, BUT not all MMOs are RPG-style. Look at Grand Chase. Its a fun MMO-beat em' up, and furthermore, its free. Its my SSBB replacement since I don't have the Wii.

 

[Arbitrary Cidin]

You should really try to not group all MMOs with WoW.

I'm not. The only MMO that doesn't work to this format is Grand Chase, which gets a few things right. It's a side-scrolling MMO, so there's no point and click, but the engine's still VERY weak, with choppy contact and little opportunity for combos. It's also on a party-server basis, so no NPCs and little lag, but it's still only fun for as long as other MMO's, because you have to grind and do the same thing twice or 3 times or 4 or 5 or 27.

MMO Designers, please read this:
GRINDING IS NOT FUN, STOP PUTTING IT IN GAMES. THE POINT OF A GAME IS FUN; THINGS THAT AREN'T FUN DON'T GO IN GAMES.

 

[Arbitrary Cidin]

I've never gotten into MMORPGs, BUT not all MMOs are RPG-style. Look at Grand Chase. Its a fun MMO-beat em' up, and furthermore, its free. Its my SSBB replacement since I don't have the Wii.

Bah, I shoulda refreshed the page. I was all over google trying to find the name of that MMO for my last post...

 

[NeutralDrow]

MMO Designers, please read this:
GRINDING IS NOT FUN, STOP PUTTING IT IN GAMES. THE POINT OF A GAME IS FUN; THINGS THAT AREN'T FUN DON'T GO IN GAMES.

Says you.

 

[Mirroga]

You should really try to not group all MMOs with WoW.

I'm not. The only MMO that doesn't work to this format is Grand Chase, which gets a few things right. It's a side-scrolling MMO, so there's no point and click, but the engine's still VERY weak, with choppy contact and little opportunity for combos. It's also on a party-server basis, so no NPCs and little lag, but it's still only fun for as long as other MMO's, because you have to grind and do the same thing twice or 3 times or 4 or 5 or 27.

MMO Designers, please read this:
GRINDING IS NOT FUN, STOP PUTTING IT IN GAMES. THE POINT OF A GAME IS FUN; THINGS THAT AREN'T FUN DON'T GO IN GAMES.

Actually, a thing you learn from Grand Chase is, LVL Grinding there is different. You actually get more Experience by PvP-ing people and winning rather than grind in a dungeon. It makes the game more fun since PvP is the best way to get to high levels.

EDIT: LVL grinding is necessary IN MMOs. Quoting Yahtzee, "The only thing that keeps people from playing MMOs is seeing the little XP bar go up." If it was removed, I doubt any MMO would be lively up to this point and everyone, EVEN ASSHOLES, would brag about being max level without the necessary dedication OR skill.

 

[Fat Hippo]

If there wasn't any grind, the developers would have to create a ridiculous amount of content for their game at an amazing rate. Grind is the only way to keep people playing for the ridiculous amount of time all the junkies out there want too. And besides, why should they change anything, when it's working so well for them? (Blizzard must be so stinkin' rich!)