Years to Come

[Thaos Nightwind]

I played SWG for slightly over two years.
Played EQ2 for just over one year.
And played CoH for about a year also.

I've been MMO-less for over a year. I need and am holding out for something special.

With the recent character class update its begining to look like HJ could last me for a few years. Which is something i'm actually hoping and looking forward to.

Whats your longest duration MMO and why?

 

[Percy Bandello]

I have actually only played two MMORPGs with any degree of regularity, Ultima Online for about a year and a half, and WoW for a couple months. I played Ultima for as long as I did for many reasons: because it was my first introduction to the genre, I had previously been a fan of the Ultima series, and it happens to be (or was) an incredible game. I made some a amazing friends, and was totally absorbed by the game world. Unfortunately, or not, this experience has left me rather finicky and consequently somewhat under impressed with subsequent games.

 

[Hiro]

I've played three before. I played toontown when I was 11 or so, but I got bored of it really easily. Then, I got City of Heroes, but it didn't work on my computer that well for some reason. I even had more than the required computer and everything. Last, I got Guild wars and I hated how everyone looked alike and other things. I didn't have any of them long. I'm hoping Hero's Journey'll be alot better since it seems to be putting alot of new things that I've always wanted in an mmorpg.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

I have actually only played two MMORPGs with any degree of regularity, Ultima Online for about a year and a half, and WoW for a couple months. I played Ultima for as long as I did for many reasons: because it was my first introduction to the genre, I had previously been a fan of the Ultima series, and it happens to be (or was) an incredible game. I made some a amazing friends, and was totally absorbed by the game world. Unfortunately, or not, this experience has left me rather finicky and consequently somewhat under impressed with subsequent games.

Ah yes. I have a co-worker still trying to get me to play UO on a free server that he found that also allows for faster leveling. I have yet to take his offer though.

I was also absorbed in my first MMO and haven't found anything that quite compares. I wonder if that is a common effect? Nonetheless, i'm pretty certain that HJ will bring that magic back for me which is why i'm holding out.

The other MMOs were fun and I enjoyed them but they were mostly ineteresting and experimental for me using my first MMO a sort of unconscious 'standard'. I had basically become curious as to how other games played, ambience etc since the first was so absorbing.

Though unique and interesting they fell short. They didn't seem to engross me as much whereas the first took me totally by surprise complete with bugs et al. This is one reason that I don't intend on 'grinding' for levels with HJ. I'm going to take my time and explore as much of it's storylines and such as I can.

Its really hard to say what can give a game that certain quality that can endear it to you but surely its not how fast one can gank their way through it. For me; walking up to pet some harmless cute little furry creature (and I don't mean Daax) only to have it turn out to be a ravenous little heathen from which the most noxious poisons can be extracted for a Wizard's brew is the kind of little thing that can mean a lot.

So i'm hoping that HJ doesn't forget about the little things because they're so much more immersive than the obvious 'slay that beast' function. And I have a good feeling they haven't.

 

[Daax]

I first started with Runescape when I was 12. Then when I was 14, I got FFXI for christmas. Then CoH for awhile. Then GW, which didn't last long. I then attempted both SWG and Eve online but both fell short. I got Rising Force Online a few months back, but sadly it turned out to be a very stylish grind and then pvp...with anime style mechs and elvan chicks. A friend introduced me to Silk Road Online, which was the longest and most painful grinding game on the planet. I'm currently playing WoW and liking it. Waiting for HJ....

 

[Luciro]

I played Ultima Online and EverQuest 1 both for 5 years. EQ1 on and off. From 1999 till 2004. Why did I play them so long? EQ had a lot of my school pals, work pals, and college pals in it. Ultima had a lot of my childhood pals in it. That's pretty much the reason why I stayed. I played other MMOs during that time as well but nothing really lasted like EQ 1 did.
Not saying EQ 1 was the best MMO ever but a lot of MMOs that wanted to 'fix' the EQ 1 model really missed out on some of the things that made it special. You hardly see the dangers in the game worlds now like you did there. Players indeed tend to whine way too much for there to ever be another 'spec island' or 'roaming giant panda'.
Ultima still had the best leveling / pvp / quest system as well. Plus just the sheer volume of, EVERYTHING, makes it still an awe inspiring game. Spells, items, builds, just books to read.
Other MMOs I tend to be done with in about a year tho'.

 

[HJ-Navarre]

I have been playing DragonRealms, on and off, since 1997. I was there for day one of EverQuest.. then onto Asherons Call (& beta), AC2 (& beta), Dark Age of Camelot (Alb-Percival), Final Fantasy XI, Star Wars Galaxies, GuildWars (& beta), EverQuest 2, World of Warcraft, Archlord Beta, Rappelz, EVE Online, LoTRO beta.

I've tried many but have only stuck with very few for more than a couple months. They include:
DR - 10 years
EQ - 1 year
DAoC - 2 years
WoW - 1.5 years

I won't go into DR. It is still my favourite game ever. (a text based MMO, but still an MMO of sorts) I've left a few times due to price increases, game changes, and friends leaving the game. I'm still playing.. again. heh.

I played the other 3 until I stopped having fun, which, if I was going to rank them from fave to least fave, fits right in with how 'long' I played.
DAoC was great fun for a long time. I loved PvE and RvR.

Eventually I lost interest in each - usually because of lack of End Game content and not wanting to raid and such. You can only make so many alts until things just become trite and mundane.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

Interesting.

MMO's have definately become a staple form of "entertainment". I gave up television for them many years ago. Not consciously mind you but it ended up that television became an abosulute bore to me as opposed to hangin' with friends inside of an MMO.

 

[blur]

Haven't found an MMO to keep my interest beyond 12 months. Well beyond the 12 month stage, I start to look around at all the addicted people around me... people who can't go five seconds without logging in... and I look at what I've "achieved" and I think, "This is all meaningless bull----..." and then I don't play an MMO for another 6 months or more until something really captures my interest. Weirdly, although I play them, I am quite anti-MMO at times.

 

[Gate]

I really feel the same way you do Blur. Though for me, the limit appears to be around 6 months. I'm hoping a more immersive experience (yes there's that word again) will help in that regard because I really don't give a damn about what gear I have, or what level I am- I just want to have a good time. The whole "what have I actually achieved" thing is disarmed when you aren't playing to achieve anything and instead are just enjoying the game moment by moment. At least, so I hope.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

... I really don't give a damn about what gear I have, or what level I am- I just want to have a good time. The whole "what have I actually achieved" thing is disarmed when you aren't playing to achieve anything and instead are just enjoying the game moment by moment. At least, so I hope.

Oh that's gotta be the most salient aspect of the experience. I would agree completely.

That's why I was pointing out the little things that can make a difference in any MMO. You know.. in movies there are people who's job it is to fill the sets with detritus. The "stuff" that accumulates from actually living or being in a place. It gives the room that lived in look - fake books, coffee cups, left over food on a plate etc.

Someone once commented on Baulder's Gate or NWN (can't remember) saying how nice it was to have a certain randomness of NPC's etc that seemed unrelated to one's quest but relavant to the NPC character in the game.

These would create game "moments" wherein the various systems (animal kingdom, vegetable, magic, gear etc would be interacting with themselves. Interact with it and you could be pulled into soemthing as well; or simply observe.

That's the kind of thing that needs a bit more attention to me in MMO's. All to often pristine landscapes, cities with no litter, and static NPC's force the focus on leveling and armour acquisition. A definate recipie for boredom in short order.

 

[blur]

I really feel the same way you do Blur. Though for me, the limit appears to be around 6 months.

Oh I agree. 12 months for me is a maximum. Generally it's much shorter. I have been known to play an MMO for a day and decide it's stupid and never want to look at it again.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

Oh I agree. 12 months for me is a maximum. Generally it's much shorter. I have been known to play an MMO for a day and decide it's stupid and never want to look at it again.

Interesting. You've still put the time in but it sounds like its been more so all over the MMO landscape as opposed a steady date (snicker).

Anyways.

When my SWG days ended the subsequent games began to have a short lived span like that. Sometimes I think it was the initial 'rush' of something new, different etc. They each have massive similarities i.e. quest system, battle sequences, travel, economy, mounts, housing etc - the pattern is basically set.

I found it irritating by the time I played my third one or so; to keep running from one to another and I didn't want to fall into the mode of buying and trying everyone that came out - just to keep filling the thrill of things subtle. I'm sure I would've burnt out on them and cast the whole genre out the window. Especially since they cost a monthly fee to play.

I caved in and ended up playing 3 months of GW but even with a free MMO the results was still the same because the pattern was still the same. Quest, click hot button, perform action, slay, loot, raid, sell, buy better stuff, slot specials, level up rinse and repeat. Of course its mind numbing. After the thrill of new graphics and character animations wears off you're done.

I kicked them all off of my PC quite some time ago.

So in my opinion the only option left is for *BOTH* the game manufacturer and the player to put forth an effort to fill the void that surrounds that pattern (because said pattern isn't going anywhere) with their own imaginations. Players need content that would basically distract them from that pattern long enough that they would actually want to go back to it and finish something up.

Non quest related stuff to do that would also count towards leveling but not totally necessary for it. That satisfies two camps from my point of view e.i. RP'ers and those who like grinding.

I like the notion of "systems" within the game that will interact with each other with or without player involvement. Ya you run across a zombie attacking a maiden and kill it without haste. Suddenly she then attacks you because your chivalry interrupted a Necromancer testing a new spell on her pet dead thing. Now what? :^O

That's also why I like the whole on the spot GM thing in HJ. You simply don't know what could or would happen and there would be far enough of a difference between players (groups also) so as not to have everyone experiencing exactly the same thing. Only generally the same thing.

To me HJ seems to be adding a very important aspect to gaming to accompany the expected features of the genre. The 'unexpected'.

Whereas with other MMO's we already know exactly what will happen. Rinse & repeat.

 

[LearsFool]

Dragon realms has been my longest running MMO. 6-years, i still play games such as WoW but im pretty tired of it now.

 

[blur]

Interesting. You've still put the time in but it sounds like its been more so all over the MMO landscape as opposed a steady date (snicker).

Laugh if you want... but I find there's nothing to be gained from blind loyalty to one game when there is a rich palette of game in this genre - perhaps the richest we will ever see at any time in gaming history before the genre has a BIG shake-out - and I'll happily explore that, rather than doggedly pursue one game.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

Laugh if you want... but I find there's nothing to be gained from blind loyalty to one game when there is a rich palette of game in this genre - perhaps the richest we will ever see at any time in gaming history before the genre has a BIG shake-out - and I'll happily explore that, rather than doggedly pursue one game.

hehe.. well its all subjectivity and perspective. Free trails are made to explore just such a rich tapestry. Could not your "blind loyalty" be another's satisfaction? Well of course it can.

Alls i'm saying <----borrowed from Luc) is that one person will choose to sample from many menus whilst another may sample for a bit but settle on a flavor that best suits his/her own palette.

Point? They're both full at the end of the meal.

Seems kinda pointless for either of them to tell the other their choice didn't taste as good the other's. And your industry wide sampling perspective is rather intersting. I personally don't have the time to invest so I usually center on one or two tops. After sampling 3-5 of course.

So which games are you people thinkin' is gonna be the Iron Chef Champion?

*bustamovetofridge*

 

[blur]

I think there is a point with many MMOs when the player had levelled one - or more - characters, completing 95%-plus of the quests in the process, where one must really consider whether it's satisfaction or blind loyalty that keeps them clicking the same mouse routine, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, when elsewhere we are going through an MMORPG renaissance.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

I think there is a point with many MMOs when the player had levelled one - or more - characters, completing 95%-plus of the quests in the process, where one must really consider whether it's satisfaction or blind loyalty that keeps them clicking the same mouse routine, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, when elsewhere we are going through an MMORPG renaissance.

Mornin all. *slurps java*

meh... I still don't get it. I don't see a renaissance. Only better graphics and annimations that still involve "clicking the same mouse routine, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year".

Link me up to sumphin'.

umm.. I think the only areas wherein something can be considered revolutionary would be within the realm of Ideas i.e. 'How an MMO manufacturer convinces you to perceive that you're not just clicking when in fact you actually are.' Kind of a blue smoke and mirrors thing.

Everything is born from the Mind first. If a company can convince me that my Imagination can have a broader pallette to work with then I sample there to see if its true. Technological advancements in graphics wouldn't mean a hill o' beans as the 'success' of text based RP MUDs that predate them solidly justify.

Dungeons and Dragons probably saw more 'success' (to a player's imaginative subjectivity) as text than when it was ported to a genre with a GUI and pretty pictures.

I guess i'm not seeing the siginfcant difference between whether I clickity-click on 10 characters in one game or clickity-click one character with 10 different games, save personal preference. Which is a hard thing to debate because its not objective.

So its all good actually 'cause we're both happy eh?

*rubsbellyaftergoodmeal*

 

[blur]

We're going through what I call a renaissance insofar as all the games out there are moving to second and third gen engines and there are more MMORPGs, right now, that I think there will be five years from now. I think this is the peak of the genre and the future will see less of them, but perhaps greater quality as all the pissant companies get shaken out, bought or merged with others.

 

[Thaos Nightwind]

We're going through what I call a renaissance insofar as all the games out there are moving to second and third gen engines and there are more MMORPGs, right now, that I think there will be five years from now. I think this is the peak of the genre and the future will see less of them, but perhaps greater quality as all the pissant companies get shaken out, bought or merged with others.

hmmm...that could be true Blur.

Its a big landscape out there and gaming has reached the point of being fully integrated into our entertainment venue. Still a ways to go but yeah...

"As the current politicians age and fade off into the sunset, they will be replaced with people who have never known a world without video games. Like the movie and television industries before them, respect will come by default, as games become just as commonplace." - Jeremy Reimer

So I theorize that like the fall season in television when a batch of new shows crops up trying to shag our entertainment attention hoping for longetivity and profitability so to will gaming have a 'rolling renaissance' aspect to it that will keep it's offerings viable, pliable and flexable.

They don't sit on their laurels as this study shows but will morph trying to detect what we the consumer want. Gaming has become integral and is still growing constantly so there will always be a constant churn for every demographic and all that the ESA makes sure of that.

They also know that the consumer market doesn't jump to new technological standards in a hurry. I'm sure that change (renaissance) is monitored also.

For example the forced HD broadcasting has been pushed back 'cause people aren't jumpin' to bust a move spending more money on a digital signal and springin' for a new 42 inch plasma to watch the same 'ol content television regularly serves up.

Gaming is gonna shake out like that as well. Not that they're the official standard but looking at MMORPG's list of games by 'Rating' would seem to bear that out. Every game is like a show and every company is like a channel.

I do think you're correct but I think the process is constant.

I also wish I wasn't so long winded.

*bustamovetowork*