- Sep 28, 2001
- 8,464
- 155
- 106
As so many others I played a bunch of MMORPGs and have a ton of good memories. After DAoC, at some time we (me and wife) got into WoW at the time of BC and it was a total blast. We first joined a friend's guilds but later one formed our own guild, wife was GM and we (almost) spent any free minute playing WoW and fricking LOVED it. We played it for years.
The big "shock" came with the advent of the fat pandas where me and my wife both agreed we would NEVER play a fantasy RPG/MMORPGs which for some reason seemed to have morphed into a game more appealing to Asian pre-teens. We haven't touched the Pandas yet and don't have any desire EVER to do so. This is really difficult to say for people who otherwise spent considerable time of their (non )-lives in that game - and I definitely often miss the "good" times and many experience, socializing etc. we did in WoW
The problem is that the current (or upcoming) alternatives don't look to good to me either... this is odd considering that many, many years back there was at least always one or two "good" MMORP, DAoC was good in its time and of course WoW, say, up until BC or if you will LK.
Some people say it's the "MMORPG burnout" that people simply get used to the genre and therefore lose interest - but I don't think this is true.
The reason is that a game which *per se* is good would still have its appeal TODAY. Say, if WoW would still be true to its roots I'd probably still play it.
Technicalities, say, like upgrading a game engine to the latest, state-of-the-art would be rather a non-issue, in my opinion AS LONG as the core of what a game actually made good would stay intact.
But this is exactly what happened. WoW is the best example where #+%!11ard literally removed all the good elements from the game with each and any expansion and instead put a bigger emphasis on the BIG, BIG negatives in the game, such as:
* GRINDING
* NEED TO RUN RAIDS
* GRINDING
* DAILIES
Instead of exploration, fun etc....it turned into an abomination where the "game" has become a task. Versatility etc. was also removed because they streamlined the game so that any idiot can play it, removed the ability to build interesting skill trees etc.. BUT AT THE SAME TIME increased the mandatory requirements for the grind.
This is what I don't understand because this has nothing to do with "burnout" but that the developer actively dumbed it down but at the same time made it more difficult in exactly such a way that it is only a turnoff.
As mentioned above, the problem is that it doesn't look good in regards to MMORPg alternatives either:
I read some reviews about GW2 and "in essence" it could be interesting, then people are complaining about things which are important to me, eg. the social aspect etc. which seems to lack in GW2.
So...the other option would be Elder Scrolls Online where I first assumed it would become the "uber MMOPRG" but now it looks it will only be what they call a "multiplayer TES game" where many of the interesting things which make a MMORPG will not even be included. A "TES game you can play with your friends" sounds underwhelming, to say it mildly.
For me the development in the MMORPG world doesn't make any sense, it doesn't make any sense why games which once were GOOD had to be made "bad". Because there are zillions of people who love(d) those games and KNOW what's good about them and why they played them. The genre is not exactly new. And i don't understand why in the many years ever since we didn't see any "real" competition to WoW which did all the things which WoW borked up WELL while at the same time leaving the good elements.
This for me is the same mystery why in the many years there haven't been, say, good space sims games where we KNOW that the concept itself works - but the games which were released all had one or the other problem....or companies didn't even release such games in the first place because they think they will appeal only to a very limited number of people.
So..this is the other reason..that game companies do not develop anymore with the gamer in mind and developing WHAT PEOPLE LOVE....but rather first look at the commercial aspect and how much money a game could them make. Blizzard was always good at that. I am pretty sure that MOST changes WoW has seen are because of exactly that, "Hey, let's make the game as easy and accessible for anyone" so it appeals to more people as opposed to only "the nerds"...and then while doing so having screwed up the entire game.
The big "shock" came with the advent of the fat pandas where me and my wife both agreed we would NEVER play a fantasy RPG/MMORPGs which for some reason seemed to have morphed into a game more appealing to Asian pre-teens. We haven't touched the Pandas yet and don't have any desire EVER to do so. This is really difficult to say for people who otherwise spent considerable time of their (non )-lives in that game - and I definitely often miss the "good" times and many experience, socializing etc. we did in WoW
The problem is that the current (or upcoming) alternatives don't look to good to me either... this is odd considering that many, many years back there was at least always one or two "good" MMORP, DAoC was good in its time and of course WoW, say, up until BC or if you will LK.
Some people say it's the "MMORPG burnout" that people simply get used to the genre and therefore lose interest - but I don't think this is true.
The reason is that a game which *per se* is good would still have its appeal TODAY. Say, if WoW would still be true to its roots I'd probably still play it.
Technicalities, say, like upgrading a game engine to the latest, state-of-the-art would be rather a non-issue, in my opinion AS LONG as the core of what a game actually made good would stay intact.
But this is exactly what happened. WoW is the best example where #+%!11ard literally removed all the good elements from the game with each and any expansion and instead put a bigger emphasis on the BIG, BIG negatives in the game, such as:
* GRINDING
* NEED TO RUN RAIDS
* GRINDING
* DAILIES
Instead of exploration, fun etc....it turned into an abomination where the "game" has become a task. Versatility etc. was also removed because they streamlined the game so that any idiot can play it, removed the ability to build interesting skill trees etc.. BUT AT THE SAME TIME increased the mandatory requirements for the grind.
This is what I don't understand because this has nothing to do with "burnout" but that the developer actively dumbed it down but at the same time made it more difficult in exactly such a way that it is only a turnoff.
As mentioned above, the problem is that it doesn't look good in regards to MMORPg alternatives either:
I read some reviews about GW2 and "in essence" it could be interesting, then people are complaining about things which are important to me, eg. the social aspect etc. which seems to lack in GW2.
So...the other option would be Elder Scrolls Online where I first assumed it would become the "uber MMOPRG" but now it looks it will only be what they call a "multiplayer TES game" where many of the interesting things which make a MMORPG will not even be included. A "TES game you can play with your friends" sounds underwhelming, to say it mildly.
For me the development in the MMORPG world doesn't make any sense, it doesn't make any sense why games which once were GOOD had to be made "bad". Because there are zillions of people who love(d) those games and KNOW what's good about them and why they played them. The genre is not exactly new. And i don't understand why in the many years ever since we didn't see any "real" competition to WoW which did all the things which WoW borked up WELL while at the same time leaving the good elements.
This for me is the same mystery why in the many years there haven't been, say, good space sims games where we KNOW that the concept itself works - but the games which were released all had one or the other problem....or companies didn't even release such games in the first place because they think they will appeal only to a very limited number of people.
So..this is the other reason..that game companies do not develop anymore with the gamer in mind and developing WHAT PEOPLE LOVE....but rather first look at the commercial aspect and how much money a game could them make. Blizzard was always good at that. I am pretty sure that MOST changes WoW has seen are because of exactly that, "Hey, let's make the game as easy and accessible for anyone" so it appeals to more people as opposed to only "the nerds"...and then while doing so having screwed up the entire game.
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