The Allure of MMOs

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What is the pull of an MMO over a traditional RPG?  The stories are weaker or lacking entirely.  There's a huge grind to get from the beginning of the game to the end.  At the end of an MMO everyone works for hours on end to increase stats ever-so-slightly.  If PvP is worldwide then all the experienced players gank the noobs.  All of our achievements can look lackluster as soon as a new expansion comes out.  Groups can take hours to find.  Certain content is locked out except for one time each week when we can attempt it.  Other players can treat us like shit.  And for all this we pay subscription fees or dole out our money to microtransactions.

Despite all of that, I want to play an MMO.  I've been burned out on MMOs since about a year ago when I canceled my WoW subscription.  I dabbled in a few that released this year but none of them held my attention for longer then the first month trial.  I know I was burned out and to an extent I might still be, but I miss the sense of being a part of something bigger.  Being in a group or guild with other like-minded players. I like feeling that I'm part of an online community.  That is the real appeal of MMOs.

It's time to give them another shot.  It's been a year since I was last seriously invested, but once again I have the itch.  I'm not going to go back to WoW or any of the new releases that I tried these past 12 months.  I have a copy of LoTRO that I bought on sale for $3 and I just reinstalled DDO.  Today I'm going to boot up one of these two programs and dive back in.  It may not stick, but it's time to give MMOs another shot.

My thinking is that these two games are different.  DDO doesn't have auto-attacking hotbar combat.  It has interesting hand crafted dungeons, fast paced combat, and abilities that need to be thought about before being used.  From everything I've heard about LoTRO the community is amazing and so is the scenery.  Middle earth doesn't hold as much interest for me as having a great community to interact with does.  Maybe one of these games will really hook me.

If I'm still not feeling the MMO groove then I plan to wait for SWTOR.  The one thing I miss most in MMOs is being part of a compelling storyline.  I love Bioware's storytelling pedigree and I hope that SWTOR will revitalize storytelling in the genre.

Well, I suppose it's time to update my game clients and jump back in...

Comments

  1. B.J.June 29, 2010 at 3:01 PM

    What's got me most recently is the idea of being able to PvP with a couple of friends in WoW--you should play on Malygos-US Alliance, by the way. If that doesn't keep me hooked, it's going to be DDO and a few other freebies and trials until SWTOR comes out.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JulianJune 29, 2010 at 3:51 PM

    I've been feeling exactly the same lately, but for some reason my "wingman" does not posses mutual feelings on the matter; he wants to keep playing Ragnarok Online. Granted, it's an amazing game, but it's just grown to be so old and pointless.

    I personally want to go back to WoW. (Shadowmoon - Horde and Lightning's Blade - Alliance) Aion didn't do it for me. I don't even know why, because I was never really involved with any guilds and never raided. I just like WoW for the PvP.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AndrewJune 29, 2010 at 9:08 PM

    Good luck with that. After 14 months I'm still not ready for MMOs again. The formula just seems so old, and the mechanics so samey. I'm hoping that SW:TOR will shake things up, and I'm willing to wait and see.

    That said, DDO is at least different from the norm. I had a good time with it for a few months - hope you enjoy it too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. VoidJune 30, 2010 at 12:00 AM

    I hope I can enjoy MMOs again too. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up not getting hooked until SWTOR or Cataclysm.

    ReplyDelete

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