I've decided to cancel my World of Warcraft account for now. I'll probably pick it up again when the expansion is released and it's time for me to review it. But for now I've had enough with online games for a while.
And it's not that it's something particularily wrong with World of Warcraft in itself as a game. For those who have the time to play it, it's one of the best online experiences out there. It's just that I have started to crave more from online games. More than they can offer. And it became quite apparent this weekend when I tried out the free korean online game Maple Story. Because the second I started playing it I went into analyze mode, comparing the effort/reward balance, the timesink system and so on... and it just struck me that not even the free games dare to challenge the norms in mmo-development. And at this moment I hunger for change, since in my eyes all that mmo games does today is to limit the players, forcing them to play in certain given manners, instead of encouraging player creativity and freedom. It's all just illusion. But this type of illusion no longer works on me since I know the game mechanics structures better than my own apartment. Or so it would seem.
I used to say quite some years ago that I'll never play an online game like Ultima Online or Everquest, because I knew I'd get addicted. Badly. But through the years I have tried quite a couple of online game titles now, and two games really did become addictive for me. First Anarchy Online and then World of Warcraft. And even Eve was almost snaring me, but I managed to stay away there. And boy, I have had a lot of fun in those games. And I have been addicted, to an almost fanatical blindness level. But in the end, as soon as you reach endgame, all these games all start to suffer from the exact same problems. When you realise that, when you see through the veil of lies the machanics are, the addiction dies instantly. It becomes apparent that they all just dwindle down in timesinks. Which in my opinion takes out all enjoyment from the game. All that's left is the social aspect. But that is not enough. Not for me anylonger at least.
I dare the industry to evolve. But looking at all the next gen mmorpgs coming, it doesn't seem promising.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I would say timesinks are here to stay. There probably isnt a market that targets just the casual gamer in online gaming right now, and might never be. A game which the casual gamer masters in a year would take the hardcore gamer just a month, and then they leave for another game. Much like WoW, i guess. And it IS different in the endgame too. I think the biggest difference between online gaming vs. solo play is that you get to compare yourself against other persons. Be it with your skill with a sniper rifle, your WoW PvP skills or by spamming some poor n00b with your super equipment. (Much like comparing penis size without the trouble of pulling your pants down.) Early on you can accomplish this by being level 5 among level 1´s, getting your kicks by showing them your superior level. But in the end, EVERYONE is a high level and you need something else. How about that +27 axe of insta-slaying that drops only during an ecplise when the right stars are aligned in any year ending with a 6? Next drop should be... 2036. I better renew my subscription. And what you get is the same as you got when you were a level 5 in the starting area. Bragging rights.
Now, the TRUE roleplayers should of course be above this silly competition, right? But funny thing is that they arent very many.. And games that try to cater to them (like WoWs RP servers) have suprisingly few of the "truebloods" actually using it. This is just my experience in WoW, perhaps, but i cant even count the number of dwarves named "Gimli69" i have encountered on the RP dimensions. Usually standing around populated areas shouting out how über they are. This of course leads to a shouting match with "Gimli54" and "Gimli14", telling him to STFU, since they are WAY more serious roleplayers (after all, they have a lower number, right?)
Nah, RP in online gaming right now is a myth and timesinks will live on. At least until someone comes up with a brand new brilliant idea. Hmm.. How about something familiar to most gamers? A Difficulty: Easy, Medium, Hard slider even on online games, taking you to different servers with different levels of challenges and timesinks? Maybe with a few ace items only available at higher settings to draw the right kind of people there? Or a game where you pay for the zones you want to have open to you, not per month? Then you could go without the real camping hells if you know you still will never get there? Bah, what do I know? Just look at all the junk i wrote about nothing? Hmm.. Cant ranting be a form of roleplaying? It certainly doesnt get me more levels, gold or good items? Its got to be! Im off!
Peyten, coming soon to a game near you, with longwinded ravings about nothing.
One idea would be to house different types of gameplay in the same game. Aim to create more of a true society.
Sort of that when you create a character you not only choose race and class, you also choose gamestyle, and those styles will limit what content ingame you can participate in. (Ok, limit is a bad word, but I have no better to use to explain this concept.)
For example, Player A chooses the Civilian gameplay style, and Player B chooses the Hero or Soldier or whatever gameplay. Now, they will both live in the same world with the same games mechanics but fill completely different roles. Townsfolk coould be settlers and community folks. They build towns and to general resourcegathering and create trade and civilizations for their race. Heroes or Soldiertypes they rather defend settlements from threats, and go on typical dungeon raids as per usual.
Well, I have some more indepth ideas of a system much like that.. but that would takes ages to explain. So I'll stop at that. Anyway, I think the mmo's need to think about content in new ways to get away from the timesink mentality. It's just a downward spiral that in the end just pisses people off.
Thats not a bad idea. =)
(And you could have use "define" ) :P
Ah of course :)
Post a Comment