What was the moment you realized MMORPGs were ' your' genre?

lahnmir

As the title states, what was the moment you realized that MMORPGs where the genre you wanted to play? Was it a special in game event, a favorite company creating a game, a realization while playing? 

Mine was easy. I had never played an MMORPG online when I bought Anarchy Online. And once I had created a character and logged in I saw someone running past me. It took me a while to realize that that was another player, a real, actual person inhabiting the same space as I did. And as mind blowing as that realization was, what hit it home for me was realizing that when I would log off and do something else there would still be players there, going on adventures, doing stuff. It was an eye opener and I never went back, why in the hell would I want to play something else anymore, these were real worlds that wouldn't cease to exist when I turned off my computer. I never wanted to log off again out of fear of missing something amazing.

Special mention does go to WoW and my first log in. Coming from Warcraft 3 I created a Night Elf, logged in and the first sight was a giant Treant stomping by, making my screen shake. To see that specific character hulking over me, moving, was an enchanting moment, I fell in love instantly.

I am curious to read your stories, when did it click for you and why? I also really don't need replies about days long gone and how the genre has been ruined, there is another time and place for that. Thanks!

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

MightyUnclean

First time my Barbarian looked out across the water in Halas in EQ.  I knew there was a dangerous world waiting out there and I was actually scared to take the next step.

PimpNasty

1975......Dungeons and Dragons, paper, pen and dice......fast forward to Asheron's Call.....the game grabbed me, and have played almost every one since....the original Asheron's Call was still the best experience to date.  

Gyva02

Everquest, back in 1999 rolling a wood elf and accidentally attacking the Priest of Discord, dying, then respawning with people sending me tells with tips on how to start your life in Norrath. Attacking the Priest of Discord was on the "Do not do list"   

Po_gg

Somewhere in the mid-'90s, the first MUD.
It also spoiled me for good, and put me in a minority position, especially around nowadays gamers   (maybe the spoiling started earlier though, in the p'n'p years)
Namely that I value the community, the story/lore, the roleplay and the world, while don't really give a flying f.ck about combat and numbers and animations and all those "gamey" BS.

Unfortunately the trend is the opposite nowadays, so it gets tougher and tougher to find great worlds and communities to delve in.
And the other amazing side of MUDs (the freedom in creation) was lost and missing right from the start. Cryptic tried to re-add it in the form of the Architect and later the Foundry, but those are fairly limited tools compared to the MUD era.
Don't get me wrong, still better than the nothing, what other games offer.

Finvega

2001: Asheron's Call. I was outside a building, and the door was open. Through the open door I saw a window on the back wall and I could see out the window. This guy came running around the back of the building and I saw him pass by the window on the back side of the building. 

I knew I was in a dynamic world with other people going about their lives. Such a change from single player games.

esc-joconnor

Coming from PnP RPGs I was hyped for MMORPGs. Being much more of a sci-fi guy, and especially into Cyberpunk the first one that caught my eye was Neocron. After a short experience with grind and weapon wear leading to weapon no more I moved on. The next experience I had was CoH. Man, from the first minutes of the tutorial, looking good in my one of a kind costume, taking on magically buffed super criminals instead of small forest/sewer animals I was hooked. Here was the next logical step from PnP games. No gear grind, just doing missions and interacting with people. Reading their backstories. The game ended up having what I'd call the best group play to date in MMORPGs. A sad thing to say for the industry when the game in question came out more than 10 years ago. 

Breakinge

As a kid I was a console gamer so my first experience with MMORPGS was with Silkroad Online, KAL online. I was never a "living the story" type of guy, I don't really care for story or RP-ing, what I always did and why I play is cause of the PVP. Sadly most games are catering towards the no open world pvp policy so I am stuck with playing mobas . While I am aware that there are older game that are PVP centric, I just hate the old graphics and can't force myself to play a game that is old. 

Curently playing Black Desert Online and I love it, but dear God the penalty for killing people is just insane. 

lahnmir

Great to read the responses. Nice to see how different things have hooked different people too, I guess there really is something for everyone to like.

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

Po_gg

esc-joconnor said:

The next experience I had was CoH. Man, from the first minutes of the tutorial, looking good in my one of a kind costume, taking on magically buffed super criminals instead of small forest/sewer animals I was hooked. Here was the next logical step from PnP games. No gear grind, just doing missions and interacting with people. Reading their backstories. The game ended up having what I'd call the best group play to date in MMORPGs.

Had a similar experience with CoH, that brought me back actually (after Garriot made me turn my back with his crappy UO...). CoH was fairly different from the MMOs around it, and loved it for that. The character building, the advancement, the freedom and flexibility, later the Architect... I'm still (more or less) a Cryptic fan and play their games (even though they've really made a pretty long list of stupid decisions over the years ), just because they made CoH back then.

(sure, I followed them and switched to CO when they left NC, so kind of left CoH behind... but went back later and played both games on and off until CoH's closure)

moosecatlol

The community, it's always the community. It was SWG for me, it was an incredible experience.

Renoaku

Back when T4C was popular, and then I went into Final Fantasy XI, and then Lineage 2 back in 2005, as well as Guild Wars at the same time which I played a lot more of the original Guild Wars game than GW2.

Akulas

Kingdom of Drakkar turned from a text to a graphical game. That was "It" for me.

Octagon7711

Sitting on a hilltop enjoying the sunset, taking a break from grinding, with my Wookie friend next to the Tusken Village in SWG.  The Wookie looked down at the players grinding through the village instead of stopping for a moment to just enjoy the sunset and said, "They are such fools..."  
Can't get moments like that in a single player.

Kyleran

I joined the genre late, around 2001 and played Lineage 1 as my graphic card choked on EQ1.

While I had a great time and made several friends which I still game with today I wasn't really hooked as it still seemed very game like and less immersive than single player games.

I also experienced my first ever character nerf which really pissed me off so I quit, bought a new video card and joined DAOC.

It was here I found the social interaction I enjoyed in L1 coupled with a much more immersive 3D virtual world and I definitely was hooked.

I was delighted my character was in a land where it got light and dark while the sun and moon tracked across the sky.

I could swim and even drown if underwater too long. If I bounded down a steep hill too quickly I sort of "stumbled" and hurt myself and long falls killed me. (SI expansion)

Once I joined Mordred the FFA server I loved it even more as now I was no longer limited to one realm (Alb) and could experience the wonders of Tnn, Jord and all of the lands formerly "behind the veil."

While DAOC captured me, EVE revived my waning interest in MMORPGs in 2007 after I had gone through WOW and several clones and had become disillusioned with the theme park designs which dominated every new release.

ATM I am basically back to where I was in 2007 and will likely catch up on 15 years of single player games until perhaps another MMO brings something fresh to the genre which I find of interest.

sunandshadow

How do you people remember these moments that happened 15 years ago?  My memory isn't that good, lol.  I guess I remember feeling validated and included when I could actually chat with other players about the same game that we were all in, and suddenly my gaming actually mattered to someone besides me; we actually were thinking about how to solve the same problems and make strategic use of the same game mechanics.

But I was also just blown away by the fact that I could put different gear pieces on my avatar and they actually looked different, and I could even put my avatar on a mount or interact with a pet!  It was incredibly rare to find any sort of customization options in single-player RPGs of the 90s/00s.

GeezerGamer

Anarchy Online and hooked

Amathe

First day of me playing Everquest, circa early 2002. When i bought the game I really didn't focus on it being multi-player. As soon as I realized in game that it was, I knew I had found something really awesome.

Kyleran

sunandshadow said:

How do you people remember these moments that happened 15 years ago?  My memory isn't that good, lol.  I guess I remember feeling validated and included when I could actually chat with other players about the same game that we were all in, and suddenly my gaming actually mattered to someone besides me; we actually were thinking about how to solve the same problems and make strategic use of the same game mechanics.

But I was also just blown away by the fact that I could put different gear pieces on my avatar and they actually looked different, and I could even put my avatar on a mount or interact with a pet!  It was incredibly rare to find any sort of customization options in single-player RPGs of the 90s/00s.

LOL I think we all can recall these events because they were wonderfully new and fresh and likely played for an extended period of time.

I can recall almost nothing good from games such as RIFT, AION, SWTOR, TSW, Vanguard and a host of other "1 month wonders" I gave a try, only  the negatives.

Amathe

Kyleran said:

I can recall almost nothing good from games such as RIFT, AION, SWTOR, TSW, Vanguard and a host of other "1 month wonders" I gave a try, only  the negatives.

Ah c'mon mate. :0 SWTOR had lightsabres and electric force magic stuff that comes out of your hands. Plus some great voice acted story arcs. TSW had cool scary stories and some puzzles that were fun. And zombies! RIFT and AION I never played. Vanguard I beta tested and it had some good graphics and lore. At least, it seemed to during those brief 5 minute intervals when it was running. 

waynejr2

I am a gamer.  Played games since the 60s as a child.  In grade school I beat adults at penny nickle dime poker.  Played chain mail then when dnd came out in 74 we played that.  My friends and I still play miniatures wargames.   The genre of mmoRPGs is just another facet of gaming to me not my genre.

Shaigh

When our dungeons and dragon's campaign fell apart because we just kept talking about the latest gaming experience it was obvious mmorpg was our genre.

nariusseldon

Akulas said:

Kingdom of Drakkar turned from a text to a graphical game. That was "It" for me.

lol .. i am not the only one who has played Kingdom of Drakkar.

To be fair, i do NOT play a genre. I play specific games. 

Kyleran

Amathe said:

Kyleran said:

I can recall almost nothing good from games such as RIFT, AION, SWTOR, TSW, Vanguard and a host of other "1 month wonders" I gave a try, only  the negatives.

Ah c'mon mate. :0 SWTOR had lightsabres and electric force magic stuff that comes out of your hands. Plus some great voice acted story arcs. TSW had cool scary stories and some puzzles that were fun. And zombies! RIFT and AION I never played. Vanguard I beta tested and it had some good graphics and lore. At least, it seemed to during those brief 5 minute intervals when it was running. 

Limited memory capacity at my age, none of that really stuck as wonderous it seems.

To me it went SWTOR just a shooter (I only played  through a Trooper) , really gimicky battleground in a jungle gym, extremely annoying voice acting which detracted from my story and interrupted my television viewing. Oh yeah, I don't want developer stories in my MMO.

TSW, awesome, love the eerie zombie theme,  this is a great mystery, then came Egypt (WTF) and some weird tree you slid around on teleporting places....all leading to standard dungeon raiding (WTF) followed by hard mode raiding. 

That and I never grasped the builds so my hammer spec meant I had to bash hundreds if not thousands of npcs to get anywhere. I quit in exhaustion while in 2nd Egypt zone where I had been beating spiders and ancient Egyptian gods for hours. (WTF?)

Where's the 3 faction open world PVP server in this game? Exterminating enemy factions should have been absolutely part of this game. (WTF)

Tokken

Playing with others in UO and EQ

WoeToTheVanquished

Back when good MMOs existed. Today online games no longer feel fulfilling.