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Themepark Fatigue Syndrome (TFS) - Is there a cure ?
SpottyGekko
Member EpicPosts: 6,916
"Been there, done that"
"It's not a bad game, really, but I got to L25 and now I can't be bothered to login"
"I'm bored to tears, but my friends all play this game, so I force myself to play"
Just a sample of phrases that have been appearing on these boards ever more often in the last year or so. In fact, it's almost become the dominant theme for posts in the Pub forum. What's going on ? If you are an "MMO vet", and can identify with any of these, then you're probably a victim of "Themepark Fatigue Syndrome (TFS)".
Core gameplay has not changed much in the themepark genre over the last 10 years. It has speeded-up and become more "accessible", but the formula has remained largely unchanged.
New themepark MMO's arrive with great fanfare, but usually 75% of the gameplay is the same as every other themepark MMO you've played previously, and the 25% which is different just doesn't cut it anymore. That 25% is usually just flavour anyway, core gameplay remains the same, and that's the real issue. That 25% difference is just "re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic", but the ship is still sinking.
I'm willing to bet that players that are new to MMO's will probably get a lot of mileage out of the current offerings. They are still excitedly hunting for the cheese, and are still delighted that a candy bar pops out every third time they pull that little red lever...
When you first start a new themepark, things look different, and the hype may carry you along for a while, but by L20 or L25, the "newness factor" has worn off, and as the mists clear, you realize that you're on the same old treadmill, just the size and speed has changed a bit. The more themeparks you play, the quicker TFS will set in with each "new" game.
So Themepark Fatigue Syndrome (TFS) has arrived, but is there a cure ?
The obvious trite answer is that "core gameplay has to change" so that things are new and fresh again. But that is a paradigm shift, and those are notoriously difficult events. A change in core gameplay will carry enormous risks for any developer that attempts it.
It has become an accepted "rule" in MMO design that your game systems must be familiar to players from other games, and be easy to pick up. In short, "make your game similar to others, otherwise players will not buy it". Familiarity is great, but don't forget the old saying: "Familiarity breeds contempt". And we are seeing more and more contempt on these boards of late...
It will take a very brave and visionary developer to change core gameplay. I have no idea what shape or form it will take, but I have endless faith in human ingenuity 
Comments
There is a cure: Fine a game with greatly differing gameplay. But that list is very small now, EVE being the most prolific and vastly different that I can think of. Either that or just don't play MMORPGs at all. If you're playing solely because of someone else and not for your own personal enjoyment, then you've got problems.
As for EVE, it's a good game when I tried it but I didn't stick with it. The main reason is completely losing your ship when you get blasted away, PvP or PvE. As a new player, I was not willing to deal with such massive losses in money and material, and the time required to get back onto my feet after a bad mistake. It's a draw for some due to the very real risk, but I don't like absolute losses like this. Only thing worse is Full Loot PvP.
Edit to add: Oh, I don't play any MMORPGs. Haven't since early '09 now.
"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." (First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates, US Marine Corps, Soissons, 19 July 1918)
Easy 'no-thinking' 'cure' - taking a break from mmorpg's BUT that not always work and usually is only temporary solution.
Me myself now ,even after almost 8 months break atm, when I tried TOR beta - I got "eewwww" an "meh" and "not this sh*t again" so it does not work at me anymore.
Second solution - play mmorpg that offer diffrent kind of gameplay than themeparks. Since almost all these kind of games are very old or indie feature-less productions , there is not much choice. Only relatively well devoped title is EvE Online ,but that's very specific game and setting - as you basically play "a spaceship" so that does not have appeal for all players that prefer to identify / play with humanoid character.
So imho you can :
- try EvE (there is trial afaik)
- wait for GW2 that will be similar to themeparks but with e-sporty feel so if you like that kind of things
- wait longer for ArcheAge - that apart of themepark things will have alot of diffrent things to do as well.
If you don't want / need RPG , you can try mmofps games, but I won't help you with titles and such as I am not into that.
Anyway if you're not in current themepark mmorpg's you don't have much real options.
Unless you don't mind very low populated old indie bad managed frequently unfinished games.
I am still taking and play single player for my games need and will continue to do so for quite some time still. Since there is a long time till some diffrent kind of 'bigger' mmorpg will have their release(s).
For example, mechanics like raids and dungeons and quest leveling that were perfectly alright and fun to them in the past and would probably get high marks from them back then, when they're confronted with the same mechanics now while they have developed this 'themepark fatigue', those mechanics have become insufferable to them and will get low marks.
Which is perfectly alright, as long as those people realise that objectively speaking those mechanics are still solid and good for people who don't have that themepark fatigue and enjoy it just like they themselves did with the same features before they got sick of them after having played thousands upon thousands of hours.
This last one however I see that this doesn't always register: a lot of people like that bc they built up themepark aversion cannot fathom why other people can still enjoy themepark MMO's and features that they themselves used to enjoy as well a few years back; as if when they've grown burnt out on them everyone else should be like that too.
As for a solution, it's the same as with burn out in other situations like work: take a break, do something entirely different, recover. Translated into MMO terms, play completely different games and/or MMO's. Unfortunately, most of those people are unwilling to try completely different MMO's like Ryzom or Pirates ot Burning Sea or VG or Fallen Earth and only want to play AAA level of MMO's, so I guess it's waiting for them until completely different non-themepark AAA MMO's appear. Luckily for them, there's a handful of those upcoming, from a GW2 to TSW to AA to action oriented themepark MMO TERA to a Blade & Soul, and even lesser but solid looking different titles like Planetside 2 and Firefall.
If after all of those new and different MMO's people'll still feel burnt out, then maybe it's time that people start to seriously consider that their burn out is a longterm one, and that they look elsewhere for fun than the MMO genre.Absolutely, that loss of objectivity is one of the primary symptoms of TFS
Pepperoni pizza from Joe's Deli tastes amazing, but eat it every night for six months straight and eventually you'll swear that Joe is skimping on the cheese, or has changed his pepperoni supplier, or that Joe has lost his touch and isn't making pizza with "love" anymore...
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
I don't think it's fatigue so much as players realizing that these games can and should be a lot more sophisticated. The current designs have played into some very basic human nature, and once seeing that people just want more than that.
I think that core game design of simplistic feeding of basic desires (dings and eye candy) needs to change and evolve into a more sphisticated sort of game, yet you don't want to lose those basic desires entirely. Just get them under control, and shift the focus of game play towards more meaningfull experiences.
Edit to add: And diversity. Lot's of meaningfull diversity.
Once upon a time....
a dip in the sandbox would be the cure! unfortunately your sandbox options are very limited at this time.
I'm probably going to sound like a parrot here, but GW2 might actually be an answer to your question. We're not really going to know until it's realeased, but this is why I beleive in it: whenever I see an interview or conference with the devs, there so many features that they talk about which sets the game apart. Looking back on some of the hype of Rift and SWTOR, only a few of the features would be highlighted. For Rift, it was the diverse soul sytem and the dynamic rifts, for TOR, it was the focus on story and the voice acting. Obviously, there was more that was brought up; I just listed the promenint ones that devs seemed to have focused on while plugging them. However, whenever I see ArenaNet talk about GW2, it's always a myriad of game-changing features. The core of the MMO has been revamped. Now, it may not be exactly what everyone wants (I'm sure some will love it, and some will hate it), but at least it looks different... like, actually different, not Rift or TOR different.
Well said, and that's why no amount of break time will make those games taste good again.
The cure is to stop playing themepark MMOs.
When you really look at it, the problem lies at the core of modern MMOs. They all boil down to shallow gameplay that revolves around combat, that have a varying degree of being fixed to linear level progression of pre-scripted content.
There doesn't appear to be anywhere else to go within the standard themepark MMO model. It all tends to just boil down to running countless "Kill ten X", "Collect then Y", or "Bring A to B", and the pre-scripted story is a half-assed attempt to try to keep the wool over player's eyes to the fact that they're doing the same thing over and over again, just to be able to do the same thing over and over again, that everyone else in the game has and will ever be doing.
There's little excitement to be derived from this type of gameplay if you've already done it before, because it become repetitive, predictable, and lacks impact on players. This is why gamers like myself continue to shout "sandbox!", because this is really the only MMO model that has the potential to go anywhere. Where content can be dynamic, evolving, random, and give players the opportunity to have lasting and unique impact on the game world. Even if today's rehashed themeparks attempted to adopt some sandbox elements, it would go a long way to reducing player burn out.
For me sandboxes aren't that attractive either. I'm still waiting for something else beyond stat-grinding. Currently we have to choose between two extremes: a rail-based game where everything is directed and kills any possibility of it being a living world, or a completely free-for-all game without a global structure that leaves each player to figure out how to have fun (if there is fun to be found).
Both game styles use carrot in a stick mechanics (gear to improve, points to increase, stats to maximize), just with different presentations.
This primarily spawns from people just playing the same kinds of games over and over... and usually by people who shouldn't be playing the same games over and over. I learned that a long time ago in other genres. I could play one racing game after another, and they would all start to blur together... you could play one FPS after another and become easily bored or unhappy with future prospects. The key to a "cure" is to not get the "disease" in the first place by being diverse in your gaming habits.
If you are ONLY an MMORPG gamer and don't have any (other gaming) interests, then the "cure" would be to find an alternate hobby. Developers creating themepark game after themepark game isn't the issue, its that the same people play these games and complain about it... it definitely sends mixed signals to the developers, and adds to a lot of the unnecessary negativity we see on this site.
We shouldn't assume MMOs should only exist in the way they are now.
I still want an MMO because the idea of playing in a world interacting with thousands of players is a very compelling idea, but I still cant find that game, it's always a stat-grinding dumb game in a pretty costume.
Other game genres are cool and I play them too, but I still think a real MMO would be awesome and I can't wait for the day it finally gets created.
Elder Scrolls always works for me. I find it refreshing to be dropped into a world that isn't "on rails".
Oh I agree, which is why I ammended my post which was done after you quoted me.
Essentially my point is that themepark MMOs will forever be stuck the way they are, because the design values revolve around linear gameplay through pre-scripted content. It has to be designed in a very restrictive manner, but also very specifically from the standpoint that because gameplay content is pre-scripted it's very difficult if not impossible to support fully fleshed out alternative avenues of gameplay.
The sandbox design philosopy however, is about player choice, freedom, and impact. They are comparatively lacking in pre-scripted content, however they offer a far greater breadth and depth in what gameplay elements a player is facilitated in pursuing. It also opens up avenues of allowing for more dynamic and evolving gameplay content, that allows for players to react to and even influence the gameplay environment around them.
Yes I agree that the offerings of sandbox MMOs has been stuck in the past, but that's really because there has been a severe lack of development effort to push this MMO model for a very long time. Even hybrid models have been lacking, however that looks like it's starting to change with the addition of Archeage.
How would you guys feel about a game that is an MMORPG with RTS inspired PvE?
You would have fun crafting without the need to roll alts and you would interact with many people in the economy.
Magic would be rare and discovered by exploration. However players could buy spell books that they could use even if they didn't learn magic, they just couldn't make new spells.
There wouldn't be a holy trinity because there would be no healing, and creatures would have built in AI decision making, so there would be no taunting to draw aggro on tanks. Mostly you would just have rts style combat with ranged and melee. And then mages guilds which are rarer.
Players would build all the towns. They would also be able to build anti siege weapons and magic defenses and walls of various kinds to protect settlements. Creatures would raid player made settlements from the wilderness. Players could work as scouts to keep track on enemy raids and so forth.
The environment would be dynamic with the creature content of regions changing over time. There would be large stable creature settlements like caves and goblin camps and animal dens. And there would also be roaming monsters who may venture all the way around the world if they don't decide to lair and don't get killed by players.
You could do things with walls like build long sturdy and even magically enchanted walls which only higher level creatures could pass. So instead of the game having built in permanent safe zones, players could create their own safe zones, although if a big raid came through you would have to deal with it as opposed to weak to medium creatures who couldn't pass.
Essentially its an RTS game with players building and crafting and selling and learning magic instead of one player commanding an NPC kingdom.
People are always saying they are tired of themeparks, but sometimes sandboxes have too little structure, so I was wondering if this kind of mmorpg style would interest people? It would probably need lower level graphics like ATITD or something.
If you cannot change the world, change yourself.
I find that whenever I get tired of a hobby, it's because in the back of mind there's an itchy feeling that there's something more important I should be doing with my life.
I'm not saying this is the only way to make MMOs, I'm saying these are the MMOs developers are making. By buying them, playing them, and then complaining after the fact, we aren't doing anyone any favors here.
MMOs are like any other genre, and they will eventually evolve, and subgenre, and hybridize until we find a lot of different MMOs - maybe some that aren't being called an MMO at all.
Regarding the original question though, Traditional Themepark MMOs aren't a problem, just as, every now and then we find a real gem of a traditional turn-based RPG, or an isometric dungeon crawler, or even 2D adventure/platformer/etc. games. These are the kinds of games that have been going on for decades now, but are less prone to burnout due to the wide differences in the genres and subgenres.
Traditional MMOs on the other hand don't have that luxury. Like all types of games early in their lifecycle, they still have a lot of maturing to do before we start to see a large array of diverse games. We are very close to seeing that though - we have:
TSW
GW2
FIrefall
TERA
Planetside 2
Dominus
Wildstar
and also 38 Studios Kingdoms of Amalurs MMO title (Copernicus) will likely pick up steam too, which I'm very much looking forward to hearing about.
I think this will be a big year for MMOs to diversify and change the genre.
Yes there is a cure because all the idiots on this site that keep talkign about so called snabox games keep forgetting there are all these wounderful exciting sandbox games out there that are brilliant because they are so called snaboxes. Why dont you try them out, because its obviuos sandboxs are great and amazing and so much more than cutting trees for 5 days.. oh wait.
1) Ryzom
2)Eve
3)Darkfall
4)Mortal online
5)Fallen earth
6)POTBS
7)Earthrise
8)Ultima online
9)xYSON
ETC ETC. So why are you not playing any of those games, they are sandbox games like the so called hardcore, elite veran players here keep talking about. Unless what you are really saying is you just want a gae you find fun. In a sandbox you dont need ot have fun, all you need is to cut trees. You dont ened quests etc. So why arnt you plathese games. So called snadbox players dont need armour, levels, abilities. All they want is FFA pvp and cutting trees 20 hours a day naked, and mining coal another 20 hours a day. So why arnt yoplayign these so called sandboxs. Does anyone even know what a sandbox on this site really is?
Hell a sandbox probabaly has less to do in game than a normal game. YES NORMAL GAME.
You just find a game with completely game play.
I'm playing atlantica online atm. Though that's still a themepark game but that's completely different compare to wow, aion etc.
Or just play other genre of games, single player rpg, action game etc.
I play ATITD. It doesn't even have combat. I raise sheep, I spend an hour or two a day cutting wood. I make bricks. I am playing those sandbox games. But I also want a new kind, and I am making it. Assumptions make you an -------. Oh I also play link realms, which is apparently much like ultima or something.
So yes, I know what sandboxes are and I play them. Take your strawman elsewhere please.
Don't know about a cure but there is a relief method. All you have to do is to enter every new MMOs messsageboard and complain about X,Y,Z features and how it's a step back from <insert game here>
5,6 are very arguably NOT sandbox MMOs, but themeparks with a few sandbox elements.
3, 4, 7, 9, all Indie games that suffer from a varying degree of lack of direction and/or poor development, and suffer from population issues because of it.
1, 8 are decent, but they are very dated and lack a sufficient player population. UO particularly, and it's also been mutated into a themepark hybrid at this point.
The only worthwhile MMO you've listed that stands up to a decent level of polish, quality, and direction for today's MMO market is Eve, which is a relatively niche game due to it's setting and theme.
So yeah, that's why many of us aren't playing these games at the moment.
When a AAA developer actually makes a decent attempt at a modern sandbox MMO, then we'll see how things go. Archeage may actually do a decent job of being a hybrid, provided it actually gets an NA/EU publisher.
Not really, some times it is fun to play a game like Diablo where you stupidly go down into a dungeon and just kill everything you see.
The problem is when all games are simple and stupid. Watching an Adam Sandler movie once in a while is OK but imagine if all movies were like them *shudders*.
We nned more varied MMOs, some where you just kill stuff others more inspired by games like "thief", politics alá "A game of thrones" among others.
No matter how "sophisticated" a game is we would be tired of it if all other games were just like it.
@OP
Yeah I know what You mean by that. Despite getting invite to SWTOR beta I didn't even bother. WOW, LOTRO, Star Trek, Runes of Magic was enough to make me bored to tears before even trying yet another theme park. I mean fully voiced strory is nice but say Fallout NV or old games like Baldurs Gate beats it badly. So I'm waiting for GW2 like many many peeps here.
Sandboxes are interesting stuff(I just love idea behind Minecraft) but main problem is most of them push heavy open PvP with looting. Why every sandbox have to be hardcore PvP I know not. I'm not against PvP itself as it can play important role in sandboxes, but it should be light - more into making peeps flag for PvP willingly to defend what bad guys are destroying(and what whole faction created, i.e. stable master or crafting facility), rather defending because they can rob You. Or by trying to control important resources or mobs.
Anyways while GW2 might be a nice pace of change from WOW style MMO I wonder which way devs will push it. Rift had really innovative ideas but they went to raid or die schema at the end game. I hope A-NET won't go that way or make it PVP heavy game.
For now I'm trying out open beta Wakfu and have to admit that they have lots of interesting stuff implemented. Player regulated mobs spawns and resources, weather influencing crops/plants, politics, no NPCs which means solid base for crafting, 4 factions with PvP, law system that pushes peeps into doing what governor wants. Have to admit that I thought it was a kid game but it's really complex sandbox.