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What a MMO really is
UnleadedRev
Member UncommonPosts: 568
I was playing Diablo 3 with 2 friends yesterday and we all had a good time after almost 4 hours of playing.
Couldnt help but think how in 4 hours, the experience, loot, gold and accomplishments in 4 hours of play despite being in Hardcore Mode with challenging gameplay far exceeded any MMORPG I have played.
Thus, why do we pay monthly subscriptions in MMOs just to take longer to accomplish anything and have to pay to do it?
This is why Diablo 3 even with all its flaws and Guild Wars 2 with its no Free to Play/Win or Subscription based model is the way to go.
Sure, Guild Wars 2 can be frustrating at times, but at least when you level you really feel like you accomplished something as opposed to purposely having slow leveling, loot, gold and other things all in the name of an excuse to keep you paying.
Developers and game designers need to develop GOOD GAMES FIRST...then worry about what payment model it will be based on.
INSTEAD, all these game designers and developers do is try to figure out how to keep players playing and paying thru gimmicks.
Make a good fun game and players will pay and play regardless of the payment model.
Comments
Blizzard has Fun down to a science. Haters may say time and time again that Blizzard is about to fail or, is doing it to themselves. But the Truth is that Blizzard knows, from years of making great games one after another, how to do gaming right. From Art, Colour Palette, Sound, Animations, Model & Level Design all are done on a level that seems engineered to perfection. I realize that many hate these things about Blizzard, but what they most likely really hate is Blizzard's position in the industry. I'm glad you enjoyed D3, I expect you will continue to enjoy it for years to come.
Boy: Why can't I talk to Him?
Mom: We don't talk to Priests.
As if it could exist, without being payed for.
F2P means you get what you paid for. Pay nothing, get nothing.
Even telemarketers wouldn't think that.
It costs money to play. Therefore P2W.
A MMO is Blizzards way of making people believe they play the next biggest bestest thing refardless how horrible the art is and how boring the gameplay.
They use past fame, social pressure and "Pavlovian Dog" principles.
KKTBHF
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
It's not really a 'gimmick', it's just a truth of what MMOs are designed to do - keep players playing for a long time.
A well-crafted game should ramp up in fun as you play it, although have some breaks to build tension and to amplify those moments of awesome.
MMOs (and RPGs) sort of have this, in the form of gated content. When you get a new cool ability from your trainer or get access to a new zone or game feature, you're experiencing the opening of that gate, which gives the burst of motivation to proceed to the next one.
However, the games have to keep you entertained for a long time. While your standard $60 title can throw the fun at you and have it spent within a week, an MMO needs to keep you at it for quite some time. Money is definitely one reason for this, but there are others. Because of this, the 'fun' is spread out through a much longer time table. Less fun per session, but more in the very long run.
I think people should go back and read what was written around the web just before WoW released.
A huge number of players would never touch a MMORPG because it would literally suck ones life away, for one to accomplish something the game would become kinda of a second jub.
WoW succeed by being a Blizzard game and a much less grindy game to the standards of the time.
MMORPGs only need to be designed to keep one playing because it was the only way they could justify to charge a monthly fee and the players accept it.
Those days are gone, microtransactions are much easier and accepted these days.
If a game is good it is possible for that game to make enough money out of micro transactions without being a pay to win or pay to advance game.
League of Legends is an example of that. GW2 might be the flagship of this business but there are other examples like Path of Exile.
It might take time, but I believe that sooner or later, a substancial poriion of the MMO player base will stop worrying what does a game has left to do to keep them occupied 8 hours a way after 2 months of playing 8 hours a day and be more concened about the quality of their gaming experience during all the time they are playing..
People that like that addiction of grinding will still have their games, but it is my belief that in the future they will be the minority of the MMORPG player base (if they aren't yet).
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world.
As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a character (often in a fantasy world) and take control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world (usually hosted by the game's publisher), which continues to exist and evolve while the player is offline and away from the game.
As you can see all MMOs today are not MMOs by defintion.
When is the las ttime you played a MMO with a very large number of people?
Last GW2 BWE I interacted with a substancial number of other players, briefly though, but I wasn't looking to make bffs.
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
What happens when fun runs out (oh it does) and servers start to merge, population declines and nobody pays subs/buys from the cash shop/buys expansions?
You see, RPG just aren't addictive like other video games. Game like Diablo, MOBA's, FPS'ers, strategy, racing, etc, all focus on the gameplay element which leads to "addiction" via that process, while mmorpg have to focus on world design, progression system, customization, pve quests, dungeons, story, BG's, large scale, etc, etc, meaning their gameplay just isn't on par and "addictive" via simple, well, "gameplay" (and by that i mostly refer to combat)
Is there a magic number or something? Ive played MMOs with a very large number of players. Not sure what you mean...
And does the addiction prevents that?
Is that why most MMORPGs don't lose subs and don't have to merge servers? Because they cause addiction...
Ok, I guess it is working fine...
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
And this is why Wikipedia is a pile of crap. At some point, someone removed a key word from that definition: can
If you do a google search for mmorpg "large number of players can interact" you can find the original statement in a variety of other places. Sadly, any agenda-driven zealot can make edits like these in Wikipedia which fundamentally change the entire definition.
Thorbrand, players can interact with each other. Interaction only has to be possible, not required.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
If an MMO is just a large group of players interacting, does it technically have to be while in the gameplay? Or can it be room based? There is SD Gundam Capsule Fighter Online which says its a TPS MMO which host 8 vs 8 battles and there are other games for instance COD which aren't labeled as an MMO but can have 16 vs 16 battles. But technically isn't it the same. What separates a "large" group and a small group?