Originally posted by ElikalNow I have "played" the new DLC for Skyrim, Hearthfire. Now by itself there wasn't much to do, tho I felt it was worth the 4,99 Euro. I built a wonderful, large house overviewing a lake, I invited my husband into it, hired a steward, a bard and worked very hard to create all the furniture and shrines and gather all my many trophies and place them there. Finally I did what I had wished to do for a LONG time, I got two kids out of this horrible Orphanage and had two kids, which I pampered with toys and gifts and sweets. Oh and I managed to get two dogs as well. It didn't "do" anything, but it sorta filled me with glee, and made the game round. wtf?....you play mmos to be a house wife?....:S....
To be totally blunt, yes. Partially. I am a single most of my life without family and kids and never will, so pretenting that in a game has the appeal of pseudo-life. It roots me in a virtual game world. Call me a fool, but it always "aww's" me. ^^()I mean, isn't it why all the nerds play hero? To pretend what we do not have in the dull everyday life? Originally posted by AdamTMGet a dollhouse.Then again getting a dollhouse for under 5$ is kind of impossible nowadays, even under 55$ if you include your Skyrim purchase.
I don't want a dollhouse by itself! Ok, having played Sims 2 for years, maybe I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I want my MMO heroes to have a home. Not just a house, a home, ideally in a player city, maybe with NPC family option. Something to make me feel connected to the game world.
To be totally blunt, and this something that might actually be talked about on other forums(theISO, or the escapist).
But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles? I mean instead of making a virtual life in a game why not put the same effort into making your own better? or at least more normalized(and lets not start on normal is not better argument, since a it's demagogic and b not true)
Most people want to escape the mundane, that's why there are fantasies, it's a healthy psychic phenomenon, granted your fantasies are fall in the norm. There is a reason why most people have the same or similar fantasies, most people live similar lives that are forced on them due to constraints imposed by society(this isn't a good or bad thing, it's just is. People want to experience things that they can not do in normal life, this is why games, movies, books, and jet skies exist.
Originally posted by ElikalNow I have "played" the new DLC for Skyrim, Hearthfire. Now by itself there wasn't much to do, tho I felt it was worth the 4,99 Euro. I built a wonderful, large house overviewing a lake, I invited my husband into it, hired a steward, a bard and worked very hard to create all the furniture and shrines and gather all my many trophies and place them there. Finally I did what I had wished to do for a LONG time, I got two kids out of this horrible Orphanage and had two kids, which I pampered with toys and gifts and sweets. Oh and I managed to get two dogs as well. It didn't "do" anything, but it sorta filled me with glee, and made the game round. wtf?....you play mmos to be a house wife?....:S....
To be totally blunt, yes. Partially. I am a single most of my life without family and kids and never will, so pretenting that in a game has the appeal of pseudo-life. It roots me in a virtual game world. Call me a fool, but it always "aww's" me. ^^()I mean, isn't it why all the nerds play hero? To pretend what we do not have in the dull everyday life? Originally posted by AdamTMGet a dollhouse.Then again getting a dollhouse for under 5$ is kind of impossible nowadays, even under 55$ if you include your Skyrim purchase.
I don't want a dollhouse by itself! Ok, having played Sims 2 for years, maybe I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I want my MMO heroes to have a home. Not just a house, a home, ideally in a player city, maybe with NPC family option. Something to make me feel connected to the game world.
To be totally blunt, and this something that might actually be talked about on other forums(theISO, or the escapist).
But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles? I mean instead of making a virtual life in a game why not put the same effort into making your own better? or at least more normalized(and lets not start on normal is not better argument, since a it's demagogic and b not true)
Most people want to escape the mundane, that's why there are fantasies, it's a healthy psychic phenomenon, granted your fantasies are fall in the norm. There is a reason why most people have the same or similar fantasies, most people live similar lives that are forced on them due to constraints imposed by society(this isn't a good or bad thing, it's just is. People want to experience things that they can not do in normal life, this is why games, movies, books, and jet skies exist.
Basically you want to say that spending obscene amount of time killing Orcs is somehow better than spending it building your virtual house?
Originally posted by ElikalNow I have "played" the new DLC for Skyrim, Hearthfire. Now by itself there wasn't much to do, tho I felt it was worth the 4,99 Euro. I built a wonderful, large house overviewing a lake, I invited my husband into it, hired a steward, a bard and worked very hard to create all the furniture and shrines and gather all my many trophies and place them there. Finally I did what I had wished to do for a LONG time, I got two kids out of this horrible Orphanage and had two kids, which I pampered with toys and gifts and sweets. Oh and I managed to get two dogs as well. It didn't "do" anything, but it sorta filled me with glee, and made the game round. wtf?....you play mmos to be a house wife?....:S....
To be totally blunt, yes. Partially. I am a single most of my life without family and kids and never will, so pretenting that in a game has the appeal of pseudo-life. It roots me in a virtual game world. Call me a fool, but it always "aww's" me. ^^()I mean, isn't it why all the nerds play hero? To pretend what we do not have in the dull everyday life? Originally posted by AdamTMGet a dollhouse.Then again getting a dollhouse for under 5$ is kind of impossible nowadays, even under 55$ if you include your Skyrim purchase.
I don't want a dollhouse by itself! Ok, having played Sims 2 for years, maybe I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I want my MMO heroes to have a home. Not just a house, a home, ideally in a player city, maybe with NPC family option. Something to make me feel connected to the game world.
To be totally blunt, and this something that might actually be talked about on other forums(theISO, or the escapist). But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles? I mean instead of making a virtual life in a game why not put the same effort into making your own better? or at least more normalized(and lets not start on normal is not better argument, since a it's demagogic and b not true) Most people want to escape the mundane, that's why there are fantasies, it's a healthy psychic phenomenon, granted your fantasies are fall in the norm. There is a reason why most people have the same or similar fantasies, most people live similar lives that are forced on them due to constraints imposed by society(this isn't a good or bad thing, it's just is. People want to experience things that they can not do in normal life, this is why games, movies, books, and jet skies exist.
Basically you want to say that spending obscene amount of time killing Orcs is somehow better than spending it building your virtual house?
The question is should you be spending time creating the life you want instead of living the life you should.
There is nothing wrong with escaping reality, as long as your reality is balanced and does not suffer from it.
If you don't live a normal and health life(from a sociological pov) then yes there is a problem, doesn't matter if you are killing Orcs or playing tea party with the mad hatter.
I'm not a "must have" kind of player with player housing.
I always thought EQ2's version was tacked on and could've been a bit more. I liked have my own lil' place to throw auctions up, but there should've been a lil' more or something.
Wizards 101, a kids game of course, actually has pretty great housing with the pet system, the gardens, and what not. I also enjoy LotRO's little rented community instances.
There's room for it in MMOs of course, but it'd have to be a bit more than just a trophy showcase in my opinion.
I don't want a dollhouse by itself! Ok, having played Sims 2 for years, maybe I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I want my MMO heroes to have a home. Not just a house, a home, ideally in a player city, maybe with NPC family option. Something to make me feel connected to the game world.
To be totally blunt, and this something that might actually be talked about on other forums(theISO, or the escapist). But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles? I mean instead of making a virtual life in a game why not put the same effort into making your own better? or at least more normalized(and lets not start on normal is not better argument, since a it's demagogic and b not true) Most people want to escape the mundane, that's why there are fantasies, it's a healthy psychic phenomenon, granted your fantasies are fall in the norm. There is a reason why most people have the same or similar fantasies, most people live similar lives that are forced on them due to constraints imposed by society(this isn't a good or bad thing, it's just is. People want to experience things that they can not do in normal life, this is why games, movies, books, and jet skies exist.
Basically you want to say that spending obscene amount of time killing Orcs is somehow better than spending it building your virtual house?
The question is should you be spending time creating the life you want instead of living the life you should.
There is nothing wrong with escaping reality, as long as your reality is balanced and does not suffer from it.
If you don't live a normal and health life(from a sociological pov) then yes there is a problem, doesn't matter if you are killing Orcs or playing tea party with the mad hatter.
You said that "But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles?"
It seems to me like you would be suggesting that in example Sims cater to more unhealthy life style than WoW or Call od Duty. I just want to make sure.
Because you realize that you just said it does not matter what are you playing in your second post - so it is hard for me to realize what are those games that cater to this unhealthy lifestyle?
This genre already had this and much more. It's those games playing catch up, honestly.
Sad to see you're catching flak for enjoying something that isn't killing, running collect quests, or doing daily quests. I'm so beyond bored to tears of that shit.
I'm not a "must have" kind of player with player housing.
I always thought EQ2's version was tacked on and could've been a bit more. I liked have my own lil' place to throw auctions up, but there should've been a lil' more or something.
Wizards 101, a kids game of course, actually has pretty great housing with the pet system, the gardens, and what not. I also enjoy LotRO's little rented community instances.
There's room for it in MMOs of course, but it'd have to be a bit more than just a trophy showcase in my opinion.
EQ2's housing is far far from 'tacked on'... How could it have be more, in your opinion? Assuming that you are just not referring to the fact that it is instanced ofc?
I mean... it has pretty much a whole crafting sphere devoted to it. Housing is woven throughout your play experience if you chose it to be, with collections, quests, etc giving housing based rewards right through your game from L1.
What more, beyond maybe it not being instanced, would you like to see in EQ2 housing wise?
I don't want a dollhouse by itself! Ok, having played Sims 2 for years, maybe I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I want my MMO heroes to have a home. Not just a house, a home, ideally in a player city, maybe with NPC family option. Something to make me feel connected to the game world.
To be totally blunt, and this something that might actually be talked about on other forums(theISO, or the escapist). But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles? I mean instead of making a virtual life in a game why not put the same effort into making your own better? or at least more normalized(and lets not start on normal is not better argument, since a it's demagogic and b not true) Most people want to escape the mundane, that's why there are fantasies, it's a healthy psychic phenomenon, granted your fantasies are fall in the norm. There is a reason why most people have the same or similar fantasies, most people live similar lives that are forced on them due to constraints imposed by society(this isn't a good or bad thing, it's just is. People want to experience things that they can not do in normal life, this is why games, movies, books, and jet skies exist.
Basically you want to say that spending obscene amount of time killing Orcs is somehow better than spending it building your virtual house?
The question is should you be spending time creating the life you want instead of living the life you should.There is nothing wrong with escaping reality, as long as your reality is balanced and does not suffer from it.If you don't live a normal and health life(from a sociological pov) then yes there is a problem, doesn't matter if you are killing Orcs or playing tea party with the mad hatter.
You said that "But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles?"It seems to me like you would be suggesting that in example Sims cater to more unhealthy life style than WoW or Call od Duty. I just want to make sure.Because you realize that you just said it does not matter what are you playing in your second post - so it is hard for me to realize what are those games that cater to this unhealthy lifestyle?
If adults play them to make up for them not having a normal life then yes.
I don't want to slay Orc's all day, i don't want to shoot terrorists all day, and i don't want to farm the jungle all day.
I play games because they are engaging activity, they are exiting and fun, i also dislike single player games and pretty much only play with my GF and friends.
When i play League of Legends and counter jungle on my lovely Shyvana i dont imagine my self being a dragon and nom noming sona's i think about how satisfying it is to beat the players I'm playing against...
Same thing in WoW, it don't really imagine my self being a stealthy rogue on some mission to assasinate the high warlord of the orcish horde, I just like to do bosses from behind, and 2 shot casters
Some games which have a deep enough story are engaging in the same way a good book is, Mass Effect especially the first 2 were quite awesome in that way, same as other Bioware RPG's.
And yes any activity which is used to utterly escape, and replace reality is bad and should not be catered too. If you use The SIMS the live the life you want, it's not different than crack.
Skyrim is why I was excited for an Elder Scrolls MMO....... however they decided to change what's good about The Elder Scrolls and make another typical boring MMORPG.
I don't want a dollhouse by itself! Ok, having played Sims 2 for years, maybe I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I want my MMO heroes to have a home. Not just a house, a home, ideally in a player city, maybe with NPC family option. Something to make me feel connected to the game world.
To be totally blunt, and this something that might actually be talked about on other forums(theISO, or the escapist). But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles? I mean instead of making a virtual life in a game why not put the same effort into making your own better? or at least more normalized(and lets not start on normal is not better argument, since a it's demagogic and b not true) Most people want to escape the mundane, that's why there are fantasies, it's a healthy psychic phenomenon, granted your fantasies are fall in the norm. There is a reason why most people have the same or similar fantasies, most people live similar lives that are forced on them due to constraints imposed by society(this isn't a good or bad thing, it's just is. People want to experience things that they can not do in normal life, this is why games, movies, books, and jet skies exist.
Basically you want to say that spending obscene amount of time killing Orcs is somehow better than spending it building your virtual house?
The question is should you be spending time creating the life you want instead of living the life you should.There is nothing wrong with escaping reality, as long as your reality is balanced and does not suffer from it.If you don't live a normal and health life(from a sociological pov) then yes there is a problem, doesn't matter if you are killing Orcs or playing tea party with the mad hatter.
You said that "But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles?"It seems to me like you would be suggesting that in example Sims cater to more unhealthy life style than WoW or Call od Duty. I just want to make sure.Because you realize that you just said it does not matter what are you playing in your second post - so it is hard for me to realize what are those games that cater to this unhealthy lifestyle?
If adults play them to make up for them not having a normal life then yes.
I don't want to slay Orc's all day, i don't want to shoot terrorists all day, and i don't want to farm the jungle all day.
I play games because they are engaging activity, they are exiting and fun, i also dislike single player games and pretty much only play with my GF and friends.
When i play League of Legends and counter jungeling on my lovely Shyvana i dont imaging my self being a dragon and nom noming sona's i think about how satisfying it is to beat the players I'm playing against...
Same thing in WoW, it don't really imagine my self being a stealth rogue on some mission, just like to do bosses from behind, and 2 shot casters
Some games which have a deep enough story are engaging in the same way a good book is, Mass Effect especially the first 2 were quite awesome in that way, same as other Bioware RPG's.
And yes any activity which is used to utterly escape, and replace reality is bad and should not be catered too. If you use The SIMS the live the life you want, it's not different than crack.
There is no difftence if you imagine and immerse yourself as game character or if you're playig and not immersing yourself so deepply.
If someone lose his job because of playing video games it really does not matter if he or her was playing too much for simple killing stuff or if was impersonating himself or herself as rogue during gameplay.
It is same thing as reading too much books. It does not matter if you're screwimng your life by reading novels 12 h / day because you're interested what will happen next or because you're fantasize about being book character.
There are plenty of people that are imaginign during gameplat that they are a mage, play a bit, turn off game and go back to reality and taking care of their kids. It is really no difftent than playing for a while because you like backstab things. If your backstabbing things for lulz hurt your real life and you're playing too much it is also not difftent than "being on crack".
You just link gamers hurting their real life because of how deeply they immerse themself and that is simply wrong. You're hurting your real life if because of playing games you hurt your social or family life, or career or health, etc not because what do you do during gameplay.
Will read it in morining I have to go to sleep. It is monday tommorow after all.
I don't want a dollhouse by itself! Ok, having played Sims 2 for years, maybe I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I want my MMO heroes to have a home. Not just a house, a home, ideally in a player city, maybe with NPC family option. Something to make me feel connected to the game world.
To be totally blunt, and this something that might actually be talked about on other forums(theISO, or the escapist). But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles? I mean instead of making a virtual life in a game why not put the same effort into making your own better? or at least more normalized(and lets not start on normal is not better argument, since a it's demagogic and b not true) Most people want to escape the mundane, that's why there are fantasies, it's a healthy psychic phenomenon, granted your fantasies are fall in the norm. There is a reason why most people have the same or similar fantasies, most people live similar lives that are forced on them due to constraints imposed by society(this isn't a good or bad thing, it's just is. People want to experience things that they can not do in normal life, this is why games, movies, books, and jet skies exist.
Basically you want to say that spending obscene amount of time killing Orcs is somehow better than spending it building your virtual house?
The question is should you be spending time creating the life you want instead of living the life you should.There is nothing wrong with escaping reality, as long as your reality is balanced and does not suffer from it.If you don't live a normal and health life(from a sociological pov) then yes there is a problem, doesn't matter if you are killing Orcs or playing tea party with the mad hatter.
You said that "But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles?"It seems to me like you would be suggesting that in example Sims cater to more unhealthy life style than WoW or Call od Duty. I just want to make sure.Because you realize that you just said it does not matter what are you playing in your second post - so it is hard for me to realize what are those games that cater to this unhealthy lifestyle?
If adults play them to make up for them not having a normal life then yes.
I don't want to slay Orc's all day, i don't want to shoot terrorists all day, and i don't want to farm the jungle all day.
I play games because they are engaging activity, they are exiting and fun, i also dislike single player games and pretty much only play with my GF and friends.
When i play League of Legends and counter jungle on my lovely Shyvana i dont imagine my self being a dragon and nom noming sona's i think about how satisfying it is to beat the players I'm playing against...
Same thing in WoW, it don't really imagine my self being a stealthy rogue on some mission to assasinate the high warlord of the orcish horde, I just like to do bosses from behind, and 2 shot casters
Some games which have a deep enough story are engaging in the same way a good book is, Mass Effect especially the first 2 were quite awesome in that way, same as other Bioware RPG's.
And yes any activity which is used to utterly escape, and replace reality is bad and should not be catered too. If you use The SIMS the live the life you want, it's not different than crack.
As the OP clearly stated, "I am single most of my life without family and kids and never will". You know, there are many reasons that could be and why the OP may choose to spend time "living" in a virtual world. Who do you think you are to pass judgment on those reasons? Not having a normal life? Did it ever occur to you that the OP may be disabled or have some other situation that prevents him from doing things others take for granted?
TLDR version of that whole argument: How I play is okay, what you do is weird and unhealthy
Seriously, why MMO companies have continued to do everything possible via game mechanics to discourage community while whining about lack of player retention just amazes me. Anything that keeps players paying money to interact with each other without 'consuming' dev-created content should be the holy grail to game managers.
TLDR version of that whole argument: How I play is okay, what you do is weird and unhealthy
Seriously, why MMO companies have continued to do everything possible via game mechanics to discourage community while whining about lack of player retention just amazes me. Anything that keeps players paying money to interact with each other without 'consuming' dev-created content should be the holy grail to game managers.
There are essentially two schools of MMO design at work at the moment.
It has to do with control, or lack of it.
MMOs relying on authored content ready for consumption have the philosophy of maximum designer/developer control. They are easily made because the given responses to content are limited and therefore predictable. Design becomes less complex in favor of quantity.
But most importantly, the quality is reproducable and there are consistent results.
MMOs relying on emergent gameplay content sacrifice control while providing deeper and more complex design.
The problem with this approach is that the quality is not consistent as its dependent on the players themselves.
Its no wonder that companies, that are primarily concerned with making money, are more interested in consistent quality and results.
This is also why most multiplayer sandbox games are make it or break it afairs, because the experience itself is wildly varying through emergent gameplay, while "themepark" design garners more consistent results.
Of course if you dig deeper, it gets more complex, but this is it in a nutshell.
Now I have "played" the new DLC for Skyrim, Hearthfire. Now by itself there wasn't much to do, tho I felt it was worth the 4,99 Euro. I built a wonderful, large house overviewing a lake, I invited my husband into it, hired a steward, a bard and worked very hard to create all the furniture and shrines and gather all my many trophies and place them there. Finally I did what I had wished to do for a LONG time, I got two kids out of this horrible Orphanage and had two kids, which I pampered with toys and gifts and sweets. Oh and I managed to get two dogs as well. It didn't "do" anything, but it sorta filled me with glee, and made the game round.
wtf?....you play mmos to be a house wife?....:S....
To be totally blunt, yes. Partially. I am a single most of my life without family and kids and never will, so pretenting that in a game has the appeal of pseudo-life. It roots me in a virtual game world. Call me a fool, but it always "aww's" me. ^^()
I mean, isn't it why all the nerds play hero? To pretend what we do not have in the dull everyday life?
Originally posted by AdamTM
Get a dollhouse.
Then again getting a dollhouse for under 5$ is kind of impossible nowadays, even under 55$ if you include your Skyrim purchase.
I don't want a dollhouse by itself! Ok, having played Sims 2 for years, maybe I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I want my MMO heroes to have a home. Not just a house, a home, ideally in a player city, maybe with NPC family option. Something to make me feel connected to the game world.
Elikal, I completely understand where you are coming from. I do the same thing in Mount and Blade Warband, single player game. I totally redecorate the castles my character controls. I did the same thing in other games as well, like Sims 3, Skyrim and SWG. I like games that give us more options to do stuff in games - like hunting for butterflies.
So yes, more MMO's need sustainable game play options - and not just raiding and running PvP BG's.
Originally posted by Starpower I never cared about housing. They serve no function other than as a trophy. If you actually were dependant on it for shelter and it was interactive beyond fluff then that would be another matter
Each to his/hers. I never cared for dungeon grinding and getting uber armor just for the sake of, or grinding faction points. A good MMO should IMVPO contain things for many sorts of players. There is enough room for me and you.
Originally posted by grimgryphon
Originally posted by Starpower I never cared about housing. They serve no function other than as a trophy. If you actually were dependant on it for shelter and it was interactive beyond fluff then that would be another matter
Is it in Skyrim. You're home can be attacked. The land plots are placed just close anough to hostile mobs that there is a chance of conflict.
I was attacked while building my home....twice.
Oh YES, wasn't that cool! There was an evil cultist I had to remove, I hired the Bard and two dogs two have protection for my kids, and at one time hired thugs came to abduct my family! In the early building phase my steward and me fended off a pack of wolves from the house. I loved that. ^^
Made a small video of my Skyrim adventure, hearthfire shots at the end.
Now I have "played" the new DLC for Skyrim, Hearthfire. Now by itself there wasn't much to do, tho I felt it was worth the 4,99 Euro. I built a wonderful, large house overviewing a lake, I invited my husband into it, hired a steward, a bard and worked very hard to create all the furniture and shrines and gather all my many trophies and place them there. Finally I did what I had wished to do for a LONG time, I got two kids out of this horrible Orphanage and had two kids, which I pampered with toys and gifts and sweets. Oh and I managed to get two dogs as well. It didn't "do" anything, but it sorta filled me with glee, and made the game round.
wtf?....you play mmos to be a house wife?....:S....
To be totally blunt, yes. Partially. I am a single most of my life without family and kids and never will, so pretenting that in a game has the appeal of pseudo-life. It roots me in a virtual game world. Call me a fool, but it always "aww's" me. ^^()
I mean, isn't it why all the nerds play hero? To pretend what we do not have in the dull everyday life?
That was such a cool and sincere response that I had to double check I was still on the MMORPG.com forums.
Thanks. I prefer to think I am an idiot, because I always blurt out what I think.
Originally posted by Starpower
Originally posted by Ozmodan
Originally posted by Jakdstripper
Originally posted by Elikal
Now I have "played" the new DLC for Skyrim, Hearthfire. Now by itself there wasn't much to do, tho I felt it was worth the 4,99 Euro. I built a wonderful, large house overviewing a lake, I invited my husband into it, hired a steward, a bard and worked very hard to create all the furniture and shrines and gather all my many trophies and place them there. Finally I did what I had wished to do for a LONG time, I got two kids out of this horrible Orphanage and had two kids, which I pampered with toys and gifts and sweets. Oh and I managed to get two dogs as well. It didn't "do" anything, but it sorta filled me with glee, and made the game round.
wtf?....you play mmos to be a house wife?....:S....
Thanks for the laugh, the most clueless response I have seen in a while. Nothing wrong with doing something other than constant combat. Players that do, soon move on to the next killing field game. Players like her, stick around a while. She is the player the developers should be concentrating on, not the guy who kills everything in sight, gets bored with it and moves on to the next game.
Non instanced housing, which can't be found in any modern day MMO, is a real plus to people who play the whole game.
Not that it matters but "she" is a he
Lol, last time I checked I was a dude. Still, it has been my wish as long as I can think to have a farm, tend for a house and two nice kids. I never could understand why women these days all want to work in an office or company rather than be "housewife"? What was so bad about it? Oh well... off topic, sorta. A friend of mine is houseman. His wife is a lawyer and he tends the their two sons, the house and garden. I envy him.
But alas, there are way too many real obstacles to overcome in my RL. Trust me in this, that is not some cheap excuse. I really would want this sort of life, but it is just outside my reach for too many reasons. I am not on top health, so I can't just go into the woods and built a house there. Laws and taxes in Germany are severe, houses are for people with MUCH money here. I live poorly from my art as cartoonist, never did a "serious" job all my life since I finished university, always living for my art. I am a gay dude and adpotion is not allowed for me even in Germany. And who would want to move with a poor, stupid have-nothing like me? And with all my issues, I would not want to burden kids, god forbid. So, I decided to do the world a favor and stick to myself. There, so it is. I decided someday to face reality as it is, and accept it. Gives peace.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Originally posted by Starpower I never cared about housing. They serve no function other than as a trophy. If you actually were dependant on it for shelter and it was interactive beyond fluff then that would be another matter
They serve no purpose for the current batch of mmo because of the ineptitude of current batch of mmo designers in giving them a purpose.
Back in the days of SWG or UO or DaOC or other games player cities and housing have massive purpose - they served as the commercial and production center of communities and things to contest over.
However thanks to the no-perma decay on items, no dynamic stats on items, and no ability to mass produce and mass resource gather policy to a lot of the current batch of mmos, production activity have basically been made useless, and everything is about loot.
And then there is the vicious cycle of loot - as they introduce more and more powerful items, the older batch of items becomes obsolete, and with the new batch of items being permanent, there is no way for the stats to phase itself out so the only way to degrade it's power is to introduce MORE powerful items and MORE player levels.
This is the harm of the the current MMO concept. It basically is as unsustainable as what we do in real life (oh wow iPhone5 comes out! Lets throw our iPhone4 into the bin and buy the new one).
It really needs to change. The older mmos had it right and somehow something went crooked along the way.
I think housing, and other non combat activities, are integral to an MMO that wants to have true depth and longevity. It's like a great fantasy novel. How would the book read if everything but the action sequences were torn out. It would get tiring after a while and seem disjointed. IMO more open world, less scripted world.
Having housing, decorative items that drop or can be crafted + anything related to that is incredibly necessary in any mmorpg and is what lacks in most of them created today. Here is why -
1. It brings in the girls, which brings in the guys.
2. At least half of the MMORPGer's want this.
3. It adds longevity.
4. It adds to 'community'.
5. It creates a grind outside your standard MMORPG grind.
In regards to 'housing' I'm very intruiged atm by RIFTs dimensions. Basically you get stuff and you can place that stuff in your dimension. If you want to build a house from that stuff, then you're free to do so. Also I've seen ships, treehouses, decorative items and they're saying they're just beginning with the adding of stuff to place in your dimensions (trophies of (raid) bosses are on the list).
I can live without housing,but I definitely can see the appeal..
I enjoyed my house in DAOC,had tons of money to deck it out,had the dragon head trophy n such.Would leave it unlocked for guildies to check out and use the merchants within.
Skyrim's take seems way more advanced though from what im reading in this thread.Havent played the game yet ,still stuck in fallout 3...
at this rate i prolly wont be playing skyrim till im 80 years old.
Now I have "played" the new DLC for Skyrim, Hearthfire. Now by itself there wasn't much to do, tho I felt it was worth the 4,99 Euro. I built a wonderful, large house overviewing a lake, I invited my husband into it, hired a steward, a bard and worked very hard to create all the furniture and shrines and gather all my many trophies and place them there. Finally I did what I had wished to do for a LONG time, I got two kids out of this horrible Orphanage and had two kids, which I pampered with toys and gifts and sweets. Oh and I managed to get two dogs as well. It didn't "do" anything, but it sorta filled me with glee, and made the game round.
wtf?....you play mmos to be a house wife?....:S....
To be totally blunt, yes. Partially. I am a single most of my life without family and kids and never will, so pretenting that in a game has the appeal of pseudo-life. It roots me in a virtual game world. Call me a fool, but it always "aww's" me. ^^()
I mean, isn't it why all the nerds play hero? To pretend what we do not have in the dull everyday life?
Originally posted by AdamTM
Get a dollhouse.
Then again getting a dollhouse for under 5$ is kind of impossible nowadays, even under 55$ if you include your Skyrim purchase.
I don't want a dollhouse by itself! Ok, having played Sims 2 for years, maybe I do. But that's not the point. The point is, I want my MMO heroes to have a home. Not just a house, a home, ideally in a player city, maybe with NPC family option. Something to make me feel connected to the game world.
Don't get me wrong I know what you are saying, I was just joking.
I enjoy these elements too, but for different reasons. I like to build and customize things in my games, its about my creative output.
I'm less interested in the interaction part in Sims than i'm in building a house and decorating it. Its about the only reason why I play games like terraria, I'm not interested in killing mobs, more in building and exploring.
But not only that, if a game has massive customization of gear for example, i will be all over it as well. Like building your own guns (BR, Loadout) from scratch or making items with an assembly process (Ryzom, best crafting in an mmorpg ever)
Any MMO that features those elements will immediately be a win for me.
Comments
But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles?
I mean instead of making a virtual life in a game why not put the same effort into making your own better? or at least more normalized(and lets not start on normal is not better argument, since a it's demagogic and b not true)
Most people want to escape the mundane, that's why there are fantasies, it's a healthy psychic phenomenon, granted your fantasies are fall in the norm.
There is a reason why most people have the same or similar fantasies, most people live similar lives that are forced on them due to constraints imposed by society(this isn't a good or bad thing, it's just is.
People want to experience things that they can not do in normal life, this is why games, movies, books, and jet skies exist.
The question is should you be spending time creating the life you want instead of living the life you should.There is nothing wrong with escaping reality, as long as your reality is balanced and does not suffer from it.
If you don't live a normal and health life(from a sociological pov) then yes there is a problem, doesn't matter if you are killing Orcs or playing tea party with the mad hatter.
Let me buy you a beer or two, bro. You just made my week, and it's Sunday...
I'm not a "must have" kind of player with player housing.
I always thought EQ2's version was tacked on and could've been a bit more. I liked have my own lil' place to throw auctions up, but there should've been a lil' more or something.
Wizards 101, a kids game of course, actually has pretty great housing with the pet system, the gardens, and what not. I also enjoy LotRO's little rented community instances.
There's room for it in MMOs of course, but it'd have to be a bit more than just a trophy showcase in my opinion.
a yo ho ho
You said that "But do you really think that games which are a form a leisure should cater to such unhealthy life styles?"
It seems to me like you would be suggesting that in example Sims cater to more unhealthy life style than WoW or Call od Duty. I just want to make sure.
Because you realize that you just said it does not matter what are you playing in your second post - so it is hard for me to realize what are those games that cater to this unhealthy lifestyle?
This genre already had this and much more. It's those games playing catch up, honestly.
Sad to see you're catching flak for enjoying something that isn't killing, running collect quests, or doing daily quests. I'm so beyond bored to tears of that shit.
EQ2's housing is far far from 'tacked on'... How could it have be more, in your opinion? Assuming that you are just not referring to the fact that it is instanced ofc?
I mean... it has pretty much a whole crafting sphere devoted to it. Housing is woven throughout your play experience if you chose it to be, with collections, quests, etc giving housing based rewards right through your game from L1.
What more, beyond maybe it not being instanced, would you like to see in EQ2 housing wise?
If adults play them to make up for them not having a normal life then yes.I don't want to slay Orc's all day, i don't want to shoot terrorists all day, and i don't want to farm the jungle all day.
I play games because they are engaging activity, they are exiting and fun, i also dislike single player games and pretty much only play with my GF and friends.
When i play League of Legends and counter jungle on my lovely Shyvana i dont imagine my self being a dragon and nom noming sona's i think about how satisfying it is to beat the players I'm playing against...
Same thing in WoW, it don't really imagine my self being a stealthy rogue on some mission to assasinate the high warlord of the orcish horde, I just like to do bosses from behind, and 2 shot casters
Some games which have a deep enough story are engaging in the same way a good book is, Mass Effect especially the first 2 were quite awesome in that way, same as other Bioware RPG's.
And yes any activity which is used to utterly escape, and replace reality is bad and should not be catered too.
If you use The SIMS the live the life you want, it's not different than crack.
Thanks,
Mike
Working on Social Strategy MMORTS (now Launched!) http://www.worldalpha.com
There is no difftence if you imagine and immerse yourself as game character or if you're playig and not immersing yourself so deepply.
If someone lose his job because of playing video games it really does not matter if he or her was playing too much for simple killing stuff or if was impersonating himself or herself as rogue during gameplay.
It is same thing as reading too much books. It does not matter if you're screwimng your life by reading novels 12 h / day because you're interested what will happen next or because you're fantasize about being book character.
There are plenty of people that are imaginign during gameplat that they are a mage, play a bit, turn off game and go back to reality and taking care of their kids. It is really no difftent than playing for a while because you like backstab things. If your backstabbing things for lulz hurt your real life and you're playing too much it is also not difftent than "being on crack".
You just link gamers hurting their real life because of how deeply they immerse themself and that is simply wrong. You're hurting your real life if because of playing games you hurt your social or family life, or career or health, etc not because what do you do during gameplay.
Will read it in morining I have to go to sleep. It is monday tommorow after all.
As the OP clearly stated, "I am single most of my life without family and kids and never will". You know, there are many reasons that could be and why the OP may choose to spend time "living" in a virtual world. Who do you think you are to pass judgment on those reasons? Not having a normal life? Did it ever occur to you that the OP may be disabled or have some other situation that prevents him from doing things others take for granted?
No, I don't suppose it would occur to you.
TLDR version of that whole argument: How I play is okay, what you do is weird and unhealthy
Seriously, why MMO companies have continued to do everything possible via game mechanics to discourage community while whining about lack of player retention just amazes me. Anything that keeps players paying money to interact with each other without 'consuming' dev-created content should be the holy grail to game managers.
There are essentially two schools of MMO design at work at the moment.
It has to do with control, or lack of it.
MMOs relying on authored content ready for consumption have the philosophy of maximum designer/developer control. They are easily made because the given responses to content are limited and therefore predictable. Design becomes less complex in favor of quantity.
But most importantly, the quality is reproducable and there are consistent results.
MMOs relying on emergent gameplay content sacrifice control while providing deeper and more complex design.
The problem with this approach is that the quality is not consistent as its dependent on the players themselves.
Its no wonder that companies, that are primarily concerned with making money, are more interested in consistent quality and results.
This is also why most multiplayer sandbox games are make it or break it afairs, because the experience itself is wildly varying through emergent gameplay, while "themepark" design garners more consistent results.
Of course if you dig deeper, it gets more complex, but this is it in a nutshell.
Elikal, I completely understand where you are coming from. I do the same thing in Mount and Blade Warband, single player game. I totally redecorate the castles my character controls.
I did the same thing in other games as well, like Sims 3, Skyrim and SWG. I like games that give us more options to do stuff in games - like hunting for butterflies. 
So yes, more MMO's need sustainable game play options - and not just raiding and running PvP BG's.
Each to his/hers.
I never cared for dungeon grinding and getting uber armor just for the sake of, or grinding faction points. A good MMO should IMVPO contain things for many sorts of players. There is enough room for me and you. 
Oh YES, wasn't that cool! There was an evil cultist I had to remove, I hired the Bard and two dogs two have protection for my kids, and at one time hired thugs came to abduct my family! In the early building phase my steward and me fended off a pack of wolves from the house. I loved that. ^^
Made a small video of my Skyrim adventure, hearthfire shots at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSj8AzJyY0M
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Thanks. I prefer to think I am an idiot, because I always blurt out what I think.
Lol, last time I checked I was a dude. Still, it has been my wish as long as I can think to have a farm, tend for a house and two nice kids. I never could understand why women these days all want to work in an office or company rather than be "housewife"? What was so bad about it? Oh well... off topic, sorta. A friend of mine is houseman. His wife is a lawyer and he tends the their two sons, the house and garden. I envy him.
But alas, there are way too many real obstacles to overcome in my RL. Trust me in this, that is not some cheap excuse. I really would want this sort of life, but it is just outside my reach for too many reasons. I am not on top health, so I can't just go into the woods and built a house there. Laws and taxes in Germany are severe, houses are for people with MUCH money here. I live poorly from my art as cartoonist, never did a "serious" job all my life since I finished university, always living for my art. I am a gay dude and adpotion is not allowed for me even in Germany. And who would want to move with a poor, stupid have-nothing like me? And with all my issues, I would not want to burden kids, god forbid. So, I decided to do the world a favor and stick to myself. There, so it is. I decided someday to face reality as it is, and accept it. Gives peace.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
They serve no purpose for the current batch of mmo because of the ineptitude of current batch of mmo designers in giving them a purpose.
Back in the days of SWG or UO or DaOC or other games player cities and housing have massive purpose - they served as the commercial and production center of communities and things to contest over.
However thanks to the no-perma decay on items, no dynamic stats on items, and no ability to mass produce and mass resource gather policy to a lot of the current batch of mmos, production activity have basically been made useless, and everything is about loot.
And then there is the vicious cycle of loot - as they introduce more and more powerful items, the older batch of items becomes obsolete, and with the new batch of items being permanent, there is no way for the stats to phase itself out so the only way to degrade it's power is to introduce MORE powerful items and MORE player levels.
This is the harm of the the current MMO concept. It basically is as unsustainable as what we do in real life (oh wow iPhone5 comes out! Lets throw our iPhone4 into the bin and buy the new one).
It really needs to change. The older mmos had it right and somehow something went crooked along the way.
Having housing, decorative items that drop or can be crafted + anything related to that is incredibly necessary in any mmorpg and is what lacks in most of them created today. Here is why -
1. It brings in the girls, which brings in the guys.
2. At least half of the MMORPGer's want this.
3. It adds longevity.
4. It adds to 'community'.
5. It creates a grind outside your standard MMORPG grind.
In regards to 'housing' I'm very intruiged atm by RIFTs dimensions. Basically you get stuff and you can place that stuff in your dimension. If you want to build a house from that stuff, then you're free to do so. Also I've seen ships, treehouses, decorative items and they're saying they're just beginning with the adding of stuff to place in your dimensions (trophies of (raid) bosses are on the list).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKeXqsLoKp8
And awesome massively trailer: http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/10/10/rift-dimensions-video-asks-what-will-you-create/
Hope it helps ^^
Edit: Also I know there'll be guild dimensions. Basically the same, but way bigger.
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." - John F. Kennedy
And for MMORPGs ever so true...
I can live without housing,but I definitely can see the appeal..
I enjoyed my house in DAOC,had tons of money to deck it out,had the dragon head trophy n such.Would leave it unlocked for guildies to check out and use the merchants within.
Skyrim's take seems way more advanced though from what im reading in this thread.Havent played the game yet ,still stuck in fallout 3...
at this rate i prolly wont be playing skyrim till im 80 years old.
Don't get me wrong I know what you are saying, I was just joking.
I enjoy these elements too, but for different reasons. I like to build and customize things in my games, its about my creative output.
I'm less interested in the interaction part in Sims than i'm in building a house and decorating it. Its about the only reason why I play games like terraria, I'm not interested in killing mobs, more in building and exploring.
But not only that, if a game has massive customization of gear for example, i will be all over it as well. Like building your own guns (BR, Loadout) from scratch or making items with an assembly process (Ryzom, best crafting in an mmorpg ever)
Any MMO that features those elements will immediately be a win for me.