I think the true issue isn't really addressed in this poll. The core of what an MMORPG used to be is does not appeal to a mass market. WoW was a fluke but made everyone take notice. Most gamers do not want a very slow and very steady rate of game evolution.
"Bored" is a strech. Id say over-saturated by same type content. Its just no-life the hell outta grind or pay your way to good equipment type of games, with less than normal enjoyment. I mean ,they all have the same isuess, how to balance pvp ,but still give players sence of accomplishment, and all that with unnoticable grind with good gameplay, but no p2w cash shop.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
They're growing stale in my opinon, especially the slew of Korean MMO. It's always the same boring action thing.
Rift was the last time I noticed something new in MMO, the ability to change class and the rifts was fun. Then again, the rest of the game was simply a WoW clone.
Since then, it is always the same thing over and over.
You can play the "best" MMO out there, but without anyone to play with you are simply playing a Single player game. I tend to go through single player games a few times then shelves them for a while.
A MMO is as good as the people you play with. You can play a horrible MMO graphics and play wise, but still have loads of fun, because of who you play with. It is the same as a board game. Same game, but there are games that simply stick out in my head thank to the crew I played with.
Play what you Like. I like SWOTR, Have a referral to get you going! --> http://www.swtor.com/r/nBndbs <-- Several Unlocks and a few days game time to make the F2P considerably easier
I voted boring cause the same. That being said, there are a few mmo's out right now that do that "old boring sameness" better than the mmo's that created said boredom. so I think the scene is in a better state than 10 years ago.
I think the true issue isn't really addressed in this poll. The core of what an MMORPG used to be is does not appeal to a mass market. WoW was a fluke but made everyone take notice. Most gamers do not want a very slow and very steady rate of game evolution.
WoW was many things, but a fluke was not one of them. WoW was what the market needed at the time and it came with a lot of polish, despite the many flaws the game had especially early on (bugs, etc). The problem with WoW was that everyone else changed what they were doing and decided to "wowify" their game. THAT lead to stagnation. Even after 11 years, WoW still has the biggest player base and that's after a drop of 50%+ of ongoing subscription numbers.
I voted that they are better than they have ever been. There is a pretty large variety of games across many sub-genres with various payment models. There's nearly something for most everyone out there, hence the large number of gamers across the board.
As other's have said, there is a lack of the classic virtual worlds of yesteryear. They are making a comeback via multiplayer focused indie projects. Unfortunately, many of them are sold in alpha phases and are just slowly built upon. Once the game gets into a true "released" format, a considerable amount of people have played and moved on already. PvP is also too widely used as a tool for the focus of said content. PvP provides the massive gaps of content that are left in the wake of some pretty good open world environments and interesting survival mechanics. Having an ongoing storyline with a quest-like structure doesn't a themepark game make, but far too many indie devs seem to either not care or are too scared to go that route. There's a severe lack of world building that's dev guided.
I love GW2, I love the many single player games I own, I love playing modded Minecraft and Trove with my daughter. Gaming, in general, is in a great spot imo. There are a few games on the horizon that I am looking forward to.
I would rather play a game with a few players but with interaction. It took me a long time to realise that I was enjoying multiplayer mode in shooters like Halo far more than most modern mmos. Once I did realise this, I largely let go of my nostalgia and moved away from the mmo market, only coming back when a rare release captures my interest.
I miss the days of what I call the "integrated MMO," where you can create a character which can do any or all of the following under one game:
Shoot. Melee. Engage in player versus player. Dance and hang out. Fly in aircraft/spacecraft. Build structures. Design clothes and look. Manufacture. Start a business and trade. Roleplay. Game master, design encounters, run plots and stage events for other players.
There was nothing like the integrated MMORPG before in computer entertainment, and nothing better since.
These days, an MMORPG is only concerned about the first two, adding on the third as a kind of sideshow. The rest of the list has been stripped out.
__________________________ "Its sad when people use religion to feel superior, its even worse to see people using a video game to do it." --Arcken
"...when it comes to pimping EVE I have little restraints." --Hellmar, CEO of CCP.
"It's like they took a gun, put it to their nugget sack and pulled the trigger over and over again, each time telling us how great it was that they were shooting themselves in the balls." --Exar_Kun on SWG's NGE
I wanted to vote that I feel MMOs have been shifting focus from creating a world to creating a weak single player story followed by a dungeon grind. I think devs/publishers are seeing how difficult it can be to break into the market for that type of game, so we will see more and more new ideas though. I want more seamless worlds, more public quests, more lore.
That is not to say it is all bad though, you have games like GW2 that are loaded with public quests, or swtor where it is so loaded with lore they have an in game codex full of it (just like WAR's in game encyclopedia, though that was even better). There is BDO coming out with a beautiful seamless world. There are places to go whenever I crave one aspect of an MMORPG that is really well done. I just wish there was one game with it all.
I miss the days of what I call the "integrated MMO," where you can create a character which can do any or all of the following under one game:
Shoot. Melee. Engage in player versus player. Dance and hang out. Fly in aircraft/spacecraft. Build structures. Design clothes and look. Manufacture. Start a business and trade. Roleplay. Game master, design encounters, run plots and stage events for other players.
There was nothing like the integrated MMORPG before in computer entertainment, and nothing better since.
These days, an MMORPG is only concerned about the first two, adding on the third as a kind of sideshow. The rest of the list has been stripped out.
That stripping out has been called "streamlining" and removing all the boring bits leaving only the "fun". Its a joke, less is not more. If you found certain of the old elements "boring" you could ignore them.
Back in the day I was never into crafting, but I did not have to craft, I just used my gold to buy what I needed. Now you may not have a crafting option, that's not streamlining, its putting out an inferior product. Same for all the rest of the changes for more "fun".
I don't really consider them not as good,there are some improvements.The problem i have is that nobody is giving us a COMPLETE game,sure they improve one area but dumb down another or completely leave out another expected idea.
I just want someone to give me the whole package and without getting Jason Statham to deliver it :P
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Maybe MMOs are fine. Maybe it is a social changes that have affected your likes and dislikes. Society has changed a lot over the last ten years. We are bombarded with social interaction from many sources now and many times the vocal seem to push off their ideals and beliefs. People are becoming rude as a whole and add in the anonymous internet you get full retard.
MMOs haven't changed its those that play them changing its just not obvious.
Graphically we're way ahead of where we used to be. MMO's today are amazingly good looking but that's where the good news ends for me personally.
I think we've gotten to the point where people have run out of ideas and we just see the same things repackaged. Add to that the temptation to try and duplicate the success of WoW by following a similar formula and we get a lot of MMO's that feel very similar.
I think High Fantasy has been done to death. Maybe more Sci Fi settings would freshen things up a bit, or perhaps a grittier low fantasy setting, less magic, more gore. We need less linear progression, more variety in character development, fewer restrictions, more freedom and proper player based economies like in EVE, less gear treadmill and improved crafting/crafted items.
Last problem is the squandering of the potential that MMO capable games give us. Why make a game that can have hundreds or even thousands of players interacting together and then restrict activities to a couple of dozen or less? Makes no sense to me. Why make it MMO at all if you just want to 5 man dungeon crawl?
Thankfully there are still a few out there that still deliver on the promise of Massively Multiplayer action, but they're the exception rather than the rule and that's just a sad waste of the technology available.
I'm not suggesting we abandon smaller scale games, far from it. I enjoy playing those games as much as the next person. I just think we could have some more massively multiplayer games as well.
I think it is several things, not just one thing. One of the biggest is how players play the game. Unlike other Genres, MMOs are what you make them. I can't count how many times I've seen or heard people complain about doing something in an MMO over and over...most MMOs have more than 1 thing to do, so go do something else if that doesn't excite you.
I believe that about half of the "MMO Experience" is social interaction. However, about 90% of people in MMOs won't interact with others unless they're in a guild or friends. You'd be surprised how often I say Hi to some random person and we end up friends after hanging out for awhile. It just takes someone to say Hi and the game is already 50% better.
Still find myself addicted and playing some form of mmo every day... i have tried to stop but longest that lasts is when i have to work away from home.
Tried playing the 100-150 unplayed steam titles i have from humble bundles or steam sales but i seem to only be able to play for 1 - 2 hours then close and go back to mmos.
Sadly my addiction hasn't turn into boredom yet and i enjoy a new experience every 1 - 3 months... best thing mmorpgs (yes i don't see mmo's and mmorpg's the same) did was get rid of the BS slow lvling to extend the time one would sub to an mmorpg. Personally i don't need a game to last me year and year.
Most people do not share your opinion and by a large margin. That's gotta hurt a tad; but not to worry as there are limitless varieties of entertainment out there...
so? What count is whether dev make games fun to me. Hell, if all i want is agreement, i will just pretend Eve is fun to me.
there was a point in time when i could only get into online games. steam library full of great single player games that i just never felt the desire to play due to it just being offline single player THANKFULLY that has changed. i spent 3yrs in wow but since then its just been bouncing from one mmo to the next..although i spent several months in warhammer...everything else 2 or 3 months tops.
i think the quality of the games are better now than ever so thats not entirely the problem i have with them. i think they are somewhat all kinda to similar so repetitiveness would be a reason, i think the fact that i used to have a core group of 4-5 people that i would play mmos with that i have lost contact with is also a factor plus i'm fixing to ding 42 in a couple of months so maybe shit i would be into several years ago i'm just not into it anymore.
I don't really consider them not as good,there are some improvements.The problem i have is that nobody is giving us a COMPLETE game,sure they improve one area but dumb down another or completely leave out another expected idea.
I just want someone to give me the whole package and without getting Jason Statham to deliver it :P
Are you prepared to accept a decade-long delivery time frame and a higher price tag, for a fully-complete fresh out of the box experience (equal to the 10-year "aged" AAA mmo titles)?
Or do you want Everything, at a basic price, and fast fast fast?
I think it is several things, not just one thing. One of the biggest is how players play the game. Unlike other Genres, MMOs are what you make them. I can't count how many times I've seen or heard people complain about doing something in an MMO over and over...most MMOs have more than 1 thing to do, so go do something else if that doesn't excite you.
I believe that about half of the "MMO Experience" is social interaction. However, about 90% of people in MMOs won't interact with others unless they're in a guild or friends. You'd be surprised how often I say Hi to some random person and we end up friends after hanging out for awhile. It just takes someone to say Hi and the game is already 50% better.
Yeah, the point of massive multiplayer games is that you have other people around and I feel that social interaction can be improved in the games.
Most things in MMOs can be done better in single player and multiplayer games, but anything where you interact with many players and make new friends is something unique to MMOs (while you theoretically can make friends in FPS games stuff like that is really rare but there are a lot of people who got new friends or even found love in MMOs).
I think figuring out new ways for players to actually learn to know eachother is one thing that can pay off really good.
It is not the only thing that need some improvement for MMOs to become one of the most popular genres in the future but it is already a huge strength for the genre, but one thing that MMOs put less work in the last few years. Story and combat are easier to make better in other genres but here is something MMOs do that no-one else can.
Ok you create a poll with some pretty weak choices. Your choices are either today's mmorpgs are GREAT or they are failing. How about mmorpgs are better then they were 15 years ago but they aren't great. Today there are more people playing and enjoying mmorpgs then ever before, there is more competition then ever before meaning more choices for the gamer which is a great thing.
Asking your question on a site like this won't give you any info on how 99.99% of actual players feel. This site has a few vocal bitter old school snowflakes who spam every thread with their doom and gloom about today's mmorpgs.
The truth is their precious old games like SWG would not succeed in a market and genre that has passed them by. The reason SWG closed is because nobody played it, the game was never this great masterpiece these snowflakes claim it to be. SWG is just one example of many others that these bitter old school vets bring up that failed a long time ago and wouldn't hold a candle in today's market...it's why they CLOSED and are not being copied.
Its amazing how these vocal snowflakes cry on every thread the doom and gloom about mmorpgs they make it known they don't play any mmorpgs and have no hope any mmorpgs will be coming out in 2016 but have 2000 post about mmorpgs in the last year.
Face it you guys outgrew a hobby and are now being left behind and clearly are the minority. You have a couple choices.
1) Be mature move on and find a new hobby
2) If you enjoy mmorpgs find one there are more choices then ever before and play it.
3) Waste countless hours crying over a hobby that doesn't care about how You are an old school snowflake.
Yeah, the point of massive multiplayer games is that you have other people around and I feel that social interaction can be improved in the games.
Clearly not the point for the players who won't bother to socialize. I doubt they care very much about MMOs but devs are luring them in by making MMOs more like single player or other types of online games.
Comments
Id say over-saturated by same type content.
Its just no-life the hell outta grind or pay your way to good equipment type of games, with less than normal enjoyment.
I mean ,they all have the same isuess, how to balance pvp ,but still give players sence of accomplishment, and all that with unnoticable grind with good gameplay, but no p2w cash shop.
Yeah, dig that, aint happening.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Rift was the last time I noticed something new in MMO, the ability to change class and the rifts was fun. Then again, the rest of the game was simply a WoW clone.
Since then, it is always the same thing over and over.
A MMO is as good as the people you play with. You can play a horrible MMO graphics and play wise, but still have loads of fun, because of who you play with. It is the same as a board game. Same game, but there are games that simply stick out in my head thank to the crew I played with.
--> http://www.swtor.com/r/nBndbs <--
Several Unlocks and a few days game time to make the F2P considerably easier
I voted that they are better than they have ever been. There is a pretty large variety of games across many sub-genres with various payment models. There's nearly something for most everyone out there, hence the large number of gamers across the board.
As other's have said, there is a lack of the classic virtual worlds of yesteryear. They are making a comeback via multiplayer focused indie projects. Unfortunately, many of them are sold in alpha phases and are just slowly built upon. Once the game gets into a true "released" format, a considerable amount of people have played and moved on already. PvP is also too widely used as a tool for the focus of said content. PvP provides the massive gaps of content that are left in the wake of some pretty good open world environments and interesting survival mechanics. Having an ongoing storyline with a quest-like structure doesn't a themepark game make, but far too many indie devs seem to either not care or are too scared to go that route. There's a severe lack of world building that's dev guided.
I love GW2, I love the many single player games I own, I love playing modded Minecraft and Trove with my daughter. Gaming, in general, is in a great spot imo. There are a few games on the horizon that I am looking forward to.
Shoot.
Melee.
Engage in player versus player.
Dance and hang out.
Fly in aircraft/spacecraft.
Build structures.
Design clothes and look.
Manufacture.
Start a business and trade.
Roleplay.
Game master, design encounters, run plots and stage events for other players.
There was nothing like the integrated MMORPG before in computer entertainment, and nothing better since.
These days, an MMORPG is only concerned about the first two, adding on the third as a kind of sideshow. The rest of the list has been stripped out.
__________________________
"Its sad when people use religion to feel superior, its even worse to see people using a video game to do it."
--Arcken
"...when it comes to pimping EVE I have little restraints."
--Hellmar, CEO of CCP.
"It's like they took a gun, put it to their nugget sack and pulled the trigger over and over again, each time telling us how great it was that they were shooting themselves in the balls."
--Exar_Kun on SWG's NGE
That is not to say it is all bad though, you have games like GW2 that are loaded with public quests, or swtor where it is so loaded with lore they have an in game codex full of it (just like WAR's in game encyclopedia, though that was even better). There is BDO coming out with a beautiful seamless world. There are places to go whenever I crave one aspect of an MMORPG that is really well done. I just wish there was one game with it all.
That stripping out has been called "streamlining" and removing all the boring bits leaving only the "fun". Its a joke, less is not more. If you found certain of the old elements "boring" you could ignore them.
Back in the day I was never into crafting, but I did not have to craft, I just used my gold to buy what I needed. Now you may not have a crafting option, that's not streamlining, its putting out an inferior product. Same for all the rest of the changes for more "fun".
I just want someone to give me the whole package and without getting Jason Statham to deliver it :P
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Maybe MMOs are fine. Maybe it is a social changes that have affected your likes and dislikes. Society has changed a lot over the last ten years. We are bombarded with social interaction from many sources now and many times the vocal seem to push off their ideals and beliefs. People are becoming rude as a whole and add in the anonymous internet you get full retard.
MMOs haven't changed its those that play them changing its just not obvious.
If you are interested in making a MMO maybe visit my page to get a free open source engine.
I think we've gotten to the point where people have run out of ideas and we just see the same things repackaged. Add to that the temptation to try and duplicate the success of WoW by following a similar formula and we get a lot of MMO's that feel very similar.
I think High Fantasy has been done to death. Maybe more Sci Fi settings would freshen things up a bit, or perhaps a grittier low fantasy setting, less magic, more gore. We need less linear progression, more variety in character development, fewer restrictions, more freedom and proper player based economies like in EVE, less gear treadmill and improved crafting/crafted items.
Last problem is the squandering of the potential that MMO capable games give us. Why make a game that can have hundreds or even thousands of players interacting together and then restrict activities to a couple of dozen or less? Makes no sense to me. Why make it MMO at all if you just want to 5 man dungeon crawl?
Thankfully there are still a few out there that still deliver on the promise of Massively Multiplayer action, but they're the exception rather than the rule and that's just a sad waste of the technology available.
I'm not suggesting we abandon smaller scale games, far from it. I enjoy playing those games as much as the next person. I just think we could have some more massively multiplayer games as well.
I believe that about half of the "MMO Experience" is social interaction. However, about 90% of people in MMOs won't interact with others unless they're in a guild or friends. You'd be surprised how often I say Hi to some random person and we end up friends after hanging out for awhile. It just takes someone to say Hi and the game is already 50% better.
Tried playing the 100-150 unplayed steam titles i have from humble bundles or steam sales but i seem to only be able to play for 1 - 2 hours then close and go back to mmos.
Sadly my addiction hasn't turn into boredom yet and i enjoy a new experience every 1 - 3 months... best thing mmorpgs (yes i don't see mmo's and mmorpg's the same) did was get rid of the BS slow lvling to extend the time one would sub to an mmorpg. Personally i don't need a game to last me year and year.
i think the quality of the games are better now than ever so thats not entirely the problem i have with them. i think they are somewhat all kinda to similar so repetitiveness would be a reason, i think the fact that i used to have a core group of 4-5 people that i would play mmos with that i have lost contact with is also a factor plus i'm fixing to ding 42 in a couple of months so maybe shit i would be into several years ago i'm just not into it anymore.
Or do you want Everything, at a basic price, and fast fast fast?
Most things in MMOs can be done better in single player and multiplayer games, but anything where you interact with many players and make new friends is something unique to MMOs (while you theoretically can make friends in FPS games stuff like that is really rare but there are a lot of people who got new friends or even found love in MMOs).
I think figuring out new ways for players to actually learn to know eachother is one thing that can pay off really good.
It is not the only thing that need some improvement for MMOs to become one of the most popular genres in the future but it is already a huge strength for the genre, but one thing that MMOs put less work in the last few years. Story and combat are easier to make better in other genres but here is something MMOs do that no-one else can.
Asking your question on a site like this won't give you any info on how 99.99% of actual players feel. This site has a few vocal bitter old school snowflakes who spam every thread with their doom and gloom about today's mmorpgs.
The truth is their precious old games like SWG would not succeed in a market and genre that has passed them by. The reason SWG closed is because nobody played it, the game was never this great masterpiece these snowflakes claim it to be. SWG is just one example of many others that these bitter old school vets bring up that failed a long time ago and wouldn't hold a candle in today's market...it's why they CLOSED and are not being copied.
Its amazing how these vocal snowflakes cry on every thread the doom and gloom about mmorpgs they make it known they don't play any mmorpgs and have no hope any mmorpgs will be coming out in 2016 but have 2000 post about mmorpgs in the last year.
Face it you guys outgrew a hobby and are now being left behind and clearly are the minority. You have a couple choices.
1) Be mature move on and find a new hobby
2) If you enjoy mmorpgs find one there are more choices then ever before and play it.
3) Waste countless hours crying over a hobby that doesn't care about how You are an old school snowflake.