Someone a few posts back referred to the author of the article as lazy rather than casual... which I find to be rather amusing, due to the fact that you can't get any more casual than lazy.
Personally... if you aren't a hardcore gamer, you are casual. It doesn't matter if you level or not, if you raid or not, if you are playing a game once in a while, or do not take a hardcore position in gaming... you are a casual gamer. Everyone has their own play style, we are after all talking about PLAYING a GAME here, not competing in the Olympics.
The idea that people feel the author of this article is too casual... when writing about casual play... definitely a good chuckle.
Yep another dabbler here. In fact to this date I have never reached the level cap in any MMORPG. I tend to hit a wall with characters and get bored with them and generally after I have tried every conceivable mix of race and classes I tend to get bored of the game altogether. Having said that giving the character's a personality and a bit of roleplay spice tends to extend the boredom threshold a lot.
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"At the very least, doing the wet towel snap should disconnect the nerves of the spinal column, causing total paralysis, thus enabling you to skin the bastard alive."
Interesting article. It gives me a little insight on my son's playstyle. His highest in DAoC was 36, and his highest in WoW is 53 and he has tons of really low alts. I swear he just likes playing with the character creators more than the game.
I completely understand the desire to try other classes and races.. I always do that. Only I tend to get many to max level and beyond.
In DAoC, I have 19 level 50s, most are at least Master level 5, one is ML 10. I am not a huge PvPer, but still managed to get a few close to RR5, and 1 to RR8.
Currently in WoW I have 3 level 60s, one has full tier 2, part of her tier 2.5 and is just starting Naxx, another has about half of her tier 2 and the third has all of her tier 1.. And my 58 lock hit her first raid yesterday. I love raiding with different characters.. playing from the different angles. That to me is true exploration. (The ultimate exploration and accomplishment is PvP, but that is not my forte.. I only ever do that to enjoy the company of my guildmates and/or to accomplish certain goals - in DAoC, that was to gain certain abilities - WoW's reward system holds no enticement for me at all.)
I feel not getting to the max level shuts me out from way too much. It has been my experience that the game becomes much more interesting once my characters have all of their abilities.. sometimes I even have more than one of the same class but with different specs. In DAoC, I have 3 midgard healers, 2 hibernian druids, 3 bards, 2 Alb necromancers. Right now in WoW, my main is a hunter and I am raising another one on the opposite side. I also will explore similar classes.. My second in WoW is a druid, third is priest.. in DAoC, 12 of my characters were healer types, most of the rest were pet/caster classes. I also have a skald and minstrel as well as the bards. The hero is a definite exception. (All are 50)
I do make and play every class and try to play them to at least 24 in DAoC and 30 in WoW, even if I don't like them. It helps give me some insight into the mechanics of the class and hopefully allow me to understand where the players of those classes are coming from. This is useful in raiding (especially as a healer and for the occaisional raids I lead) and very useful in PvP.
All this said though, when I am tired and need to just wind down, I find nothing more pleasurable than to explore on a lowbie. That might be why I love beta testing
Oh, and I agree about Sony's policy of minimal character slots.. I refuse to play their games because of it. It just strikes me as them being cheapskates.
wI highly disagree with the comments about SWGs one character per server policy...
You did not have to 'give up' a profession to achieve another profession, although I'm not sure if you do or not in the NGE. You could have several of the the lowbie professions at once in SWG, which if anything, made it a lowbie players wet dream. Since leveling in pre-cu SWG was about skill point allocation, you could use up all your skill points without ever reaching into the grind-heavy skill trees. This makes your lowbie character much more powerful than a typical lowbie character would be... It also means you can become comfortable with your character, and continue to use some skill trees while you are modifying others.
The one character per server is a great community builder... It allows for familiarity- As opposed to seeing new characters wandering around every day, you will find yourself seeing the same characters in the world day after day. There was a time in SWG where I could easy recognize players by seeing their avatar. Every day I would log in and on my way to whatever I decided to do that day, I would see familiar players doing their thing around the game cities or run into them while running missions in their favourite spots. You get to know other players, and become familiar with their characters, as well as becoming very familiar and attached to your own character.
I got annoyed and bored with the end game in World of Warcraft; I can certainly see why someone would want to replay the first thirty levels in that game. They are by far the most fun part of WoW... They are also incredibly solo-friendly though, which could be or not be a bad thing. I have to admit that I was unable to get very far in EQ2, because it is pretty difficult to level in EQ2, and I dont enjoy grinds very much. I also left EVE after trying it for a couple months, mostly because I didnt have the detication to become a major player in the game world, I didnt have the patience to endure the slow gameplay, and I became bored with the lack of human avatars...
Right now I am playing Guild Wars, which is a very lowbie friendly game, because almost all players have many characters. The complete lack of level or item grinding leaves lowbies open to a very competitive situation. I really do enjoy GW, but I really miss the sense of community, familiarity, and attachment to SWG and my SWG character (may he rest in peace). They are very different games, so a sense of lost is expected I suppose.
I certainly fall into the category of an alt-lover, but I have reached the endgame in CoH (but not CoV). Really, as games go, it's more due to the strong feelings of work/grinding that arise more than any lack of desire to reach that level of "greatness." Even the most enjoyable gameplay eventually becomes boring when you've logged hundreds of hours of it with very little change as you slowly advance and add another notch to your level or skill belt.
Some have said that Steve cannot claim to be an "expert" on this subject because he's only got one character that reached 60 in all of the MMOGs he's played. I fail to see the attempt to do so. He is merely relating the experience he's had reaching the endgame, and how it felt in doing so. Sure, there is a large bit of content he's missed by not endgaming every MMOG he's played, but the points he's making remain valid. As you advance, the grind to level becomes longer and more noticeable. As you try various alts, your general knowledge of gameplay increases dramatically as you begin to see the benefits and drawbacks of various character choices one makes while advancing. Lastly, because you are not locking yourself into one character, you're able to introduce variety in gameplay that would not exist if you stuck to one character in a typical "your choice is final" kind of game.
Personally, I like to have 2 or 3 characters to switch between that play very differently from each other. Having this, I find I can devote myself to each one and move around if one particular grind becomes too painful. However, sometimes I simply start over, because I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. The grind has become all-encompassing, and I just need to begin again. Other times, a character doesn't turn out as I intended, so I will remake that character with this new knowledge, making some key changes in my choices as I advance. This is not to imply that endgamer-types are wrong in how they play. If they're enjoying the experience, then that's the right way to play. However, for me, I think I'll forever have a case of incurable altitis, unless of course, a MMOG manages to make the progression all the way to endgame virtually grind-free and fun.
I identified with the article as I also like to try out most skills in games. Thise that critisize the author just because they have different play styles are being narrowminded.
I thought the '1 char/server' on SWG was stupid too. I had to play on 3 different servers just to get the variety of skills that I was interested in. And then being on different servers, they couldn't share items between them.
On WoW, I had a full set of characters on my main server (Alliance PvE) where I had char of each class and 2 mule chars. I got my favorite (a hunter) to level 60 and then found it less interesting to play. My other characters were in 50s and 40s. I did max out most of the professions as I enjoy crafting a lot and wish there was more variety in WoW. I considered them a family and would play different ones depending on the mood I was in. Having a full set of crafters allowed me to be self-suffient in making my own stuff. For me, grinding madly to 60 is missing half of the game. The fun of getting there is much more interesting than arriving at the destination.
I also had sets of characters on other servers (horde PvE, alliance PvP and horde PvP), but the PvP chars were all under 30 because I'm not in a PvP mood very often. Being on other servers also allowed me to play when my main server wasn't available.
I'd been playing WoW since beta and finally quit when the WoW 2.0 patch ruined many of my mods. I've since started playing Guild Wars, but it lacks the crafting that I enjoy so I don't play it regularly like I did WoW. I also got ES4: Oblivion and really enjoy the features but miss the multi-player aspect. I have yet to find my "ideal" game, but have found a variety of games with different features that I like, so maybe one day I find a game with most of the features in the same game.
All hail the Alt-a-holic! My MMO poison of choice is CoH/CoV and I think I have some 80 characters ranging from level 4 to 50 with the majority being in the 10 to 20 range.....that 50...that one 50, took 2 years to get and was mainly done to open up two more character types. Peace my Alt brothers and sisters....continue the fight!
while I agree with what you said you didnt go far enough....
most of the time once youve played the games to about 20 you have seen everything that is interesting in a game. Games dont get any "better" the higher you go it doesnt get more complex or interesting just a bigger hammer and a bigger mole.
if you view a game like a river games are just as narrow at 5th level as they are at 55th level there is rarely something that makes players go WHOA! whole games are cought in this currsed sucking vortez of leveling that draws all energy away from other content that is why you end up with every game with the same arcade kill/level grind.
also once you hit max 60 all you have left to do is "raid" or "pvp" both of which are prety darn pointless why raid for gear you dont need its not like you still have to level or anything! why isnt their some things to do that are WORTHY of a level 60 talent like being a warlord or ruler of a kingdom or leading a wizard guild or being head of a church with definite goals and direction for example a cleric could become part of a church and work their way up to bishop or pope with the goals of helping people and gaining converts to his god a warrior could become a mayor and work their way up the ranks to king with the goal of trying to make his kingdom prosper and kuell rebels or bandits
players dont make a difference in these static games so whats the point in leveling for the sake of leveling
games need to be able to evolve both foward and backward players should be able to build bridges and aquaducts and wells and towers but on the reverse side nothing is imune to chaos this might mean that certain places can get overrun or even destroyed by the enemy it gives players a reason to care about their village not just get out of the way when its attacked and wait for the enemy to predictably withdraw after such a mechanical attack.
I think every player should have plots of land even if they must be instanced to include a house plot,workshop plot, barn plot,farm plot
what they do with these plots is up to them they could even rent them to another player maby one that likes to grow corn
in sumation theres nothing in games to justify leveling any farther than about 20.
make a world, not a game, we dont want another game.
A couple of years ago when I still played EQ I only played (1) character till a couple of months knowing I was probably going to quit. Then I achieved a few characters into the tweens & low 20s. Of course I used my MNK to "twink" their gear making it far easier. I'm more of a one toon player. Since then the only onliner I've played is my dabbling in Guild Wars where I play a couple of toons from time to time whcih are both 20. I haven't done the multiple server playing yet either. If Vanguard has extreme requirements like EQ2 did then I'll probably plow into WoW since so many playing are evident that it has to be somewhat fun. I could go back to EQ, I always wanted to try that duel-player playing, via Station Access till I get the neccessary machine for Vanguard, but the Earth might get hit by an asteroid before that happens too.
I too suffer from the desire to sample the entire buffet offered in a game. I played the original EQ and leveled 6 characters to around 30, switching between them every couple days. I also got in a good group everynight while I was working at nights so my Druid actually made 46. My beastlord made 62 - only because I promised guildies to play one character until I made the level cap at 65. The guild died before I made it lol. In all my 5 years of playing Everquest I raided a total of 3 times. It just wasn't for me. I prefer the small group dynamic.
Same story for most games I've played.. City of Heroes, Anarchy Online, Wow, and even Eve-Online. I like to mix it up. And when I do make it to the endgame it ends up being raiding.. and move on.
Seems like more people are soloing than grouping and many games nowadays are being tamed to be more solo friendly.
In Anarchy Online I've never had a character leveled above level 61. I've tried every profession available up to around 30-50 and stopped then. Its kind of sad that I dont have the mindset to level one character all the way to level 220 but at the same time I learned alot about different professions and their core skills, much like the article said. Woot for all Professional Lowbies!
I'm an alt junkie; I fill every character slot, even if I don't level them up very far. I like diversity. I don't like the way online games end up in raiding and PvP, so I don't care to level a character that high.
There are some good points in the posts in this thread, largely pointing out how boring the higher levels are. If you've seen and done almost everything, then all that's left is the grind up to the boredom. That is, unless you enjoy that endless achievement of nothing.
From my newfound and lofty position of having finally reached level cap I have to wonder, how many others are out there like me, playing a little more than they like to admit but diluting the accomplishment across an entire cast of characters? Whose lowbie characters have little value beyond their ability to offer different ways to solve the same sets of problems? How many people love to have an entire family of characters all fairly low level from spreading the love out among too many? How many people out there are professional lowbies?
Reading the column I'm relieved to see this because I was about to say having so many alts doesn't necessarily constitute casual but as hardcore as the people who are 60. I am very familiar with it, having myself many alts in WoW that I never got one to 60. Having so many alts while gave variety was quite a pain in the ass as you would have to kind of be firm and schedule x amount of time with a character so that he would at least progress as the temptation would be just to go onto another.
I am the same exact way, My biggest problem is, I like to start a game. I get around mid level. try other classes and tradeskills, than move on to another game... I have been searching for years for the right game for me, and unfortunatly after trying every popular game I can think of and thats advertised, Iv still yet to find my game.
I have never pretended to be less than an EXPLORER and this form of play has been mine through EQ1, EQ2, DAOC, WoW and a handful of others. (did level 4 chars to 50 in DAOC in like 3 months, way too easy. Oh and 3 lvl 65's in EQ1 before the lvl cap increase)
BTW Bloodworth, your a hardcase.
I don't recall the entire content of the article to be based on hacking down SWOL's single char per server setup.
You take things too seriously, after all the point of these onliners is to have FUN and a sense of humor ;p
The Real Life World is way too crazy to take our GAMES so seriously that they are no longer FUN...
I PAY to play and have FUN, I WORK to earn to PAY & play.
In essence I do not PAY to work.
Kick back take a break and have FUN doing what you want, HOW you want to
I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm proud of the fact that I have never capped a character, but after playing a lot of different MMOGs the grind holds no interest for me. I think I need to define what I call the grind. At low levels you gain a level fairly quikly, as you get higher the longer it takes to get the next one. As a concept I have no problem with this, but when I play for 3 hours a night for a week and barely get a level, that's a bit to slow for me. And as for grouping, again I thing grouping is a fine thing, but most groups I have teamed with are not interested in completing quests, only in killing as many mobs as they can in as short a period of time as they can to gain experience. This seems kind of pointless to me. Maybe I'm just not running into the right kind of people but most people I encounter in MMORPGs seem to be in a rush to get to the level cap. "Once I get to the level cap then I can do something." Shouldn't the journey be as inportant as the destination? Now at first glance it seems that I am contradicting my self. Not at all, I want to experience the journey but I don't want to take forever to get to the destination. The journey is the quests and the destination is the level. I tend to get a little frustrated when things slow down to much. So I jump from character to character and game to game. Heck right now I'm taking a break from MMOs and playing KOTOR 2.
Hah. Professional lowbie myself here as well. Also an altaholic as evidenced by my two servers worth of characters in City of Heroes/Villains with which to play. Though many of them are various experiments in different roleplay based concepts, I never take the same combination of powers twice. I'll never have my Kheldian... >.< Here I am over 2 years later now (I think) and I've yet to reach level cap. Oh well. To each their own I suppose.
As far as playstyle goes, I have to agree that how you choose to play has much to do with your goals in the game. I like to explore things and find hidden goodies, whether they are treasures or little known shortcuts. I am a munchkin to a certain degree, but only within the concept of the character (as I am a roleplayer unto death). Since very few seem to share my particular style of play, I tend to run solo which generally creates problems with the general population of the gameworld being full of things quite hostile to solo play. Teams are really the big 'It' thing these days. MMO's are still stuck on the idea that you shouldn't be able to do jack without a team, as if the really big accomplishments are only worthy of a group of people working together to tackle a problem. Great way to bring up the kids I suppose, but I'd rather challenge myself and overcome obstacles on my own with creativity and multiple angles of attack.
Anyway, back to shadow lurker mode for me. I'll see you at the low game. ^.^
Hmm I seem to have some of the traits of the "professional lowbie"
For me it has always been about finding the class that "clicks" with me. Sometimes a description you read on a website or in a tutorial isn't quite how it plays out ingame. So I'll whip up a few toons and play them and see which ones are holding my interest. It confused some of my ol' WoW Guildies when I stopped playing my rogue suddenly and made a paladin. I just wanted to try something different in a different starting area. Not that I disliked my rogue, just wanted to see other ways to play.
Plus taking one toon and blitzing to the level cap to then begin the long term repeating of epic/raid zones for the Nifty Uber Lewts would get mind-numbingly boring really quick for me.
It's so true. Trying every possibility with characters makes you a better standard of player. The question isn't really 'who else rolls multiple characters for fun?' but really 'who doesn't?'. I thought that was the whole point in subscribing to a game over a period of months?
MMO makers must be very aware of the success of games like the Oblivion RPG.
Comments
Someone a few posts back referred to the author of the article as lazy rather than casual... which I find to be rather amusing, due to the fact that you can't get any more casual than lazy.
Wikipedia's take on "Casual Gamer": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casual_gamer
Personally... if you aren't a hardcore gamer, you are casual. It doesn't matter if you level or not, if you raid or not, if you are playing a game once in a while, or do not take a hardcore position in gaming... you are a casual gamer. Everyone has their own play style, we are after all talking about PLAYING a GAME here, not competing in the Olympics.
The idea that people feel the author of this article is too casual... when writing about casual play... definitely a good chuckle.
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Support Independent Game Developers
Yep another dabbler here. In fact to this date I have never reached the level cap in any MMORPG. I tend to hit a wall with characters and get bored with them and generally after I have tried every conceivable mix of race and classes I tend to get bored of the game altogether. Having said that giving the character's a personality and a bit of roleplay spice tends to extend the boredom threshold a lot.
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"At the very least, doing the wet towel snap should disconnect the nerves of the spinal column, causing total paralysis, thus enabling you to skin the bastard alive."
Interesting article. It gives me a little insight on my son's playstyle. His highest in DAoC was 36, and his highest in WoW is 53 and he has tons of really low alts. I swear he just likes playing with the character creators more than the game.
I completely understand the desire to try other classes and races.. I always do that. Only I tend to get many to max level and beyond.
In DAoC, I have 19 level 50s, most are at least Master level 5, one is ML 10. I am not a huge PvPer, but still managed to get a few close to RR5, and 1 to RR8.
Currently in WoW I have 3 level 60s, one has full tier 2, part of her tier 2.5 and is just starting Naxx, another has about half of her tier 2 and the third has all of her tier 1.. And my 58 lock hit her first raid yesterday. I love raiding with different characters.. playing from the different angles. That to me is true exploration. (The ultimate exploration and accomplishment is PvP, but that is not my forte.. I only ever do that to enjoy the company of my guildmates and/or to accomplish certain goals - in DAoC, that was to gain certain abilities - WoW's reward system holds no enticement for me at all.)
I feel not getting to the max level shuts me out from way too much. It has been my experience that the game becomes much more interesting once my characters have all of their abilities.. sometimes I even have more than one of the same class but with different specs. In DAoC, I have 3 midgard healers, 2 hibernian druids, 3 bards, 2 Alb necromancers. Right now in WoW, my main is a hunter and I am raising another one on the opposite side. I also will explore similar classes.. My second in WoW is a druid, third is priest.. in DAoC, 12 of my characters were healer types, most of the rest were pet/caster classes. I also have a skald and minstrel as well as the bards. The hero is a definite exception. (All are 50)
I do make and play every class and try to play them to at least 24 in DAoC and 30 in WoW, even if I don't like them. It helps give me some insight into the mechanics of the class and hopefully allow me to understand where the players of those classes are coming from. This is useful in raiding (especially as a healer and for the occaisional raids I lead) and very useful in PvP.
All this said though, when I am tired and need to just wind down, I find nothing more pleasurable than to explore on a lowbie. That might be why I love beta testing
Oh, and I agree about Sony's policy of minimal character slots.. I refuse to play their games because of it. It just strikes me as them being cheapskates.
wI highly disagree with the comments about SWGs one character per server policy...
You did not have to 'give up' a profession to achieve another profession, although I'm not sure if you do or not in the NGE. You could have several of the the lowbie professions at once in SWG, which if anything, made it a lowbie players wet dream. Since leveling in pre-cu SWG was about skill point allocation, you could use up all your skill points without ever reaching into the grind-heavy skill trees. This makes your lowbie character much more powerful than a typical lowbie character would be... It also means you can become comfortable with your character, and continue to use some skill trees while you are modifying others.
The one character per server is a great community builder... It allows for familiarity- As opposed to seeing new characters wandering around every day, you will find yourself seeing the same characters in the world day after day. There was a time in SWG where I could easy recognize players by seeing their avatar. Every day I would log in and on my way to whatever I decided to do that day, I would see familiar players doing their thing around the game cities or run into them while running missions in their favourite spots. You get to know other players, and become familiar with their characters, as well as becoming very familiar and attached to your own character.
I got annoyed and bored with the end game in World of Warcraft; I can certainly see why someone would want to replay the first thirty levels in that game. They are by far the most fun part of WoW... They are also incredibly solo-friendly though, which could be or not be a bad thing. I have to admit that I was unable to get very far in EQ2, because it is pretty difficult to level in EQ2, and I dont enjoy grinds very much. I also left EVE after trying it for a couple months, mostly because I didnt have the detication to become a major player in the game world, I didnt have the patience to endure the slow gameplay, and I became bored with the lack of human avatars...
Right now I am playing Guild Wars, which is a very lowbie friendly game, because almost all players have many characters. The complete lack of level or item grinding leaves lowbies open to a very competitive situation. I really do enjoy GW, but I really miss the sense of community, familiarity, and attachment to SWG and my SWG character (may he rest in peace). They are very different games, so a sense of lost is expected I suppose.
Play as your fav retro characters: cnd-online.net. My site: www.lysle.net. Blog: creatingaworld.blogspot.com.
I certainly fall into the category of an alt-lover, but I have reached the endgame in CoH (but not CoV). Really, as games go, it's more due to the strong feelings of work/grinding that arise more than any lack of desire to reach that level of "greatness." Even the most enjoyable gameplay eventually becomes boring when you've logged hundreds of hours of it with very little change as you slowly advance and add another notch to your level or skill belt.
Some have said that Steve cannot claim to be an "expert" on this subject because he's only got one character that reached 60 in all of the MMOGs he's played. I fail to see the attempt to do so. He is merely relating the experience he's had reaching the endgame, and how it felt in doing so. Sure, there is a large bit of content he's missed by not endgaming every MMOG he's played, but the points he's making remain valid. As you advance, the grind to level becomes longer and more noticeable. As you try various alts, your general knowledge of gameplay increases dramatically as you begin to see the benefits and drawbacks of various character choices one makes while advancing. Lastly, because you are not locking yourself into one character, you're able to introduce variety in gameplay that would not exist if you stuck to one character in a typical "your choice is final" kind of game.
Personally, I like to have 2 or 3 characters to switch between that play very differently from each other. Having this, I find I can devote myself to each one and move around if one particular grind becomes too painful. However, sometimes I simply start over, because I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. The grind has become all-encompassing, and I just need to begin again. Other times, a character doesn't turn out as I intended, so I will remake that character with this new knowledge, making some key changes in my choices as I advance. This is not to imply that endgamer-types are wrong in how they play. If they're enjoying the experience, then that's the right way to play. However, for me, I think I'll forever have a case of incurable altitis, unless of course, a MMOG manages to make the progression all the way to endgame virtually grind-free and fun.
while I agree with what you said you didnt go far enough....
most of the time once youve played the games to about 20 you have seen everything that is interesting in a game. Games dont get any "better" the higher you go it doesnt get more complex or interesting just a bigger hammer and a bigger mole.
if you view a game like a river games are just as narrow at 5th level as they are at 55th level there is rarely something that makes players go WHOA! whole games are cought in this currsed sucking vortez of leveling that draws all energy away from other content that is why you end up with every game with the same arcade kill/level grind.
also once you hit max 60 all you have left to do is "raid" or "pvp" both of which are prety darn pointless why raid for gear you dont need its not like you still have to level or anything! why isnt their some things to do that are WORTHY of a level 60 talent like being a warlord or ruler of a kingdom or leading a wizard guild or being head of a church with definite goals and direction for example a cleric could become part of a church and work their way up to bishop or pope with the goals of helping people and gaining converts to his god a warrior could become a mayor and work their way up the ranks to king with the goal of trying to make his kingdom prosper and kuell rebels or bandits
players dont make a difference in these static games so whats the point in leveling for the sake of leveling
games need to be able to evolve both foward and backward players should be able to build bridges and aquaducts and wells and towers but on the reverse side nothing is imune to chaos this might mean that certain places can get overrun or even destroyed by the enemy it gives players a reason to care about their village not just get out of the way when its attacked and wait for the enemy to predictably withdraw after such a mechanical attack.
I think every player should have plots of land even if they must be instanced to include a house plot,workshop plot, barn plot,farm plot
what they do with these plots is up to them they could even rent them to another player maby one that likes to grow corn
in sumation theres nothing in games to justify leveling any farther than about 20.
make a world, not a game, we dont want another game.
Same story for most games I've played.. City of Heroes, Anarchy Online, Wow, and even Eve-Online. I like to mix it up. And when I do make it to the endgame it ends up being raiding.. and move on.
Seems like more people are soloing than grouping and many games nowadays are being tamed to be more solo friendly.
I'm an alt junkie; I fill every character slot, even if I don't level them up very far. I like diversity. I don't like the way online games end up in raiding and PvP, so I don't care to level a character that high.
There are some good points in the posts in this thread, largely pointing out how boring the higher levels are. If you've seen and done almost everything, then all that's left is the grind up to the boredom. That is, unless you enjoy that endless achievement of nothing.
Reading the column I'm relieved to see this because I was about to say having so many alts doesn't necessarily constitute casual but as hardcore as the people who are 60. I am very familiar with it, having myself many alts in WoW that I never got one to 60. Having so many alts while gave variety was quite a pain in the ass as you would have to kind of be firm and schedule x amount of time with a character so that he would at least progress as the temptation would be just to go onto another.
Yes another one here!
I have never pretended to be less than an EXPLORER and this form of play has been mine through EQ1, EQ2, DAOC, WoW and a handful of others. (did level 4 chars to 50 in DAOC in like 3 months, way too easy. Oh and 3 lvl 65's in EQ1 before the lvl cap increase)
BTW Bloodworth, your a hardcase.
I don't recall the entire content of the article to be based on hacking down SWOL's single char per server setup.
You take things too seriously, after all the point of these onliners is to have FUN and a sense of humor ;p
The Real Life World is way too crazy to take our GAMES so seriously that they are no longer FUN...
I PAY to play and have FUN, I WORK to earn to PAY & play.
In essence I do not PAY to work.
Kick back take a break and have FUN doing what you want, HOW you want to
Casuals of the world unite!
The Wiz that Waz
What else is there?
How about NO Real Life and RSI?
LOL
The Wiz that Waz
a game you guys might chack out is one still on the drawing board callef FALLEN EARTH
its a after math type game but it favors a more harsh believeable world and much stonger roleplay themes
if they dont go soft its a game that could finally break out of the kill/level mold.
make a world, not a game, we dont want another game.
I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm proud of the fact that I have never capped a character, but after playing a lot of different MMOGs the grind holds no interest for me. I think I need to define what I call the grind. At low levels you gain a level fairly quikly, as you get higher the longer it takes to get the next one. As a concept I have no problem with this, but when I play for 3 hours a night for a week and barely get a level, that's a bit to slow for me. And as for grouping, again I thing grouping is a fine thing, but most groups I have teamed with are not interested in completing quests, only in killing as many mobs as they can in as short a period of time as they can to gain experience. This seems kind of pointless to me. Maybe I'm just not running into the right kind of people but most people I encounter in MMORPGs seem to be in a rush to get to the level cap. "Once I get to the level cap then I can do something." Shouldn't the journey be as inportant as the destination? Now at first glance it seems that I am contradicting my self. Not at all, I want to experience the journey but I don't want to take forever to get to the destination. The journey is the quests and the destination is the level. I tend to get a little frustrated when things slow down to much. So I jump from character to character and game to game. Heck right now I'm taking a break from MMOs and playing KOTOR 2.
Another professional lowbie too caused by my incurable alt-aholicism.
It's nice to know I'm not the only one
Hah. Professional lowbie myself here as well. Also an altaholic as evidenced by my two servers worth of characters in City of Heroes/Villains with which to play. Though many of them are various experiments in different roleplay based concepts, I never take the same combination of powers twice. I'll never have my Kheldian... >.< Here I am over 2 years later now (I think) and I've yet to reach level cap. Oh well. To each their own I suppose.
As far as playstyle goes, I have to agree that how you choose to play has much to do with your goals in the game. I like to explore things and find hidden goodies, whether they are treasures or little known shortcuts. I am a munchkin to a certain degree, but only within the concept of the character (as I am a roleplayer unto death). Since very few seem to share my particular style of play, I tend to run solo which generally creates problems with the general population of the gameworld being full of things quite hostile to solo play. Teams are really the big 'It' thing these days. MMO's are still stuck on the idea that you shouldn't be able to do jack without a team, as if the really big accomplishments are only worthy of a group of people working together to tackle a problem. Great way to bring up the kids I suppose, but I'd rather challenge myself and overcome obstacles on my own with creativity and multiple angles of attack.
Anyway, back to shadow lurker mode for me. I'll see you at the low game. ^.^
Hmm I seem to have some of the traits of the "professional lowbie"
For me it has always been about finding the class that "clicks" with me. Sometimes a description you read on a website or in a tutorial isn't quite how it plays out ingame. So I'll whip up a few toons and play them and see which ones are holding my interest. It confused some of my ol' WoW Guildies when I stopped playing my rogue suddenly and made a paladin. I just wanted to try something different in a different starting area. Not that I disliked my rogue, just wanted to see other ways to play.
Plus taking one toon and blitzing to the level cap to then begin the long term repeating of epic/raid zones for the Nifty Uber Lewts would get mind-numbingly boring really quick for me.
It's so true. Trying every possibility with characters makes you a better standard of player. The question isn't really 'who else rolls multiple characters for fun?' but really 'who doesn't?'. I thought that was the whole point in subscribing to a game over a period of months?
MMO makers must be very aware of the success of games like the Oblivion RPG.
They say that right before you die, your life flashes before your eyes. That's true, even for a blind man. ^DareDevil^