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Reasons OTHER than social for playing MMORPGs

nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775

Some seems to think that socialization is the ONLY reason for playing MMOs for everyone. That is clearly not true. I am a good counter example. In addition, since most MMO support solo-ing, and solo-ing is quite popular, it shows that many do play MMO not to social.

So this thread is created to clear that up and list all the OTHER reasons why one want to play MMOs, instead of a single player game.

Here is my some reasons i have observed.

- Trading on AH. You cannot do that on single player games.

- Unique settings. There are quite a few settings that you just cannot get from SP games. In fact, i would play those MMOs as SP games. Example. STO. There is no Star Trek (TNG era) RPG aside from this one game. TSW is another good example. It is hard to find a RPG with a modern conspiracy setting. There are many more like Marvel Heroes (granted you can get almost the same thing in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and i do prefer MUA over MH .. but i finished MUA. So i have no alternative but MH)

- PvP (Obviously, and you don't need to social to pvp)

- Showing off and compare gear. Progression means more when you can show it off. The fact that wowprogress, wow-hero, and similar "show off" cites are so popular shows that this is one reason. Gearscore is used by almost every WOW player for a reason.

- There is some people argue that people like to be alone in a crowd. That is not my reason, but certainly it is a preference and i will not write it off just because i don't have that preference.

Any other reasons?

 

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Comments

  • Cephus404Cephus404 Member CommonPosts: 3,675
    There is only one reason to play any game in any genre.  Fun.  If a game is fun, it's worth playing.  Otherwise it is not.

    Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
    Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
    Now Playing: None
    Hope: None

  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by Cephus404
    There is only one reason to play any game in any genre.  Fun.  If a game is fun, it's worth playing.  Otherwise it is not.

    I suppose that is true.

    But then i would ask the question differently. Aside from social, what other activities are fun to players? My list can answer the question this way too.

  • healboothealboot Member UncommonPosts: 103
    Just being able to ask others for advice or visa versa and helping others is the main draw for me
  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by healboot
    Just being able to ask others for advice or visa versa and helping others is the main draw for me

    Isn't that social in nature though?

  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by Robokapp

    fame.

     

    To be the guy people come to for certain crafts, or the tank charging forth and dictating the course of the battle...or that pvp guy peopl cluster around instinctively because he's doing what they'd imagine he'll do...to be in synch with your group and get a fw dozen players to achieve together what they'd never achieve without your presence and guidance...to work together on solving tactical details of a new fight and create a strategy that best suits your group's needs...and to kill tmorrow what yesterday was unkillable.

     

    world of warcraft. heroic yor'sahj. first pulls there were literarly and with no exageration, bursts of laughter in mumble over how quickly we'd die if we failed to hit a benchmark or make a misake. laughter. it was unconceivably brutal. weeks later...1% pulls thinking how to add another ounce of dps to beat the enrage timer.

     

    that...is why we play MMOs. for me, it's that part where boss kills us at 1% and we all try to come up with a way to squeeze just a little more, play just a little better, and push it over.

    I agree with fame is a good reason.

    And this one you can do it solo, or in group, or pvp.

    I suppose fame is tied to challenges too because you can't have fame where the same deed is done by everyone within 24 hours of release. That is why world first is such a big deal in wow, and posted on websites for all to see.

     

  • twruletwrule Member Posts: 1,251
    Originally posted by nariusseldon

    Some seems to think that socialization is the ONLY reason for playing MMOs for everyone. That is clearly not true. I am a good counter example. In addition, since most MMO support solo-ing, and solo-ing is quite popular, it shows that many do play MMO not to social.

    So this thread is created to clear that up and list all the OTHER reasons why one want to play MMOs, instead of a single player game.

    Here is my some reasons i have observed.

    - Trading on AH. You cannot do that on single player games.

    - Unique settings. There are quite a few settings that you just cannot get from SP games. In fact, i would play those MMOs as SP games. Example. STO. There is no Star Trek (TNG era) RPG aside from this one game. TSW is another good example. It is hard to find a RPG with a modern conspiracy setting. There are many more like Marvel Heroes (granted you can get almost the same thing in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and i do prefer MUA over MH .. but i finished MUA. So i have no alternative but MH)

    - PvP (Obviously, and you don't need to social to pvp)

    - Showing off and compare gear. Progression means more when you can show it off. The fact that wowprogress, wow-hero, and similar "show off" cites are so popular shows that this is one reason. Gearscore is used by almost every WOW player for a reason.

    - There is some people argue that people like to be alone in a crowd. That is not my reason, but certainly it is a preference and i will not write it off just because i don't have that preference.

    Any other reasons?

    Erm...all of those can be considered some form of sociability with the singular exception of 'unique settings'. The latter one, I endorse, that is bigger than a lot of people think.

    There are also mechanics that have become pretty standard for MMOs that aren't necessarily available in many single-player games, such as hotbar GCD combat, genuine healing and tanking group-play roles, involved crafting systems, certain forms of character progression, etc., though in my opinion those are secondary reasons at best to play MMOs.

    Even these and the rest can devolve into some form of pathology. The 'enjoying being alone in a crowd' being a good example. Playing solo a lot can ultimately be framed as enjoying the setting at your own pace in preparation for grouping later to show off your progress - but to actually play an MMO solo just for its own sake is a little questionable...

    Then you've got general escapism: for a long time my buddies and I were bent on finding an MMO with player city-building, though none of us knew why that was so attractive to us - I would wager it's because we were trying to make a home for ourselves in a virtual world because the real world didn't feel all that hospitable at times. Forging a unique identity for your character to the point where you actually identify strongly with your character is part of this, even the exploration of a unique setting, while I generally consider it nobler than these, can easily devolve into plain escapism too.

    Those mechanics I mentioned earlier are usually designed for skinner-box purposes too, so that's not untainted by pathology (in this case mindless addiction).

    And since we're not talking about sociability, I'm not even going to go into all the weird behaviors that manifest in MMO social environments...

    Man, the MMO gamer can be a perverse creature.

  • StonesDKStonesDK Member UncommonPosts: 1,805

    Already mentioned some of these but here goes.

     

    Griefing

    Auction House trading and manipulation for the purpose of accumulating wealth

    PvP

    Crafting and Selling to accumulate wealth

    Being able to advance gear upgrades via farming > auction house > buying what you need

    Being able to help another player and receive help with something as fleeting as running past somebody and throw a heal or a buff

    Being in a "living" world without necessarily interacting with other players (voyeurism) vs a dead world inhabited with NPCs

    Play a progression based Online RPG where your character is stored server side to prevent cheating and manipulation using "trainers"

     

    All of them dependent on other players existing in the same world but not necessarily direct "social" contact

  • IcewhiteIcewhite Member Posts: 6,403
    Originally posted by Robokapp

    world first is a particular type of fame that for obvious reasons MOST do not play for. :)

    Server first plenty enough of a serious run for me. But 10 minutes after you leave that server...poof. Who?

    Nothing is more fleeting than e-fame. Except maybe how long the gear remains BIS.

    Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.

  • healboothealboot Member UncommonPosts: 103
    There is no other reason? are you daft? or just trying to be rhetorical?
  • IcewhiteIcewhite Member Posts: 6,403
    Originally posted by healboot
    There is no other reason? are you daft? or just trying to be rhetorical?

    Well now that would depend who you're talking to...?

    Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.

  • healboothealboot Member UncommonPosts: 103
    Originally posted by Icewhite
    Originally posted by healboot
    There is no other reason? are you daft? or just trying to be rhetorical?

    Well now that would depend who you're talking to...?

     Not you :) just the op

     

  • healboothealboot Member UncommonPosts: 103
    Ok I think I misread the Title of this thread I missed the big bold OTHER than social. But you can all still be Famous Glory hounds and still ignore others I guess? Wait...
  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by Icewhite
    Originally posted by Robokapp

    world first is a particular type of fame that for obvious reasons MOST do not play for. :)

    Server first plenty enough of a serious run for me. But 10 minutes after you leave that server...poof. Who?

    Nothing is more fleeting than e-fame. Except maybe how long the gear remains BIS.

    No one says the reason needs to be long term. Glory for a while is still glory. People do spend a lot of time getting BIS gear that they know will be obsolete by the next patch.

  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by twrule

    Man, the MMO gamer can be a perverse creature.

    You make good points. But "perverse" or not, is just a matter of perspective. I don't think it is perverse in the context of entertainment. It is just what it is. There is no good or bad .. just what players like.

  • ElRenmazuoElRenmazuo Member RarePosts: 5,361
    same reason why i play any game in general, to experience a fictional world and its story and do things you cant do in real life.
  • AvsRock21AvsRock21 Member UncommonPosts: 256
    There's really only one reason why I play "massively" multiplayer games; pvp. I love realm vs realm or faction/guild/corporation based large-scale pvp. But sometimes I also enjoy large scale PvE in the form of raids, but that's hard to come by these days. And PvE is almost always too easy, even if it's large-scale. So I mostly just play for PvP.
  • nariusseldonnariusseldon Member EpicPosts: 27,775
    Originally posted by AvsRock21
    There's really only one reason why I play "massively" multiplayer games; pvp. I love realm vs realm or faction/guild/corporation based large-scale pvp. But sometimes I also enjoy large scale PvE in the form of raids, but that's hard to come by these days. And PvE is almost always too easy, even if it's large-scale. So I mostly just play for PvP.

    You found WOW hard mode 25 man raid "too easy"?

    Can you show me your raid progression achievements? They must be awesome. DO you have any world first?

  • RydesonRydeson Member UncommonPosts: 3,852
         First, you don't need to chat to be social..   Your very presence and interaction without chat is social.. So if you ever group up with someone (even in an instance) and not say a word is still social..  You may wish to elaborate more one what type of social you're talking about.. 
  • AceMasterAceMaster Member UncommonPosts: 35

    I think these are my reasons:

    1. if you want you can play for free, but you can also pay if you want something faster

    (this depends on the game and most of the time may turn into a reason to quit)

    2. let off steam (like any other game)

    3. achievement

    I'm not talking about world first and such. If you get high lvl, you can do anything you want. Dungeons, help newbies, show of in front of your low lvl friends/guildmates etc.

    In a single player game, you can't really say, i hit max lvl and i kill everyone with 1 hit.

    After a while the save files might get corrupted or deleted. And even if they aren't you can't come back and play a single player game you already finish.

    Mmorpg get updates and you can play whenever you want to, even take a years break

    4. learning

    i think this is my main reason to play a game. It can be a story, or just the game mechanics, or crafting, they differ from one game to another. Mmorpgs have a lot of "learning" but they are getting repetitive right now and because of that i switch games more often.

  • LoktofeitLoktofeit Member RarePosts: 14,247

    This is a question I regularly ask players at events such as SOE Fan Faire (now SOE LIVE), EVE Fanfest, and various expos.

    Not all of these apply to all MMOs, however here are some other reasons to add to the OP as to why people play MMOs:

    • - continued updates, new content additions. A notable example would be Asheron's Call with monthly, often seasonal, updates.
    • - playing the market tends to be more compelling when price fluctuations are not just an RNG. While there is a certain satisfaction in figuring out and gaming the AI, people generally expressed more satisfaction from a purchase or sale based on another human being's perception of the value of that item
    • - persistent, changing game world. The game is not the same as it was when they last logged in.
    • - being able to 'make a mark' or 'stand out'. For some, there is a huge difference between a game title or game code saying they are the best blacksmith or best PVP, and being known among one's peers as such.

     

     

    There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
    "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre

  • jesadjesad Member UncommonPosts: 882

    Other than social reasons I play to....

    1. Unlock the mysteries of the game.  All of them if I can.  This consists of a couple of different sub-categories.

    a. Know all there is to know about all there is to know about pertaining to the particular class/race combination that I picked including....

      a1. Lore

      a2. How to fight

      a3. How I should be acting towards others in order to blend in with the way the r/c/t combination is portrayed by the game

    2. Know how and where to go to complete all the quest for the class/race/tradeskill combination I have picked.

    3. Explore places where not everyone goes.

    4. Be first to discover a different but useful thing or a place because of my exploration.

    5. Have a feeling of being a part of the story world.

     

    When I do socialize I greatly prefer to be that person you meet that seems like he is more part of the game than that dude you meet who seems more like some dude you just met in the game. For this reason a lot of my solo time is spent becoming one with the game world via the items listed above.  And even if I don't socialize playing in this way gives me a lot of fun because it allows me to pick and choose how I am going to go through the game based on the kind of person that I have decided to be.

    In short, I play so that I can roll around looking like THIS while everyone else is wearing a dress. :P

    And yeah, that's a Coercer.

     

    image
  • KaledrenKaledren Member UncommonPosts: 312
    Originally posted by nariusseldon
    Originally posted by AvsRock21
    There's really only one reason why I play "massively" multiplayer games; pvp. I love realm vs realm or faction/guild/corporation based large-scale pvp. But sometimes I also enjoy large scale PvE in the form of raids, but that's hard to come by these days. And PvE is almost always too easy, even if it's large-scale. So I mostly just play for PvP.

    You found WOW hard mode 25 man raid "too easy"?

    Can you show me your raid progression achievements? They must be awesome. DO you have any world first?

    Never understood this. Who gives a shit.

    People who care about  stat board placement, server 1sts, raid progression stats are sad IMO.

  • JemcrystalJemcrystal Member UncommonPosts: 1,983

    Okay, say like I take all the MMORPG's I have ever played but replay them all with no one else there.  Would I still play them and why?

     

    Without the people they wouldn't be worth playing.  I might as well play all those console games I've been missing out on.  But there are reasons I might end up on a PC anyway.  Like the way my apt is set up the console if for company gaming.  I like being in my room LEFT ALONE most times so there's 1 reason.

     

    Only other reason I can think would be character creation.  You don't usually see it advanced in console or regular PC games the way character creation is in mmo's.  In mmo's you are role playing a character more than you are role playing out a story line.



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  • rojoArcueidrojoArcueid Member EpicPosts: 10,722

    i play solo on mmorpgs that support solo gameplay.

    With that said, i definitely prefer that mmorpgs focus their development on massively multiplayer content. A chat box is enough for a game to be social, but when the actual content requires teamwork to succeed in the open world (not just instanced stuff) then people will work together.

     

    SInce solo players obviously dont care about interacting with non-solo players, i would suggest to have them separated by servers. One server for all the solo players to play how they want and multiplayer servers for the rest. Each with their different rulesets (pvp / pve / rp).





This discussion has been closed.