As the title states, what was the moment you realized that MMORPGs where the genre you wanted to play? Was it a special in game event, a favorite company creating a game, a realization while playing?
Mine was easy. I had never played an MMORPG online when I bought Anarchy Online. And once I had created a character and logged in I saw someone running past me. It took me a while to realize that that was another player, a real, actual person inhabiting the same space as I did. And as mind blowing as that realization was, what hit it home for me was realizing that when I would log off and do something else there would still be players there, going on adventures, doing stuff. It was an eye opener and I never went back, why in the hell would I want to play something else anymore, these were real worlds that wouldn't cease to exist when I turned off my computer. I never wanted to log off again out of fear of missing something amazing.
Special mention does go to WoW and my first log in. Coming from Warcraft 3 I created a Night Elf, logged in and the first sight was a giant Treant stomping by, making my screen shake. To see that specific character hulking over me, moving, was an enchanting moment, I fell in love instantly.
I am curious to read your stories, when did it click for you and why? I also really don't need replies about days long gone and how the genre has been ruined, there is another time and place for that. Thanks!
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
'the only way he could nail it any better is if he used a cross.'
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
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It also spoiled me for good, and put me in a minority position, especially around nowadays gamers (maybe the spoiling started earlier though, in the p'n'p years)
Namely that I value the community, the story/lore, the roleplay and the world, while don't really give a flying f.ck about combat and numbers and animations and all those "gamey" BS.
Unfortunately the trend is the opposite nowadays, so it gets tougher and tougher to find great worlds and communities to delve in.
And the other amazing side of MUDs (the freedom in creation) was lost and missing right from the start. Cryptic tried to re-add it in the form of the Architect and later the Foundry, but those are fairly limited tools compared to the MUD era.
Don't get me wrong, still better than the nothing, what other games offer.
I knew I was in a dynamic world with other people going about their lives. Such a change from single player games.
Curently playing Black Desert Online and I love it, but dear God the penalty for killing people is just insane.
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
Had a similar experience with CoH, that brought me back actually (after Garriot made me turn my back with his crappy UO...). CoH was fairly different from the MMOs around it, and loved it for that. The character building, the advancement, the freedom and flexibility, later the Architect... I'm still (more or less) a Cryptic fan and play their games (even though they've really made a pretty long list of stupid decisions over the years ), just because they made CoH back then.
(sure, I followed them and switched to CO when they left NC, so kind of left CoH behind... but went back later and played both games on and off until CoH's closure)
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
Can't get moments like that in a single player.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
While I had a great time and made several friends which I still game with today I wasn't really hooked as it still seemed very game like and less immersive than single player games.
I also experienced my first ever character nerf which really pissed me off so I quit, bought a new video card and joined DAOC.
It was here I found the social interaction I enjoyed in L1 coupled with a much more immersive 3D virtual world and I definitely was hooked.
I was delighted my character was in a land where it got light and dark while the sun and moon tracked across the sky.
I could swim and even drown if underwater too long. If I bounded down a steep hill too quickly I sort of "stumbled" and hurt myself and long falls killed me. (SI expansion)
Once I joined Mordred the FFA server I loved it even more as now I was no longer limited to one realm (Alb) and could experience the wonders of Tnn, Jord and all of the lands formerly "behind the veil."
While DAOC captured me, EVE revived my waning interest in MMORPGs in 2007 after I had gone through WOW and several clones and had become disillusioned with the theme park designs which dominated every new release.
ATM I am basically back to where I was in 2007 and will likely catch up on 15 years of single player games until perhaps another MMO brings something fresh to the genre which I find of interest.
"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
But I was also just blown away by the fact that I could put different gear pieces on my avatar and they actually looked different, and I could even put my avatar on a mount or interact with a pet! It was incredibly rare to find any sort of customization options in single-player RPGs of the 90s/00s.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
I can recall almost nothing good from games such as RIFT, AION, SWTOR, TSW, Vanguard and a host of other "1 month wonders" I gave a try, only the negatives.
"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
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
To be fair, i do NOT play a genre. I play specific games.
To me it went SWTOR just a shooter (I only played through a Trooper) , really gimicky battleground in a jungle gym, extremely annoying voice acting which detracted from my story and interrupted my television viewing. Oh yeah, I don't want developer stories in my MMO.
TSW, awesome, love the eerie zombie theme, this is a great mystery, then came Egypt (WTF) and some weird tree you slid around on teleporting places....all leading to standard dungeon raiding (WTF) followed by hard mode raiding.
That and I never grasped the builds so my hammer spec meant I had to bash hundreds if not thousands of npcs to get anywhere. I quit in exhaustion while in 2nd Egypt zone where I had been beating spiders and ancient Egyptian gods for hours. (WTF?)
Where's the 3 faction open world PVP server in this game? Exterminating enemy factions should have been absolutely part of this game. (WTF)
"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
Proud MMORPG.com member since March 2004! Make PvE GREAT Again!
http://twitch.tv/woetothevanquished