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How Long Do You Typically Give An MMO Before You Decide It's Not For You? | MMORPG.com

SystemSystem Member UncommonPosts: 12,599
edited November 2021 in News & Features Discussion

imageHow Long Do You Typically Give An MMO Before You Decide It's Not For You? | MMORPG.com

We've had a fair few MMORPG's launch this year, and while we'd ideally like all of them to be enjoyable for all of us, sometimes it just doesn't click. While others are willing to stick it out longer, Bradford typically knows rather quickly if a game is for him. He's wonder what that line is for others, especially in a genre that demands a lot of it.

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Comments

  • RidrithRidrith Member RarePosts: 841
    If a game, especially an MMO can't grab you in the first five hours of gameplay. That's all I need. I'll be honest, most of the time, it's far sooner than that. If an hour of playing the game doesn't give me a great idea of how the rest of the experience is going to last, it's dead in the water.

    New World is a good example of that. Your first 2-4 hours in game doesn't change dramatically from what you'll be doing at the 20, 50, and 100 hour mark. It's pretty simple. If you don't like grinding skills, following mundane quests, or facing off with the same generic looking mobs for the first five hours. You aren't going to suddenly like the rest of the game.
    WhiteLanternImperildoomexdenitermeerclarircaddictsKSibCelcius
    I like to complain about games.
  • RungarRungar Member RarePosts: 1,132
    takes about 30 minutes nowadays. 
    .05 of a second to midnight
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  • Viper482Viper482 Member LegendaryPosts: 4,095
    Depends. If the animations/gameplay/UI feel bad from the start could be easily 15 minutes.
    Make MMORPG's Great Again!
  • SenbonFanSenbonFan Member UncommonPosts: 59
    Problem nowadays is that a lot of MMOs releasing are less like older releases - LOTRO, EQ1/2, Vanguard, even WoW and Rift really. They are deliberately put out with the intention of nickle and diming a certain type of player over the course of a very short time period rather than designing games with potentially years of content in mind.

    I used to play a lot of free to play MMOs as "in-betweens" when my sub-based MMO was getting stale or I was waiting for an update. I have developed a pretty good sense about this, and usually it won't take very long to determine a game is not for me.

    FF14 does a lot to tide me over now, LOTRO is a pretty good in-between game. I've tried GW2 and ESO, neither really gripped me long even as an in-between. New World looks cool and could potentially be good on paper but so far Amazon has bungled it massively.

    Very curious to see how Pantheon shapes up, or the other two MMOs that might be coming out.
    Scot
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  • olepiolepi Member EpicPosts: 2,971
    edited November 2021
    I guess I have a series of gates a game has to pass:

    1) before I even load the game, what kind of game is it? full loot open world PvP? forget it, I won't even load it to try it. Isometric? not really interested, NFT? lots of boobs on children? not a chance, perpetual alpha? not likely to try it until it releases

    2) next, I look for reviews. I want something fun, and not a P2W cash shop grab.

    3) ok, it passed those two gates, now to load the game up. I tend to "live in a virtual world" in MMO's, is this a "world" I find attractive and want to live in? If not, goodbye in 5 minutes.

    4) Next up, animations. Do I like watching them? If not, I'll stop right now. If I'm going to spend hours and months in a game, I better enjoy watching it.

    5) at this point, I'm more flexible. If a game got to here, I'll give it some time. New World is in this spot. I'll wait 6 months and see what it sorts out to be.

    6) now I'll really play the game. Things will change, stats, powers, skills, etc, come and go. That is expected. At this stage, I like being in the world, I like how my character and things move and act, and I'm willing to play over time and watch the changes.

    tl:dr -- 30 minutes is long enough to know if I'm interested.

    MendelCelcius

    ------------
    2024: 47 years on the Net.


  • WhiteLanternWhiteLantern Member RarePosts: 3,318
    Like every other thing out there vying for my attention, a game has to grab me pretty quickly or I'm moving on to the next thing. Could be an hour or 5, maybe a few minutes. Several times I've failed to get out of the tutorial.
    It's a shiny world out there, gotta rise above it to be noticed.

    I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil

  • InfearealInfeareal Member UncommonPosts: 111
    40 hours is a minimum to give a true MMO a try. I have normally invested enough time in pre-viewing before trying to know if something is for me. Also 40 hours is what I consider enough entertainment for my cost generally with a typical price tag. I don't really play anything single player so generally not hard to meet those marks in either case.

    If I can not dedicate 40 hours to something then it is not even worth attempting to try out in the first place.
  • LithuanianLithuanian Member UncommonPosts: 552
    Maybe one or few days. Longest were Istaria and SWTOR. I used to actively play them, untill restrictions became bit too harsh (Istaria) or I just reached "thou, f2p, shalt not pass" force field.
    Other mmos lasted from 1 to just few days. Uninstall, yes, yes, finish.
  • theGnadetheGnade Member UncommonPosts: 147
    MMO or MMORPG? In MMO 15 minutes, in MMORPG 20+ hours. Normally the MMORPG would require you to get to endgame to see if it is worth or not. Problem is that may take days.
    Mendel
  • bcbullybcbully Member EpicPosts: 11,840
    2 hours max
    ircaddictsKyleran
  • eoloeeoloe Member RarePosts: 864
    edited November 2021
    It really depends. From 5 minutes to a few hours.

    It is not like something new is brought to the genre often (never? lol). We all know what to expect and it is pretty easy to know/guess what is coming next.
  • goemoegoemoe Member UncommonPosts: 281
    No rule. I played about 2 hours of Elyon, after which I deinstalled it. I played a couple of days Bless Unleashed, before I recognized it will include open pvp at some time, so I stopped playing. I played > 150 hours of New World before I realized their managers will never get the game of the hook. (google Bloomberg and Amazon game studios, it is a fantastic read)

    But I still play Lotro now and then, SWTOR now and then, ESO and GW2 now and then. The games I like will never die ;) New one are appreciated though. Next one please ;)
    olepi
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,023
    edited November 2021
    It says a lot about how the nature of the player base is still changing when front loaded MMOs can't hold interest for a least a few months. The razzmatazz route gaming has gone down just leads to players wanting more, right from the start and for MMOs means there can be no such thing as end game. It is a race to the bottom which the MMO genre cannot win.
    Mendel
  • mklinicmklinic Member RarePosts: 2,009
    About 15 min or so less then the Steam Refund time limit.

    Jokes aside; Not sure there's a one-size-fits-all answer to this for me. Usually, I'll try to give a game a fair shake, but that's not really based on a certain amount of time. Besides everyone knows the game gets better at end game/level ##/<some moving goal post> right?
    [Deleted User]

    -mklinic

    "Do something right, no one remembers.
    Do something wrong, no one forgets"
    -from No One Remembers by In Strict Confidence

  • ShutaraShutara Member UncommonPosts: 146
    Well, I've sunk hundreds of hours in GW2/BDO and thousands of hours in Tibia until I realised none of these games is for me...anymore. But it's rather off the topic, since I've had genuine fun until I realised in the long run I want something else, something more. For new titles it's usually initial 1-2hours to get me hyped for more. Not counting being interested/hyped prior to the actual playing or - on the contrary - skipping the game 'cause it's lacking in core aspects.
  • sammikinssammikins Newbie CommonPosts: 5
    I'll give an MMO a fair shot of anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. If it's a fresh MMO with that has just launched and it has parts of game play that I enjoy, I'll try to give it time to improve; but if after 6 or so months from it's launch, there aren't any vast improvements, I'll abandon it.
  • KnightFalzKnightFalz Member EpicPosts: 4,449
    For a MMORPG dozens of hours at the least, provided it isn't immediately apparent that it is beyond the capacity of my computer which is increasingly the case.
  • Gobstopper3DGobstopper3D Member RarePosts: 970
    Usually the first hour is all it takes. If I don't find it entertaining within that time frame, I move on. For me, a game that doesn't get good until your 10 - 15 hrs in isn't a good game.

    I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.

  • UtinniUtinni Member EpicPosts: 2,209
    Until I get to experience some end-game systems. People who play an MMO for 30 minutes and uninstall are the reason we have flashy shallow games.
    Celcius
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited November 2021
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  • LaterisLateris Member UncommonPosts: 1,847
    After researching an MMO and watching game play I tend to decide if I will try it, then comes the in game experience. If I have gone this far I decide after many hours. Hype is for marketing, game play determines my gaming and ISK\Gold expenses. Most folks I game with are from the SWG (crafters) days like myself.
  • sakersaker Member RarePosts: 1,458
    No set amount of time.
    Luv The Elder Scrolls games, Oblivion, and Skyrim, tried-and-tried ESO, just can't find any luv in it... Too console-centric, too restrictive, the magic just feels so bland. Tried and tried a number of times during free events for a few days each time, different characters just can't like it... So sad that such a potentially wonderful world and game can be so... lacking. I fully blame the console-centric design.
  • TwoTubesTwoTubes Member UncommonPosts: 328
    There are so few games that have core systems that attract me these days when I find one I give it a few months of daily play at the bare minimum because I really want it to work. I know there aren't many other options if it doesn't.
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