You Can’t Go Home Again
On the fancy new WordPress version of her blog, Adele apologized for recommending LotRO to her readers. She feels the initial enjoyment of the game from the 15 levels offered in beta doesn’t continue to build through the rest of the game. I’ve seen reports of other players saying similar things.
First of all, there’s no need to apologize for recommending a game that’s fun, even if only for a while. Nobody was misled by the reports of LotRO being worthy of purchase. It is a good thing to buy fun, polished games, because that’s how more of them end up getting made.
This touches on a bigger issue, though. Some people who play MMOs seem to think they’re only worth buying if they are equally fun for all players on day one, day two, and day 2,427. And I don’t believe it.
I think this phenomenon originates from the early days of MMOs when there were only a handful of titles to choose from. Whether you were playing M59, UO, AC, or EQ, you had found an online home to which you were absolutely devoted. Many people spent years of their lives in these games, and in fact many still do.
Whenever a game is in beta, you can find threads on the boards posted by potential buyers asking “Is this a game that my friends and I will be able to invest years playing together?” Of course it’s absolutely impossible to determine that either way from a beta (because, you know, beta is for testing an unfinished game), but even so I think it’s the wrong question to ask.
Yes, I understand that friends like to stick together and move in packs from game to game. I experienced the same thing myself when most of my EQ guild either stayed put, moved to WoW, or moved to EQ2. It’s not uncommon for entire guilds to move as a whole from one game to another, because after all those familial bonds are one of the things that draws us to this type of game in the first place.
The thing is, it’s no longer a question of having a handful of choices. There are more MMOs on the market than ever, with more and more coming every year. And as development becomes easier thanks to middleware solutions and environments like Multiverse, the choices will only become even broader.
Is it realistic in today’s — let alone tomorrow’s –Â market to keep looking for a single MMO home? Is it so wrong to play an MMO for a few months, enjoy the experience, and then move on to something else?
We don’t watch TV or movies the way we play MMOs. While it sucks when you fall in love with a new series that is promptly canceled, we don’t refuse to watch a show unless we get a guarantee that there will be X years of episodes broadcast. Likewise, even America’s love of movie sequels doesn’t prevent standalone films from becoming popular.
I think it’s okay to play an MMO for a while and move on. It doesn’t mean you were cheated or should feel bitter toward the developer; as long as you genuinely had fun for a while, you made a good investment. And with the growth of meta-community sites like GuildCafe that build bridges between players of multiple games, we have ways of staying in touch with the people we meet — regardless of what game any of them are currently playing.
Of course, there’s a limit to the number of $15 per month subscriptions that the average person is willing to pay. This, in fact, may be a major impetus for publishers to adopt alternative payment models. In the continuously expanding landscape of the MMO marketplace, developers will need every means at their disposal to hold onto their share of the consumers’ hearts, minds, and wallets.
And they better make a kickass game while they’re at it.
Now I don’t feel so guilty! So no sending your LotRO bills to me! I suppose that actually makes a lot of sense. I don’t buy a console game or adventure type PC game and expect to play it for years. It is usually done within a month and it costs about the same, so why do I and other feel that we should get years out of an mmo?
When I look back at my MMO history I started with SWG and I stayed there for a year and a half. Most of my fondest memories reside there and I met and retained friends that I hold dear in my heart although I have never met them in RL.
I have been playing EQ2 since release and Nov. 10th will be my 3rd anniversary. I never would have imagined that I would play a game for that long. I am still enjoying the game and I suggest it to people all the time. The couple of times I tried to leave for other games like WoW and LotRO I always appreciate EQ2 so much more, and I go back.
I am thinking that people because of the social aspect of an MMO form attachments to not only the game, but to their characters and the people they interact with. Also MMOs are created to keep people playing for months or years at a time. When you aren’t there, just like RL time is still moving and you could be left behind.
How does a developer create attachment. What qualities does an MMO need to have to create a bond with the playerbase? What should be implemented from the developers to help set that social structure that ties into that attachment?
I will try each new MMO that comes out and I will always compare them to what SWG had for me before the changes, and what EQ2 has had since the beginning. I guess I am looking for that game that is great enough, strong enough to server the bond between myself and the current MMO that has my heart. Until that game shows up I will always return home to EQ2 and I will always think that at one time SWG was the best game ever.
You are surely right that there is no place like home, but then again home is where the heart is. So I sit and wait for the next game to come and steal my heart away from EQ2 and there I will make my new home.
Well posted Steve, and I couldn’t agree with you more.
I haven’t felt that “home” feeling since Everquest. WoW came close with my raiding guild that I was involved with, but I never got that amazing feeling that I did in EQ. Attribute it to newness factor, or required socialization, or the fact that I was young and impressionable – but either way its been a feeling that has been unduplicatible. (I made that word up)
I have MMOADD like crazy. I have been criticized in comments on my blog, in emails, and on forums that I shouldn’t have an opinion on any of the games that I play because of the limited time that I spend in each of them. Bottom line though, is that my playstyle is just different than the ‘hardcore’ players who are able to stick with one game nowadays. I am playing EQ2 almost exclusively, but even my time in EQ2 is spent bored and searching. Sometimes I still get the urge to resub to WoW. I’ve even considered retrying VG and LotRO, even though I barely made it to 15 in either of those games. I am certain that I shouldn’t get involved too seriously with any guilds in any game because chances are that I’ll move on.
The station pass for me is ideal, but unfortunately there aren’t many games on it that I would honestly play. Now if there was a pass that encompassed all MMOs….
I like the direction that companies are taking in initiating new subscription models. I look forward to seeing how creative it gets, and how much the ‘old school MMO players’ will handle before freaking out.
I think part of why people feel that way is the character development that is part of MMOs. Yeah, the low levels can be fun in themselves, but part of the fun is building a character you can play for a long time up to high level. If you get bored and quit before not too long, then part of the effort you put in feels wasted. Sure, you still had some fun playing, but the whole progression part feels pointless.
I know that’s how I’ve felt when I’ve played a new MMO for long enough to start progressing but get bored before getting too high.
I think SWG had a lot stronger social aspects and atmosphere than most games and it sorta advertised “build a home here” which is why many attribute the “family feeling” to that game. That was one of the game’s strong points.
What i do find funnier is how others interpret YOUR loyalty to a game. People get offended if you don’t stay in the world that they’ve deemed their “current home” and if you leave, then you’re a “f-ing flake” (Cuppy might recall that particular old reference, though it’ obscure
). Then eventually they move on themselves.
For the more powergamer oriented people, there is a certain rush at joining a new game, being presented with all these new puzzles and game mechanics to figure out how to min/max and see how good you become.
Different people are attracted to different elements of MMO’s for various reasons and whatever mood they are in affects what they will do.
I’ve heard the expression before that the music one listens to throughout your life represents an emotional resonance to that stage in your life. I guess if you want to nerdify that deep philosphical statement, you could apply it to which MMO you play at which stages of your life as well
[...] directed me to Guild Cafe, and today I check out the site. I knew I had heard about it before on Moorgard’s blog. It is very neat and interesting. I suppose it is the myspace for gamers. I created a page [...]
[...] Moorgard has written a very interesting article about whether MMORPG players have too high of standards for the replayability of MMORPGs. Moorgard states, Some people who play MMOs seem to think they’re only worth buying if they are equally fun for all players on day one, day two, and day 2,427. And I don’t believe it…. [...]
I tend to enjoy console games specifically because I know there’s some limitations to it. You have to live with whatever bugs exist (unless you bought a PC version…and the bugs get patched someday), but it’s there’s a comfort in its confines.
MMOs are a different animal…patches, updates, changes, additions. It can be a new game every time you turn around. For me, there’s one or two aspects I’ll really like in an MMO, and that’s all I’ll do while playing it. Maybe it’s a cool spell I love using, or collecting stuff, but when I’m “over” it, I’ll usually play the game less and less, until I no longer play it at all.
That’s not unusual, though. I imagine it would be pretty rare for something to hate absolutely everything about a game they play.
[...] awhile after reading a post over at MMO Explorer regarding payment options, which was inspired by Moorguard which was inspired by Adele (we really have to get that system going that Cameron discussed last [...]