What is the most enjoyable part of an MMO? Is it in depth character creation, like in City of Heroes? Is it the detail to the stories lines that drive the game like those in World of Warcraft? Or could it be the complexity of a game like EvE online? How about the unique combat system in Age of Conan?
I ask this because most MMO's have basically the same core, which is to quest, level up and get loot, then repeat. Sure, there are lots of arguments that it's a little bit more complex than that, but if you boil it all down, its all the same. So what makes us pick up one MMO over another? Why are we so picky about the questing and looting in one over that of another MMO? I know that bugs and performance issue take some credit for steering people away from one to another, but let's say it's not an issue, what then makes us play one over the other?
I'm just curious....what is the spice that they add to the soup of your favorite mmo which causes you to play it over another?
Well, right now I'm not playing any due to money concerns. If money weren't an issue I'd know I'd at least maintain my primary EVE account, but beyond that there really isn't even much available that piques my interest.
ReplyDeleteEVE I enjoy for the society. The people are by and large at least slightly intelligent. I can mingle with a multinational crew, and share jokes about Root Beer, Irn Bru, and Vegimite while I wait for my mining lasers to cycle. Everything I do has meaning, and long term effects and consequences. I'm rewarded more for knowing how to handle people, than for berating them mindlessly with their own "stupidity" for daring to not play my way. And there is always more to learn, about the game, it's storyline, history, and the people I play with. The fact I don't need %110 attention at all times is kind of nice as well.
Most importantly to me, was that I could watch EVE breathe. Every time I pulled up to a station and found myself in the shadow of an undocking megathron, when I checked the market and saw the change in prices or orders. It may be virtual, but within it's limits it's very real, and interpersonal. That's something I haven't found in any of the other 3d MMOs I've tried, and why I can never really leave EVE for good.
I had heard stories that EvE had a pretty good online community but I had no idea how great. Thanks for the heads up.
ReplyDeleteBut that is what I'm talking about. Everyone picks a game for different reasons and its not always the same one. Some like WoW because of the cartoon graphics, others like EQ2 because they are more realistic. Some like LOTRO because of the great Lore attached to the books, others find it boring.
Because as I stated, at the very core, they are all the same. Get quest, kill monster or carry item to NPC X, then get loot for kills and turn in quest of XP. I don't know of an MMO that uses anything at its core other than what I listed above. They all tend to have Faction to grind or monsters to kill.
So if that is what an MMO is by nature, then people have to be drawn to different ones for different reasons and I was curious as to what those reasons might be.
Oh and yes I do know that technical problems or not being able to run a game on your system does contribute to the decision making process. But for this example, lets say that all games work fine on your machine, without any problems.
ReplyDeleteNow tell me why you play what you play.
This is terrible...but right now...I'm playing the game I have the most chance of getting to new, high-end content. That's WAR for me. In other games I've a) been there and done that, or b) would take a lot longer than WAR to get there.
ReplyDeleteOutside of that...I like to explore and try out new things. There are a few classes in LOTRO I haven't played yet that interest me.