Wow

[cimerians]

No pun intended:

 

http://www.destructoid.com/promoted-blog-the-story-of-an-rpg-lover-and-mmo-hater-227709.phtml

 

Well written and I'm bewildered at the same time.

Anyone else see some brutal addiction like this guy has seen?

[+Random Terrain]

Wow, his dad looks like a douche in that photo.

[Reaperman]

Great article. Best I've read in some time. I really feel for the guy, and can't disagree with a thing he says.

 

I had my own MMO trouble once, back ~1998. I wasn't so bad, but for a while I was up to 20 hours a day stuck in a loop before I finally realized I wasn't really having fun.

 

Like the author, I was also pretty saddened when FF12 turned out to be a single-player mmo. I hope history isn't kind to that game--technical beauty aside, it was pretty bad.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Reaperman

[cimerians]

I played FF11 and Age of Conan for about 3 months each and I could easily see how you can be hooked on these games (kind of like Skyrim but with human players and it basically never ends). I couldnt ever get into any MMO because of the never-ending nature. In a way you do stop or "end" but then they throw more expansions and carrots at you which equals more money for them. That infinite loop is what turns me off.

Edited May 25, 2012 by cimerians

[SoulBlazer]

I tend to go through cycles with MMO's. There are three I've played the heck out of and really enjoyed -- EVE, WoW, and STO. I did each one for over a year and spent some good time on it. Not addicted to it, mind you, but I was sinking most of my free time into the games -- about 20 hours a week. Problem is, its hard to keep up with people who ARE addicted to the game. The games are fun and there's always stuff to do and meeting others and doing missions with them is a blast, but eventuly I just got tired of it and put them aside. They are not bad games, It's just eventuly I reach a point where I've had enough.

 

At least with single player RPG's I can play them on my own time, finish it, and be done with it.

[onlysublime]

I avoid all timesinks since when you reach adulthood, there's less and less time available. And yet nowadays, Minecraft on the Xbox has become the latest timesink. I usually stick to FPS, racers, arcade games, etc. as you can play for a short time and walk away, knowing that you aren't missing out on things that you would've gotten had you kept playing or "losing turns".

 

I remember back in the BBS days on the Atari ST, there was an online drag racing game. You only had like 10 turns a day to race and upgrade your vehicle. And if you skipped playing that day, that was 10 turns you missed out on. So it keeps you playing every day. Ahh, the joys of childhood. Man, now I think back and my parents wondered why we weren't getting phone calls and my brother and I were hogging the phone line and playing online games.

[HatefulGravey]

I can enjoy MMOs until the end game. Then it is all about teaming up to beat the same thing over and over again to try to get that one piece of gear you need to move forward and l completely stop enjoying the game. At the end of the day an MMO isn't made for casual players, they are made for people with nothing more to do then play them all day, everyday.

 

Whats more I think the companies that make them bank on this addiction. Why else would that make everything about them take forever to get to? I love games, I can see 100 hours with a good RPG, but to get the best stuff in WOW you are talking 1000s of hours. Its silly.

[xg4bx]

online games have about a 2 week lifespan with me. i don't play MMos but when i'd play stuff like call of duty or battlefield i'd play the bejeezus out of them and after a week or so and my first 'prestige' i'd be completely sick of the game.

[davepesc]

I played Guild Wars probably 20-30 hours per week for about 3 years. I think I have arounf 4,000 hours in. I took days off from work to play. What's funny is that in that game, you hit max level in a matter of hours. After that, it's all monster hunting for rare skins and materials and dungeon running. There's a pvp aspect as well, but I never really got into that.

 

I would say I enjoyed playing in my clan, even though we were playing like bots, using established roles and tactics. We all had the dungeons memorized. Knew who had to use what spells and where. There was little room for improv. One person not following the script could cause the group to be overrun. Then it would be a matter of running away and hoping someone with a rez survived.

 

With all that said, I often stay up way too late playing Xbox or whatever. I do sometimes wonder if I'd be a better father & husband if I turned off the console and went to bed.

 

It looks like Guild Wars 2 will be out some time this year (but the same could have been said last year and the year before). I'm still not sure if I'm getting it, but if I do, I have all the titles/achievements needed to secure all my legacy bonus items!

[MagitekAngel]

Never have played a paid MMO. Dicked around a little with Runescape in High School, and put plenty of time into Diablo back in the day, but no Everquest, no WoW, no Old Republic. If I can spend 8 hours playing freaking Tyrian, God knows what would happen to me if I decided I liked WoW.

[Desfeek]

Many kids all around the nation (myself included) have had a 20-hour-a-week raid schedule before they ever got a job.

 

This game made me sick - I completely agree with everything this guy says. I feel terrible that his mother never found the strength to pull out before it was too late.

 

I put 230+ days into that game over about 4 years, during my prime years of 15-19. I regret every hour I spent, every "accomplishment" I only remember in my head. Nobody smiles with me about funny guild experiences, nobody thinks its cool how dedicated I was. It was the single biggest waste of time I have ever experienced - and I am adamant about the fact that video games in general are NOT a waste of time.

 

I laughed very hard on his point about storylines. I tried to recall why the hell (story-wise) I fought the Twin Emps of AQ40, Lady Vashj of SSC, or Kil'Jaeden of SWP, and I really can't remember. I can tell you VERY obscure details about guild drama, min/maxing gear, or a crazy PVP story, but the game as a whole didn't make nearly as much impact on me as say, Popful Mail for Sega CD

[MetalSlime23]

I have never played an MMO, and I never will.

[godslabrat]

I quit WoW when it became very clear that there was no way to play it without dedicating 20+ hours a week to it. When I first signed up, I figured I'd put in a half hour here, a half hour there, and put in the occasional all-nighter for grinding... you know, the way I play most games. Sure, I'd develop more slowly than my peers, but eventually I'd hit level 80 like everyone else.

 

It took a while to realize that the game was designed to not be accessible to people like me, and honestly, I kind of got offended that this single game presumed to usurp time away from the hundreds of other titles I could be playing. It's designed to be the last game I ever play, and honestly, that was kinda creepy. So I uninstalled it.

[Arkhan]

I play MMOs, but never get addicted really.

 

I play *ALOT* of them.

 

right now I've got UO reactivated (they're redoing the classic dungeons!)

FFXIV

and I am waiting for that Secret World game.

 

however, I don't sit on MMOs for hours unless I am really bored. I usually only play them if I am burned out on regular RPGs and want to mindlessly beat the piss out of jacked monsters in dungeons with my gargoyles and whatnot.

 

Thankfully, FFXIV is fast paced and fun... and Secret World is all badass so far.

 

and ultima, well, it just plays like a single player game anyway.

 

 

People like this kids mom, and some people I know, really piss me off though. My friend sits on WoW/UO for like 15 hours at a time just clicking on STUPID SHIT. Time sinks blow, and I don't partake in them.

 

Im the player that uses macro programs to automate grinding of crafts/gathering while I am asleep, so when I wake up I can just go kill stuff

[Mendon]

I was an Everquest player for a year , so I understand the draw to the game and can see how some become addicted to playing .

 

The attraction for me were my online friends. I was in a guild and had quite a lot of friends, including 6 close buddies (3 from England) that I regularly quested with. We did some raids and some leveling and worked on guild duties together, but it was the times we spent just sitting around chatting and joking together that were the best. We enjoyed each others online company and many a night we never battled an enemy or even moved from a spot, preferring to just sit and chat away into the small hours of the morning.

 

A majority of the time we would just run around buffing and helping newbies get into the game. I remember going to a Orc camp where Lvl 10 newbies battled, throwing a Lvl 50 damaging shield on the newb's, and then laughing as those Orc's would commit suicide by hitting on the shield I threw on the newbie. Or seeing a Lvl 20 warrior running for his life from a Hill Giant & trying to "zone" before the HG squashed him... and either throwing a Spirit of the Wolf on the warrior so he could outrun it or ensnaring the giant so the warrior made it out safely and avoided a "corpse run". Or throwing a "Heal" on someone about to go down in battle.

 

There were the laughable times, like going into certain area's of the game that were heavily populated with monsters and hearing "CHOO CHOO COMING" and watching everyone flee like mad-men to the zone line as the train of monsters barreled out of the entrance to the area, killing everyone within reach. Or sitting in the "tunnel" in the CommonLands watching auctions take place and seeing someone "pull" Sgt. Slate into the tunnel, who would then proceed to beat the hell out of every Troll or Dark Elf sitting there.

 

Good times were had.

 

But then the game began to change as the developers "dumbed" it down to attract casual players. Where at one time it took co-operation and long hours to advance within the game, the developers changed it so that going solo was now easy and advancement came quickly. Examples: you no longer had to seek out a Wizard or Druid and beg to be transported to someplace distant.... you just used a Book of Knowledge to go anywhere you wanted. No longer was it necessary to learn a trade to forge armor & weapons or stat enhancing jewelry or learning to make a potion.... there were an over abundance of in-game drop's and easy buffs to do that. The game took you by the hand and now guided you to success.

 

I spent a lot of hours on the game and had great times. But between changes in the game play and friends moving on, the game lost its appeal and I left. I was never addicted but did have a blast.

 

 

Mendon

[Arkhan]

I hate socializing and usually just play MMOs by myself. I solo everything in Ultima Online. It's single player to me. Online only matters when some jackass comes and gets in my way.

 

I usually kill said jackass. It helps to be overpowered and used to being by yourself.

 

lol.