Okay, so ive had this problem for a while now. why cant i find fun in mmos? Am i not cool? Am i not "HIP"? Lol just kidding, but seriously, why are they no fun to me? I feel like its just constant grinding with just meaningless quests and i only get a kick out of it if im playing with friends. Just now i got blade and soul, a game that looked very interesting and fun. Im scared, because these are the people that made Aion, a game i found extremely boring? So i ask you guys, as i usually come to chuckllefish community for therapy related matters, because this community has a great reputation for being nice through the years ive been here, how do you find enjoyment from mmos?
I also find it hard to enjoy MMOs. They can be quite repetitive sometimes. Usually just playing with other people is enough to enjoy it though.
Pretty much this. Since MMOs are either subscription based or microtransaction based, they want to draw in people and prevent them from ever feeling like they're done. Grinding and endless questing are ways to artificially extend the time it takes to complete portions of the game without actually having to come up with significant amounts of new content (basically, making the little amount of new content that they do come up with take as long as possible). The only thing that held me to an MMO for a decent amount of time was playing with friends, when that didn't work out after a while (due to differing schedules and other RL stuff) then I quit playing. Playing an MMO by yourself is horrendously boring, which should probably give you an idea of the quality of that game's content and story. Based on my experiences and the experiences others have shared with me in the past, I'd say people play MMOs mostly for the social aspect, basically the online equivalent of hanging out with your buds and bullshitting the night away. If you and your friends have similar interests, you could likely find some multiplayer games that don't cost (extra) to play multiplayer, then just set a game schedule where you all get on and play. You'll have a much better selection of games to choose from and extra money to spend on other stuff (or more/better games). Just a thought if you're looking for alternatives.
MMOs suck right now. Really badly. I don't see any new one on the horizon that is actually an RPG in a honest fashion. You can't put any personal spin on your character other than MAYBE looks, everything is balanced to the knifes edge and nothing in the game centers around building a character outside of the sheet of numbers that indicate how big of a number you can make the enemies hurt. There's no factions other than perhaps something thrown in to facilitate pvp. Quests are just flavor that matters very little to the world or the people living there. The world is almost never reactive to anyones feats or accomplishments. The game ALWAYS pushes you towards being some kind of heroic character within your faction, doling out the 'good jobs' and 'well done hero' without a hint of irony. Which is especially tiresome when EVERYONE is the big hero. There is no mysteries to solve, no GM's who actually run the game (other than purely administrative duties). It's a barren wasteland of paths that's been threaded so many times they're deep enough to be canyons. There's only one single mmo that lets the players design their own quests (used to be two). But due to the heavily gamified systems of modern mmos, who'd want to play some elaborately designed player quest with no reward, when they can instead go into the gnoll/mutant/inquest cave #211 to actually progress within the system? Anything can be fun with friends, even mmos, but there's nothing hip or in about them right now. They're old uninspired and outright terrible in every way, because so much could be done with the genre, but is not, due to greed, laziness and... well okay there's a lot of people who like mindless grinding as a way to chill out. MMOs would be a lot better if they were closer to their pnp roots, but every day they get slightly more gamified and slightly more grindy to test how long someone can be pushed to pay a sub/get to pay for microtransactions. The reason raids are so revered in a mmo context is because it is the only thing in the game that provides a modicum of a challenge and teamwork. And climbing that ladder takes a while. But yeah no one talks about MMO in kind terms when it comes to the actual game, what makes it (un)bearable is your fellow players. Ragnarok online was first released in 2001. 15 years later and the only thing that substantially changed in mmo's was the graphics. It's pretty stale. They're okay the first times around, I'll admit. If you got the right friends and the right game, you might put a thousand hours or two into one. But once you've done that? Well, you've seen them all pretty much.
Guess I'm the odd one here. Since I didn't get into MMOs because of friends or wanting to make or hang out with friends. I got into them because I wanted to play in that game world among other players. If I so happen to make a friend in the process, so be it, but honestly it is not my incentive to play such a game. For me it is context in the game, the Lore, collectibles, questing, and sometimes loot... Although that is for your standard MMO, Like WOW or Ragnarok Online. I like making hybrid classes if possible and seeing if I can play them. I make characters with ideas in mind for that specific character. In WOW when I played there really was not class customization and is mainly story, lore and environment. I guess I just like to Adventure in an alternate universe per say. Setting my own goals within the construct of the game mechanics. I have not really completed some of the more long term goals, since I tend to.... Level slowly. I take my time. I enjoyed RO for what it was and is even today. Granted I haven't played a standard MMO in a couple years, but I have played one in the recent few months. That is not your traditional MMO, although has a lot of things similar, but not at the same time. Trove. In that MMO I spur my creativity in building, and Adventure on the side or when needed. So That one would be for different reasons than your traditional MMO. One thing I usually look for is the customization of in the very least the character. I liked the way RO did that with classes, as you pretty much had to make a choice eventually. Haven't played the game all the way to my long term goal in that one, since that would take quite a while. I am one that can easily Adventure alone in such an environment, and party up here and there with people I have met. The main thing I usually keep in mind is self competition. I am not really overly competitive with others, as I flat out don't see the point who's sword is bigger or how far another person can throw in comparison to myself. I focus on competing with myself, to improve myself alone, even among the parties or with other people. I see it as there is always going to be someone better than someone else, and that is not what I strive for. I strive to improve my own capabilities at my own pace, rather than trying to keep up with the many people or possible number 1s out there. Another note which also makes me quite different from the average person I have met, is I am easily entertained with an overactive imagination with an eye for color; which could mean artistic, but that is for others to judge if the case. Each has their own taste in that sort of thing, if not in the very least their own viewpoint. So in other words I pretty much can entertain myself with my own goals ideas and keep going on and on... like the energizer bunny. I hardly get bored, since I enjoy daydreaming as well of various things. A dreamer and more likely always will be with a side of philosophy mixed in. MMOs are not for everyone, even if meant for a large audience. Not all really can go about it the same way, but like the others have said it is more of a social hang out more than a game you play hours on end at times. I too have done so when I didn't feel like venturing out, and usually with a chunk of people I met through my wanderings. In general like someone else mentioned, if you want to play a game, then get a game to play; whether or not it has multiplayer, as there are plenty of both single and multiplayer out there. It is a matter of more what you look for in a game rather than just to play a game in general. I have seen enough variety of games and played enough to know which I would enjoy at this time and what I use to enjoy. Interests change over time, but it is only in the recent decade the type of games I have been looking for all these years are finally coming into existence. I just enjoy watching the gaming industry diversify itself into multiple mediums, niches, genres, and styles of play. I guess I have gained too much patience for my own good with a relaxed perspective on things.
I love MMOs, but my problem is finding a good one. It's always like friends saying "You gotta play xyz, it's the best MMO atm" But it's always personal preference. Also I need good graphics, so much skills that you have to decide which to take, and a lot of activities. If nothing of that exists i don't like the MMO, even if the PVP is Perfect. A good MMO also needs a lot of players... The MMOs I spent the most time into are ArcheAge and Tera. But what kinda makes MMOs boring is none of them is perfect at all. Even a little unpleasure can destroy the whole enjoyment. But why would one want to play a MMO, if you have nobody to share your game with? Like none of your friends likes a specific MMO, so you can't show how far you got, how you look or how strong you are. Permanent, active and personal friends are must-have here
I think this is definitely a common feeling for people is boredom after a while/repetition. I just started playing Blade and Soul (haven't played that many MMOs in the past, but when I did I was bored easily) and I'm having fun playing with friends, but I can see where the repetitiveness will kick in and I'll be back into the bored cycle. I don't really have interest in questing in the game, but then again noone's been ranting and raving about the BnS storyline... Hmph. It's more of a time passer for me honestly. I like survival type games more (yay randomly generated worlds!) because it's hard for me to lose interest in something when I'm constantly discovering new things/occupied. That being said - I guess that's the same as questing on an MMO, but it just feels so strung out
Non story games are repetitive and if you cannot put into it any roleplaying or cannot find proper friends then you will be bored out. I played a lot of games which were repetitive but had friends whom helped a lot not to bore the games. I am nowadays not playing so much mmos instead playing different genres and working on my game.
TBH while repetitive quests, poor stories, etc. are all very common turn-offs for many people including me, by far my biggest turn off is when there's not enough customisation. Now, I don't mean like, being able to customise every fighting or gameplay detail of your character like being able to affect and change every stat with a serious of complicated items and drop-downs and rules and such, that will just scare me away faster. The customisation I like is like, cosmetic customization. I wanna be able to recolour my char and make 'em pretty and personalised without hiding all their details under piles of generic, glowy armour or having to sell out hundreds of dollars to maybe change their eye colour. I wanna feel like I'm playing an actual character instead of just A Mage, or A Fighter. And honestly, this was the only reason I played a lot of the superhero MMOs like City of Heros (such a shame it shut down) or DCUO because they just offer so many ways to detail your character.
