Comments on: RPS Asks: Are You Playing An MMO?

By: Morgenhans

Morgenhans — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:06:37 +0000

playing an MMO? yep. atm PotBS. before that over 3y EVE Online and 1 1/2y WoW but stopped playin both. also tried many many others.

greetings from germany

By: Tabya

Tabya — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:03:16 +0000

I played quite a lot of MMOs over the last years.
Currently I’m back to Everquest 2. I left it 3 years ago very disappointed. SOEs current promotion for former subscribers (2 month free play including all the Expansions) brought me back and so far I’m quite impressed.
Most of the “features” that made me leave are gone and I’m having fun so far. Very polished overall, allthough the german translation is still terrible, probably the worst I ever encountered in a mainstream game.

By: Rocktart

Rocktart — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 20:15:17 +0000

After reading a review in Pc Gamer a l o ng time ago i bought a copy of Planetside. Few MMO’s have got close to the feeling of the bridge fight I got into when I logged in for the fitsr time.
However the Outfit I got into in Planetside turned into a Supergroup when City Of Heroes launched in the US. The long delay in launching City Of Heroes EU, and eventually launching within weeks of World of Warcraft (EU) took the wind of out of its sails and we switched to WoW. (I’m sure I’m missing an apostrophy in that sentence but I’m not sure where).
I’ve played WoW ever since, and I’ve been raiding for a couple of years now. We’re currently bashing heads against the last but 1 boss in WoW, M’uru.
I’ve tried many other MMO’s along the way but WoW keeps me coming back for a couple of reasons.
1. I’m in a good strong guild and have lots of friends in it.
2. There’s a comfortable familiarity to WoW now. This extends to the interface, the world and the gameplay. I know how it works, and so there’s very little barrier to enjoying the content or the banter. I’ve found the interface to be a real barrier to me in several other MMO’s I’ve tried, and learned which class does what, and which hydrid classes currently rule the roost in the 6th MMO I’ve triedthis year does get trying.
3. WoW is really well done. There’s regular new free content which has held interest and justified continuing to play for me.
I always find it interesting when playing other MMOs that you notice specific points which they do better. However the rest if the game doesn’t come close to WoW’s level of achievement. I’ve found very few been genuinely different and well done enough to hold my interest. Planetside, Eve and City of Heroes. The ship stuff in Pirates of the Burning sea was fun but I found the rest of the game played like a free Korean game. Who know’s what’s next, and if it will live up to the promise?

By: Erik N

Erik N — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:28:06 +0000

Still playing Guild Wars, and still not paying a monthly fee.

Can’t wait for GW2 to come out, as well as WAR

By: Surgeon

Surgeon — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:09:52 +0000

The last time I properly MMO’d was Planetside, for which I had a very unhealthy obsession. 16 hour gaming sessions were not uncommon.

I’m really not interested in non twitch MMO’s, so most of my time is spent waiting for something interesting to come along again.
I’ve great hopes for Jumpgate Evolution and APB looks interesting too. Whilst I hope that Huxley will be Planetside 2, I have a feeling I am going to be disappointed.

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:04:20 +0000

EVE Online, just started this week. I hate Jita.

By: A.Nonny.Moose

A.Nonny.Moose — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:43:20 +0000

I’m married and have a full time job.

I think that pretty much answers that….

By: Cian

Cian — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:38:49 +0000

EVE, for the past 4 years (with a few breaks here and there). I’ve played in alot of different ways (some low scale mining, low sec mercenary work, group empire missioning and for the past 2 years, life in 0.0) and throughout the majority of that time have played with the same small group.
I’ve flirted with a few others, Guild Wars certainly attracted me, and with Cry Gaia, APB and The Agency (though the latter two I’ll observe from a distance first) coming, I think I might stop being so monogamous.
EVE is unique, and for that I love it, but it also means I’m open to other kinds of play experiences. I was very excited about Warhammer Online when it was orignally being developed by Climax, but have since lost all interest after the switch. Age of Conan interests me (especially as I have alot of confidence in Funcom), but my EVE habit forbids me from playing something unless it’s subscription free. If I’m ever to take up another sub based MMO, it will be through playing a trial first.
And just as a generalisation, MMO’s for me have been about the small group of people you actively play with. This has meant alot of affection for EVE, Guild Wars and Biosfear, but an abhorrence for people who demand more support for solo players and their ilk. I’d ask for them to be ostracised if that wasn’t what the antisocial buggers wanted.

By: WhiteRabbit

WhiteRabbit — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:26:49 +0000

I played Everquest back in 2004 and got hooked. It was my first MMORPG. Because of circumstances, I had to give it up. I would have stuck with it though if I had the choice.

I then got into WoW for about six months and was having some fun until I met my girlfriend, now wife.

She played City of Heroes / City of Villains, and I joined her. It was fun, but the UI was a little off. Not very easy to use. We quit due to lack of time.

When we had time again, I picked WoW up for a second time and she joined with me. We had a blast playing it. It’s a very good game, at least, for a few months. We got bored of it and canceled our subscriptions. Time was a major factor as well.

We are both looking forward to Warhammer Online. It’s going to change the MMO industry. WoW killer? Possibly. Don’t believe me? Look into it. All the crappy things that people complain about in WoW are taken care of in WAR. The dev team really cares about their game, and it shows.

By: Thelps

Thelps — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:31:23 +0000

My MMO CV:

Ultima Online: 1.5 years
Everquest 1: 1 year
Everquest 2: 4-6 months
Final Fantasy XI: 9 months
Planetside: 6 months
World of Warcraft: 20 months
Age of Conan: Since release (almost 2 months)

Been in a world top 20 WoW guild, which resulted in Intel sending me some PC upgrades for free, which made me grin, since I subsequently quit WoW 3 months later. I resist the urge to chuckle evily.

By: chesh

chesh — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:18:42 +0000

Been playing Final Fantasy XI since shortly after it’s North American PC launch. I do some endgaminess in it — but only things that can be scheduled, no camping dragons that only spawn every 21-24 hours (or worse). It’s a pretty flawed game but I still find it fun and I have a very solid group of friends there.
Chesh, on Midgardsormr, if anyone else happens to be there.

By: Mattress

Mattress — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:37:50 +0000

I dunno. Gaming that’s truly involving requires a lot of free time. We all know that. MMO’s increase a gamers time commitment exponentially, without the same increase to potential rewards for the average person… I think.
MMO’s offer what is considered to be the greatest social experience in gaming. I don’t agree with that statement, but even if one were to; it could hardly be said MMO’s are a great social experience by itself.
I may well have been playing the wrong way, but when I tried World of Warcraft for a few weeks during it’s first year of release, I actually found the MMO to be quite a solitary experience interspersed by other people intruding on my play area, or teaming up with random and often unreliable strangers to “explore” a dungeon.
I’m saying gaming can’t be a social experience – years of Mario Kart and other console games have taught us otherwise. PC games too are great when networked, I remember a friend bringing me to a web cafe and though a baulked at the idea initially, playing Day of Defeat or that Warhammer RTS and being able to directly communicate with my team-mate/opponent really enhanced the experience. But I don’t feel that the current communication infrastructure in MMO’s is intuitive enough to allow for this to happen. Typing 60+words per minute whilst also playing a hectic, reflex dependent game is nothing but tedious, while voice communication in most iterations that I’ve played devolves into some whiny fourteen year old from Birmingham or somewhere broadcasting his own shouts and yelps to everyone…
I’d love to play MMO’s, the subscription isn’t a problem. I remember trying to play Planetside back in the day with neither a computer nor a connection up to the task. I also remembering trying a free trial of EVE a few years ago, enticed by all of Jim Rossignol’s stories I loaded it up, but after two-weeks of casual play (as casual play is all I’ll ever be able to afford) I found the learning curve too steep. The brilliant, fascinating and epic game, that I knew was there, lay beyond because the game didn’t cater for… I’m neither a casual or a hardcore gamer, I don’t know what word to attribute. I think I fall somewhere in between, where I wish for the depth and involvement of games enjoyed by hardcore audiences, but wish to only sacrifice the same amount of time as a casual gamer… So maybe it’s my fault, maybe I’m just not suited to MMOs…