Expanding on what I posted yesterday, what was the turning point of the mentality of gamers to want to be the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE? Were the 90′s that much of a different time? I seem to remember the 90′s were pretty selfish in terms of humanity. Humans are a shit storm taking over everything with no care or thought of what is the consequence, and it has always been that way…so why was Ultima Online so different?

Everyone I knew from antis, to townies, to player killers, to explorers, to collectors, to crafters, were not interested in being “king shit” in the gaming community. Sure people wanted to be famous and be recognized, but the same people enjoyed challenges, work, and striving to better their character(s) everyday. People wanted to have a community, besides a select few of morons that were shunned from it, they wanted to create a virtual world. “Origins: We Create Worlds,” was the motto and they did an amazing job of providing us (the players) with the sandbox filled with toys.

Was it purely the mentality of the players in the MMORPG genre? I know most of my friends came from D&D/MUDs where our imagination, social skills (lol), and community feelings were a large part of who we were in these games. We were interested in being with other players, having adventures, and telling of our stories. (Yes, I am a giant nerd but my wife loves me) We loved the lore, and spent so much time creating our own. Even to start playing you had to create your own character from imagination down to every last detail. People spent hours with illustrations and ways to convey what their character was to them. It was a character, but it had a part of them (the creator) in it. You were attached to your “avatar.”

Nowadays everyone has to be He-Man. If they are not the best at everything, nor have the best stuff they do not even want to play. It is boring to them and they will cry on the forums all day long, and sadly some of the dev’s listen to them (this is an entirely long post in itself). Where was the turning point where the genre became overrun with selfish little bastards that only wanted the best for themselves? I know a lot of people will say World of Warcraft, but WoW was not like that at the start of the game, at the birth it was still an MMORPG.

Give me the days where if someone saw someone dying to an ettin the woods they would stop and help, if a player killer was attacking a blue another blue came to his defense, if a player killer was being overrun another player killer came to his aid, an age camaraderie and brotherhood still existed. Where I could count on my fellow adventurer to be at my side fighting off evil, or creating evil in the world. Does anyone remember things like the “Trinsic Militia” or the “Yew Militia?” Remember how amazing it was to be a part of a guild like that? Guild’s designed to protect cities in Ultima Online, that stood for honor and justice, and kept the town safe? Where did these amazing experiences go? It is no longer “all unite” it is now “all for me.” This saddens this old gamer’s soul.

I feel sorry for all the newcomers into the modern MMORPG genre. They will never get to experience the true feeling that was bastardized so long ago. They will never get to experience a true community. A community that worked together for the betterment of the world, and all that played the game. Each part of the community was required to function from the evil players to the good players…we were all together, no matter how great the distance of play styles our ideals were all the same.

Would we be as addicted to MMORPG’s if games like WoW and Aion and Darkfall were our first games? Do you think the market would be as saturated with MMORPG’s? Would we have the drive, want, and desire to play nonstop for hours a day and strive to make ourselves part of the world?

Ultima Online created a world for us to live in and be a small part of. We weren’t heroes, we weren’t saviors, we were just people living our day to day lives in a harsh world. Every part of it was different, and each region gave a different experience of gameplay, lifestyle, and groups of people. It was amazing because we worked hard ever day to succeed, build a life for ourselves, build a home, and acquire goods to become “richer.” People earned their notoriety, fame, and fear from people. It was hard work to be a well known person. It was an amazing world we were thrown in to and told to “live.”

I don’t think the market would be as large if games like WoW were dropped back in 1997. You could make an argument about Everquest being so successful, but it was a million times more hardcore than WoW is. The casual type of games would not have drawn us “nerds” in and I think that the market would not be near as large had WoW not been released at the “right time.” (I believe it was the right time because there was nothing coming, people were annoyed with DAoC ToA and it was WARCRAFT) We wouldn’t be playing WoW for multiple years, because it would’ve been the wrong type of game for us with the mentality back then. We were D&D nerds (I was) that wanted to live in a virtual world and be our characters. I don’t know about anyone else, but I never wanted to be this amazing hero, and destroy worlds. I wanted to be someone that started as nothing, built my character, and become a part of the world. Sure I was a PvPer and I wanted to be feared, but I loved a challenge and did not want to be a solo hero. I wanted to be an important part of a team.

I feel like the market would be even more stagnant than it is today had WoW been the first “big” MMORPG in 97. I do not think anyone would create a world like UO later on because people would see there’s no room for creativity in the market, and as today, I think even less risks would be taken. At least nowadays games like Darkfall and Fallen Earth have taken a chance to be a part of the market and provide something different. WoW creating the genre for us “basement D&D dwellers” would not have the hook or addiction due to the casualness of it, and the sheer lack of RPG. There is no RPG in Warcraft, only a small/solo game to log on for an hour and have a little fun. The RPG factor thrown into an MMO world was like a wet dream for someone like me. The possibilities were endless, and the limits were my own imagination.

I need to stop depressing myself.

I for one feel so dirty that i’m playing World of Warcraft again, but I think I feel even worse that i’m enjoying it. The questing, the PvE, the PvP, the gear, etc etc. What’s weird is when most people go back to games they only last a month or two, when I return to WoW (I think this is my 6th or 7th time) I usually end up staying for 5-6+ months. It holds me that long. We tried to return to AoC and didn’t last more than a month. I know if we went back to Darkfall it’d be the same. Fallen Earth I wouldn’t even try, but here we are…back to Warcraft.

I think most people “fall back” on the game because it’s genuinely FUN. For what it is it’s well made, interesting, and has lots to do for a long time. Even with achievements (even though they are just a grind) it’s still a cookie our psyche still wants to gobble it up with a glass of milk. Now that the game has become even easier it’s so simple for 1-4 people jump in and have a blast for several hours a few times a week. Hit up an instance, or a battleground and “party on Wayne” in vent. Most of the quests are interesting, the combat, even though it’s push button wack-a-mole and takes almost no thought is entertaining and addictive. It’s so casual you can enjoy it once a week, and you do not feel like you suck because you didn’t play 24 hours for 5 days. Even if you are someone that can do that stuff nowadays you can, and still enjoy it.

Most of these MMORPGs now aren’t fun. Darkfall is a job, even with the new skillgain, you feel like an assclown if you don’t play all day. Even if you do play all day the game ends up feeling like a single player wanna-be Morrowind. Fallen Earth is so boring after a week. Even the crafting gets old. Harvesting constantly gets old, especially if you are using guns and have to supply your ammo. I enjoy a challenge but that hits levels of monotony that’s pointless.

I by far enjoy the low level game a lot more than end game. I enjoy the journey and everything it takes to get to the top. I won’t even go into end game stuff. I just want to level my little dwarf warrior with my buddies, hit up some instances and challenge ourselves to beat them with less than is suggested, and have a “good ol’ gamin’ time.”

It’s almost amazing how much i’ve changed over the years. I really miss the hardcore days of playing nonstop for hours with pure addiction and hardcore PvP, but I am almost having as much fun being casual and a newbie.

World of Warcraft – it’s amazing, once or twice a week.

I remember when beta sign up came out. I registered my whole guild, and had us set up as a group on the forums. We posted lots (non spam), and were very active in the community. Clan beta announcements came and went, we didn’t get in. Finally about a month from “scheduled release” I got into the beta. I remember my heart pounding and shaking trying to input all the information they needed, and seeming the client took forever to download. I finally got everything setup and installed, then logged into the game. After about 3 hours of running around, I was very disappointed with the game. There was really nothing to it. There wasn’t even a squirrel or rabbit running across the ground. The combat was meh at best *click click click click* I just couldn’t get into the game. So I gave up that day. I logged in a few more times, but I just could not even find remote joy in the game. My heart was broken.

Queue NA1 release. I’m bored out of my mind, with nothing to do. I go to the Darkfall website and eventually talk myself into buying retail game and giving it another shot. After I get into game, I don’t know what if anything changed (maybe my sheer boredom to tears) but I started really enjoying the game. I did all the starter quests, I spent time harvesting, I started crafting, I worked on my combat skills, I made arrows, I PvP’d and PK’d, I did everything that I wanted to do. I spent a good 7 or 8 weeks in the game. The first couple of weeks I joined a large clan and experienced siege warfare, clan drama, and alliance drama. I really had a good time, but it started getting stale and old. It was the same thing everyday. Log in, harvest, wait till some people are on, go farm mobs, then as evening comes try to find some PvP other than ganking bloodwallers. Yes, I even played post skill gain patch and that did nothing for me, but make it easy to catch up to all the macroers. Even then it was becoming Darkmeh. Here was this game I had 5 weeks of pure bliss, oldschool feeling fun, but then after that mark it all started to degrade and the silk curtains began to fall from my eyes. I saw the game for what it was: a bugged out, exploitable, boring, repetitive mess. I thought this was the savior of sandbox MMORPGs, but it turned out to be a rotted box, filled with 1 10lb bag of sand, and a broken Tonka truck knockoff with no wheels. Sure it’s a sandbox and you make your own game, but it was nothing like a real sandbox. It was CS dust with mounts and boring crafting. There was no immersion, no good PvE, the PvP was repetitive (stand far off in the distance and lob fireballs at the speck way far away) sometimes you could get a few arrows off, crafting was boring (you could get your weapons off mobs easier/cheaper/faster), no policing of the game (hacks/exploits/cheaters), support was shit at best, no GM interaction with the players, and the community was one of the worst i’ve seen since WoW. The game was nothing like it should have been, especially after all those years. Again, my heart was in a million pieces.

I do not want Darkfall to fail, I want it to succeed so other companies can see that you can make “that type of game,” and be profitable. Hopefully an investor with some balls will give a development team some money that wants to bring back the true sandbox, and have the money to make it a reality. Until then i’m back to WoW, I think this is what I feel most guilty about, and i’m actually enjoying myself. I love the dungeons, and the PvE, and the PvP isn’t terrible either, I just wish it was more in the world like 2004.

Will anyone save the MMORPG genre from it’s downward spiral?

It was kind of a right of passage into UO as a newbie. Logging in for the first time at an inn, not having any idea what to do or where to go, some seemingly nice player offering to give you something and all you have to do is follow him. Then you are taken outside a guard zone and raped. Little things like that teach a new player to be wary of people, and not really trust anyone at first. I do not think modern MMORPG players would be able to handle anything like that anymore. Most of the new players would ragequit, cry on the forums, or whine in chat. In fact they pretty much do when something not even close to that happens.

Like my post yesterday, Developers seem to be taking away all these playstyles that are possible in a true sandbox. Even in a themepark game you could have these playstyles, but it is not acceptable anymore. Not with the easiness, facerolling, and hand holding. All people seem to want is a forced hand hold, with levels. Creating your own thief, scammer, crafter, explorer, etc is not something that the people seemed to be interested in, it’s obvious by the money being spent. Freedom is not required.

Welcome to the digital USSR.

Why is being a crafter no longer another way to play anymore? You always have to be something else AND a crafter. It really bugs me, because I love to harvest, craft, and be a part of the world because people need my goods. Sure back in the day crafters had combat skills to survive, but it never was their main play style. I miss chopping wood, or mining ore and converting it to ingots. Then making whatever armor/weapons were selling at the time, furniture, chests, housing decorations, crafting stations..etcetc. I miss having my name on my goods, obviously i’m talking about UO, and then having someone return to me asking me to repair my gear. There is no interest in making a true market/economy for games anymore. Hawking wares in the city near the bank, selling 1 on 1 with players, and players looking for your goods because they know you’ll be around.

People make names for themselves in combat and fighting, crafters aren’t given the opportunity to make a name for themselves anymore. There is no place in the world, other than someone logging on and making their own gear, for a crafter to succeed. It is such a shame because people would be able be a huge part of the game without even picking up a sword. Of course this only works if crafting is difficult and good/high level gear is only craftable by the masters of the tradeskill. It totally kills my immersion in games that the only economy is some NPC with a programmed GUI window. I do not like auction houses because it makes it too easy. You should have to work at selling your wares, it is part of being a crafter, and becoming a well known/trusted crafter. I do not know about you guys, but I have a very difficult time giving my expensive materials to some no name that links his crafting skill in trade. I expect to get burned (a common MMORPG learned skill), but if crafting in games was like it used to be you’d know the name you were giving it to, and if that person stole your materials his reputation would be ruined, and he would lose all his business. The players made sure of that.

I guess it just has to do with the genre being flooded with so many people, we are no longer a niche community. We aren’t banded together through all the harshness we’ve endured, and the hard work we’ve put in. Even though a lot of us started when we were 13/14 we still learned to be responsible in game, and be a part of the community. If we were asshats we would be shunned and the game would be unplayable because it depended on every person in the game…from warrior, to mage, to crafter, to rare collector, to tamer, to random newbie at brit bank. The world needed everyone to function.

What did bug me was the sheer amount of idiotic names, even level 80s. Of course it’s fun to name your character “Donglords” and go verbally grief people, or screw up a PuG here and there when you’re completely plastered. However, there were level 80s running around with “Stunfacekillaz” “Wheedsmokaz” “Darkroguestabby” etc etc. Does no one care about “who they are” in game anymore? I really try to put a long hard thought process into a name, and how it represents the character, how I will play it, and what the character looks like. Darkfall names are even worse. There are some good thought out ones, but my god the ratio of 15yr old CS kiddie names are just ridiculous. It has a lot to do with being able to have a surname. WoW I think just has to do with the sheer number of people, so the idiot ratio is higher. Almost all of my names are pretty original, King Diamond/Zalbag/Darkunderlord (I was 13) notwithstanding and I have a lot more names I use other than what’s on my About page those are just the ones i’m known for in those games, but I really do try to think and decide what I want for my name. Like my recent WoW dwarf is Grootdraag, which from an online dutch dictionary means “Big Bear.” It took me about an hour to come up with something that looked right, sounded right, and felt right before I could even log in and start playing. I think I remade 8-10 times human/dwarf. Nothing seemed “right.”

I guess no one takes pride in who they are in an online game anymore. Their persona and characters do not matter to the ones that have those ridiculous names. I understand it’s a game, but when I am looking to join a guild that I would like to stay in for awhile, and the GM’s name is “Weedtoker” then i’ll probably not be interested in joining, unless by conversation it comes out that they aren’t a doofus. A name like that gives a preconceived notion and stereotype to not even mess with inviting that guy to a group or a guild, because from past experiences you just know he’ll be a moron. I’m not looking for online respect or anything like that, I do not need to get it online, but I take my character’s reputation a little bit more seriously, because the character is an extension of me into the game. I do not really have a problem with names that are witty, I just have an issue with the type like listed above. I roleplay myself is the best way to put it, and I think games would be a lot better off if there were more people like me (which there were many years ago) that cared about who their character is/was.

Some would probably call this addiction.  I call it a love for the genre, the game, and the ideals of the genre.  Games were meant to be adored and loved, but no one does that anymore it seems.  They feel it’s a right they should have to be able to log on, get whatever they want, and log off.  It shouldn’t work like that in this genre.  I know it does, but it shouldn’t.  It’s a bastardization of everything that our MMORPG forefathers created.  The games were meant to be a difficult adventure…full of danger, enjoyment, adventure, and achievement.  Sure you failed/died A LOT, but that was part of the fun and the challenge to succeed and do better.  This was the game.  Not an instance at level 80 to be farmed, but a world to explore and never know the full extent of this world.  There was always something new to be challenged, or item to obtain, or skill to master.  You were one with your character and you treated him/her as you.  You wanted the best for yourself in game, and you worked at getting it.  It was never handed to you, or bought with a micro transaction.  You devoted your time to the game, and the game rewarded your hard work and effort.

These ideals are lost, and I do not think they will ever return to the market of MMORPG gaming.  I think WoW proved this to us, unless Blizzard has a change of heart and returns to its 2004 roots, or makes us a skill based sandbox.  Companies will continue to send out crap level based grinds because “Simpsons(Blizzard) did it” and greedy investors see this as a quick dime.  All of my old brothers and sisters, I think our time has faded, we are no longer a niche.  The old gaming Gods have been buried under time by hardcore carebear casuals, and their incessant whining for reward.

Raise your glass to the Gaming Gods of Old, for they slumber for near eternity.

Why am I so addicted to the past?  I hear the argument about “rose-tinted glasses” all the time, but I remember all the bad stuff with the good.  The bad stuff made unity between the players because we all hated doing it, but we did it to do the fun stuff usually.  These games had communities because they required everyone to interact.  Bone wall anyone?  Sure you gained stuff for yourself being on the bone wall, but it did not work without everyone working together.  Where is the unity and togetherness in games anymore?  Now guilds are just a group of people trying to gain as much as they can for themselves it seems.  No one really wants to work together, they only want to get the next shiny trinket.  Where is the “realm pride?”  Fighting along side your brethren to destroy an evil force from a distant unfamiliar land (U.S. vs Everyone?).  Standing fast through all challenges, being defeated, but returning to support your realm and it’s fight for supremacy.  Why does no one fight this exciting anymore?  Sure Warhammer could have blown this out of the water had Mythic not been idiots…but why is it “one for me and me for myself?”  I want to gather some blues up at the bank to fight the evil reds outside the town guard zone and fend them off to protect the town, or grab my red friends and fight off the blues that are trying to protect the town. 

I miss brotherhood, unity, honor, and glory.

World of Warcraft, at first, rewarded large groups of players (Raids) for epic gear/loot/items.  Difficult challenges for large groups of people, why did this go away?  Why would an MMORPG company reduce the MM part of the genre?  Since 2006 WoW it’s been on a downhill slide of easiness, laziness, and “screw everyone else” mentality.  Give me DAoC where it took an entire realm to bring down Sidi/TG/Galla, or the realm dragons.  I miss playing with my friends.  Sure we’ll be all online together, in the same guild, in the same ventrilo, but spread out all across the map because it’s better to work alone than together when it comes to leveling/gaining skill.  This separation will just get worse and worse as WoW continues the dumbing down of content.  I read a blog the other day that talked about 3 of their level 80 friends soloing MC.  This just stuns me, and the next expansion is adding 5 more levels.  Is there going to be anything left?

Can there really be that many people (I guess there is because of WoW’s US sub numbers…+1 thanks to me) that are interested in soloable content?  Where did this mentality come from?  (I won’t go into the selfishness of humanity) This feeling of “playing alone is better” was not really around back in early years.  Sure people soloed for a CHALLENGE.  Now it’s the only way to play it seems, and god forbid if there’s a mild challenge in a new game.  Then it is time to run to Google and find out the strategy to beat it. *shakes head*  I am almost ashamed to play MMORPG’s nowadays.  I feel like i’m disrespecting my forefathers by giving these companies my money, but I want to play with my FRIENDS in a GROUP, TOGETHER.  Weird I know, i’m sorry.