What I'm Not Playing- And Why

I often write about what I am playing, sometimes I suppose I don't really go into much depth about what I'm not playing and why. Sure, I say I'm bored but I don't always elaborate. So today I thought I'd write why I'm not playing some of the games I've been pretty excited about in the past few months- not playing currently, or at least not so much these days.

WoW- Lets start off with the big one. I suppose I've played this game a long while, since release. I have taken breaks in the past but never truly quit. I don't know if I have now, I don't really feel excited about Cataclysm any longer though. I think the game just feels short term with goals. Another thing would be the content is stretched out so thin it gets boring. Long waits on expansions, where you get bored hearing hype before it's even released. Well, I do anyhow. Also the community. While the new LFD system is great, it has taken a toll on the community in a bad way, in my opinion. Last but not least, everything is a big rush. Dungeons are just a race, but who wants to keep doing the same thing day in day out. It all goes back to the content being spread so thin.


Allods- I was pretty excited about this one. I don't know, what in particular, made me lose interest. I am sure I will pick it back up in the future. It is a nice little game, I suppose I wanted to give the game some time to smooth out before I spent more time within this world. The cash shop prices didn't help, not so much the prices though as the need of the items that the shop offered. Need items from the cash shop to play high end? No thanks. There are tons of quests in the game but it just sort of felt blah after awhile. Combat started to drag on, no auto attack didn't help. I just felt the leveling process was a bit boring after a few levels. I do hope this area gets polished up some, who knows though. The clincher would be open PvP. I don't like this, so probably not something I'd stick around for in the long run.

Free Realms- I still actually play, just not very often. The game offers a lot of cute things and some real fun events. But, all the really neat things are in the cash shop. To advance in levels I must pay a monthly fee on top of that. It's cheap sure, but add the CS and the subscription together and it could get pricey. The game doesn't have any high end and that gets boring quickly. It is a nice game for kids and people who like to pop in here and there. I still like this one a lot, I just don't think it suits me so much currently though- or at least my wallet.

Guild Wars- I am playing this on and off. Maybe once a week most. I wouldn't call that so much playing, plus maybe you are curious why I haven't wrote much on it. The game is great, it's just the missions start to get tedious sometimes. So this is a game I will continue to play, just not as frequently. It is a fantastic game, just one that will burn me out quickly if I play it all the time. I have had that happen in the past. I think Dire was going to play this one with me but he sort of waited so long I just quit bothering him about it.

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I suppose the one that has been the longest going is sometimes the hardest to let go of. Look at Everquest I still can't let go of that one. I don't like to say I will never play a game again, because chances are I will play it again. None of these games are bad games, they've just lost their spark with me, for now. Some more so than others. So although I am not playing or talking about a game I just need a break, sometimes we all do. My characters are still there, waiting on me for when I indeed return.

Currently I am (very) happily playing Everquest 2. I think the game is better than it ever was, coming back at this time has been a good decision. Now if I could just get Dire to stop 'hating' on this game!


-kaozz

The Direction of MMOs and Foundations

Success
In my opinion as a gamer there have only been two majorly successful games in the last decade. World of Warcraft and Everquest. Everyone has either played these or knows these games and the success of them. They are getting to be rather older games. The difference is: Blizzard still has a major focus on it's bread and butter, while S.O.E. still tries to put out shiny new games. Yes, I know Blizzard has another in the works, for now it's not here-- it doesn't count.

Over the last two years there have been several new MMOs released, none have been fantastic enough to push past the success of WoW. Either they release with an unfinished feeling or try for a direction that people find boring. In the end a lot of them try to keep up with World Of Warcraft or compare to it in some way.

Changes or Lack of..
Some games are trying to change direction, like EQ2. S.O.E. is adding battlegrounds into the game, with rewards. This is something I was kind of boggled on. Will this impact the game play much? When you have a game that has two different play styles it can have a huge impact with balance on both sides. This has been a heavily focused PvE game for so long, I suppose it is in hopes of drawing in more players.

With WoW I find a lot of people bored- I find myself bored as well . Blizzard's less is more view on expansions- or should I say polish, polish, polish-- it will be ready when it is ready! People tend to grow bored quickly. While I was always very happy with the speed S.O.E put out expansions for Everquest. However, I don't like that Everquest is left to advertise itself: "Do people still play that game?"

Stagnation
Speaking of stagnating- lets talk Aion. NCSoft seems to lets players feel ignored, has security breaches with account security and lack of communication with the community. You can't hope your game is so shiny and new it will blind people to these issues. Why bother with a new game if you're going to let the game stagger?

Those are two big things I find to be problematic about the MMO world. 1- Every game trying to conform or compete with WoW. 2- Letting players grow bored and content stagnating. There are so many games out now and many companies try to make something new, shiny and bigger. How about focus on what you do have, the players who you do have are obviously interested. Why not work with what is there, what they know people like? Hey, Blizzard is doing it!

A Bird in the Hand...
A third would be: Too many pots on the stove! We all know what follows, when the new game comes out the older ones get less attention. What you end up with in the end is a bunch of low populated games that don't get the attention they need to keep people interested. DAoC anyone? Mythic ended up with two (WaR and DAoC) games grasping for customers. One wasn't a huge success as it was thought to be and the other was basically left to function with no new content.

S.O.E. has a bunch of great games but they move focus to the newer ones leaving the other game's players feeling the game is ignored in many ways. I'm not saying we don't want new games, I am saying we don't like what is good getting neglected. We, as players, still like these old games- we have invested in them, time and money. Memories- Nostalgia is a powerful thing.

Maybe I am sounding like a ranting 'old time gamer'. Maybe I am! Though,  I do know that the direction of MMOs over the last few years have been in a spiral downward. I am simply not impressed thus far.

I suppose the moral of the story is.. 'Don't know what you've got till it's gone'.. By saying this, I mean player bases. Something will blow away the old games one of these days. It may not be for years to come. Still, why not build on the foundations you have? All that glitters isn't gold..


-kaozz