Is the MMO the pinnacle of gaming?

[Rheden_Sol]

They're considered the zenith of social interaction of games, the pinnacle of enjoying it with others, really.

But whether it's the best, that's personal choice.

Whether a games MMO or not doesn't really matter to me.

If it is, good, i get to talk to people and make happy fun timez.

Otherwise, eh. As long as the game i'm sittin' down to is good.

 

[timmytom1]

No, in fact i think it`s right near the bottom

 

[Wargamer]

The biggest flaw with MMOs is that most of the MMO market is made up of MMORPGs and a bloody big chunk of those are WoW clones.

MMOs have their charm, and are great in theory, but the MMORPGs in particular suffer horribly when you start to ask why the hell you are even bothering. When I play a single-player game, I alone am the hero. When I play a multiplayer game, the hero consists of me and a few of my friends. When I play an MMORPG the world has already been saved three thousand bastard times so I don't see why it needs saving again and in the exact same way as it was the last three thousand times.

When the MMO doesn't follow the MMORPG route we get the much more terrible approach seen in various browser games; you sign up, get four days of 'untouchable' status then get royally fucked within 30 seconds of that timer running out because the high-level players are all untouchable and you don't have a hope in hell of fighting them.

Whilst it is not officially an MMO I think LittleBigPlanet is the best example of how MMOs should work; it's all about sharing. That can mean sharing a level I made with the wider world, or just hopping into the game with a total stranger and seeing how things turn out.

 

[Inverse Skies]

I wouldn't have thought you would be able to call any of the genres available 'the pinnacle of gaming'. Each one brings different ideas and gameplay systems to the table and offers different things, meaning there is no pinnacle per se, just differences in opinions.

 

[Devildoc]

MMO's are okay but they're definately not the "mecca" of gaming. MMO's are like the daily soap operas of the gaming world. They come on every day, never ending their story (if they have one) and they stay that way with all the drama and such, until they close the servers down/show gets cancelled. You'll never find out what happens to your favorite characters in the end.

 

[DYin01]

First of all, not everyone who plays WoW or any MMO gets addicted. I play WoW a lot, but I'm not addicted. If I have other stuff to do that's more important (school, hang out with friends) then that's what I do. I play WoW for fun. It's not just playing a game, it's also a social thing. I have friends on WoW, just like I have friends in real life. I hang out and do stuff with both groups of friends. I go to concerts and play music (I play in a band) with one group of friends and I do raid instances and quest together with the other.

MMO is hardly the pinnacle of gaming though. MMO just means you get to play a game in a persistent world with other players. Instead of the game revolving around you, you enter a world and play in that world. What kind of MMO it is defines the game. It's just a platform, not a genre. MMO's are usually RPGs because RPGs typically have some form of progression throughout the game and since MMO's are persistent, it's nice to have some sort of progression while you play. You don't want to be just as strong after five months of playing as you were when you started playing, right? Gamers want some sort of satisfaction and progression if they're opted to pay monthly.

Anyhoo, the point of this entire post.. MMO's are fun and addictive because you constantly get rewarded. Many MMO gamers will recognize the 'Just one more quest till I level! Then I'll get an awesome new fireball spell!' or 'When I just farm for another half hour I'll have enough to get that armor set I've been wanting for days.'. It becomes an addiction when you don't know when to stop. Contrary to other games, MMOs can't be 'beat'. You can keep playing forever. You're never done. From that point of view, MMOs are the pinnacle because if they're executed right, they provide and endless pool of fun. The downside is that it's a very different experience than linear games like.. say.. Gears Of War.

Sometimes, it's nice to have a game revolve around you. It's nice to know that you're the only hero in the game. Eventhough you know thousands of other players are playing the same game and being the hero, they're not the hero in your game too! MMOs are a different experience than 'regular' games. It's a different type of satisfaction.

 

[imperialwar]

WoW isnt the Gaming Mecca for me. Thing is i play it above all other games. As it is the best game that fits my interests. Instead of spending Hours on end making a D+D senerio i can log into WoW and play it out in an already established world.

WoW will never be the gaming Mecca for me as to advance to "end game" content relies to much upon other people helping you get there. While i enjoy the social scene there in, most of more "skilled" players tend to be right assholes (excuse my french) who i would rather not spend multiple hours with in Ulduar. Still haven't even been to Naxx for the record as my guild arent that far yet, some indivduals are ready to progress we are just helping others get to that point, so we dont have to PuG.

 

[edinflames]

So there's no re-education to be done, and all anyone can ever really say about a game that they like to someone else is, "Try it and see if you like it." Well, I guess then you can also say, "No, wait, you didn't give it enough time, try it some more!" And of course you can finally say, "Well, that's because you're stupid anyway, 'cause if you weren't you'd think just like me."

A good point well made. Personal taste is what it all comes down to at the end of the day, it all depends on what you want from a game.

That said, I still think the standard MMO business model will have to change when faced with competition from the likes of Diablo3 (though that is a Blizzard game ofc), Guild Wars 2 and the masses of free-to-play sponsor/advertisement-funded games that will come following the inevitable success of Quake:Live and Battlefield:Heroes.

no clue. I'm yet to play one with a good combat system. Even WoW which is supposedly the "best" sucks 'nards. Plus, no game is worth 15 bucks a month

Depends on how you define a 'good combat system'. The best MMO combat comes from Guild Wars and that is a one off payment game, so you could give GW2 a go when it ships.

First of all, not everyone who plays WoW or any MMO gets addicted. I play WoW a lot, but I'm not addicted. If I have other stuff to do that's more important (school, hang out with friends) then that's what I do. I play WoW for fun. It's not just playing a game, it's also a social thing. I have friends on WoW, just like I have friends in real life. I hang out and do stuff with both groups of friends. I go to concerts and play music (I play in a band) with one group of friends and I do raid instances and quest together with the other.

You are correct of course, but you must admit that the MMO format is more addictive then any other. It would be bad for business if a monthly subscription based game was not addictive. Hence why some MMOs fail and others rake in money hand over fist.

 

[DYin01]

So there's no re-education to be done, and all anyone can ever really say about a game that they like to someone else is, "Try it and see if you like it." Well, I guess then you can also say, "No, wait, you didn't give it enough time, try it some more!" And of course you can finally say, "Well, that's because you're stupid anyway, 'cause if you weren't you'd think just like me."

A good point well made. Personal taste is what it all comes down to at the end of the day, it all depends on what you want from a game.

That said, I still think the standard MMO business model will have to change when faced with competition from the likes of Diablo3 (though that is a Blizzard game ofc), Guild Wars 2 and the masses of free-to-play sponsor/advertisement-funded games that will come following the inevitable success of Quake:Live and Battlefield:Heroes.

no clue. I'm yet to play one with a good combat system. Even WoW which is supposedly the "best" sucks 'nards. Plus, no game is worth 15 bucks a month

Depends on how you define a 'good combat system'. The best MMO combat comes from Guild Wars and that is a one off payment game, so you could give GW2 a go when it ships.

First of all, not everyone who plays WoW or any MMO gets addicted. I play WoW a lot, but I'm not addicted. If I have other stuff to do that's more important (school, hang out with friends) then that's what I do. I play WoW for fun. It's not just playing a game, it's also a social thing. I have friends on WoW, just like I have friends in real life. I hang out and do stuff with both groups of friends. I go to concerts and play music (I play in a band) with one group of friends and I do raid instances and quest together with the other.

You are correct of course, but you must admit that the MMO format is more addictive then any other. It would be bad for business if a monthly subscription based game was not addictive. Hence why some MMOs fail and others rake in money hand over fist.

Oh yes, it sure is addictive. It's the reason why Halo and CoD are succesful too. You keep getting rewarded for stuff you do, but you never end the game. You just keep going and going and keep getting satisfaction because it's a little tougher every time you get a reward.

 

[DYin01]

WoW isnt the Gaming Mecca for me. Thing is i play it above all other games. As it is the best game that fits my interests. Instead of spending Hours on end making a D+D senerio i can log into WoW and play it out in an already established world.

WoW will never be the gaming Mecca for me as to advance to "end game" content relies to much upon other people helping you get there. While i enjoy the social scene there in, most of more "skilled" players tend to be right assholes (excuse my french) who i would rather not spend multiple hours with in Ulduar. Still haven't even been to Naxx for the record as my guild arent that far yet, some indivduals are ready to progress we are just helping others get to that point, so we dont have to PuG.

Pick Up Groups are hellish sometimes. It's always chaos and there are always people that don't respond to anything you say. The fact that you play MMOs with so many other people is both the strength and the weakness of MMOs.

 

[fix-the-spade]

Discuss. My opinion is no, but I'm not looking to troll. Why is the MMO considered gaming Mecca?

Very simple: Monthly subscription fees.

Publishers and developers like them because (in theory) you can make more money from fewer people as they not only buy the game but also pay through the nose to keep playing it.
Of course they also carry a greater risk becuase they're more expensive to maintain than any other type of game, just look at Hellgate: London, or Tabula Rasa, or Age of Conan.

 

[Kirra]

I never liked MMOs, never managed to play a MMO for more then two hour without wishing i could just do some chores to kill the boredom. They always felt more like work then entertainment, work that you have to pay for. If someone releases a MMO that feels fun i will personally go to their house and give them a cookie.

 

[Valiance]

I used to play WoW quite obsessively, but it was for the gameplay and to be with my friends who got me into the game.

I quit, and only looked down on that game itself, not MMOs in general. I've tried to find good MMORPGs, but most of them are very very very similar to WoW in combat and experience.

The only true MMOFPS/RPG I've seen/played is Planetside, and while it was very good, it would have been better if it didn't have a dated combat system. It should have not been advertised as an FPS because it was much more strategy-involving. But it is very fun for the same reasons as WoW - not the combat, but the planning, the execution, working together, etc.
The other problem with it was that it was PvP only, which gives it the staying power of most any online FPS - can't play it forever, even if it's constantly updated and support (Which it wasn't.)

I've never played an MMORTS, but they look good, especially BattleForge, and I've considered them. And if you think about it, isn't Starcraft a MMORTS?
MMOSHMUP, I'm waiting for Valkryie Sky.

MMOFPS, now, like I said...I think Planetside had good ideas, and bad implementation. If they made a new Tribes that worked like this, it would sweep away the market.
But anyhow, I think Quake Live is basically what a MMO Arena FPS should look like.
I have high hopes for Global Agenda, Huxley, and a couple others, but...the market will most likely be over-saturated and all will fail.

MMORPGs can be wonderful - they just sacrifice gameplay to get accessibility. I think a Fallout MMORPG could be fantastic, but I get the feeling that the world will be too static and having other people will ruin it. Fallout will simply not be Fallout with many players.
A KOTOR MMORPG could be wonderful, but again, they might just take what makes it KOTOR out of the equation. Which is the exact problems with MMOs. In their current form, they just aren't fun.

I have high standards of gameplay. And the things I want in an RPG are not currently in an RPG. I guess City of Heroes gives me some character customization, but as for changing the world around me? I don't think any have that, or if they do, it's in some controlled state. I can't create a city. I can't destroy a city. If I can put down a space station, it's only viable and useful to do so in a certain area. Etc, etc.

Anyhow, to wrap this up, MMOs can be good, they just, aren't good. Some games like Pokemon or Mechwarrior, they seem DESIGNED to be an MMO one day. Some games (Fallout, Mirror's Edge) just don't seem that they would work like that though.

 

[LysanderBlack]

MMOs the pinnacle of gaming? I certainly fucking hope not! I'm generally uninterested in that genre, and don't really understand what all the fuss is about. Then again, I'm very particular about the sorts of Role Playing games I enjoy. I've actually tried a couple of MMORPGs but none of them have truly captured my interest for long.

[Edit because I wasn't specific enough:]
I'm generally disinterested in playing that particular genre of game for multiple reasons;
- Monthly fee
- Not interested in the game play (Kill the same fucking things over and over for an hour or two collecting experience and dropped items, buy and sell shit, level up)
- Time required to get a satisfactory payoff (Levelup, obtain rare item, etc.) is way too high.

 

[SonofSeth]

Not Yet.

 

[Desaari]

I have never played one (except Diablo 2...

Diablo 2 isn't an MMO, lol, a maximum of 8 players doesn't constitute "massively multiplayer"

I still sort of consider it in the neighborhood. It just doesn't have the "massively" part, but it's pretty similar to an MMO, if what I hear is correct.

Yeah, so if it doesn't have the "massively" part that makes it a "multiplayer online" game. In other words, a game. Lol.

You completely missed the point. I consider D2 one of the granddaddies of MMOs...it had the basic concept of MMOs, just not the massively multiplayer aspect. Make WoW singleplayer, and you'd have something like D2.

By the "basic concept of MMOs" I'm assuming you mean "high-level-cap-grind-a-thon"? You're saying it's like an MMO but without the "MM". Alright, let's assume I'm wrong/stupid; could you please explain to me the point that I missed, and how D2 is similar to an MMO?

The best MMO combat comes from Guild Wars

I'd like to point out at this point that Guild Wars isn't an MMO. It generally has a maximum player cap of 8 (this can be higher or lower, but not enough to make the difference). Sure there can be any number of players in an outpost, but in an outpost nobody is actually playing the game (ie. you can't fight anything/use skills). It's essentially the modern version of a server list. Sorry for going off topic though.

 

[balimuzz]

If one was done right, maybe, but as they stand, they're just grindfests that succeed only in their ability to destroy the person's life.

 

[Issalius]

imo the pinnacle of gaming would be something along the lines of .hack/sign. virtual reality

 

[Doug]

Discuss. My opinion is no, but I'm not looking to troll. Why is the MMO considered gaming Mecca?

Well, lets look at it through the "4 gamer architype" model that the original creator of the MUD himself came up with

Explorer: Looks to explorer the game world and look for hidden things, hidden easter eggs, bugs, flaws, anything of interest.

Killer (includes the sub-type - the troll): Looks to kill other player characters in PvP, and/or to grief them, through whatever means.

Builder: Seeks to achieve goals, status, too feel accomplishment.

Social: Primarily interested in interacting with other players, building friends, gossiping, etc, etc.

Basically, all 4 primary architypes, and hence all blends between them, seem to get attention. But also, I suspect there is at least 1 deeper cause, as I've felt it alittle myself.

When in a single player game, you can mow down millions of Nazi's, build a huge base, conquer the land of Ni, but at the end of it all there is a lingering reminder that you have done this in your own 'world', and no-one will really see it. With an MMO, there is a constant world around you, reckonising and recording your progress, there are other people to notice you - its more a virtual world that most single-player games manage.

Come to think of it, it might be part of the whole gamerscore thing too.

 

[Jupsto]

its true that its stupid how so many people think mmo's are the highest form of games. I think mmo genre defintley is where the most future potential is, but stress on the future because its also the genre most currently limited. when we can get gameplay and graphics as good as the current best game in mmos with thousands of people, thats when mmo's will kick ass and its gona take a while. the mmo genre sucks really most mmo's really are terrible games made fun only by the shear number of people and social interaction, I've played a fair few not just some ignorant wow player who think blizzard invented the genre.

but OP you really need to burst your MMO cherry. stop caring what your mom or "friends" think.