Its better than super casual games like Wii Fit being as popular, but I wish hardcore games were more popular like FPS, and RTS so they would be funded better.
Poll: Do you think MMOs are overrated?
- Thread starter benbenthegamerman
- Start date
Recommended Videos
If you want to start a poll, check that box that says "make a poll."
Yes, MMOs are extremely overrated. World of Warcraft is rife with balance problems which the designers figure nobody will notice if they just change them every few months, and there's a lot of glitches that Blizzard never quite resolved. Plus, you have to waste a lot of time you could be spending doing other things leveling up to the level cap so that you can actually play the main part of the game, which essentially consists of banding together with a bunch of douchebags and raiding boss monsters. In general the boss monsters are creatively designed enough--I say a lot against WoW here, but the designers geniunely try to make their raids interesting--but at this point the very specific routine players need to use in order to beat them has been so well-documented it ceases to be interesting.
This is the formula that developers have attempted and consistently failed to duplicate ever since World of Warcraft (except City of Heroes, which is more like City of Hanging Out By the Watercooler With Superpowers from what I understand), but as long as at least one million players are willing to pay a subscription fee after the developers push it out and never touch the thing ever again they can make a quick buck without having to design content or interactions with any real depth or even put the effort into thinking through the game's mechanics. It's not really the kind of game that's fun so much as distracting. It's something that you do with friends on a weekend, kind of the digital equivalent of bar-hopping but without the booze and with some jerk yelling at you over a microphone to give him "more dots."
It's a real problem. Many designers--and I'm talking PROFESSIONAL DESIGNERS, here--actually think that there isn't any point in trying to design a new game because World of Warcraft is the best and most successful there is, so it must be perfect. They abdicate their design sensibilities to its successes, expecting their games will turn out well, even when they're not designing an MMO.
Yes, MMOs are extremely overrated. World of Warcraft is rife with balance problems which the designers figure nobody will notice if they just change them every few months, and there's a lot of glitches that Blizzard never quite resolved. Plus, you have to waste a lot of time you could be spending doing other things leveling up to the level cap so that you can actually play the main part of the game, which essentially consists of banding together with a bunch of douchebags and raiding boss monsters. In general the boss monsters are creatively designed enough--I say a lot against WoW here, but the designers geniunely try to make their raids interesting--but at this point the very specific routine players need to use in order to beat them has been so well-documented it ceases to be interesting.
This is the formula that developers have attempted and consistently failed to duplicate ever since World of Warcraft (except City of Heroes, which is more like City of Hanging Out By the Watercooler With Superpowers from what I understand), but as long as at least one million players are willing to pay a subscription fee after the developers push it out and never touch the thing ever again they can make a quick buck without having to design content or interactions with any real depth or even put the effort into thinking through the game's mechanics. It's not really the kind of game that's fun so much as distracting. It's something that you do with friends on a weekend, kind of the digital equivalent of bar-hopping but without the booze and with some jerk yelling at you over a microphone to give him "more dots."
It's a real problem. Many designers--and I'm talking PROFESSIONAL DESIGNERS, here--actually think that there isn't any point in trying to design a new game because World of Warcraft is the best and most successful there is, so it must be perfect. They abdicate their design sensibilities to its successes, expecting their games will turn out well, even when they're not designing an MMO.
Remmus is on the right track.
I don't think they're so much overrated as they are overdone and I think its a bit odd that "MMOG" has become almost as much of a genre as "side-scrolling platformer" -- why are so many MMOGs built on exactly the same core framework?
There are a few exceptions here and there but those are VASTLY outnumbered by a morass of utterly derivative drivel which puts more stock in its concept art than its game mechanics. I would love see something actually done with the concept beyond relegating it to being synonymous with the same tired formula.
Sadly, the list of games which DO try often runs parallel with the list of games which fail utterly.
I don't think they're so much overrated as they are overdone and I think its a bit odd that "MMOG" has become almost as much of a genre as "side-scrolling platformer" -- why are so many MMOGs built on exactly the same core framework?
There are a few exceptions here and there but those are VASTLY outnumbered by a morass of utterly derivative drivel which puts more stock in its concept art than its game mechanics. I would love see something actually done with the concept beyond relegating it to being synonymous with the same tired formula.
Sadly, the list of games which DO try often runs parallel with the list of games which fail utterly.
Going to have to agree with remmus and DeadlyFred here: too much sameness, not enough difference. Just about everything being released is a fnatasy-based game, following the "WoW-formula.
The problem is you can't do that. WoW now has a 5 year jump. If / when a "WoW-killer" appears (and it will), I suspect it will be outside of what we expect from an MMO. It will have to be, to get people to give up WoW or add a second subscription. TOR is looking like it might have potential, with a heavy moral tone to it (quests that change your individual story line, depending on your decision). Will it? No way to tell - too many games have been hyped as the next EQ/WoW since they were released. AC1&2, DAoC, AO, SWG, Conan, WAR and more - all hyped, but failed in the end.
So, overall, no, MMOs aren't overrated. If anything I think some are underrated as they got lost in the shuffle.
The problem is you can't do that. WoW now has a 5 year jump. If / when a "WoW-killer" appears (and it will), I suspect it will be outside of what we expect from an MMO. It will have to be, to get people to give up WoW or add a second subscription. TOR is looking like it might have potential, with a heavy moral tone to it (quests that change your individual story line, depending on your decision). Will it? No way to tell - too many games have been hyped as the next EQ/WoW since they were released. AC1&2, DAoC, AO, SWG, Conan, WAR and more - all hyped, but failed in the end.
So, overall, no, MMOs aren't overrated. If anything I think some are underrated as they got lost in the shuffle.
As many have stated with their replies before me, it is not so much that they are 'over-rated', just that they all use the same old formula.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing however, I suppose a lot of developers will enter the MMO landscape thinking 'If it isn't broken, why fix it?', and MMO that follow the pattern can often be very popular.
I have limited experience however, with only Runescape and Guild Wars under my belt. I have often been tempted to get a WOW account, but there is something about it that turns me off about it, and I don't know what it is.
The Old Republic looks promising however, and I reckon it will be my stepping stone into the MMO universe
This isn't necessarily a bad thing however, I suppose a lot of developers will enter the MMO landscape thinking 'If it isn't broken, why fix it?', and MMO that follow the pattern can often be very popular.
I have limited experience however, with only Runescape and Guild Wars under my belt. I have often been tempted to get a WOW account, but there is something about it that turns me off about it, and I don't know what it is.
The Old Republic looks promising however, and I reckon it will be my stepping stone into the MMO universe