Diary of a MMO Gamer

legacyhax

I was very young, working at McDonalds and addicted to MUDs.  I eventually injured myself by attempting to lift a grill off the ground to get it inside and out of the rain at work.  I had to get surgery to repair a hernia and I knew that I would be incapacitated for a long while so to treat myself I went to the game store to see what new interesting game I could get for my recovery.

There it was, sitting on the shelf.  It seemed like angels were calling to me to buy this game.... later I learned it was demons, but its all the same right?

So, anyways, I get home and I install it, I had surgery the next morning very early so I had decided to just stay awake all night.  I created a character and logged into Brittania for the very first time (for those of you who don't know that means it was Ultima Online).  I was beyond excited.  I had played MUDs for so long and now all that I was doing was going to be graphically represented.

I manage to find my way to the docks outside Jhelom, and on my first night of playing I met my arch nemesis and the entire reason I had began playing so much after.  I had no comprehension of what I was doing yet and was murdered.  I became a ghost for the first time within the first 15 minutes of playing.  I ran around for 15-20 minutes before I found out how to ressurect and since that moment I knew that I was in love.

I met many friends and joined a semi-powerful guild called SunRunner Kin.  I had a blast in Brittania for many years but then a fateful day came.  The people who were not adept enough for such a game began to outnumber us.  The company behind the game wanted to make profits.  Thus, Trammel was born and that marked an inevitable end for me and many others in that fantastic land.  No longer could we steal belongings and run and hide.  No longer could we grief kill someone who had attacked us earlier.  People did not want to hang out in Felucca, they wanted the easy life.

I have played nearly every MMORPG released in the US and have beta tested quite a few that never made it.  Everquest had crushed the population in UO and left us little to do.  I even tried going back to UO about a year ago and it just wasn't the same, they changed it too much.  It was no longer equal grounds for everyone because now you need that super gear because just stopping by a shop and picking up a GM made suit of armor was not sufficient.  And without people to kill the dungeons are severly lacking as the PvP is gone.  You reach a point that when you go to Felucca you know most of the people there and you don't feel like killing eachother anways because then who would you hang out with?

I don't know if it is because UO was my first but I have never found a game that got me so excited to play since then.  Heck, maybe now I am just too old and am expecting too much from my experiences within virtual worlds.  I hope that soon I will find a new home that I can enjoy but every game seems to have more and more hype with less and less delivery.

So, I am curious, what game did others start with?  What game really draws them in and what has ruined it for you as time passed in your world you called or still call home?  Also, what are you REALLY hoping for in the next world you hope to call home?  Don't give me vague descriptions either.  I want detail, for instance, don't tell me you want more PvP.  Tell me what kind of PvP.  Lets see where the future should be heading and what we all agree on and hopefully we can get exactly what we want.

baddums

Heh, not quite as exciting, I started my MMO history playing Runescape because I liked a boy who played it as well! I wanted to play EverQuest but my parents had refused to pay for the subscription and I was too young to get a job at that point in time. When World of Warcraft was released, I jumped on the bandwagon and played with some new friends I had met through my boss at work. Since I got hooked into the mainstream MMO genre, I have tried most major titles released since 2004, although not finding something to keep my fancy past WoW where I play with friends.

 

As for future games, I don't think I've ever had as much fun as I have during large-scale PvP. Back before battlegrounds in WoW, Hillsbrad was the place to be. In Warhammer, big@ss fortress sieges were a blast although rare on my server before I quit. I've heard stories about 2am keep raids in DAoC that sound thrilling. Anyway, EFFECTIVE large-scale PvP is going to be a must. Aion looks like its got this down, but I'm so darned uncoordinated I have trouble keeping track of people when they have more to move on than just a flat surface (up and down too). Battlegrounds can be fun to some extent, but to me they seem like they take away from the large-scale stuff I really like.

 

I'm also a raider- I like killing bosses for phat lewts, and most games will have some sort of PvE content. I honestly liked the encounters that Age of Conan had (/gasp, I know), if one looks beyond the horribly brokeness of them. Variety is a plus point, but we all know that post-launch, if the launch is successful, developers will spend more time adding content variety.

 

Casual enjoyment- Playing EQ2, I don't think I've ever been so excited about a concept such as player housing. I know other MMOs have done this, but EQ2 is the only game I've played where I could have my very own, cat-filled home. I've spent so much time making my house pretty, I've love to see this feature in my dream MMO too.

 

Soooo, long story short, a little bit of everything would be awesome!

matthewf978

My first time logging into EQ I was exploring Freeport and found a secret tunnel that led to a book sitting on a stone pillar. What a peculiar sight to see, Hmm lets try clicking it. Loading...and welcome to the Plane of Knowledge. Yes, other people had/have the same sense of entertainment as I do. Fun times.