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What keeps you playing?
SnarlingWolf
Member Posts: 2,697
So you jump in a new MMO. You run around, explore all that is new, watch as you guy dings over and over, find cool gear, beat a cool boss. Then you finish leveling, the new has worn off, and it has been over a month or two.
So what keeps you playing?
Is it mastering a raid?
hunting out the perfect gear?
playing PvP either in world or battlegrounds?
customizing out your character?
rolling alts?
the community/guild?
I'm curious to hear what aspects of an MMO are what keep people playing for the long haul after that new car scent has worn off.
Edit: Fun is not an answer as what will keep you playing is inevitably what you find fun to do. So if you can only see it that way then change the question to "What keeps an MMO fun after the long haul and after that new car scent has worn off?"
Comments
Played: UO, EQ, WoW, DDO, SWG, AO, CoH, EvE, TR, AoC, GW, GA, Aion, Allods, lots more
Relatively Recently (Re)Played: HL2 (all), Halo (PC, all), Batman:AA; AC, ME, BS, DA, FO3, DS, Doom (all), LFD1&2, KOTOR, Portal 1&2, Blink, Elder Scrolls (all), lots more
Now Playing: None
Hope: None
- if the game is fun ill keep playing it.
- If the story is good and each race has a different story and experience throughout the main Lore and world ill keep playing alts. I hate when a game offers many races and all of them play and go through the exact same things. Thats not race variety, thats BS.
- if i reach max level and havent explored 100% of the world, story, content in general, and all that i did was fun, ill keep playing.
There are many reasons to keep playing a game, and all relate to fun in some way.
my top MMOs: UO,DAOC,WoW,GW2
most of my posts are just my opinions they are not facts,it is the same for you too.
All of the above,except PVP
Not really helpful. What is fun to you?
I see many throwing the word around without ever describing what they consider fun to be.
Maybe this is a language problem but I wouldnt use fun to describe most of the activities I enjoy. Exciting, challenging, interesting, terrifying, and indeed fun are just some of the words I could use to describe some of the stuff I enjoy doing. But Im not really naming any activity.
So... Fun.. what do you mean?... Laughter and merriment? Or is it more inclusive.
Anyway, what keeps me playing is; a continually developing conflict and friends (RL or ingame).
I can get my jollies in so many ways, so, what I mentioned is the only thing that makes MMOs worthwhile for me.
ArcheAge, Black Desert and Bless videos InporylemQQ Youtube
How can gamers complicate such a simple concept.You carry on playing a game because its...
FUN
This doom and gloom thread was brought to you by Chin Up the new ultra high caffeine soft drink for gamers who just need that boost of happiness after a long forum session.
The rreal world is scary and I hide from it on the inter webz
No matter how cynical you become, its never enough to keep up - Lily Tomlin
When I first played an MMO it was unlike any other game I played and I continued to play it because it was fun but I didn't know it would be fun until I played it. Same when I first played Space Invaders, or many Spectrum games, Legend of Zelda etc... Fun is fun and you only know you are having fun when you are having fun because even though I like MMO's I don't like them all, take RiFT or Warhammer for example I don't like those two MMO's but shouldn't I? because they still contain what I find fun in other MMO's. I play M<arvel Heroes at the moment and thjough it needs a lot of work I'm having fun whereas Path Of Exile was not fun and they are both ARPG's shouldn't I have loved both if I find ARPG's fun?
This doom and gloom thread was brought to you by Chin Up the new ultra high caffeine soft drink for gamers who just need that boost of happiness after a long forum session.
Definitely alts (or different builds, like in TSW), community, Rp (and with it maybe some cosmetic character customization)
Raid - only playing them 1-2 times to see the story / lore in them
Gear, pvp - lol, who cares about that?
End game is what keeps me playing (Obvius...) when I reach max lvl.
-Is there a way to keep improving my character?
-And most important, is there a reason to improve it?
If there is a way to keep improving my character and a good reason for it (usually PvP), I will keep playing.
Lineage 2 Interlude example (played for 5 years, yes, FIVE):
1-Crafting top armors was difficult as HELL!! you had to group with your clan mates during months to craft them. It was great, fun, cooperative and social. Same with weapons.
2- Boss Jewelry, same as above. you had to kill big ass monster (Epic bosses) that only appear once ever X days (from 3 to 7 days) and the are NOT instanced. ONE boss for ALL the server... fun is served (PvP, politics, alliances etc.). Again, another reason to have good equipment, a good clan etc.
3-Open World PvP, Castle sieges, territory control etc. PvP had sense in Lineage 2 because resources were limited and they were NOT instanced... so you and your guild mates had to fight for them. So being in a good guild was essential in this game.
It was just fucking awesome...
MMOs nowadays are: Insta gratification, almost free equipmet, useless and meaningless PvP, no competition for resources (you can have your own instance of EVERYTHING) etc... sad, so sad.
Videogame Developer - www.martidore.com
Now see this is helpful. Unlike many others, MaRTiDoRe actually bothers to define what he finds fun. We may agree or disagree with any of his points. But atleast we know what he is talking about.
In this case I personally agree with most of his points, even if I have no personal experience with Lineage II myself, it sounds interesting to me. I just happened to be busy enjoying other games at the time it was at its prime.
So please, everyone. Define what it is you find "fun". Anything else is just spam.
*edit* or let us know in detail "What keeps you playing?", so we stay on topic.. In case "fun" is not the reason.. Could be you are making money from playing for all I know. :P
This isn't an answer.
An answer would be what you consider to be fun, that is why I listed different things (along with hoping people would mention ones I didn't think of).
To some people, running Raids over and over is fun, to others it is not.
To some people PvP is fun, to others it is not.
Fun is not an answer because fun is the question. What is it that you find fun which in turns keeps you playing an MMO.
I may be dense when it comes to this word... But im picturing pie throwing and tickle fights, when you say FUN combat..
Character progression that can be done solo or in group. I will never touch raiding again if that is the sole end game. if the game has other things to do that does not involve only raiding, than it is all dependent if the game is fun and rewards shorter play sessions.
An end-game that could be fun, could be looking for loot where loot is randomly generated (like in the diablo games), near endless character progression is available (like EQ1 or Project Entropia). Once skills are maxed and the only thing left is gear, then I quickly loose interest.
If the game world would change over time (like has been discussed about EQ Next) then maybe that would be a major factor to keep me interested for the long haul.
So for you it is the hunt for better loot (only a couple MMOs have the randomized loot like AC1 so that seems like a tough one to find) and character progression.
Do you find that with many MMOs you get bored between expansions? It seems for most games more character progression only comes with an expansion and then it doesn't take long to get to the next cap. Endless progressions seems like a tricky beast because that means characters could end up god like and have no challenges left.
There is more than one kind of fun combat. Pie throwing and tickle fights may be (to you?) as fun as stealth, or magic mechanics.
As with the tabletop AD&D that got me roleplaying, it has always been the progression of the characters and their class. Next it's the dynamics with other players when you do a dungeon. raids are too much for me, too chaotic. Even nowadays, after 30+ years of RPG's, single and MMO, it's the progression that makes me play a game. Love the different class and craft-progression, the story behind it, the exploration of the different regions.
Endgame means nothing to me, imho it's for the ADHD kids who want to progress as fast as possible to levelcap, and when they raid and have "awesome" gear go stand in the centre of a main city and show off how awesome they are. Those people ruin the whole experience of a MMORPG in my opinion. I acknowledge the fact that there is a place in the game for them, but they have a too loud of a voice when it comes to criticising a game.
I would say the combat, but everything that goes with the combat as well.
And generally a gear grind makes all the extras more important as well, since for pvp, gear grinds are a waste of time, and the worst carrot on a stick for progression in a competitive arena which gets redone for the next expansion or even less.
Write bad things that are done to you in sand, but write the good things that happen to you on a piece of marble
In fact, the games that MMORPGs should learn from are Diablo 1,2 and 3. Make the combat fun, and people will play the game for hundred of hours.
Would you find combat fun if there were no better rewards or more character advancement to be gained from killing things?
- The community/guild: I have a few MMOs longer than I would have otherwise due to the community and/or guild I was in.
- The number of varying activities to do other than fighting: Fighting is just one aspect of MMORPGs. The more variety, the longer I find myself logging in.
Because of this, doing everything on one character will have me quitting much sooner than not having this ability. Having one or maybe a handfull of starting areas will significantly cut down on the longevity for me, also.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR