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why older games seem better...
aspekx
Member UncommonPosts: 2,167
first to be clear, there are significant differences in the mmorpg's from 10-15 years back (or more). so i am not belittling those changes. however, its interesting to note that a number of us older gamers can look back and think: my gahd, what was i thinking camping that spawn all day.
the sad truth, that i am coming to accept, is that neurologically speaking its becoming more and more evident that the brain's ability to adapt to change as we age does diminish and it does diminish noticeably.
im afraid that neurologically speaking some of us are simply getting older. and i mean that sincerely, not casting any aspersions. but the facts are that as you age your neuronal pathways become less and less "flexible" in forming new connections or altering paths.
note, this is not about intelligence or the ability to process information. it seems that in some ways its easier when you are older. but the ability to form new paths or adapt older ones in new ways is affected (even if you are doing Sudoku every morning).
this is often why older folks are stereotypically seen as not embracing change. neurologically, its just harder. so those things we've enjoyed in the past seem more pleasurable because in a sense they really are more pleasurable. and the reason is that the brain is not having to overcome an increasingly difficult hurdle towards change.
this doesn't mean that everyone over 40 can't change or adapt. but it does mean that it is decreasing over time.
"There are at least two kinds of games.
One could be called finite, the other infinite.
A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse
Comments
This. Yeah, I may have trouble adapting to change, but as you noted, today's titles are quite different and not for the better IMO, but your mileage may vary.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
OP you are right that as you age people are more resistant to changes.
But I do not think that's the issue with MMORPG.
The reason why older games seemes better is because they were not fast paced as they are now.
That gave us players the chance to interact more with each others and create good communities, which is what make a longeve MMO.
Camping spots might seems ridiculous today, but if you think about, how many conversation you had during those camping sessions?
And how many friends you made?
Personally I used to make lots of friends during camping sessions and dungeon crawling.
Today the pace is so fast that everything is over before you can write a sentence in the chat window.
A MMO without community interaction is not a MMO for me, that's why old MMO were better than today.
It has nothing to do with changes but the fact that they don't feel social.
By the way I do not have problem adapting to changes in Single player games, so it is definetly not the changes that make me like old MMOs better.
I agree. Gone are the attempts at making a virtual world, filled with freedom and consequence to my actions. Now there is no freedom to screw up anything. No risk and no reward. Everyone is treated like a child, which makes the game much less rewarding. There really is no arguing this, it's the cold hard truth. Some may like these later types of games...I don't. How OP missed that the games have changed, drastically for the worse, is beyond me.
Hell I've been forced to play a PvP game (Darkfall UW) and I hate PvP. But at least the world is expansive virtually seemless and there are consequences to my actions. Not being led by the nose from braindead quest hub to quest hub.
A lot of older MMO seem more like 3d MUDs.
New MMOs seem like 3d cash shops.
Little forum boys with their polished cyber toys: whine whine, boo-hoo, talk talk.
I agree with this.
Regardless of one has nostalgia for the old days or not, the games have changed drastically. Basically, they have been dumbed down dramatically to cater to players who do not enjoy challenging game and slow progression pace.
Nostalgia may have some impact, but I have no doubt that the bigger issue is that games lost their soul and heart while turning into instant gratification fests.
And I believe, like some others do, this is why all those shiny new MMORPGs that are released with huge hyphe quickly start to fade away in a few months.
Who says older games seem better (for me) ...
They are less fun, more grind, dependent on others, less convenient, requires commitment ....
I am glad i am not playing them anymore.
+1, shallow mmos are horrible....Shallow single player/fps type stuff is fine, but I don't want it in my mmo.
My solution: I don't like modern games. I play the old ones.
Yes, i agree.
Eve has very shallow pve combat mechanics. That is why i don't play that game.
+1
I can't help but think what the financial turnaround is, it would be interesting to see why some companies are turning out free to plays much quicker now. These games are looking more and more like casinos everyday, faster, flashier, and newer ways to take your money.
I was never into a grind but the new games are just borefest. Very poor mechanic single player styled games with virtual cash shops pushed down your throat the whole time. WoW is far superior to all these clones yet its long in the tooth and the repetition effects that game as well.
I think one thing about the MMORPG genre is the lack of diversity in game play from game to game. It's a very tired formula. Changing the lore, combat, and slapping one gimmick on it does not change the quest hub grinds.
OP:
As others have said, the games have changed drastically from what they once were. I think you realize this since us "old farts" can not change our likes to fit the new games
Some changes I adapt to quite well, especially when those changes agree with what *I* thought needed to be changed. MMOs have removed downtime, which is where community is formed.
- 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
I'm perfectly able to make friends even with no downtime... maybe the problem doesn't come from the games?
The "old" games had good aspects, but most also were terrible, awful grind after grind nightmares where you had to play insane amounts of time to progress. And by insane, I mean unhealthy.
So I disagree, "old" games aren't generally "better".
And as said, most of those games are still around... just play them!
My computer is better than yours.
Nowadays I'm learning to unlearn what I used to know. My 30s so far feel much more stable than my 20s; no doubt I'll look back in my 40s and wonder 'how did I ever get by?'
Personally, I think it's all part of this big illusion, but I can't spend too much time wondering about that to make it through a successful day.
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance
OP Posits.
Responses can be paraphrased "Old games were just better 'cause they were."
Unassailable position, of course, because qualitative judgements are after all judgements.
"Why are red cars better?"
"I said so."
"Well, ok then. For you, they are indeed."
The problem becomes escaping from the corner you have painted yourself into, should they stop manufacturing red paint. That too is a purely personal problem.
Because they build the games for the 15-25 year olds and they want something completely different than the 35-45 year olds want. If you played the old games it probably means the new games aren't targeted at you.
I agree: the old games WERE better.
If I wanted some mindless, shoot-em-up fun, I could play shooters, then and now for that.
If I wanted a deeper game, I could play a AAA MMO like original UO or original SWG. Even DaoC.
Now? There is nothing even close available: it is a market made up of "Clones", inch-deep (so-called) action MMOs, and under-funded, under-developed indie crap MMOs.
So the older games were something and offered something that the new games do not and have not.
But again this generation won't play a game for years. There are more good titles released every month now than there were every year when I was a kid. They are going to consume a game for a couple of months and move on. They don't want a game that takes a year to reach max level because that game isn't going to be fun to them. They also aren't going to accept a game that is as poorly coded as UO was as an example, that game was a complete pile of crud from a coding standpoint. We saw just recently how a poorly coded game dies fast these days when Vanguard and WAR both failed so miserably.
The market drives how the games are built and the market decides what is better. What some 40 year old gamer thinks doesn't really matter much to them.
I'm 26 and I've been disappointed with modern games (mmos in particular, but also single player games) for years. I don't think a young man in his late teens and early 20s can be considered to be suffering from any neurological deterioration.
Also, it has nothing to do with how fast paced games are now. This is pretty laughable. I'm in something like the top 1% of starcraft 2 players in the world, a game which is known for its incredibly fast pace.
There are objective and static reasons for why we prefer "oldschool" games. The way you guys make up excuses for the shallow, casual, boring money-grabs that we call modern mmos is ridiculous.
Except you can easily quantify why they were different (better is a subjective term) and those difference are why I prefer them to more modern titles.
Now, depending on your tastes you may prefer newer designs to older, but there is a clear reason why today's titles might not be a person's cup of tea, but their lack of ability to change (not willingness) really has nothing to do with it.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D