Most people leave mmo's after a month or two because once they reach endgame it's too similar to what they just left. Raiding and PvP are good endgames, but raiding can take up too much time for people that don't have enough time. If you like PvP it can be fun but not for you to play games for months, there's got to be some meat left when your done with that to keep you wanting to play. Dailies are a shallow form of content that makes you feel like you have to keep playing or you're going to miss out on rewards.
I would like to see daily adventures that sets you on a random quest to random places that's a series of chain events that leads to epic events and places. That would be cool could be random like solving murders or lead you to someones treasure that was lost or stolen. I want something different to do daily, I'm tired of logging in and doing the same thing everyday, send me to dungeons solving puzzles or something than kill / collect quests PLEASE!
As a guy who helped run a few guilds for a clan, I can tell you that most player leave well before the reach the endgame. GW2 for example most players left between getting between level 30 and 40. I have no idea why, but it's worse in MMO's than any other type of game our clan play. With games like borderlands 2, Battlefield 4 or League of Legends, Dota 2 or even Magic the gathering these guys turn up pretty regularly. There are only 2 MMOs where our clan keeps a stable presence and thats WoW and EVE. The last MMO I played (FFIV) I couldn't convince enough people to stay on until the endgame so we ended up merging with another guild and I just left after reaching cap. MMOs are simply boring to most gamers, the combat is too slow, graphics by default are poorer, its more repetative and can be strangely lonelier experience at times.
My first was EQ and there was so much to do that you could do what ever activity you felt like at the time. Played it for years and really only left it due to outdated graphics as well as SOE really started to change it from being EQ to being more like other MMOs.
Reskin EQ and keep it as it was through Velious.
Every attempt at something similar since then (other then Vanguard...it just needed finished) fell flat because they stripped so much out of it.
1) Mastering a craft should take years... not max every craft in under a week
2) What happened to factions.. and being able to change factions. Too hard for modern MMO developers? have bad faction with certain groups in EQ you can quest or do turn ins to change it. Spent months doing that
3) Max level should be hit for the average player just a bit before a new expansion comes out. If you make everyone able to get to max level within 3 weeks (everyone gets a gold star) then don't wonder why people leave in droves at that point.
4) Modern MMOs mobs are too easy... if you go against a yellow mob then it should kick your arse unless you're very good....even then you have a fight on your hand. Mindlessly wading thru waves of easy mobs is not fun nor challenging.
5) The whole quest hub based MMO is a joke.... chasing exclamation points is never going to be fun nor provide longevity. An example of a good quest is the prayer shawl quest from velious (EQ). Took a long time to complete and you received a good upgrade at the end.
6) EQ you could vender mine... buy back stuff that others dumped and then put it on the market and make good cash. I think it's Smedley that said with EQNext they won't do this.. already taking EQ out of EQNext. I guess it's easier on the programmers and the database won't have to work so hard to track what each vender has. This actually kept many players busy in between raiding/exp groups/crafting/etc.
7) Named mobs with rare drops. Spent ages in Old Seb for Fungi tunics making friends and getting exp. This provided community so lacking in todays MMOs. Where's this experience in GW2?
8) Roaming bad ass mobs. Whether you're having to watch out for sand giants in the noob zones or Gor or other dragons whacking you it provided a sense of danger. Gix anyone? (that bastard)
9) Hard content. The toughest guilds should be just finishing up the hardest zone and have it on farm mode when the next expansion comes out. Sure.. most guilds won't be at that part yet but everyone won't run out of stuff to do within 2 month. I was there for the first killing of Emperor Ssra (Luclin I think) and it took months to gear up and figure it out.
10) Fishing. Just another thing to do when you get tired of grinding or other things. People spent days fishing and the fish was needed by crafters for cooking and some questing.
So much more that developers could do back then that they leave out of todays MMOs. It's all those little things that combine to bring years of playing. Making excuses of why each of these isn't needed and creating a shallow experience so everyone gets bored after two months is just pure laziness from the developers.
I'd trade every voice over that they waste all that money on in todays MMOs for half the content that they had back then.
Maybe there's hope in EQNext.. but not if they find reasons to take the depth out of it. I think that Brad's new MMO might be a possibility but that's years from now.
Every MMO that requires 20 - 40 people to collect the best gear in the game will have me quitting when I get to that point. I enjoy playing with other people as much as the next guy, just not if it's forced to progress. I'd rather progress took more time and effort than people.
I do enjoy MMOs for what it is but also realize it has an expiration date. For me, it's when it comes to raiding.
Oh and expansions + nerfing my favorite classes also has me quitting quite a few. Maybe one day, developers will discover it actually pays off in the long run. to bring every other class up to par, instead of nerfing left and right. It would actually bring more joy to the player base thus keeping people around longer. One can only hope. Naturally that would take more resources but I'm willing to bet it would pay off in the end
I leave MMORPGs due to not enough non-combat activities, like minigames, not complex or challenging enough crafting, non-combat professions, and other features that have been omitted over the years in favor of just ...raiding and killing things, and pathetic crafting systems...once a game that can offer me a multitude of things to do I will become a long term subscriber...which there are a few of these games coming like the Repopulation, Archeage, and EQN/Landmark (already playing)
I don't play very many MMO games, I've always found there's too much elitism in endgame content and next to no post-development focus on the levels to get there.
There was one game I had played which actually catered to the idea of both end-game content and alternative levelling paths. I thought it was the greatest MMO I'd ever seen, and played it for almost a decade.
My exit event actually was a very serious issue, which I just could not find a way to resolve, and actually a solid number of other players had the same issue. When you went to the launcher and tried to log in, it couldn't connect.
I'm thinking of giving it another try, since it's been a couple years, but if the problem still exists it'll be hard to get over, I don't think I'd be able to enjoy any part of the game if I still have issues logging in.
Work gets kind of hectic too, and it seems the older you get, the less free time you have. Ah well, maybe in September I'll be able to get back to the City of Heroes.
Comments
As a guy who helped run a few guilds for a clan, I can tell you that most player leave well before the reach the endgame. GW2 for example most players left between getting between level 30 and 40. I have no idea why, but it's worse in MMO's than any other type of game our clan play. With games like borderlands 2, Battlefield 4 or League of Legends, Dota 2 or even Magic the gathering these guys turn up pretty regularly. There are only 2 MMOs where our clan keeps a stable presence and thats WoW and EVE. The last MMO I played (FFIV) I couldn't convince enough people to stay on until the endgame so we ended up merging with another guild and I just left after reaching cap. MMOs are simply boring to most gamers, the combat is too slow, graphics by default are poorer, its more repetative and can be strangely lonelier experience at times.
Exit events:
a) Company changes core gameplay.
SWG: CU then NGE
City Of Villains: Issue 13 pvp 'NGE'
b) Log in, find invisible walls, on the rails quest hubs, and end-game gear grind (my first experince with this was Warhammer)
c) Free-to-play (pre-Exit event heh)
This one is pretty easy for me.
My first was EQ and there was so much to do that you could do what ever activity you felt like at the time. Played it for years and really only left it due to outdated graphics as well as SOE really started to change it from being EQ to being more like other MMOs.
Reskin EQ and keep it as it was through Velious.
Every attempt at something similar since then (other then Vanguard...it just needed finished) fell flat because they stripped so much out of it.
1) Mastering a craft should take years... not max every craft in under a week
2) What happened to factions.. and being able to change factions. Too hard for modern MMO developers? have bad faction with certain groups in EQ you can quest or do turn ins to change it. Spent months doing that
3) Max level should be hit for the average player just a bit before a new expansion comes out. If you make everyone able to get to max level within 3 weeks (everyone gets a gold star) then don't wonder why people leave in droves at that point.
4) Modern MMOs mobs are too easy... if you go against a yellow mob then it should kick your arse unless you're very good....even then you have a fight on your hand. Mindlessly wading thru waves of easy mobs is not fun nor challenging.
5) The whole quest hub based MMO is a joke.... chasing exclamation points is never going to be fun nor provide longevity. An example of a good quest is the prayer shawl quest from velious (EQ). Took a long time to complete and you received a good upgrade at the end.
6) EQ you could vender mine... buy back stuff that others dumped and then put it on the market and make good cash. I think it's Smedley that said with EQNext they won't do this.. already taking EQ out of EQNext. I guess it's easier on the programmers and the database won't have to work so hard to track what each vender has. This actually kept many players busy in between raiding/exp groups/crafting/etc.
7) Named mobs with rare drops. Spent ages in Old Seb for Fungi tunics making friends and getting exp. This provided community so lacking in todays MMOs. Where's this experience in GW2?
8) Roaming bad ass mobs. Whether you're having to watch out for sand giants in the noob zones or Gor or other dragons whacking you it provided a sense of danger. Gix anyone? (that bastard)
9) Hard content. The toughest guilds should be just finishing up the hardest zone and have it on farm mode when the next expansion comes out. Sure.. most guilds won't be at that part yet but everyone won't run out of stuff to do within 2 month. I was there for the first killing of Emperor Ssra (Luclin I think) and it took months to gear up and figure it out.
10) Fishing. Just another thing to do when you get tired of grinding or other things. People spent days fishing and the fish was needed by crafters for cooking and some questing.
So much more that developers could do back then that they leave out of todays MMOs. It's all those little things that combine to bring years of playing. Making excuses of why each of these isn't needed and creating a shallow experience so everyone gets bored after two months is just pure laziness from the developers.
I'd trade every voice over that they waste all that money on in todays MMOs for half the content that they had back then.
Maybe there's hope in EQNext.. but not if they find reasons to take the depth out of it. I think that Brad's new MMO might be a possibility but that's years from now.
Palazious <The Vindicators> Darkfall
Palazious r40, rr45 SW War
Palazious 50 Pirate PoTBS
Palazious 35 Sorcerer Vanguard
Palazious 75 wizard EQ
Paladori 50 Champion LOTRO
Poppa Reaver bugged at rank15
I left WoW because my RL friends stopped playing it.
We got into other single player games that were in our backlog.
We've dabbled in and out of WoW for years from then but we just never go 'back'.
Gdemami -
Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
Every MMO that requires 20 - 40 people to collect the best gear in the game will have me quitting when I get to that point. I enjoy playing with other people as much as the next guy, just not if it's forced to progress. I'd rather progress took more time and effort than people.
I do enjoy MMOs for what it is but also realize it has an expiration date. For me, it's when it comes to raiding.
Oh and expansions + nerfing my favorite classes also has me quitting quite a few. Maybe one day, developers will discover it actually pays off in the long run. to bring every other class up to par, instead of nerfing left and right. It would actually bring more joy to the player base thus keeping people around longer. One can only hope. Naturally that would take more resources but I'm willing to bet it would pay off in the end
I don't play very many MMO games, I've always found there's too much elitism in endgame content and next to no post-development focus on the levels to get there.
There was one game I had played which actually catered to the idea of both end-game content and alternative levelling paths. I thought it was the greatest MMO I'd ever seen, and played it for almost a decade.
My exit event actually was a very serious issue, which I just could not find a way to resolve, and actually a solid number of other players had the same issue. When you went to the launcher and tried to log in, it couldn't connect.
I'm thinking of giving it another try, since it's been a couple years, but if the problem still exists it'll be hard to get over, I don't think I'd be able to enjoy any part of the game if I still have issues logging in.
Work gets kind of hectic too, and it seems the older you get, the less free time you have. Ah well, maybe in September I'll be able to get back to the City of Heroes.