Why do you play MMORPGs?

Why do I play MMORPGs? I think about this question a lot.  I see others like Graev playing console games and always having something new, fresh, and fulfilling to devour.  Sometimes I feel like I literally wait years for a game to come out, then I play something completely opposite of what I thought I was getting.  Other times I’ll be in complete love with a MMO to have it radically altered by a patch or neglected by developers.  Maybe the MMO is perfect and I love every second.  No matter the circumstance, MMOs are quite strange when compared to other forms of video game entertainment.

There’s always someone who will say “they are my escape from reality.”  I can see that.  A good MMO really transports me away from whatever is going on in my real life.  I can take on the life of a stubby dwarf with an axe, or even become a hardworking blacksmith.  I can set my mind free to do whatever I want.

Having something long-term to progress in and work at is a huge one for me.  Whenever I don’t have a good MMO in front of me I feel like I’m playing something that will be here today and gone tomorrow.  There’s a level of consistency and reliability that comes with a good MMO.  That’s why I love it when the leveling process in a game takes months instead of weeks, and why a gear grind is a let down.  I like knowing that I can come home every day and continue forward in the same game.

I like social interaction and knowing there are others going through the same ordeal.  That sounds crazy to someone like Graev who immediately turns off chat in every MMO.  I thrive on it.  No matter how small or insignificant, I need to know that my experience is somehow augmented or altered by the input of others.

Then there’s this really… almost odd undefinable reason.  I think deep down I just enjoy the model the same way someone can say they like shooters or platformers.  I simply enjoy that certain something that makes MMOs into MMOs, and the mechanics — however ridiculously frustrating at times — that I can’t find anywhere else.

Why do you play MMOs?  Maybe I’ll discover a reason I overlooked.

  • Ever since UO, I’ve been fascinated with the idea of a 24/7 game world full of other people, even when you are asleep the world is still going, just like the real world. It isn’t just a 10 minute match or a single player game.

  • I agree with Idunaz; the idea of stuff happening (nothing major) while I am away from the world is strangely appealing. It makes the game world more realistic than a game that pauses whenever I turn it off.

  • ^
    Seriously. That.
    UO hooked me. Everything since has been fun, but not quite the same. It’s another WORLD where you can be as big or as small as you(and your skills) want to be. A true meritocracy.

  • Because of the power of nostalgia imho.
    After so many disappointments, the only other explanation is that we are ALL masochists.
    We all crave that period in our gaming life that really made that damn deep impression that we just can’t let it go and do everything to relive it. Hopefully the next game will be “just that good”.

  • While my love of the form has never really changed my motivations certainly have. I began playing Everquest in the hope of finding something akin to a never-ending, 24/7 D&D game, where there were always plenty of players, lots of banter and no-one had to be DM, especially not me. That’s very much what I found and that part’s never really changed.

    Then there’s the incredibly important fact that playing MMOs is an interest shared between myself and Mrs Bhagpuss. We don’t always play the same ones and even when we do we don’t always team up but we share the same experiences and understanding.

    That covers the time I spend grouping and socializing but I’ve always spent a lot of time soloing. For a dozen years I’d compare that part of the process to knitting or whittling – something to do with your hands while your brain is occupied elsewhere. I always used to play with the radio on – mostly BBC Radio 4 with its stream of high-quality drama, comedy, documentary and current affairs, or sometimes sports, especially cricket which goes on literally all day, or golden age US radio shows from before I was born streamed over the internet. I also always had the in-game sound and music on at the same time. Made for a very rich mix, what with following a play, picking out the sounds of spells being cast, reading quest text and planning my tactics all at the same time. Good for the brain.

    That came to an end when I started to play The Secret World. For the first time I had voices and stories coming out of the screen that were as good as what came out of the radio. I couldn’t concentrate on both so I switched the radio off and I haven’t ever gone back to it (except when there’s a Test match on).

    By then, though, I’d been blogging for a while and now much of my thinking while I play relates to what I might write about later and what screenshots I might need. Playing MMOs these days I sometimes feel more like a photo-journalist than any kind of gamer.

    MMORPGs are an incredibly deep, rich medium. The form can sustain a vast variety of motivations and approaches. It’s there to be used a resource, an outlet for intellectual and emotional activities far more compelling than just playing games. Treat them clay and mold them into whatever you need them to be.

  • The social aspect, which builds into the world aspect, which gives the progression aspect a purpose. An MMO done right not only places you into a virtual world, but gives you the motivation to make an impact on that world.

  • I love MMORPGs simply due to the game never really being done. In a single player game you eventually reach the Game Over screen and are finished with that title. With an MMORPG you may take a break from the game for weeks or months but you never really reach Game Over. I also like the feel of being in a living world with real people running around.

  • I have to agree with qyte, although I don’t place the blame on nostalgia, I place it on the change of target demographics of the genre.

    The MMOs I loved squarely targeted me: hardcore, imaginative, *social, active seeker of challenge and achievement
    The MMOs I play today are targeted at someone else completely: casual, short attention span, **social, easily frustrated, loves frequent pats on the head

    So why do I keep playing? Exactly like qyte said… I’m a masochist waiting for that game to come again. The difference is I don’t have the defeatist (and popular) attitude that it’s me that’s changed, and I’ll never get that Magical First MMO Experienceâ„¢ ever again. I’m exactly the same, it’s the games that have changed. I had my MFMMOEâ„¢ four times over 6~ years – just none in the last 9 years.

    *likes interacting with others, enjoys games that can’t be played solo
    **likes tweeting and facebook

  • I agree with Idunaz as well…A persistent, immersive virtual world that counters my relative mundane reality with risk and randomness…

    oh, and that slow iv drip of accomplishment as well 🙂

  • I have to answer that in more of a negative fashion as I haven’t played a true MMO since GW2, so it becomes what is it that is keeping me away from MMO’s?

    Most of my reasons have been broached above, basically involving a sense of disenfranchisement from the feeling of what I originally felt to be a geeky subculture of people fascinated about virtual reality worlds often stemming from literature or movies.

    The focus was on immersion in a fantastic world and story construction.

    Today it feels like the focus is on gear acquisition and power leveling to dominate endgame, and how the devs can best monetize their token economies.

    Back when, I used to excitedly imagine when MMO’s would be mainstream and theoretically offer boundless varieties of game play, but as it is now I would rather prefer being part of a small relatively unknown indie MMO not populated by people equally comfortable in a Zynga world.

    But part of it is also intrinsic to me as when I first started just the concept of participating in a virtual world was unbelievable, and yet a fantastic reality, but now I am calloused and critical.

    If I look back realistically I believe that even the kill 10 rats quests were awesome, if only because the unbelievable transition from pen and paper into a 3D digitally rendered fantasy world was now possible, just because I could do it, and the acronym “WoW” was well suited to how I felt.

    Back then it was cool that not only could someone figure out how to jump onto a mailbox, but look they are actually dancing on it, how hilarious!

    …now, not so much.

  • Originally they were challenging, fun and group focused.

    Currently, they are easy and solo focused. I think this makes their fun rather short lived.

    Originally, I respected people who had accomplished certain things and wanted that respect for myself, now it seems to mean less and the accomplishment feels less.

    Just my 2 cents.

  • I think I look at them sort of like a social club. They’re something to do to keep my hands busy while I hang out with folks, and give occasional event (raid or dungeon) to focus on and generate something to talk about. I end up treating them the same way I would a recreational soccer league or something like that, nominally we’re there for training or matches, but mostly we’re there to hang out with folks who we wouldn’t have enough in common with otherwise, and for the social life that happens before, during, and after the ‘real’ events.

    Probably why I hate sandbox games so much, there’s not enough there there to build a bond around to gel a disparate group.

  • Nice topic, just as I was asking myself the same question.

    1. What I like about MMOs is the huge promise they make to keep you entertain for a long time and not just for a week-end. When I come back from work, I’m brain-dead and I enjoy working toward my little aim for an hour or so, accomplishing easy tasks without stress. Then when the week-end comes, I can face the challenges and cocoon for 2 days with my wife and a full fridge. When holidays come, I can lock myself and level a character… In short there is always something to do, for every moment. The promise of a MMO is: we can keep you entertain at any moment.

    2. MMOs are intelligent games, they require reading, understanding and practice. They are deep in content and I always have to take notes about stats priority, mats, builds,…

    3. For almost 10 years, I’ve been used to play with people around me. Even if I’m not a social animal, I enjoy to feel like I’m part of community, even if the only contact I have with it is the barrens chat or the angry people in raids. Now that I’m used to have people around, going back to solo games make me feel lonely and somewhat depressed.

    Now the downside is that we rely heavily on the content and there are many moments when MMOs feel like a drag. In those moments, I envy people who are happy with solo games and who have always new things to do. Mostly, in those moments, I buy a few of them, I play them a bit, leave them on the shelf half completed and I run back to my beloved world until the next drag.

    TLDR: what makes me love them: content – esay to adapt to my life – depth – social. What makes me hate them: depending on developers – empty moments.

  • Great question Keen.
    I play MMO’s because they most closely mirror the aspect of adventure I seek out in real life. I go hiking and explore the outdoors on a regular basis, but when temperatures I drop I like to step into virtual worlds instead. It both recharges my batteries to get out and explore in the spring and provides something to look forward to when i’m not playing. You really get a sense of what it feels like to be at the mercy of your preparation, knowledge and surroundings. Also the bonds you form with other backpackers and the community are very similar to those in-game.