What makes an MMO is it's world.

The world doesn't mean much when we consume playfield X from level 1-20 and playfield Y from level 21-30.

This is yet another reason to abolish the class/level system and create living breathing worlds where every playfield/area/continent/planet is valuable for something other than a short leveling span.

 

Definitely no. What makes MMO are players. I played amazing MMOs like L2 on private server. There were bad people, smart people, good people, all kinds of players, and they made the game amazing. There was competition, there was cooperation, fun, jokes, drama, hate. That is how the game became something more, and better than a solo RPG. I did not give a penny for the world, the quests, even the design. Because it is amazing when you play with the other people. And to play in L2 was not only to fight, but also trade, craft, wars and politics, fame, respect, loses and wins. TW3 has the greatest game world ever created, amazing design, and deep, well written story. But L2 was better, because of the other players.

What is missing in many new so called MMORPGs is the need, the mechanisms, and the freedom to play with the other people. Factions, limited PvP, limited trade, solo craft, and etc. reduce the competition and the cooperation among the players to levels closer to the solo games.

 

It's all about immersion, and a lot of mmos fail at this. The size of the world doesn't matter much either. Seamless worlds, that need to be traveled in, are more immersive.

 

I feel it is a change in the direction of society.

Most people seem to think it is just a waste of time to have to travel around in a game. Most will point out you can still do it if you really want to, but are no longer forced into it.

Most people who played those games were just happy to be playing and were looking for escapism for long periods of time in worlds they either read about, saw in the movies, or saw in other games.

I also believe as you get older you kind of loose that feeling more and more. Even repeating something you originally loved no longer brings the same excitement.

I am enjoying The Witcher 3 right now, I have a much better TV then I did a computer screen, a much more powerful computer, and the game in general is far beyond any game I played in the past. None the less it doesn't bring the same excitement I felt playing a 8 bit Nintendo game like Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Crystalis, etc. when I was a kid. Sometimes the nostalgia kicks in when I watch and old movie still, but it seems to lessen with each year.

I do like traveling in games and feel it is ingrained into humans. Perhaps it's been removed from the newer generations as a process of evolution and humans having everything mapped out on the earth. The ancient humans were hunter gathers and exploring (not knowing what was around the next corner) is what drove them to all different corners of the earth.

I believe a lot of us used video games as an Outlet for that type of feeling that our ancestors had.

 

If you consume a piece of the "world" and move on to the next piece, then it's not a world. It's just leveling zones. Even if they're all shiny and seamless, you literally have no need to ever revisit the 1-20 playfield after you're level 90. That, quite fucking simply, isn't a world.

In an MMO World, there would be something for your character to do in every place they go irrespective of their power level.

Get rid of the ancient, moldy, 1970's era Gary Gygax AD&D model and move into the 21'st century where characters should have hundreds of points of definition, and then you can start building worlds instead of leveling zones.

 

THIS comment is pretty much what describes why most MMO games that fail, fail at.

For a long time, I could not pinpoint exactly why World of Warcraft made it for me without giving a long winded explanation. However, this one comment pretty much sums up why I WoW did it for me. Immersion, that's what it's all about. Without it, it doesn't matter how pretty the visuals are, it doesn't matter how 'unique' the game is, it doesn't matter how cheap it costs. In the end, if I cannot meld myself into the game's environment, the game already failed to grab my attention.

 

I definitely agree! The lore is one of the most important parts of a MMO game, even though some players (especially the ones that only play PvP) might disagree, because for them other components are important. I, for one, started playing World of Warcraft after hearing about its rich lore, and I had years worth of fun!

 

This is what, in my opinion, many MMOs fail at. At least for me, if the MMO does not have a good story / world building, it better have the best combat system there ever was, or I'm not playing it for long.
Also the community aspect of it.
Think about it, you reach the max. level and max/best. equipment and there is like 1 year left for the next expansion, what are you gonna do ? Absolutely nothing. There's only one reason you'd go back to that game, to talk with friends and go on raids with them or something.
I still ocasionally log into Tera/Vindictus, not because I wanna grind the newest OP items to defeat whatever new boss with almost the same mechanics as the other 20, but because I've made friends with a lot of people that I still keep in touch with, and it's fun playing with them. The game itself becomes boring very quickly if you just go solo, only to waste a few days playing it and then giving up and never going back again. Unfortunately, I don't really talk with a lot of those friends outside of the game because we run out of stuff to talk about without a new game , it's a shame
But those who I do talk with even years later, those are for life

 

Definitely not true. There are tons of MMOs with incredible worlds, in theory, that fall flat because of shortcomings in other areas.

 

Years ago when Ragnarok was the best MMORPG out there I was just a swordie exploring the vast maps of Rune Midgard. I love the music, the ambiance, the porings and poporings occasionally popping up everywhere. Even if leveling-up took a lot of time it was worth it because of the people you meet and the events you get to join. Lutie was fun. God, I miss Ragnarok.

 

I totally agree with this! Immersion is what kept me captivated to MMOs but sadly a lot of developers don't care about it anymore and instead focus on other aspects of the game.