|| The 'K'asual Pa's'ifist ||
x% contains MMORPGs' related rants and opinions while the remainder x% are subjects left open as food for thoughts. No.. there's no % left for discussions, you can do that OFF my blog and in the forums. Ugly please :)

1st off, here's the rough definition (as blatantly plagiarized and ported to here from good old Wikipedia);

Replay value or replayability is a term usually found in combination with video games, but it may be also used to describe other kinds of games, movies, music, or theater plays. Video and computer game players use the term replay value to describe the entertainment value of playing a game more than once. In some cases, factors that influence replay value are the result of the game's programming (extra characters, alternate endings, etc). Other times, the replay value of a game might be based entirely on the individual's tastes; a player might enjoy a game because he likes the music or graphics, finds the gameplay entertaining, or (in the case of licensed products) because of loyalty to the product line.

    Now for some overviews when it comes to MMOs;

    The 'racket' - subscriptions model -> time = money

    Now one can easily see (not from the marketeers/business strategists' viewpoints) that this formula is a broadly generalized assumption across ALL categories of players in the potential or current subscribers' base, which means there's a definite guarantee that a good portion from that slice in a pie WILL get genuinely screwed depending on:-

A.     game play in a title.

B.     the variety of available options of things to do in play.

C.     whether there's vaguely hidden yet 'forced upon' motivations (if we can call it that) for players to                   engage the grind rat race until the next addition of so-called expansions/patches/updates. A carrot             with a LOOOONNGGGG stick if you will...

    Regardless if you're that sort of a "Oh! I'm here to kill, crush and get all of it RIGHT NOW!" type of dude or if you're more into "I wanna see how fast I wipe out these packs of mobs with different builds" type of plays, you'll notice a distinctly disturbing 'detachment'. Let me elaborate.

    Let's just say that I'm holding my box of Neverwinter Nights right now... Now ask ourselves how long has this game had been out and why am I still holding it instead of donating it to the nearest bargain bins of my neighbor's garage sale or start a "SAVE the illiterate console role players! Donate your old games!" donation drives? Some easy answers would be that it's nostalgic for a good game. You can easily reroll, get the quests redone and repeat everything without the added pressures of that sense of 'incompleteness' as too apparently dressed as end games in MMOs. There's still ample 'new to the game' feelings on handling those PvE engagements with classes/builds you haven't done before WITHOUT the restraint of worrying about gear 'changes' (so far I've never seen that happen in a single player..unless after rebalancing patches which by the time you'd done the game already mostly) or major contents/features' modifications. It's the same box for fuck sake? And mind you, you can 'win the game' with multiple rerolls in a lot of good time done compared to a single leveling run in a MMO at starting from mid before high levels.

    It's like girlfriends...It's hard enough to enjoy one with erratic mood swings? What can we expect with one who suddenly goes into schizophrenic mode after years together and all of a sudden she gets lousier in bed? (Disclaimer: take this part with grains of salt please, not intended to offend)

    In economic terms, one can easily accuse me of clear misjudgments. What's roughly $5 these days and functions as a single player CRPG can't possibly be compared to MMOs, in whatever aspects. But that's besides the point really...How many of us here have renewed old subscriptions and logged back on to our choice MMO titles? How many of us here can lay the claim of we can come back, do everything "as it were" and relive the old glories? Some of the hardcore UO players may agree with me. More so to newer batches of MMO fans that's fast becoming jaded with shoddily done and overly watered down 'reruns'?

    So you see..I can't really give a shit about developmental and operational recurring costs. This is a player to industry question so to speak.

    To throw another element into this sticky mix, when contemplating on a good MMO's REAL timeline to value's amount, you can arrive to a good 1 year tops when you factor out everything. Replay values may add to that ever tricky break dances of design philosophies vs. for profit initiatives gone into a title and may pose as a hindrance for future growth of one title should it be confused as a call to 'make everything stay the same'.

    But sacrificing replay values totally over to psychological tacts deployed in minute introductions of features to players? Prolonged exposures to routines done to get to a specific point to even use an armor, makes 'Pay to play' becomes 'pay to login to check out what's new? and that widens the detached feeling in players? Pray tell how anyone can realistically expect 'growth' for the long term? Unless we consider 5-6 years of server merges and dwindling player counts as growth?

    What's so hard to visualize? If a dev/publisher expects a good 5 year run, then give us good reasons to come back?