Just a quick rant guys. Been playing MMORPG games for ages now. Started with UO. I loved both Ultima Online and EverQuest. About  a year or maybe a little more into EverQuest, I started to notice my interest in MMORPGs decline. I couldn't quite figure it out, something was missing. I think I have narrowed it down to the key source.

INFORMATIONAL DATABASE WEBSITES, such as "wowhead" or "stratics". That tell you where, how often, what drops, etc etc. Now, I know what you are about to say, " Dude, just don't go to those sites!". It's different with an mmo than a single player spoiler guide. With an MMO, most of the people around you have already gone to those sites, will tell or even, link, the stats of items. " Yeah, this boss drops this, that, and this". I know this will happen regardless when a new MMO launches, because people remember what drops what. For example, everyone knew what the evil eyes in Lower Guk Dropped or the Froglok King. The fact of the matter is, UO and EverQuest didn't really have any ( maybe 1 very vague informational site) at the time. Exploration and the mystery of what is ahead were paramount.

I remember going into Guk and just being like... man... whats in here, omfg im lost. My first time in World of Warcraft, I already knew what the first horde dungeon was and what was in it.. JUST BY WORD OF MOUTH. I didn't even go to the informational sites. The suspense of NOT KNOWING what bosses do and what they drop will never be in another game and to those select few who actually get to test game content BEFORE the greedy pig-like informational sites get ahold of it, they are the only lucky ones who will ever get to experience it again.

I just wish there was an mmo coming out, that would enforce no itemization/spoiler websites into their EULA to bring back that feeling of not knowing. I'm tired of getting my hand held or having some squeeky-voiced teen tell me over ventrilo you can get 0.84% more crit chance and then links a GD item in guild chat. These sites enable min-maxing and completely ruin the meaning of a game in the first place.

I am going to place a poll in, but in all honesty if you have never played an MMO without a database site, please don't vote, you wouldn't understand.

nobody is forcing you to visit them!

If you wanna play wow for example and have a harder time doing random dungeons to find random gers is up to you.

Originally posted by Anzie

nobody is forcing you to visit them!

If you wanna play wow for example and have a harder time doing random dungeons to find random gers is up to you.

that wasnt the main point of his post, it was that it seems to even invade talking in the game, with people chatting about dungeons, saying what and who is in them and the like. And some people, rather than helping when asked, will just tell you "STFU and L2Wowhead/Thottbott"

Originally posted by Anzie

nobody is forcing you to visit them!

If you wanna play wow for example and have a harder time doing random dungeons to find random gers is up to you.

Agreed. You don't have to visit the sites, but in all honesty it doesn't really. Even if one player looks it up and he tells you about it that would be still word of mouth.

Originally posted by Anzie

nobody is forcing you to visit them!

If you wanna play wow for example and have a harder time doing random dungeons to find random gers is up to you.

Please read the post before commenting.

By your logic IRL maps , for example , needs to die just becouse they "spoil" your "adventures" ?

Originally posted by 6SlipKnoT6

By your logic IRL maps , for example , needs to die just becouse they "spoil" your "adventures" ?

Comparing a game to RL = logic? since when?

Games are meant for entertainment, these websites remove the key form of entertainment. Mystery, suspense, the unknown. What if you went into a movie and the dude next to you keeps saying what happens next, every 30 seconds. This is virtually the same thing.

Hm, mmo' do kind of loose their mysteriousness when its all put on websites, and yes, you dont have to to go the site if you don't want to, but everyone else has, so its not really like your character will come across a secret area/cave or find a extremely rare drop and have something to kind of show off.

Tis unfortunate.

There's no question that MMOs have lost most of the raw fun and mystery.  And of course, most of this is due to WoW's streamlining.  
 
If you're running a quest in WoW, and the thing you're looking for doesn't have a question mark, isn't glowing blue, or doesn't have blatant sparkles around it, people will never figure out where the stupid thing is.
 
I know MMOs are designed to be roller coasters, but sometimes I feel like Im on a kiddie ride, ignoring the quest text completely, and just collecting the 10 sparkles so I can get 3525 experience.
 
The mystery is gone.  Nothing is passed by word of mouth, because MMOs now encourage people to look up stats, leveling guides, profession guides, and raid strategies.  It's like playing a MMO with Microsoft Excel.

This applies to any game.  You can find info about any game online.  It's never going to go away, especially since MMO's are so time-investment heavy.  People who play will always be interested in finding ways to get through quests/whatever more quickly.

No developer would enforce rules like you suggest.  It wouldn't make monetary sense.

I read your post...I know that you said "Don't say 'just don't go to those sites'"  but seriously...just don't go to those sites.  If it's an issue of not wanting to see loot linked in general chat channels or guild chat...find an RP guild that won't do stuff like that, there are ways around it...Those sites are definitly not unavoidable.

I agree 100% with the OP.

No one really explores in MMOs anymore because there is just no point looking around to find something unexpected. Also, unfortunately some games cannot really even be played without the guides for certain quests, because you have to know which creature drops the item and it might not even be hinted at in the quest text.

To me it's all part of this crazy rush to max level, and it can often take the fun out of grouping because it's all just a mad  dash to complete the instance for the nth time to get a given drop.

Since it's not possible to stop the tide I've found two good ways that work for me to avoid the irritation of such sites. Easier than changing the community, that's for sure.

The first is to play a game with a relatively small number of players, so not every single thing of interest is known by everyone, and there is less information out on the internet sites.

The second solution is to solo the game. I realise some people think it's pretty dumb to solo a mmo, but it can actually enhance my own imersion when I don't find everyone I meet is already an expert at the mysterious world I am in.

Still, I do really wish all these sites would bugger off and die. I find it amusing how so many people want to be 'hardcore' players and yet prefer to have their hand held through every step of the way.

I would blame the game rather than the website....why is this imformation so important ?

Why should anything be a secret?

Honestly I wouldnt play a game like wow without thottbot.

As a person who like to farm effeciently, leave my thottbot alone.

I read your post and not only are you upset about these sites are upset when anyone talks about the game.

You said you knew about the first dungeon because of word of mouth. What, you don't like it when people talk about the game they are playing too?

I suggest you play single player RPGs, never look at any guides and be lost in your own little world of "mystery" to your hearts content because the social aspect of MMOs is cleary what is ruining them for you.

The act of playing mmos has been compared in entertainment level to popping bubble wrap, low intensity fun, so some people don't want to have to think too much or explore too hard w/o results, so they go to these sites. Also some actually benefit the developer by illustrating the location of items and npcs you may otherwise have not found, maximizing the use of game's content. For me EQAtlas was huge, let me know where I could go to find the mobs I wanted to get were as well as the safest path to get to them which saved me a lot of corpse runs and lost xp. Probably would have stopped playing before I did w/o it.

Very simple quit playing wow and dont go on those sites.

kthnx

Wishing them away aint gonna make them go away, any more than wishing away gold sellers. The sites fulfill a need or desire by many players, and are thus successful. Blame the players, not the sites. its their desire that provides a rationale for creating the sites. The same thing holds true for gold sellers, drug dealers, etc. Its the addicts that keep the dealers in business. Its called supply and demand.

Grinding in WoW without thottbot?? That is like going grocery shopping with a blind fold.

Guys the OP isn't saying he's sick of these sites because he visits them and finds out everything, so you can't say "just don't go". He's saying he's sick of other people going to them and then telling him about things that he'd rather leave a surprise - i.e. how to face this boss and what can he do, etc.

To the OP, well, people are always going to find the easy way out. Not everyone of course, but enough to justify the creation and maintaining of these sites. Let's face it, some people get really pissed at quests they can't figure out, so what do they do? www.wowhead.com. It's fast, easy, and gets them what they want. There's nothing we can really do about it, and what do you mean by saying in the EULA that no one can make these kinds of sites? People don't have to buy the game, thus they don't have to follow the EULA (right...? ) to make the sites. All they need is webmaking skills and friends who do play to tell them the information.