To much money to make off of sick people like us. MMO's and companies like EA are here to stay. 

/ramble on

Yup, as stated in other posts here, there are too many choices.

Also community seems to have gone away. I understand guilds solve that for many. But for me it doesnt. My first MMO community, and the one I stuck with for 5 years was City of Heros, Virtue server. VU, FTW!!!!!!!

Recently I started to have the converstation with myself if I wasn't looking for the wrong thing in my quest for "a game to play". Although I feel I will always like to sit down and "game it up", I also feel it is time to exploit some other activities.

MMOs are a mega-consumer-good now, and as much as I am a money lovin capitalist, when goods/services become that large, they start to suck, in what seems to be all facets. Just look at the Wal+Mart shopping experiance: Sure that loot is easy to get and cheap, but the rest of the customers are all being dickish, the staff is unhelpfull, and that cheap shit is junk. THat doesn't mean I don't still go get my cheap junk, XD. I just realize it "Is what it is.".

Don't lament the days of not being able to log out for shear addiction's sake, remember them in golden light. On the other hand don't beat a dead horse.

/ramble off

I've been playing Runescape for over 7 years now.

THERE IS NO SHAME.

Originally posted by Nevulus

 

Are the days of playing one MMO for many years over?

Yes

 

The days of dedication are over. Endgame in a MMO nowadays is to unsub and get on a forum, then bash the game you no longer play because it did not live up to the hype you yourself created for it.

I agree. I never knew why they would get upset because they no longer found a game fun.  Your saying they are convincing themselves that any one game would be that good?  Thats rediculous.

MMOs to me are becoming like my consoles.  Many titles to choose from so you play a few until you find one that hooks you. Complete the content then move on, unless the developer is skilled enough to add content at that point.  Exactly like console DLC.  Though I cant go back to console since Ive went MMO.

MMOs have changed (for the better) since those early days. I dont see them coming back because games are not being developed with a hook that make you want to come back.  They took out the sandbox elements and focused on the theme park.  

No one wants to play a theme park for seven years. 

Originally posted by donpopuki

Are the days of playing one MMO for many years over?

I'm still playing WoW, and it's been on and off since a bit before launch in 2004. Now, if you mean new games after WoW, then yes, it seems so.

Originally posted by donpopuki

Are the days of playing one MMO for many years over?

They're gone until another awesome MMO comes out. It'll happen. Before WoW came out(don't freak, I'm not really calling WoW an awesome MMO), I never thought there could be something like WoW. I was following WoW pre-beta. I thought it would be cool to play an mmo in the Warcraft universe, but I thought it was going to suck because it seemed it would be a themepark grind with holy trinity combat. (I didn't use those terms back then lol.) I still think it sucks.... My point is... It swept the oscars. It became the #1 MMO for something I never thought was possible: it captured a new MMO audience with its accessibility, marketing, and blizzardy. I always thought the next BIG ONE would be new and different. All along success was possible by refining the basic model.

So before WoW, everything was an EQ clone. WoW's success reinforces the pre-established strategy of cloning 90% of the previous MMO. The industry isn't stupid. I think they thought the massive wave of new MMORPG players would make WoW-clones guaranteed monster hits. But it didn't. Even the people who got started w/WoW don't like them enough to play as much as they played WoW.

That brings us to what? Like 2010. WHAT?? DARKFALL ACTUALLY CAME OUT? That's what I'm leading this paragraph with because I feel like a lot of weirder MMOs are out by 2010 or are getting more play as people try new things. Which is cool because it means these games can survive now. Even if they don't have millions of subscribers. But still none of the nichey games are hitting it big or anything. Then Rift comes out, and now it seems like it was just another hype monster.... So I feel that the industry is just as lost as it was post-EQ pre-WoW. Except more games can survive now so there is a lot to try out. (hence mmo-hopping) But still the AAA are copying each other 90%. So, you only play for that 10% new stuff, and you probably only put in 10% of the time you spent with the last MMO...... Me.., they are exponentially losing me. It's like when I try a new MMO, I put in like 10% of 10% of 10% of 10% of 10%..... and so on.

Are the days of playing one MMO for 7 years gone? No. Especially if you really enjoy any of the nichey games that are out right now. (But I guess a lot of people aren't fully satisfied with their fav niche-mmo...?... :)  ... Isn't that awfully interesting???) I say the next super big one is out there now. It's waiting for you. It's hidden amongst the hype-monsters.

BUT! I guess that doesn't really answer your question. Because maybe the next really popular MMO will only be REALLY popular for like 1 or 2 years for some reason. Maybe because you're right? I don't think you are. I think we're just stuck. I think we were stuck before, we were climbing out, and then WoW & EQ2 kicked us in the face, and we fell back in... What's coming out now, TERA, GW2, Secret World, D3/PoE, Archlord X, Dominus, and :P glitch? We'll see...

Originally posted by Sorrow

The industry has spent a lot of money and done some intensive testing and they have learned  :

1) modern gamers have zero attention span.

2) modern gamers are morons incapable of thinking thier way out of a wet paper sack.

3) modern gamers are lazy and never finish any game or task put in front of them.

Therefore game developers reason :

1) make games that require no focus or concentration!

2) make games that require no intelligence or thought processes!

3) make games that are shallow, small, and uninspired!

 

I mean to a degree I do agree with them,  the US due to a failed public education system,  as well as, this whole ME generations bullshit has now spawned two back to back generations of brainless idiotic lemmings, with a third generation of even dumber kids on the way.

That being said he study that game developers are ignoring is that the average age of most gamers today is on the rise, in 2011 the average age of gamers is 41.

That means most of us buying and playing these games are from an older generation of gamers. We are the last generation in the US not let down by public education.  We are creative, we are focused, we are free thinkers with drive motivation and we are not only capable we are driven to think outside the box.

Problem is the game developers are not making games for our generation, they are not making games for the people buying them. Instead  they are making them for our kids, and our grandkids when that is not who is actually playng them.

As a result most of us get very bored very easy with every game that comes along.

You realize a majority of those making this crap we see today and the teachers of those generations are of your generation right?

Originally posted by Gajari

I'm still playing WoW, and it's been on and off since a bit before launch in 2004. Now, if you mean new games after WoW, then yes, it seems so.

Me too although i started WOW much later than 2004 (right after BC).

However, what is the big deal? So we don't play a single game for years .. what is the problem? A single player game is lucky if it lasts 4 weeks.

I don't see a compelling apriori reason why game needs to last many years. It is not like we have a shortage of them. There are way more games than we have time to play.

The bigger question is that now that Wall Street and big corporations have become aware of video games, and are actively smothering small companies along with creativity, adequate development time, and craft, in pursuit of a fast profit, will there ever bee a game you would care to play for years? This morning I saw the announcement of the release of the new Halo game in November pop up on the CBS Financial and Stock news. Along with pork bellies futures and Goldman Sachs reports.

Originally posted by nariusseldon

Originally posted by Gajari

I'm still playing WoW, and it's been on and off since a bit before launch in 2004. Now, if you mean new games after WoW, then yes, it seems so.

Me too although i started WOW much later than 2004 (right after BC).

However, what is the big deal? So we don't play a single game for years .. what is the problem? A single player game is lucky if it lasts 4 weeks.

I don't see a compelling apriori reason why game needs to last many years. It is not like we have a shortage of them. There are way more games than we have time to play.

Some of us like games where there is a lot to learn, do and see which cannot be accomplished in 4 weeks.  In a game like Eve Online, after 4 weeks I can safely say that player is still wet behind the ears.

I play different genres for different reasons.  Arcade games are good for quick fun action.  I play RPG's for a longer term experience.

The right game then yes subbed to SWG for 9 years and if another game came along and captured me as it did then do doubt I'd have 9 years there.

MMO's COULD be made to keep people for many years i.e EVE online

However companies are choosing to just shoot out clone after clone after clone after clone until the market is saturated with 100's of shallow boring games.

Are those days over?

YES

simply too much choice on the market these days.

We entered the Warcraft years for gaming, and the new generation of gamers expect games to be on easy mode, if its too hard, they post themselves on youtube an look like a fool infront of millions...gaming needs to go back to the hardcore years, thats when they will be successful again.

Originally posted by donpopuki

A lot of us started playing MMOs back in the EQ days (yes some even before that). Back then there weren't many MMOs to choose from. A lot of us stuck to playing our favorite MMO for many years but as the MMO genere grew I began to hop around from one MMO to another.

I usually did the level grind and saw about 95% of the game's content up until I hit the high level raid content. I never had the spare time required to become a hardcore raider so went onto the next  shiney new MMO.

Sure we all want that MMO that we will love to play for 7 years but with all great games coming out it seems rather limiting to dedicate oneself to one game exclusively. I think the industry is self-aware and perhaps that is why you don't see anymore EQ type games anymore.

By self-aware do you mean contrived?  I think the main reason recent games do not keep players for years is because they are creating games and not virtual worlds.  It is very rare for people to play a game for 7 years.  But if you are living in a virtual town, have virtual neighbors and sense of community, if you are invested in the world and feel a part of it and therefore are immersed, you could more concievably spend several years there.  Theme park games have an end, max level.  Open world game design allows for continual progression because the endgame is not so easily quantifiable.  

But as long as mmo's are designed as games, people will play them as such.  You buy the new shiny, you play until you beat it or grow bored and move on to the next shiny.  That usually takes about 1 to 3 months, which is what we have been seeing.

Originally posted by vardar

We entered the Warcraft years for gaming, and the new generation of gamers expect games to be on easy mode, if its too hard, they post themselves on youtube an look like a fool infront of millions...gaming needs to go back to the hardcore years, thats when they will be successful again.

Well, they are more successful now than they ever were in the "hardcore years."

Also, the "hardcore" games of yesterday weren't even hard, for the most part. Mob trains, corpse collection and huge aggro ranges are not difficult. They were just cumbersome, annoying and time consuming.

Difficulty != time.

Difficulty has to relate to the actual gameplay.

But yes, MMOs today are stupid easy at least for the first umpteen levels.

Originally posted by dave6660

Originally posted by nariusseldon

Originally posted by Gajari

I'm still playing WoW, and it's been on and off since a bit before launch in 2004. Now, if you mean new games after WoW, then yes, it seems so.

Me too although i started WOW much later than 2004 (right after BC).

However, what is the big deal? So we don't play a single game for years .. what is the problem? A single player game is lucky if it lasts 4 weeks.

I don't see a compelling apriori reason why game needs to last many years. It is not like we have a shortage of them. There are way more games than we have time to play.

Some of us like games where there is a lot to learn, do and see which cannot be accomplished in 4 weeks.  In a game like Eve Online, after 4 weeks I can safely say that player is still wet behind the ears.

I play different genres for different reasons.  Arcade games are good for quick fun action.  I play RPG's for a longer term experience.

Yup. One of the biggest attractions that this genre offers for me is the prospect of playing in a world for many years. I play different types of video games, but when it comes to mmos, I'm looking for more than "a spin around the block" type experience.

Unfortunately, I can't even tell you how many mmos I've played in the past several years that I have been unable to log into after the two or three week mark.  Sometimes it surprises me that I still have any interest at all in a genre that has stagnated into such a vast sea of shit.

Originally posted by Cecropia

Originally posted by dave6660

Originally posted by nariusseldon

Originally posted by Gajari

I'm still playing WoW, and it's been on and off since a bit before launch in 2004. Now, if you mean new games after WoW, then yes, it seems so.

Me too although i started WOW much later than 2004 (right after BC).

However, what is the big deal? So we don't play a single game for years .. what is the problem? A single player game is lucky if it lasts 4 weeks.

I don't see a compelling apriori reason why game needs to last many years. It is not like we have a shortage of them. There are way more games than we have time to play.

Some of us like games where there is a lot to learn, do and see which cannot be accomplished in 4 weeks.  In a game like Eve Online, after 4 weeks I can safely say that player is still wet behind the ears.

I play different genres for different reasons.  Arcade games are good for quick fun action.  I play RPG's for a longer term experience.

Yup. One of the biggest attractions that this genre offers for me is the prospect of playing in a world for many years. I play different types of video games, but when it comes to mmos, I'm looking for more than "a spin around the block" type experience.

Unfortunately, I can't even tell you how many mmos I've played in the past several years that I have been unable to log into after the two or three week mark.  Sometimes it surprises me that I still have any interest at all in a genre that has stagnated into such a vast sea of shit.

+1