Seems to benefit the gaming industry if you look at it from a business perspective.

Make a small game, make its graphics absolutely amazing, and make a few key features which will be used along with the amazing graphics as selling points, then hype it, sell it, reduce crew / cost, and do it all over again.

Have they given up on making games we truly enjoy?

When I look at the popularity and the success of games like:

- Trials Evolution (not an mmo, but it has user created content / endless replay value)

- Minecraft (random generated worlds, focuses on survival and/or players own creativity and basically making their own gameplay)

- DayZ (No end goal, or end game, just be in the world, survive, and have fun with your friends)

Then I don't understand how it can be so difficult to make a deep, interesting world for us mmo gamers to play in.

Lore is good, story is good, but does it have to be shoved down our throats with cutscenes, and do we have to be led through it chapter by chapter like we're reading a book or watching a movie?

When I think of MMO, I think of a huge open world, a world to explore, build in, meet new people, make friendships, and enemies.

Why do I have to be told who my friends are, and who my enemies are, why can't I build my own house in these worlds? Why is crafting reduced to gather mats, make 50 X, so you can make 50 Z, and be max lvl in your crafting profession, why not make it deep and complex, easy to do but hard to master.

It might just be me, but think about it, the oportunities are endless, they can make anything happen in these virtual worlds, why restrict us, why won't they let us play the games however we want to play them, but instead tell us to play from A to B and listen to their god damned cutscene.

I think this is template of what most modern day developers are doing, but instead of just keeping the core ingredients intact, to make a successful MMO, they have to sugar-coat it to death with glorified hype that will attract everyone who wants everything, all at once. 

If developers could just base it down to a game that excels at a few things, and focuses on those things, instead of trying to add a gallon of glorified content into a pint sized bottle at launch, I think what you wish to see in a MMO could be a reality in today's times. 

Most of the players today want a game they can breeze through in 30 days or less. Not many are looking for a long term commitment. Anything with any length or effort to it seems to get labeled "boring" and "grindy."

Sounds to me like you're tired of the traditional xp/gear/dungeon grinders :P Games like WoW, or RIft, where you're a character in the story, and you're goal as the hero is to face the challenges of the story and ultimately be victorious (through gathering 250 sparklefunk flowers, crafting 25 ultimagic superwands, and defeating 50 derkaflergs so that you can battle and conquer the terrifying flamedeathice dragon, and collect the magic Breastplate of Furious Fury he's carrying).

On the otherhand, sandbox MMOs do exist, where the story is largly created by the players. There may be some supplimental lore to flesh out the world a little bit, but for the most part, you're playing a role in a story that was created, and will continued to be created by the playerbase. My main MMO is EVE Online, and has been for the last 6 years. Everything that happens is a result of another player or group of players. There's no end game, no forced questing or dungeon grinding, you make your own enemies, or friends, and any "quest" you undertake is on your own terms, for your own reasons, and for your own goals.

I think DLCs and expansions contribute a lot to the shortness and shallowness of games. The developers give you some stuff, you do the stuff, over and over, but you do it because you're told theres a big expansion soon, and that stuff you did will be useful in the big expansion, and it just keeps going and going.

good post and even better title. Lemmings through road tolls.

I am fed up with killing 5 rats! I played WOW for two weeks (twice) and ended up fishing!

Not because it is exciting but it had freedom. I decided where to fish, how long, what fish. Not some stupid text telling me to kill 5 boars, piss off.

I have nothing against quests, single player are basically quests but why do they always have to suck in a mmorpg.

Originally posted by UnleadedRev
When you spend $3 on Steam to buy "Orcs Must Die" and it provides more enjoyment than todays MMOs that cost alot more....well.....that says alot.

sad, but true...

Well the titles the OP and others provide a different experience, hence their appeal to gamers, and at a very low cost to produce and purchase, hence their popularity.

Modern MMO's are big, expensive investments, and no one is willing to stray too far outside of the standard forumula when this much money is on the line.  (or you'll never work again in this town)

But I'll take the blame, I keep buying titles that aren't really what I'm looking for, so I'm not really voting with my wallet.

The good news is, I find at least a month or two of fun in every new MMO (sort of like I did back in my single player RPG days) so its all good.

Sure, I would like a new, long term MMORPG experience, but I'm not so sure that will ever happen again.

But who knows, there's always a chance of a surprise on the horizon.

Yes

No end-game = most western audience rage quit)))) 

its not profitable. Easier create hype. Make box sales. Repeat

Originally posted by AlBQuirky

Most of the players today want a game they can breeze through in 30 days or less. Not many are looking for a long term commitment. Anything with any length or effort to it seems to get labeled "boring" and "grindy."

I disagree. I don't think gamers want a game they can be in 30 days.

Whats happening is we aren't given proper content to enjoy for more than 30 days. So with the lame amount and type of content thrown at us, developers decide to add repeatable content so that we can upgrade our equipment, so that the next time we repeat said content its a bit easier. Furthermore, some developers feel its appropriate to just make enemies take longer to defeat to prolong reaching the end (or make it so we have to kill more than most of us are willing to as again, its just repeating the same thing over and over). Both lead to "boring and grindy" gameplay.

So with that said, with what is being given to us, it should take no longer than 30 days to complete it. Until they learn they need to add true substinance, we are just going to keep moving from MMO to MMO.