I remember when first started playing mmos. A friend got me to buy EQ1, I had no idea of the mmorpg concept really, but I thought the idea of playing with others online was fantastic. I never even got to lvl20 in that game. After this WoW came out, I was totally hooked. I have been playing WoW on and off for as long as its been around and had a great time tbh. But the magic is completely gone and im not sure it can ever be brought back, at least not the way it felt then. When I say "the magic" I mean the awesome feeling it was to enter Ashenvale for the first time, the music tingeling, stuff flying through the air and the scenic environment. To top things of there was the threat of being killed by the opposite faction, damn! Those where the days :)

Now to my questions: Will it ever be possible to experience this again? Or something like it? Is it even possible? Above all, am I being too optimistic over the possibility that perhaps GW2 is gonna be able install those awesome feelings in me again? Is it gonna bring back the magic?

These questions might not have an answer, at least not a clear one. But im optimistically counting down the hours!

This is my first post, been reading mmorpg.com for a long time, thought it was a bout time to make a post, albeit a optimistic one :P

/Pipofix

I doubt it.In my experience it doesn't matter hwo good a game is your never gonna recapture the magic of your first encounter with the genre.

Edited for your reading pleause for atrocious typos

Personally I dont think so, I've never recaptured that feeling from crossing from s karana to n karana in eq, the fear of running from freeport to the spires to go to the moon.  I think its we can still be able to be in awe of something, but not the same as your first =)

Depends upon the sort of person you are.

For some people it's possible.  For most people, it apparently is not.

IT is definitely hard to recreate that magic from your first MMORPG (mine was EQ). However, I can say that frm my beta experience, GW2 comes pretty close. I haven't been this excited for a game in a while.

Obviously, this is an incredibly personal issue, not everyone will feel this way. Just my 2 cp.

Here is what I expect...

When I first log onto GW2 and go into character creation, I expect my life to immediately go into slow motion while I experience a montage of all the great experiences I will have in GW2 to REO Speedwagon's "I can't fight this feeling."

Anything less than that, and I will be severely disappointed.  Don't f#ck this up for me ANET!!!!!

Originally posted by Drakynn

I doubt it.In my experience it doesn't matter hwo good a game is your never gonna recapture the magic of your first encounter with the genre.

Edited for your reading pleause for atrocious typos

This is where I disagree.  Asherons Call was my first MMO and it really is my all time favorite but I have some of my fondest memories of WoW in Vanilla, BC and early WotLK.  So IMO lightning can strike twice.  And yes  Ithink GW2 is going to bring hte magic back to very many.

Originally posted by Drakynn

I doubt it.In my experience it doesn't matter hwo good a game is your never gonna recapture the magic of your first encounter with the genre.

Edited for your reading pleause for atrocious typos

Im afraid this is true. Somehow I think that im gonna be disapointed no matter what game comes out, at least as far as those feelings that I experienced in the beginning of my mmorpg-gaming. Still I can not help to hope for this.

I guess I just have to take the bull by the horns and accept the fact of the matter...

Still, im sure its gonna be a cool gaming experience and perhaps become the game that replaces WoW as the main game, at least for me.

Originally posted by gieger808
You only get one first kiss.

where?

When I started playing MMORPGs, then the "magic" came mostly two sources: a) having the feeling of beeing part of a huge world, that will take months to explore. And b) beeing part of a friendly community of players helping each other.

a) doesn't work anymore. Why? Many reasons. One: not enough starting zones. WoW had on it's launch day... how many? undead, orcs & trolls, tauren, humans, dwarves & gnomes, elves... a total of six completly different starting zones. Basically six games you could choose to start with. More modern MMORPGs, like Rift, have maybe two starting zones? How boring is that? The other reason is, that you simply know too much about the games. You enter a game the first time, press M, see the map, and you know that if you walk two steps backwards, you will bump into an invisible wall, behind which is the laval land, and that it takes you about 15 minutes to walk from one end of the world to the other. You know the best build before the game is released, you know that the next boss fight doesn't matter for you, because there is no loot from that boss you might need. All feeling of explorion: gone. And with it, any immersion.

And b) doesn't work anymore, because everything has been automated. You are doing a quest and can't find the mobs? No, don't ask other players, the quest tracker will help you. You are doing another quest and don't know where to walk? Don't communicate with other players, an arrow will point you the way. Some games even make you walk there on rails, automatically. You don't really know what a boss does? That won't happen. You can always check it out before ever meeting that boss. Want to do some PvP? God no, don't ask other players. Press the BG button and you'll be sent there. Want to go into a dungeon? No, don't ask other players. The game will do everything for you automatically. The lack of communication kills communities.

I have 2 imaginary columns.

I have four mmo's that sit at the top of my "best ever" column. UO, EQ1, AC1 and DAoC. To me they are all tied.

Then I have a column for everything else.

GW2, from what I have seen, has a very good chance for taking the top spot on that side. It's been (again, so far) my favorite mmorpg post Camelot, and I have tried just abotu all of them.

Originally posted by maji

When I started playing MMORPGs, then the "magic" came mostly two sources: a) having the feeling of beeing part of a huge world, that will take months to explore. And b) beeing part of a friendly community of players helping each other.

 

a) doesn't work anymore. Why? Many reasons. One: not enough starting zones. WoW had on it's launch day... how many? undead, orcs & trolls, tauren, humans, dwarves & gnomes, elves... a total of six completly different starting zones. Basically six games you could choose to start with. More modern MMORPGs, like Rift, have maybe two starting zones? How boring is that? The other reason is, that you simply know too much about the games. You enter a game the first time, press M, see the map, and you know that if you walk two steps backwards, you will bump into an invisible wall, behind which is the laval land, and that it takes you about 15 minutes to walk from one end of the world to the other. You know the best build before the game is released, you know that the next boss fight doesn't matter for you, because there is no loot from that boss you might need. All feeling of explorion: gone. And with it, any immersion.

 

And b) doesn't work anymore, because everything has been automated. You are doing a quest and can't find the mobs? No, don't ask other players, the quest tracker will help you. You are doing another quest and don't know where to walk? Don't communicate with other players, an arrow will point you the way. Some games even make you walk there on rails, automatically. You don't really know what a boss does? That won't happen. You can always check it out before ever meeting that boss. Want to do some PvP? God no, don't ask other players. Press the BG button and you'll be sent there. Want to go into a dungeon? No, don't ask other players. The game will do everything for you automatically. The lack of communication kills communities.

Yea this automated stuff is really a bummer. Im really gonna go out of my way to try and socialize more come GW2. I think that if you cant get that going its just gonna feel more like a single-player experience. Damn it! Im gonna call my buddies and make them get a guild together.