I am laying my cards on the table with this post, and confessing that over the years I have not been entirely honest with myself about what I like in an mmo.

Lately I have caught myself engaging in self denial more and more.  For example, if you were to ask me how I feel about in game maps, gps systems and exclamation/question marks, I would tell you how in original EQ we didn't need/want those things and how they oversimplify gameplay for the worse.  But truth be told, without them I really couldn't find my own ass with both hands.  And when I played EQ I relied heavily on other players who were good at finding things to show me the way.

If you ask me about a game being soloable, I would tell you mmos were meant to be grouping games and soloing should be a limited option.  But truth be told, in games where I could not solo very much I ended up spending half my night looking for a group, often to log off frustrated.

If you ask me whether a game should have a meaningful PvP component to it, I will tell you yes it should.  Despite the fact that I suck at PvP and have always sucked at PvP and likely will always suck at PvP.

These are just a few of many, many examples.

My point is that I tell myself I like one thing, and even tell you my fellow posters that's what I like, but then along comes a game that has many of the features I support and I end up hating it. 

Digging deeper, I believe the reason I deceive myself is a failure to realize that a game feature that rocks in one game can suck in another.  I think I like something because I remember liking it in some previous game.  But that doesn't mean I will like it whereever it may appear. 

Is it possible that more people than just me may not be completely honest with themselves about their actual likes and dislikes?  And could this be the reason many of us kick new games to the curb so quickly after convincing ourselves it surely would be "the one?"

I don't think theres any deception.  I just think that in general it gets boring to play the same thing for a long time so people can often like conflicting features.  Unfortunately its impossible to put conflicting features into a single game (at least as far as I know, maybe some crazy idea people can figure out a way) so optimally you'd probably have to play multiple games.  But then you'd fall behind people that just play a single game.  Another thing that these conflicting feelings show is that the features might not matter as much as the implementation.  If the game is only pve but its made really damned good, it can still be a good game, even though there might be people complaining about lack of pvp, it doesn't make the game bad or unfun.  The same can be said for a pure pvp game, etc.

Originally posted by Amathe

But truth be told, in games where I could not solo very much I ended up spending half my night looking for a group, often to log off frustrated.

The problem there is not being unable to solo.  It is being unable to find a group.  And yes, that's a severe game design flaw common to many games that require grouping.  If you simultaneously must group and cannot get a group, then you end up logging off in frustration.  The problem isn't that you have to group; it's that you also cannot find a group.  Fix the latter and the former won't be a problem.

There are a lot of reasons for this.

The first generation of mmorpgs, well most of us were just blown away that they even existed. I was so happy to have an RPG i could play with hundreds-thousands of other players.  I was estatic that i would not be beating this game in a week.

The players didnt have preconcieved notions of how it should be, or a laundry list of features that a game MUST have for them to enjoy it.

In fact, i remember what "endgame" use to be.  I use to be fame (everyone knew you and that you were maxed out), and using that fame to help others.  That was it.

Years later, everyone carries around with them this magical laundry list of features and systems that NEED to be in the game for them to enjoy it.  People cannot enjoy games with instancing, full loot pvp, no pvp, no player housing (really?) ect.  My question is why?

Play the game for what it is, enjoy it as is, and quit being so concerned with what it is lacking, and youll find much more enjoyment out of the games your playing.

It seems on this site specifically, that a lot of people are running around lost.  There has never been so many choices of games, yet people are unable to find one they can enjoy because they are constrained to their laundry list of must haves, or inability to get over the small things the game may or may not have included within it.

Good example is the diffrence between anarch online and age of conan.  AO's launch was a train wreck, and it could barely run on anyones system after the wreck was cleaned up.  The game offerd basically nothing more than running instant missions.  It was a huge hit, its still running today, and people still remember it as a great game.  AoC had a similair launch (although they did kind of lie about what was in the game at the time) everyone hated it, and still to this day hate the game and company.  On top of that, since the game cleaned itself up nice, the topic of hate is over what the game is and what it lacks, rather than is it fun or is it entertaining.  People apparently cannot be entertained without X,Y, and Z in their game.  Two games, one company, two diffrent midsets and two diffrent game generations.  Big diffrence.

I think people fail to realize that mmorpgs are basically RPG's done online.  There isnt going to be a night and day diffrence between most of them, especially if they go the high fantasy route, to change the bread and butter of the games (questing, dungeons, bosses, loot) is to change the type of game they are all together.

Yes there are variation on how you can progress, and i think there does need to be variety in it, however looking past the how, its all the same, just as a football game is going to basically be the same as the other, or a fishing game, or a racing game. 

I think a lot of people desperatly want a reinvention of the wheel in terms of mmorpgs, however i think a large portion of that is due to the fact that people spend an INSANE amount of cumulative time playing these games, more than any other genere.

I think a lot of these disgruntled gamers would enjoy these games much more if they:

• everyone stopped playing these games as an alternative to real life (do we need to play 10 hrs a day?) and removed the requirment that the game has to keep them entertained at this 10hr a day pace for 5-10 years.
• everyone stopped kidding themselves by assuming they can only have fun if their specific list of wants are all included in the game
• Gave up the sole goal of obtaining max level/loot and dominating in pvp, play the game to enjoy the journey...these are RPG's its suppose to be about the jorney not the end game.

Basically take the game at face value and try not to burn though 12 months of content in a weekend then expect 10 years of endgame content.