That catch is this:
MMO players like to play. A lot. They don’t like to skip around many games. They like to find one, grab it, beat it to death, reach high level, make an alt or move to another game to do it all over again. Yes, there are plenty of wonderful memories built in MMOs that have nothing to do with the grind, but so much of MMO development is driven by a playerbase that is simply insatiable. These players are not only hungry for content, but they don’t want to change their playstyle to fit into any new, experimental modes of play. These players want to get to the highest level of achievement and want developers to keep it comin’ because, well, it’s just that easy to release expansion after content update after patch.
If you want proof of this newest spoiled-player case of super-massive entitlement, check out some Steam games. Early access are the best. In the comments or “reviews” section, it’s very likely that you’ll find something along the lines of (and I am not kidding)
“I have played this game for 60+ hours. DO NOT waste time or money on it. The devs are crooks.”
This is the attitude you will face if you decide to make one of these MMOs that fans claim to want to return to. You will face an attitude of give it to me, make it a huge pile, let me eat it all and then give me more of the same while – at the same time – keep me feeling full, let me read your articles and ingest all of your art without ads – god forbid I have to even look at an ad – while I download leaked movies for free and giggle as those evil companies are brought down by hackers even though I fail to see how I play a part in the success of those very companies, gimme gimme gimme gimme!
)
This attitude benefits no one, except maybe for the person who gets all the free stuff, and even then the satisfaction is fleeting. This has never been a sustainable model. I have always been a fan of free-to-play, even very early on in its arrival, not because it was free, but because it presented options. Options are never the problem.
So, which became a problem first – the developer who created the grind and the promise for content or the player who burned through that content by grinding and then demanding more and more and more?
And, what’s the solution?
The way I play is not ideal either but, as I have pointed out for years, my playstyle is as much the result of the needs of the job (I cannot write about games if I only play a few games, so I must play many) as it is the result of a curiosity and love of the genre. I am a bit of a unique case, though, I’m sure you can see. (There’s the technicality I spoke of earlier.)
I’d say the best player is someone who dedicates themselves to a handful of games while maintaining a bit of ease about it all; keeping in mind that these are just games and that in order for the industry to grow, we need a playerbase who doesn’t demand a constant stream of content while also playing a single title so much that maintaining that stream becomes literally impossible.
Anyway, that feels better.
Until next year.
