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Bored of WoW in 2 weeks...Whats happened to me?

Started by Ashandir Dec 22, 2004 at 10:11 PM 30 replies 6.5k views
Original Post
Ashandir
Ashandir
I played WoW for 2 weeks and then cancelled my account! I have to say that I think it is the best MMORPG I have played. Why did I get bored? Is this happening to others out there or is it just me? Heres my MMORPG history UO was my first experience and I am 100% sure it was my best. I ran a big guild and dominated my server. Tons of fun but I was young and had no responsibility and was able to fully enjoy it. Medievia was my second love. It is a MUD and it took up my time for about 1 year. EQ Was fun and I played for a few years but this was where I first started to get bored with MMORPG. Shadowbane The PVP in this game was fun but I only lasted for 3 months. Was mainly for lack of game play WoW Tons of great game play, PVP, Awesome graphics and everything...why did I get bored of it in 2 weeks> I really would like to hear from everyone and see if anyone else is in my boat and if there are any known cures?
cutthepeace
cutthepeace
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing...just wait a couple weeks.
Fibonacci One
Fibonacci One
I'm kind of in the same boat. UO and AC were amazing, but it seems the new ones are just less and less intresting. I checked out the WoW beta and didn't really like it enough to stay with it. I think it's just the fact that we're used to playing the grind and have become tired of it.

As for myself, I'm waiting for Guild Wars to come out. Looks like it will be some fun.
Ashandir
Ashandir
Yeah I waited for WoW and got in the hype and played beta and thought it was awesome. Then I would just get in the game and go lvl. I got to about lvl 20 and I would keep getting flash backs of EQ. I soon realized I wasnt really having fun...so why pay to play?

I realized a customer game for WC3 called Dota was simple and action packed and I really did enjoy playing it more then the MMORPG's
Fruny
Fruny
From Gamasutra's article "Why Virtual Worlds are Designed By Newbies - No, Really!"

Quote:

Players spend considerably less time in their second virtual world than they do in their first. Why is this?

Well, the first virtual world that someone gets into is very special to them. It's a magical, enchanting, never-to-be-repeated experience. You thought it was only you who looked back wistfully on your early days like that? Nah, it's everyone.

This has consequences. There used to be a virtual world called NeverWinter Nights, unrelated to the BioWare RPG, on AOL. When it was closed down, its refugees descended on Meridian 59. They immediately wanted M59 to incorporate every piece of NWN functionality that they could remember.

In general, players view all their subsequent virtual worlds in the light cast from their first one. They will demand that features from their first world be added to their current world, even if those very features were partly responsible for why they left the first world. They'll say they hate treadmills, but if their first experience was in a virtual world with treadmills, then they'll gravitate towards other virtual worlds with treadmills, all the while still hating them.


You're just burned out.
"Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it." — Brian W. Kernighan
GotenRulezU
GotenRulezU
Same thing happend to me with WoW. I played diablo2 for so damn long that my brain is fried. I cant enjoy gaming anymore. At least not right now. I'm sure in a few months it'll be back up to par ;)
-Goten
GroZZleR
GroZZleR
Your first MMO experience was on a skill based Ultima Online, which gave you lots of freedom to explore and do things. You didn't feel compelled to raise Magery from 90 to 95, because 90 was really just "good enough", just like 85 was "good enough" before that. This gave you the freedom to go out and explore and just "waste time" playing a fun game.

You then proceeded to play level based MMOs. Why on earth would you do anything other then level in an MMO that's based on levels? You wouldn't. There is a difference between 50 and 55, usually a new "super spell" or "super skill" difference. Unless you've simply run out of levels, you never really feel good enough in a level treadmill. This leaves you chained to 1 or 2 spawns for huge sections of time, instead of giving you the freedom to explore and "waste time".

This may just be my personal bias, but I don't see how anyone can argue that.
Ashandir
Ashandir
Yeah I hope you get the desire back...I wonder if we could create some sort of burned out gamers support group. Something like AA where we can meet and talk about our issues. I cry myself to sleep occasionally because I SO want to enjoy gaming again...but I just cant! Where do I turn :P
nprz
nprz
My first RPG was probably Medievia. I played that for years. I played Meridian 59 during alpha and a bit of beta. Then Illusia (or something like that). Then I played Odyssey Online. I played Nexus TK for a while, but then they implemented timers to wait between skills/spells because people were leveling too fast.
I played UO during my freshmen year of college mostly because my roommate was addicted to it and agreed to help me out.

I don't think I will get to play another MMORPG unless I am involved in making one.

You should limit your gameplay and not burn yourself out. Maybe you realize that all of your hardwork will go away once you leave the game, so you've spoiled the fun :)
xorjesus
xorjesus
WoW Ashandir, I'm in the same boat as you. Same story, almost to a T. I cancelled WoW after a few weeks as well, mainly for the reason that the PvP sucked, it wouldn't be what I wanted, and there would be nothing truely revolutionary about this game.

UO was the best god damn game I ever played. A lot of people say this. I wonder why no company has followed origins lead?

Oh about that "Newbies design MMORPGS" from gamasutra. I can see where the guy is coming from, but I disagree. I really think UO was my favorite not because it was my first, but it was truely a remarkable game. True freedom, I had no agenda, I was not locked into stupid level system. If I wanted to, I could find some random hard monster, play with him, and gain skills! I might get creamed, but for my effort I would learn more about the art of resisting spells. I loved UO. I hate these level based mmorpgs. In the level based mmorpgs, you can find a god, and play with him, but you accomplish nothing except grief for yourself. You don't gain anything unless you kill him. :[

To bad EA got their grubby paws on origin and messed up everything :[

p.s.
GroZZleR, very good post. I wish mainstream game designers would understand this.

[Edited by - xorjesus on December 23, 2004 12:29:14 AM]
I study day and night, memorizing the game.
DMINATOR
DMINATOR
Well I am also bored with today MMORPG, Maybe because all new games are just copies of other old ones, so there is no fun. Leveling system is also a pain, I don't wan't to spend my whole day just to gain 1 level. Modern games lack a ballance, I have never played any MMORPG that has a good balanced gameplay.
TomX
TomX
Never played any MMORPGs, oh except Runescape Classic for 2 years. I used to live that game, I still got my level 88 pure :D I had 20million GP at one stage but I donated it to my friends cheating community.

Oh well, the moral of the story is don't play MMORPGs. Is Neverwinter Nights classed a MMORPG?
CoffeeMug
CoffeeMug
Ok, here's my problem with MMORPGs.

1. Combat is point and click. It requires no skill whatsoever and involves extremely primitive strategy. That makes it very repetitive (point, click, cast spell, point click, cast spell) which in turn makes it not fun in and of itself. I *have* to do combat to level up, not because combat is fun (it's only fun for the first half hour). IMO opinion combat should be an extremely fun minigame in and of itself (either reaction based or strategy or a good mix of both) so players wouldn't feel like it's a chore to go into a cave. Party/raid combat should involve lots of strategy so you'd almost feel like you're playing warcraft every time you're partying. Right now this isn't the case in WoW and will probably never be the case.

2. Right now leveling in WoW is fun because you get new cool stuff. You play, you get new quests (which unfortunately are all carbon copies of each other), and then you end up getting a pet, new skills, a mount, more area to explore, etc. New skills and more stuff to wear didn't attract me because it's essentially all the same (whether you have a 50 damage axe and fight a level 20 monster or you have a 10 damage axe and fight a level 5 monster, the game is still exactly the same). Quests are pretty much all the same. What attracts me to leveling is exploration and looking forward to getting something cool later on (a pet, a really cool ability, etc.) Personally, I think leveling should affect the game more. For instance at the first five levels you do your basic reaction based combat. Level 6-10 you're a little better so you get to control five men that are levels 1-5. Later on you become a leutenant, a general, etc. This would make the game more fun and give it warcraft feel. Obviously this way very few people would get to top levels because it has to be a pyramid but I don't have a problem with that. I'm sure they could come up with a solution.

That being said, I enjoyed the beta immensely and will probably buy retail version in a couple of months. I'm still contemplating whether I want to sink so much time into this game or do something more productive. We'll see [smile]
Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
Personally, I was rather impressed with the fact that the combat in Jump To Lightspeed is direct rather than automatic. It's almost like playing X-Wing, only with prettier backgrounds and other players. And not quite the same coolness, of course.
Nein heer du smign. ah open up the nine im heer du shmine
Scint
Scint
Well I for one still love playing WoW, but I tend to take breaks every so often. One thing that tends to keep me going is that I have a lot of friends who play, and I want to do stuff with my friends.
JexMX
JexMX
All these MMORPGs are really the same. It's the same concept but with a different imagine. At first, the new imagine makes you think that it will be a totally new experience, but the fact is, they're all the same...

We need something that has never been thought of before, something that you just wouldn't expect, we need a game with new excitments! But we can only dream...
Nytegard
Nytegard
Well, like others, I think UO was the best MMORPG I've played. It wasn't my first though (nor second, etc).

I'm playing WoW, but I can understand why you'd be bored of it. It is just a grind game. Fight, level, fight, etc. That's why I liked UO. As another person mentioned, you could go just about anywhere without all the best skills. That's also what was its downfall to me (Well, besides the houses. Player owned housing is one of the worst ideas ever, unless it's implemented in such a way as EQ2 or the Realm, where you have one house to be used by everyone, which teleports you to your own space, rather than what once was a nice clean land, become an urban metropolis of houses). Within a week in UO, you could visit just about everywhere, kill just about everything (with some help from friends of course). In these level grind games, a few weeks, and a full group, you still can't visit 1/4 of the world, because certain zones are just too dangerous.

It's just burnout. Wait a few months, come back, you'll probably have 1 month of enjoyment before burning out again. It's a cycle.
JexMX
JexMX
So your saying a better MMORPG is a one where you can go ANYWAY without limitations? I do think it is better that certain players, the better players who worked harder to level get to go to areas that only they can handle :\
nagromo
nagromo
Quote:
Original post by JexMX
So your saying a better MMORPG is a one where you can go ANYWAY without limitations? I do think it is better that certain players, the better players who worked harder to level get to go to areas that only they can handle :\


Why shouldn't you be able to try new things, though? Maybe you'll get creamed by exploring a difficult area, but you can try and have fun and even benefit a little.

I think what he was saying is that the reward system in level-based games pushes you to win as many fights as possible and provides no benefits, even punishments (death penalty) for trying things you aren't ready for. In a skill-based game, you can have fun exploring anywhere. You still get rewards for fighting and trying (maybe not as much as for winning, but that's only fair).

Level based games push you to gain levels, leading to the grind, while in a skill-based game exploring and just having fun can also help your character.

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