But what about your dedication and contribution every single week? Why should a filler person take the armor you’ve worked so hard for? All those 7-hour raid trips into the volcano core for naught. Welcome to MMORPGs.
The previous story is based on true events. In class last week, we discussed a different type of addiction game, the MMORPG. There was some debate in class about whether or not it’s a video game and there seemed to be some misinformation about them. As a former addict (going on five years free now) and lifelong game enthusiast, I’ll provide some insight into this dreadful delightful genre (no sarcasm here, folks!).
Regardless of whether or it’s Everquest, Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft, or EVE Online, all MMOs have a basic style and set of mechanics. You know the game where spend 30 hours to beat it, see an end cutscene, and watch the credits roll? That’s not MMOs. There is no beating these games. There is no final boss to beat or end to the game. How can this be, you might wonder?
Let’s take WoW for example. Back when I played, the level cap was 60. You had to fight monsters and do quests to level up from 1 and go all the way to 60. The whole way there, you’ll collect gear and make new friends. This sounds fun, and for the most part it is. “But level 60 sounds like the end of the game” you might think. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Some (like myself) believe that the game doesn’t truly begin until you hit level 60. With leveling up out of the way, you are free to pursue “high-end” gear and raid the most difficult dungeons. Raiding isn’t always easy and rather than doing the impossible stuff alone (like Halo’s Master Chief), you need large numbers of other players to help you take down that lava titan.
The most difficult dungeon when I used to play, Molten Core, required 40 people to complete. That’s 39 other people counting on YOU (especially if you are a healer class) to be there and ready to participate (and failure to do so would mean letting the team down). We used to start the party invites (because gathering 40 people takes time) at 5pm on Saturday afternoons and make our way to the dungeon. Fast forward to midnight or 1 am and we’d be leaving for the night with our loot.
It may sound like fun (or not) and a lot of it is, but it’s not easy. Some enemies require such specific strategies to beat that it requires timing and cooperation of everyone. One boss would target one player to self-destruct and anyone nearby would almost surely die. This would require everyone to pay attention so you don’t get targeted and accidentally blow up the healer along with yourself. I know from experience that this is bad.
When so much can go wrong you can bet it often did (trust me, it did). We’d spend hours getting our collective asses kicked only to leave empty handed for the night. To put that into perspective, imagine taking 5+ hours and doing the least productive thing you can think of with it. This was worse. And if you were the one that caused the party to “wipe” (a term to describe getting wiped out), imagine the guilt of having the time of 40 people on your hands…
This may sound like a Nazi experiment (and at times it sure felt like it) but it can be really addicting (understatement of the year), especially if you’re with a bunch of friends. It’s like going to a family reunion. A reunion that meets at least once a week… with a dysfunctional, trash-talking, drama-loving family…
Relapses aside, there was some confusion in class about paying per month to play these games. One person said it was “ridiculous”. That isn’t unreasonable, but it is a bit misinformed. You pay to play for a reason. Allow me to explain.
Imagine you are told to run a large store. This store will have thousands of people coming in and out at all hours of the day. You will need to constantly provide new products to purchase so you don’t lose your faithful customers. You also need to maintain the store and keep problem customers out and from bothering the good ones. Now multiply this by 200. You’ve got yourself quite a lot of responsibility and upkeep. Since there is no way you can manage these 200 stores alone, you’ll need plenty of help. You’ll need people to handle customer issues (problems, complaints, bad customers, etc.), adding new products, store upkeep, and so on. All of this will cost money…lots of it. It cannot be done for free or even a one-time fee. But that’s where your customers come in. Keep them happy and your business will thrive.
The above scenario is very much like how MMOs operate. All game data is stored server-side, meaning on the game’s computers, so if you accidentally fry your pc, your level 60 Druid will be fine. These servers cost tens of thousands of dollars for the company to run. And remember, you’ve got about 200 of them, not including any backups you might have. I mean, you wouldn’t want to lose several thousand level 60-80 characters that have armor that took six months to get, would you? (Hell hath no fury like an angered MMO gamer). Also, MMOs have Game Masters (GMs) that take care of customer complaints, police problem players (or griefers as we call ‘em), handle item issues and game glitches.
There is also another key component of MMOs that separate them from regular games and is another reason you pay for them monthly: the game developers. MMOs aren’t just a game out of the box that you play and beat - they constantly evolve. New content like armor, items, classes, level caps (WoW’s cap was level 60 when I played, now it’s 80), new areas/dungeons to explore and so on are always added. Expansions are also common for MMOs, which are basically add-ons that usually raise the level cap and add tons of new items and places to explore. In the 10 years of being online, Everquest has 16 expansions. That’s a lot of content for just one game.
I hope that you can now understand why you have to pay for these games. Contrary to class discussion, they do not cost $30 a month to play. $12-15 is standard monthly fare to play these games. While paying this monthly may sound like a lot, you actually save money (crazy, I know!). When I played WoW, I didn’t buy any regular games. Regular games run $60 a pop and you can beat some in 8 hours or less. If you buy two games in 3 months, that’s $120 compared to $45 for 3 months of an MMO. If anyone can juggle real life, an MMO, and a regular game, please share your secrets, because I don’t think it can be done.
MMOs are mindrot a different type of game. They’re not for everyone and even of the ones that do play them, only a small percentage are the ones that are “hardcore”, or the ones that spend 7 hours raiding one dungeon in search of the best armor in the game. Some are content to play an hour or two a night, while fools others have 40 accounts and play them at the same time on 40 computers (that scream you heard just now was probably you).
Unfortunately for me, I fell in between the two extremes. I used to spend countless hours a week playing these games. One time back in high school I even stayed up 24 hours just getting one level, stopping only for necessary breaks (food and the like). Hey, it’s called “Evercrack” for a reason. I have a lot of great memories from playing these games and I don’t really have any regrets for spending as much time on them as I did. I made lots of great friends, some of which I still keep up with on facebook and instant messaging. MMORPGs are dangerously addicting, which is why I swore them off after I quit WoW nearly five years ago. At least, until I get my Final Fantasy IV beta invite……
So there you have it folks, the wonderful *cough* world of MMORPGs. They have their ups and downs, like anything else. But hey, at least you’re not the guy playing 40 characters at once. And if you are, what the hell are you doing reading this? Get back to manning that Rogue!
/JV signout
too..many...words...brain...hurts...(but well said).
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