Are MMORPGs Too Complex?

Thanks to Skotos for their column discussing whether MMORPGs are sometimes too complex for the average gamers. The writer suggests: "Often, I just want to sit down and do something simple and fun. Yet, the structure of most MMOGs doesn't accommodate this", and goes on to illustrate this, arguing "It seems like many MMOGs lately are tending more toward 'have fun doing your tax forms online while paying for it.'" The piece also discusses boredom: "How many MMOGs have the ability to mine/farm/fish/collect wood? How many are there in which this is NOT just a repetitive clicking of the mouse based on the computer response?", and putatively suggests a solution of "play[ing] Tetris to mine faster", coincidentally implemented by the recently launched Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates.

Comments

AC 2

[shaka999]

I think Asheron's Call 2 is a good indication of what happens when you try and DUM things down too much. The game wasn't any fun and is pretty much a failure.

Never will be mainstream

[Godeke]

I really doubt that MMORPGs will ever become mainstream, at least not the UO, Everquest, combat heavy ones. Having programmed MUDs back in the day, these exact discussions came up all the time, and the reality is that there are many flavors of gamers, and different games will appeal to different subsets. However, the "mainstream" gamer just flat out doesn't have time or interest to invest in a MMORPG.

I did have some hope that the Sims might be innovative enough to pull in the casual gamer, but it didn't happen. It appears that the "casual" gamer is happier with a chat window they can minimize when their boss/spouse/parent/etc walks by more than they want a full screen gui. Why? Because casual gamers see right trough the "game" (which doesn't interest them) and realize instinctively that this is a very attractive chat room.

Puzzle Pirates frankly has more hope because it plays on the favorite things of the casual gamer. Chatting and simple puzzle games. Popcap + AIM. Most "hardcore" gamers would prefer to be kneecapped than be caught playing something like that though, so I doubt the gaming press will see it for what it is.

SWG Fishing

[Allen Varney]

For Sony's Star Wars: Galaxies MMORPG, programmer Ryan Palacio was seized by weird inspiration and, while no one was looking, created the most in-depth fishing simulation for any online RPG. It's quite amazing.

In SWG you can fish in most any sizable body of water, but different parts of a given lake provide better fishing at different times of day. The fish you catch vary by planet, of course, but also by region of the planet, and they have different nutritional characteristics. Very rarely you hook, not a fish, but some item from the game's spawn tables -- not lightsabers or Imperial AT-AT walkers, but just about anything else you can get or make in the game, including droids. There is no Fisher class, but it's possible to make a living fishing.

Ryan's managers were a bit bemused when he revealed the full extent of the fishing simulation. But ultimately they shrugged and said, "Well, why not?"

As with most any system in an online game, some players loved the system passionately and wanted even more detail. I don't know whether Ryan ever got around to expanding the fishing system, but I hope so. He seemed to really enjoy doing it.

Boring

[magiluke]

I have played a few MMORPGs in my days, and I find that many of them just get boring after a while. It's all about just leveling and finding new items (although I do admit that I am pretty intrigued by the economies that exist in these games). I just get bored and don't feel like playing after a while. For me, it's not the fact that they are too simple or too complex; after all some of the simplist games are the funnies, and some of the most complex games are just as equally fun. I am scared away from these games because I know I'll just get bored of them really quickly.

I miss all of the more linear RPGs of old; you didn't have to form parties and invest tons of time into it just to gain a level, or camp an area to fight a monster there that spawns in 2 hours.

Re:Yet Another Bleeding 'MMOG' Story

[Shihar]

I would prefer if you didn't. It isn't like .games is overcrowded with stories. If one doesn't like MMORPG stories, why not just not read them instead of complain about there being too many? When .games has half as many posts as slashdot main, then I can understand wanting to cut down. However, until that time I think that it wouldn't hurt if there were MORE MMORPG stories.

Command & Conquer: Sole Survivor

[Knetzar]

Did anyone ever play that? It was a really simple, really fun, multiplayer game (the 20-50 people that played each game is massive enough for me). Basically you picked one vehicle from C&C, and your job was to destroy everyone else in that particular game (oh yeah, and collect power-ups to help you). The games were really short, and I think the only drawback of it was that back then very few people wanted to pay for a game that you could only play on the internet, and games like that require a lot of players to be on at once.
Funny enough it sounds almost like a multiplayer version of the snowball game in the column.
And before you say this is off-topic, the story was talking about MMOGs, not just MMORPGs.