MMOGs Only For the Hardcore?

Gamepro has an editorial up asking the question are Massive Games only for the hardcore? From the article: "Part of it has to do with the conventional pricing model. With a game demanding $15 a month, you can't afford to just casually log in a few hours on the weekend without feeling jipped. So the casual gamer's MMO has to be a game entertaining enough to pull people away from their usual games (let's face it, most MMOs are boring), and rewarding enough in a 1-2 hour timeframe so it doesn't require you to neglect your daily routines."

Comments

"Jipped"? Watch your language, please.

[ezraekman]

This is not intended to be a flame or troll, but as constructive criticism. You might want to refrain from the term "jipped". The root word is "gyp", which comes from "gypsy". This refers to the idea that all gypsies were thieves, and not to be trusted. It has become a derogatory term similar to "jewed". I assume that you would not use the terms "chink", "spic" or "nigger" here, so you might want to consider what effect using terms such as these might have.

This is only intended to be advice, from a political perspective. If you disagree, that's fine. It's just my opinion, which may be quite flawed. ;-)

Re:Guild Wars.

[SScorpio]

In Guild Wars you can have two different types of characters. Roleplaying characters start a level one and follow a story where you progress and unlock new skills for PvP. PvP characters automatically start at level 20 with the beginning skills for their class. To unlock new skills you need to play a roleplaying character in PvE and either quest them, or purchase them from skill trainers with skill points which become harder and harder to get as you use them up.

The whole level thing in Guild Wars is mainly to allow roleplaying characters a chance to play the game and advance while learning how to use multiple skills effectively.

Also in Guild Wars you start with 100HP and 20SP (skillpoints, thing mana). Mages get armor that increases their SP to 30, while Rangers get 25. Mages and Rangers also get faster SP regen than Warriors, but Warriors have stonger armor. When you level in GW you get an additional 20HP per level up to the cap of level 20, and you also get attribute points which you place into your attributes. I.E. a Warrior has Strength (give armor pentration for additional dmg), Swordmanship (hit harder with a sword, and skills that use swords are more powerful), Hammer (like swords but hammers), Axe (more of the same), and Tatics (special abilities of the warrior, these are things like shouts which modify things like armor on yourself and others.

Now thinking about what you can get a level 18 has 40 less HP and a few less attribute points than a level 20. This gives the level 20 a slight edge but not much. Compare this to WoW there you can get to level 60 and complete kill a level 20. Sure a 57 could give a 60 a good battle, but in GW you can reach level 20 very quickly to face others if you want.

Overall I find the game very fun. I was getting a little bored near the need of the roleplaying with my first character and then I finally tried PvP and I had a blast. I'm not running two other characters through the roleplaying game to unlock skills for other jobs, and the game is still fun the second time though. And coming off FFXI the no monthly fee and no grinding makes this game a breath of fresh air.

Re:The problem is in what people are looking for..

[YomikoReadman]

Have you even played WoW? You can solo from 1-60, with any class you want. Mage, priest, warrior, rogue, doesn't matter. Saying that you can only go for 20 levels is nothing but BS, pure and simple.