The State of the Game

Well, this is my first attempt at blogging. I know all the cool kids have been doing it for a while but what can I say? I'm a little slow on the uptake.

I am all about playing MMOs. Massively multiplayer online games to me are the pinnacle of modern gaming. After you get addicted to one of them it is really hard to go back to playing a normal single player game. The average single player game is regarded as worth the money if you can get around 40 hours of playtime out of it. 40 hours? Some gamers can get 40 hours out of an MMO in a single day (they are talented). The success of an MMO is gauged on how many YEARS someone could be entertained by it. Some people playing as much as 15+ hours a day.

My wife and myself played an MMO called Dark Age of Camelot for 5 years or so. We played, probably too much, at least 10 hours a day when we were not away from home. That's nuts! Those days are gone now. I have been searching the web for a game that will keep my interest for that long and I haven't found one yet. I've played just about all of them out on the market. From the free ones to the pay by month versions.

In my opinion one of the reasons is the simplicity. Back in the heyday of MMOs the games were complicated and very confusing for new players. People that stuck with them were dedicated players that felt a connection to the game. This, in turn, created a tight community that supported each other and were very civil. After World of Warcraft came along simplicity became the name of the game.

Wait, you mean I can actually fail at this in game task!? EPIC FAILZ0RZ!1!!!!11!???one!1!!??

Where are the consequences for dying? Where are the repercussions of being an asshole to someone? The dumbing down of the genre has brought out all the lazy gamers. The ones that don't care that they just made your play experience suck because of their actions. They would be black listed and shunned before and now it's accepted behavior. Hell, sometimes it's actually applauded by others.

It could just be that I'm becoming the old dude on the corner that shouts at kids to get off his lawn and bores his grand kids with stories about how the old days used to be.

Who knows?