Are you discouraged from trying new MMOs because you're expecting a grind?

[ro9ue]

So I heard the FF14 Mac client was fixed and I was about to download it. Suddenly this sensation of "oh god this is going to take up all my time" washed over me. I've been gravitating towards games like HotS lately where I can hop in for a game or two and hop out, and games like WoW and other MMOs just seem like it's constant keeping up with the Joneses.

As much as I want another new MMO experience with FF14... I can't shake the sensation it's just going to be another treadmill.

[Ghouldan]

Eh, kind of the same way for me, honestly. I've had a buddy trying to convince me to try out FFXIV. I can't get past the first few initial levels, feels like such a chore. I'm finishing up school, putting out job resumes, I don't have the time to grind all the way up to 60 or whatever.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I'm discouraged from MMOs because I simply don't have enough time to explore all of one, let alone two.

[Deleted]

Depends
If the goal of the game itself is grinding, if there's no real endgame challenge, then I will not try such an MMO
If it's just an MMO that require a lot of grinding before doing PvP, raids, etc, then I might give it a try, as long as these contents aren't too similar to grinding

[Edge-]

Nope, I make it a point to actively try as many different MMO's I can to see what they have to offer and if any pique my interest. Most have either been completely uninteresting to me (the majority of the lower budget Korean/Chinese imports like Swordsman, ASTA, Cabal 2 etc.) or made their way onto my "These are neat and I'll keep them in my library to play every once in a while" (STO, DDO, DCUO, Vindictus etc.)

If you don't want to do another treadmill, don't play MMO's. There will inevitably be some "treadmill" aspect to any MMO you play, regardless of what it is.

Even games like HotS are "treadmills" in keeping up with purchasing new heroes, leveling them up for unlocks etc.

[Baconeggcheese]

I hesitate because I'm worried that I'm going to invest a bunch of time into it to find out that its wildly disappointing when it matters most. Which is rough because you can't always figure out if that's the case until you actually play the game or do a substantial amount of homework on it.

[EyelessCrow]

I'm discouraged because they all seem to have some microtransaction aspect to them now. I actually have come to prefer WoWs model of pay per month or pay with gold, it's also why I like EVE.

[Katchii]

If I know it's a grind, because everyone playing it says so, yeah, but I'm still open to check it out for at least the leveling/ combat/ world exploration portion. I may not spend much time in the game once I hit max level or whatever, but I will have likely spent enough time to make it worth the money I spent.

[grandpab]

I don't really dislike the grind, just that the grind is way too similar in every mmo. I don't try new mmos because it's just more of the same stuff I've already done thousands of times during the years playing older mmos.

[flarecde]

I don't mind a grind if killing stuff is fun. I can usually tell if an MMO is going to be worth a time investment quickly though, and if it isn't I don't bother. MMOs do require a certain level of commitment. I have lots of other games if I'm just looking for an hour of fun.

[Edge-]

I'm discouraged because they all seem to have some microtransaction aspect to them now. I actually have come to prefer WoWs model of pay per month or pay with gold, it's also why I like EVE.

Spoilers - EVE and WoW both have cash shops.

[EyelessCrow]

Spoilers - EVE and WoW both have cash shops.

I'm speaking more of the F2P model that have massive cash shops including buyable gear and not just mounts and skins. I guess I should have been more clear as to avoid condescending remarks from the mods of these forums.

[Edge-]

That's a hugely dishonest comparison, though. We all know what kinds of grinds are being referenced here, equating them to things that aren't even in the same category in order to make them sound more reasonable isn't fooling us!

EVE was traditionally packed with grinds, but now between the ability to sell Plesk for tons of ISK and straight up buy skill points, that's gone.

As for WoW, yeah, it's removed any grinding almost completely, they just replace it with time gating now. Which still frequently takes just as much time in terms of total weeks etc., but requires you to play less.

Not to mention that actually, most F2P games aren't even that grindy. The whole, "F2P games are all just massive grinds!" notion is largely a holdover from the early batch of imported Korean games that were designed around said grinding.

Same here. Not even in the same category as what was being referenced, c'mon now!

Hey, people complain about cash shops in general, and these are premium games (both have subs, but WoW has a box price as well) with a cash shop that sells various cosmetic items, services, and in both cases "power" (through the skill points/plesk->ISK in EVE and instant level 90 in WoW).

I'm speaking more of the F2P model that have massive cash shops including buyable gear and not just mounts and skins. I guess I should have been more clear as to avoid condescending remarks from the mods of these forums.

Wasn't intending to be condescending, I'm mildly sarcastic in a jokey way most of the time : )

Both sell various services and cosmetic items in them, and IIRC both have in-game integration of their cash shops. Often times things like experience boosts are considered "P2W", and both EVE and WoW sell similar services, as I noted above.

Selling statted gear isn't actually terribly common in F2P games, the ones I can think of off the top of my head being ArcheAge with its costumes (which IIRC you can earn in-game as well, but is largely considered to have a very P2W cash shop), Rift (which sells gear below the current tier, meaning that players must still earn the best gear in the game, though it's drifted into P2W-esque territory in other areas over the past few months), Black Desert (Not as familiar with this one, unfortunately) and I think LOTRO with some low/mid level gear?

Most of the remaining cash shops I can think of either flat out don't sell any statted gear or the gear (or "gear", which is ships in the case of STO) tends to be alternate models for existing things you earn in-game.

[Morae]

How I get into MMO's.

They must have some interesting thing about them. What this is, I can't say. For wow it was the world, storyline, ect.
Once I find out about the first part, the interesting thing, I look how it is done. Practically every MMO fail at this point. Perhaps it is that I expect grind. The game seems bland.
It has to keep my interest on it. So far very few MMO's have managed this

So perhaps it is the grind, if I even notice a MMO. I think I'm pretty strict what I want, but I believe I can overlook a lot of stuff, if game can provide me very specific things I want.

Anyway, the closes to this has been WoW. Over time they managed pretty much everything correctly. During last few expansions it's quality has gone down, imo, but somehow they still do things right. How can every other mmo fail at these simple things? Or has wow merely conditioned me to look for things that I find in it and thus not accept new ones? Dunno. The point is, that game has done things pretty right and even if they muck up lot of stuff overtime, there is still much more right than any other mmo I have played. :/

[Shinzai]

The grind isn't a concern for me. If I have time to dump 300 hours into something like Binding of Isaac, grinding isn't an issue.

My problem is that most MMOs aren't compelling in their open-world segments. I got bored of Wildstar, because I enjoyed the PvP and liked some of the dungeons, but the shit in between each of these segments was just dull. I didn't feel engaged or driven in any particular way at all. Same with a number of other MMOs I've tried out over the last few years. FFXIV came closest to drawing me in fully, but it starts out quite painfully slow. The story is interesting, but doing all the menial stuff to get to the interesting parts chipped away at my investment in the game itself.

As much as people hate WoW, for whatever reasons, their grinds have always been my favorites, even though I haven't really played since the start of MoP (I've resubbed briefly about 3 times over the past 3 years, just to check out interesting updates/the new expansion). I don't know what it is about the design of their quest-flow, but it just absorbs me each time. I don't mind doing the 'grindy' quests and quest-chains or dailies, as they often feel as though they lead rapidly to rewards, or something interesting. Not many other games pull this off properly for me in particular.

[Ergar]

No. If the game is fun, and has good endgame content then i'm down for it. Although if the questing/grinding to level cap is total ass then i might not be so keen on playing it.

[ro9ue]

I hesitate because I'm worried that I'm going to invest a bunch of time into it to find out that its wildly disappointing when it matters most. Which is rough because you can't always figure out if that's the case until you actually play the game or do a substantial amount of homework on it.

Yeah this is very true when it comes to MMOs. Because most require a pretty substantial leveling grind before you get to the end-game... which is when you start to realize if it's fun.

I find myself to often be a habitual leveler. I like leveling in MMOs, then I just leave at end game because no MMO has a really compelling one at least from my perspective. But I guess it's still worth it even if that's all I get out of it. Say what you want about Rift's endgame, I still think it was well worth the pricetag back when it had a box cost (which is when I played it) even if for the leveling experience alone.

[Ausr]

I've tried some other mmos of late (more free tiem) and I want to have fun with them but when I get the professions/talents, I really don't know what it is. They seem complex or more shit piled on top of shit in order to be different rather than I'm used to. Say what you want about them, I just oddly really prefer WoW's talent system now where I can freely hop into another talent of my choice in that tier, not get screwed if I pick wrong, etc.

It's ok to borrow some things from WoW that made it easy. You don't have to be different just for the sake of being different.

[Baconeggcheese]

Yeah this is very true when it comes to MMOs. Because most require a pretty substantial leveling grind before you get to the end-game... which is when you start to realize if it's fun.

I find myself to often be a habitual leveler. I like leveling in MMOs, then I just leave at end game because no MMO has a really compelling one at least from my perspective. But I guess it's still worth it even if that's all I get out of it. Say what you want about Rift's endgame, I still think it was well worth the pricetag back when it had a box cost (which is when I played it) even if for the leveling experience alone.

To me for that I'd rather just play single player RPG's. I get the same experience of leveling and progressing with a much better story than anything that the mmo market has to deliver.

[lawow74]

No, I'm discouraged because I have to put up with everyone else to play it. I don't want to see some jagoff whose char is named after some Internet meme bounding around like a jackrabbit on crack, ruining my immersion in the gameworld. I don't want to be forced to group with 2/4/9/24 idiots in order to play game content. I want offline, single-player content, with optional online multiplayer content. This is a good deal of why I'm hopeful for games like Shards Online and Shroud of the Avatar. And why I'm currently enjoying Grim Dawn quite a bit.