What's the point of MMOs

[TirielWoW]

Aren't MMO's just endless repetition? Whats the point of participating? I don't understand peoples appeal to them. They seem like an endless rat race for a digital piece of cheese.

Slaying internet dragons.

[Belloc]

Aren't MMO's just endless repetition? Whats the point of participating? I don't understand peoples appeal to them. They seem like an endless rat race for a digital piece of cheese.

If you can't put even a miniscule amount of thought into it, you're probably never going to accept the answers that you get.

Why do people get jobs in medicine? Because they want to overcome the challenges involved in curing diseases and increasing the quality of life of their fellow humans.

Why do people get jobs as engineers? Because they want to create solutions to a variety of interesting, dynamic problems.

Why do people teach? Because they want to help the youth grow into smart, learned individuals so that they can go on doing the things they want in life.

No, MMOs are not endless repetition. No, it's not a rat race. It's a group of like-minded individuals who enjoy working together to overcome the challenges that the developers have created for us.

[Dilbon]

whats the point of anything?

To have fun.

How many are actually having fun playing MMOs and how many are doing it just because they feel like they have to?

[May90]

Aren't MMO's just endless repetition? Whats the point of participating? I don't understand peoples appeal to them. They seem like an endless rat race for a digital piece of cheese.

MMOs are repetitive, that's true. The question is whether you like the repeated activity or not (sex is repetitive, but it probably doesn't make it less appealing, while washing dishes definitely is not much fun). All MMOs with classic progression system (leveling->raiding) bore me to death quickly, including WoW. I am having a lot of fun with Guild Wars 2 currently though. And one of the reasons I love Guild Wars 2 so much is that it is not rotating around progression and grind, it is much more about exploring and random grouping and doing whatever you feel like doing as opposed to whatever gives you XP and money fast (while you certainly can power level or power pocketfll in GW2, you probably won't get that much advantage compared to people who just mess around).

I must say, I like steady progression in RPGs. The feeling that I've done something and become a bit richer/stronger/skillful than before is very pleasant. However, I think the progression should not become the whole purpose of the game: if it is not accompanied by interesting gameplay and lore, then feeling of progression doesn't redeem the game to me. Also, its speed should not be too high or too low: there are games like WoW where you can get 90 levels in a couple of days /played if you know what you do, and there are games like SWTOR in which leveling is slower than a crippled turtle. Finally, it should not be too easy: there should be, at least, some challenge in what you do, otherwise feeling of progression is more like "Ugh, I managed not to fall asleep while doing this quest, now let's try not to close my eyes while doing the next one", rather than "Yaaaaay, I did it!".

So, let me say it this way. If you play MMO with progression as your only goal, you are going to be bored and disappointed. But if you play it for its lore and gameplay and progression just supports you, then you can have a lot of fun there. This is the trap so many hardcore WoW raiders seem to be falling: they start playing solely for progression, they don't care about anything else, only grind, endless grind for "achievements", mounts, gear tiers and such - and then they wonder, "Why is this game no longer fun for me? Why have I got burned out?".

IMO, if you play for fun, you will get fun, but if you play for achievements - you will become an addict, your real life will suffer, you won't get much fun, and, in the end, you will ragequit.

[Deleted]

Aren't MMO's just endless repetition? Whats the point of participating? I don't understand peoples appeal to them. They seem like an endless rat race for a digital piece of cheese.

Every game is just an endless cycle of doing the same shit for hours on end. I can't think of a single game where gameplay changes every so many mins/hours.

That said, I always thought we played games for fun.

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How many are actually having fun playing MMOs and how many are doing it just because they feel like they have to?

That's true for a lot of things, that's just an addiction...that's not what the OP asked so why derail a thread?

[Katchii]

Aren't MMO's just endless repetition? Whats the point of participating? I don't understand peoples appeal to them. They seem like an endless rat race for a digital piece of cheese.

Because some people find them fun and entertaining. That's my primary reason, I always have something to do in an MMO for the same money every month. I get up to 744 hours of game time a month for $15 (after the initial purchase, which varies). It would take 75 games (average 10 hours to complete), which can mean up to $4500 (average $60 a game) to get the same amount of play time...

[Deleted]

You can get value out it if you look for it.

Want to learn a language? Play the game in that language or go further and play with people on voicechat of that language.
Want to learn programming? Write your own addons
Want to learn how to lead people? You can experiment in a game with no cost.

[kail]

Not sure if serious...

By your definition, what's the point in any form of entertainment. I suppose we should all just eat, work, breath, defecate and then sleep. Anything else is repetitive nonsense.

If you are serious: persistent worlds, constant social interaction, variety of things to do...take your pick.

[melodramocracy]

The point of them has been more or less completely lost over the course of development trends.

I see them, when correctly executed, as persistent worlds where you play your character as a representation of a persona you pick, there are choices to be made, advancements and setbacks, and your actions, both socially and purely from a gameplay perspective, actually have an impact.

I'm not aware of many MMO's that actually pull this off now.

[meheez]

Human psychology is too complex to be explained by 1 reason only.

[apinksquash]

Making friends.

To elaborate on that, MMO gameplay is usually just so-so (nothing special). What really makes MMOs stand out is the relationships you can form. It's the friends I've made playing this game that really make it memorable for me.

[YouAreAllWrong]

The original goal of MMOs, was to create a persistent online multiplayer world, where you and your friends would play cooperatively or/and competitively, get immersed in the universe, create your stories and have fun.

Nowadays the goal of MMOs is to try and make the most money out of the playebase, while maintaining the least amount of expenses. But there is still fun to be had.

[pateuvasiliu]

How many are actually having fun playing MMOs and how many are doing it just because they feel like they have to?

Considering they pay for it?

Probably most?

[Deleted]

You can get value out it if you look for it.

Want to learn a language? Play the game in that language or go further and play with people on voicechat of that language.
.

thats a fucking awesome idea!

[Fencers]

Aren't MMO's just endless repetition?

Many are.

Whats the point of participating?

Enjoyment.

They seem like an endless rat race for a digital piece of cheese.

This is every genre of video game.

There are mechanical differences, but every genre is essentially the same if you want to be super reductive about it.

I don't understand your query. This is not a mysterious subject or one that requires great explanation.

[Seezer]

Aren't MMO's just endless repetition? Whats the point of participating? I don't understand peoples appeal to them. They seem like an endless rat race for a digital piece of cheese.

What's the point in playing pool? What's the point in going fishing? What's the point in watching movies? What's the point in going to a baseball game?

There is no "Digital Cheese". The people who play for gear don't last long. You forgot about the RPG part of the mmo.

[Deleted]

I like playing my characters and watch them grow.. shiny armor helps.

[Seezer]

Where else would I go to pose such a question that would have people who would understand the relevance?

I'm sure you aren't new to this site or mmo's. Your initial post reeks of jaded. I think you have another account here.

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How many are actually having fun playing MMOs and how many are doing it just because they feel like they have to?

Nobody feels like they have to if they're paying for it. If they feel like they "have to" that means they want to. Nobody is going to pay for entertainment long that they don't enjoy.

[Deleted]

Aren't MMO's just endless repetition? Whats the point of participating? I don't understand peoples appeal to them. They seem like an endless rat race for a digital piece of cheese.

What's the point of long-distance running? Isn't it just long distance walking but a lot more stressful and tiring? I don't understand the appeal. It seems like a painful way to get somewhere, albeit slightly faster than at walking speed.

I ask myself that, and decide I don't really want to be a long distance runner; and that's fine.
It seems to me you don't really want to play MMO's. And that's fine too, buddy

[Deleted]

This is every genre of video game.

There are mechanical differences, but every genre is essentially the same if you want to be super reductive about it.

I don't understand your query. This is not a mysterious subject or one that requires great explanation.

The mechanics are what defines a game. mmorpgs like many RPG's focus on your virtual character instead of the player. Most old games in other gernes however are about you as the player getting better at the game instead of incrementing numbers. FPS its about your twitch skills, fighting games like street fighter add in some tactics with what move to use when. List goes on with racing (mario cart), strategy (starcraft,wc, c&c) ... all about being better as the player and not having better items.
When you left those games you still retained your improved player skills. Meanwhile switching from one mmorpg to another equals starting new.

The creep of virtual character stats into every gerne to murk player skill is rather a new development.
virtual character > player comes likely with gaming getting more mainstream. Only way to give the average player who sucks a chance vs good players is decreasing the value of player skill.