Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:I think the Penny Arcade guy is going off a script as of late. Either that or he really loves Worlds of Warcraft. Jesus Christ, how are people still playing fucking MMORPGs in 2005?
Someone please tell me one thing -- anything -- it brings to the table that is even remotely different from all the dozens of other on-line role playing games that have been out for years now.
I'll never play it because I hate teenagers, but I am curious as to how people are still freaking out about it months after its free (?) beta.
Seriously, just don't get involved with the shit yet.
Imagine Gothic scribbled on to a paper continuum paying little heed to grace and style. Now you're thrown on to that continuum and it never starts and never stops. No reason, no motivation, maybe 5-6 gathering quests each level, every fourth or fifth levels there might be a good quest though it will be over quick enough. You get stronger, there may be a really hard thing at the end of your progress, though it's never going to really end. No heroic sacrifice, no saving the world, just sitting and selling shit to get yourself the last minute items added to give some people who are at the max level to do.
I play on some Ultima Online freeshards to dick around. I might go kill a rat, I might promise to hold a tournament with a 10 grand entry fee and split, My buddies and I might kill some 12 year old kids playing the game, and sometimes I try to dress my character up like various Capcom characters. Though, I don't pay for it.
You've got a two-tiered path here.
You can hate it and quit
You can love it and join up with people. As they rely on you and you rely on them it gets boring, no one says anything though, because they stick around for the other people, so everyone is there, and they don't even know they if they are having fun.
There's no competition except for who can devote more time. PVP will be eventually dominated by slight automation because people exist that are smarter than Blizzard's programmers, oh and ganking. It's like Morrowind, except populated with people who are less interesting than the NPCs. How much can you contribute to a conversation when you're fighting a huge rat? If you talk when you're not fighting, then you're paying 10 bucks a month for chat pals. You're Half-Orc healer very well may be Osama Bin Laden or a Neo-Nazi, you just don't know!
My older brother plays EQ and now EQ2. I called him on not liking EQ before he even knew it, and EQ2 is barely holding him. The shit just get's boring, and you've got to try to keep yourself from getting bored with it. Your frist few plays are going to be fun, though that's really all it's worth, about a month of play. That's 60-70 dollars for a month of fun play. If you think it's worth that, go ahead.