MMO's and time: The Journey to more Worlds.

[Rokyusan]

When I started playing MMORPG's with FFXI and later WoW, they generally required you to devote incredible amounts of time in order to experience the height of content. FFXI, in particular, took a long time to level and took large time commitments in order to get your Dynamis/Sky/Einherjar gear and so forth. Also, storylines in FFXI took staggering amounts of time and effort to complete. In WoW things were more laid back, but raiding took a very large time commitment. It took so much time that I basically ate, slept, worked/attended classes, and played my MMO. I didn't have time to do much outside of that, because I wanted to experience all the content and have the best gear. However, over the course of the last 10 years, things have changed a bit. Current MMO's are shifting towards a new idea that has me very excited. In the past, you expected to either dabble in multiple MMO's or make your home in one. Now, you can actually experience most of the content in multiple MMO's at once.

There are three worlds I really want to adventure in, Hydaelyn, of FFXIV; Azeroth, of WoW; and Tyria, of Guild Wars 2. I enjoy FFXIV more and more with each patch. Yoshida and the development team are really turning the game around. I also enjoy WoW and am looking forward to the upcoming expansion. Finally, I can't wait for Guild Wars 2. The world they are building has me intrigued. In the past, I would have faced a difficult choice between the three games due to time constraints. However, in the current age of gaming, I think we are reaching a time when I can experience 2-3 MMO's without having to spend 6-8 hours a day on each. Fully experiencing multiple gaming worlds with my friends is what I am looking forward to.

It could be argued that playing multiple MMO's is still unreasonable due to the prohibitive cost of paying multiple subscription fees. However, I would like to point out that we in the MMO gaming community have been pretty spoiled by how much bang we get for our buck. Even if we only played 7 hours a week, that would come to 28 hours a month, which is about 50 cents per hour of play-time. Considering that most single player games cost around 50 dollars, and do not take 100 hours to complete, it's pretty clear that MMO's are a better deal than single player games. I spend closer to 20 hours a week playing any particular MMO, so 9-15 dollars for 80ish hours of gaming is pretty incredible. I am not saying that everyone should play multiple MMO's, but I have not felt that such a thing was even feasible in the past.

Some reasons why we can now play multiple MMO's include the following: faster leveling, convenient transportation, tailored raid difficulties, and changes to the classic MMO formula. For example, FFXIV has a much quicker leveling process than FFXI did, so I don't have to spend all my time leveling. FFXIV also has much faster transportation methods then FFXI, making it more convenient for people who are short on time. WoW has introduced a new raid difficulty which allows people who didn't have the time/skill for normal or heroic raiding to see the boss encounters. While this may be controversial, it definitely allows people to feel more connected to the overall story without having to dedicate 3-6 hours a night, several nights a week to a raiding guild. Guild Wars 2 is advertising that "end game" for their product begins when you finish character creation. By this, they mean that you won't feel you must reach maximum level before your "real" game begins. While ambitious, it remains to be seen whether or not it will succeed. These systems, and more like them, should lead to a gaming environment where it is possible to enjoy several MMO's comfortably.

[Xoo]

Are you trying to say you can play multiple MMO's because they're so easy you can complete each new patch in 4 days?

[Narfalicious]

Or because some people don't feel the need to complete content that quickly. I like splitting my time between MMO's that way I never run out of content.

[Rokyusan]

Not really, my point isn't related to difficulty. A heavier time commitment isn't necessarily a true difficulty increase. Some people only play an MMO to experience the story and the world, in which case making it easier isn't a bad thing. I do enjoy a challenge, but I think multiple difficulty modes can exist where the reward for the lowest difficulty is experiencing the story, and the reward for the higher difficulty is that you get new gear or something along those lines.

[Xoo]

Ah, so what you're saying is you have your reasons for the things you do. OK.

[JakeRoon]

Excellent points, and a good over-view of how game companies are adapting a wider audience. Not just us nerd shut ins

[Jynx]

I remember when MMOs used to be so time consuming (Not just filler content) that playing more than one was akin to comiting social suicide.

Nowdays MMOs are designed for a mass market, everything can be done quickly and easily. The achiles heel of this market space though is casual MMO players are as quick to leave as they are to join. WoW is currently suffering massive player lose due to multiple other MMO's peeling players away due to the lack of "Lasting appeal" WoW content offers.

It's really the battle between having a smaller more loyal playerbase versus expanding your market at the cost of player retention. Both are required for a MMO to thrive, but many companies get lost in the shuffle of trying to cater to both crowds and it rarely works for long.

[JakeRoon]

Yes but once they beat those other games or get tired of the gimmick content the other mmo's offer (SWTOR they come running back to WOW...so no worries.

[Jynx]

they come running back to WOW...so no worries.

So that's why WoW has been loosing players (that don't come back) for years?

Blizzard isn't making a new MMO for no reason, they know that WoW can't sustain itself for much longer it's jumped the shark and MOP will probably be one of the last big expansions the game will see and all focus will go to Titan.

[JakeRoon]

no no, they bleed off then come back and different ones leave but others come back.....