Do you remember the first MMORPG you played? We have five experiences for you that you surely associate with this game.
The first MMORPG holds a special place in the hearts of many players. It is where many experiences are encountered for the first time, discovering a world mostly without prior knowledge and diving into a large, unknown game.
There are a number of experiences that players associate with their first MMORPG. We have compiled 5 things that you (probably) only experienced in your first MMORPG.
1. Learning a new language
If you have never played an MMORPG before and then dive into one of many fantasy worlds, you might wonder on most servers if you accidentally chose the wrong language. A glance into the chat reveals cryptic messages like:
- “lf 2 dps range only strat baron run”
- “wts mana pot 10s /w me”
Even when you find a group that apparently speaks your language, there can still be communication problems. What the hell are mobs? Is aggro something different than a rapper term? And didn’t you do a “body pull” somewhere in the gym before?
Many will now shake their heads and think, “Oh, you just know that!” But why exactly do we know that? Right, because we had to learn it in our first MMORPG.
MMORPG players speak their own language, which quickly becomes second nature. Many terms can also be transferred to other games, but the vocabulary in extensive games, which MMORPGs usually are, is significantly larger.
2. Noob and no problem with it
When you take your first step into an MMORPG, the preparation is usually minimal. Maybe the game was recommended by a friend, you read a report, or you just became curious about what all those ads on YouTube are about.
Especially veterans from the vanilla version of World of Warcraft are likely to remember this. Back then, many players were inexperienced with MMORPGs, as WoW lured many new players into the genre.
It was no problem for a warrior at level 30 to still wear leather pants because intelligence surely has some use. Hardly anyone found it strange if a warlock walked around with a dagger that gave him agility. That a hunter helps in melee in a dungeon because the arrows ran out was “logical” and not “stupidity for not being prepared”.
This calmness is something many players only have in their first MMORPG because they are still amateurs and not only exploring a new game world but a completely new genre.
In every other game, you go in with prior knowledge, are familiar with the basic mechanics, and understand the connections between events in an MMO better. No matter how hard you try to avoid it – none of us can approach the second MMORPG as naïvely as we did the first.
3. The big mistake in the auction house
Hand on heart. Who hasn’t made a transaction in the auction house of their first MMORPG that they regretted just a few minutes or hours later? Who hasn’t been ripped off by the price of an item they desperately needed for a quest?
I still remember buying a bronze tube for some goofball quest for nearly 70 silver only to hear an hour later that a guildmate had 20 of those things lying around and that they only cost 3 silver to produce.
People smile, nod, and curse the corresponding quest NPC again and again as they walk by.
Such small mistakes are still bearable. But if you spend a large sum of in-game money on something you don’t actually need or confuse a decimal point in the price, you can lose the earned money from hours or days with just one click.
In all upcoming MMORPGs, you won’t make such a mistake again. In general, you are then the person who wants to rip others off with overpriced items…
4. The latent addiction to return
As with almost everything you experience for the first time, MMORPGs take up a significant space and anchor themselves deep in your memories.
The best example of this was provided by World of Warcraft with “WoW Classic” last year. Despite extensive preparation by the developers, they could hardly keep up with the influx of players. Hundreds of thousands of players wanted to return to the “old” World of Warcraft to experience their first hours again and lose themselves once more in the world that was their entry into MMORPGs.
The same goes for more recent MMORPGs. If you first dove into the genre with SWTOR, with each expansion you feel the urge to check back in, even if it’s just for a few weeks. This happens to WoW veterans, but also to fans of Final Fantasy or any other MMORPG that has been around for more than a few years.
This feeling will linger, by the way. While most of us have that moment when we say, “That’s it, I’m finally turning my back on XYZ!” – two years later, the urge is too great and we change our minds.
5. Friendships that last long
The last point is certainly up for discussion and is based on my personal experience and that of my surroundings, which may not reflect 100% of everyone.
But in my opinion, you make a lot more friendships in your first MMORPG that last for years or even decades. I still have a lot of contact with players I met back then through World of Warcraft. With later titles like SWTOR, Age of Conan, or SWTOR, this is only applicable to a lesser extent.
I can’t even pinpoint exactly what it is and conclude that it is a mixture of all the previous points. Because being a “noob” in the first MMORPG requires you to rely on the help of other players. Together by their side, you learn the game, get things explained, or explore the game world.
In later MMORPGs, with more experience, you may be more goal-oriented, have a shorter fuse, and consequently are less likely to be with other players in a group who think similarly. This is not necessarily conducive to a social structure.
What experiences do you associate with your first MMORPG? What experiences have you had, and do you agree with these points?
