People are great. Well, at least some of them. Especially, of course, those who are part of my circle of friends. I can laugh, cry, and share jokes with them that no other group would understand. They give me freedoms that I wouldn’t otherwise have. At the same time, they can restrict me massively. I’d like to briefly explain how this relates to the brevity of MMOs, and I’ll also do a little complaining. I promise.
The past week has impressively shown me how connected I feel with my friends who were visiting for the duration of the “Role Play Convention.” Having everyone at the same table to play a round of Pen&Paper or “Talisman” (basically the “Don’t get angry, man” for role-players) was a wonderful experience and is probably also the reason we repeat these meetings annually. Now all the guests are back home, leaving me with my roommates, and the contact will lessen. Why is that?
Meanwhile, almost everyone plays different MMOs. Two play Final Fantasy, two World of Warcraft, and one each plays SWTOR, TERA, and Guild Wars 2. Of course, we often talk to each other on Skype and occasionally play Evolve, Smite, or HotS, but we no longer share the big “time sinks.” What is the reason for that?
When Choice Makes Unhappy
First of all: I find choices good. I like that every niche gets its own game, so theoretically everyone gets an MMO that appeals to them. It is definitely a form of freedom to be able to choose between such games. But is this freedom something that truly makes me happier at the moment? I would now answer that with a pretty clear “No.”
In the past, there was only WoW. While this isn’t 100% true, everyone seemed to play WoW back then, and not just 2-3 hours a week, but 5-6 a day. That created connections and formed a circle of friends over the years that has lasted to this day (and will presumably last until my release in the Nether).
Still, everyone spends a large part of their time playing different games, without the interests having changed much. We haven’t “grown apart,” but the options have become broader to satisfy our individual interests. “Back then,” one made do with whatever a game offered. Today, there is a primus for every aspect of MMOs that attracts very specific people.
The Problem with New Games
I am convinced that this “disruption” of player groups is not only observable for me (call it demonic inspiration) and believe that this is also one of the reasons why newer games like WildStar have a hard time. All the major releases in recent years have a lot of work behind them, but the fierce competition tears established groups apart because they can satisfy each individual member – at least in the short term.
In the long run, it is the people who keep me in an MMO, especially those I have known for years. The more those people scatter across different games, the quicker I lose interest in a game. Perhaps it is not the games that are not good, but we humans with our social structures that cannot cope with this (too) large selection.
What do you think? Have you ever lost interest in a game because your friends moved on? What experiences have you had with your friend circles? Or are you still a close-knit group that always migrates together from game to game? Let me know in the comments!
