MMOs are often filled with secrets. We want to know from you: Do you like searching for them or do they feel like a tedious chore?
Secrets – Annoying Chore or Exciting Variety?
In a time where more and more game content is presented to gamers on a platter and tools like a “content finder” have become commonplace in the gaming world, secrets in MMORPGs are becoming increasingly significant. The hidden little details that give the game a very special touch and perhaps reveal more of what is becoming less popular with the mass audience: lore secrets, quiet places, and more details about the game world.
Games like Guild Wars 2 are bursting with hidden locations, such as the numerous jumping puzzles where you often have to invest several hours of gameplay just to find the entrance to the labyrinth. If you don’t feel like constantly searching for these things yourself, you can simply ask Google and have the problem solved in just 3 clicks. Today we want to know from you: How do you deal with secrets in the game? Do you search for them yourself or do you consult a guide for help?
Cortyn says: I really enjoy secrets in games. A good example of this are the lootable treasures introduced with Mists of Pandaria in World of Warcraft. They were small, hard to discover, and you could easily finish the addon without discovering a single treasure. In Warlords of Draenor, it lost some of its magic – there were many more treasures, and most of them were located in obvious positions. You also rarely had to search long, as a specific map could display all treasures.
Anyone who didn’t want to search simply used an add-on that revealed all locations. That had nothing to do with a real “secret,” especially after it became a requirement for flying.
For me, secrets, even very small ones, are a great incentive to play. I get excited when I find things that I know only a small portion of the players will see. It doesn’t even have to be tied to a special reward; often the prospect of a hidden place or two lines of additional NPC dialogue is enough to motivate me to keep looking for secrets in every nook and cranny in my next game.
But now let’s talk about you! What do you think of secrets in MMORPGs? Do you grab a guide and check them off to get it over with? Do you prefer to explore on your own? Or do you search until you find nothing more and then turn to the internet for help? Discuss with us in the comments!
