MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz took a look again after a long break at two online role-playing games on Steam, with which he had a lot of fun. The return was painful in both cases.
Which games are we talking about?
- Where Winds Meet was one of the best games of the year for me in 2025, which is why I joyfully even played it through twice at launch. In June, after a long break, I finally had some time to take a look at the latest expansion – or so was the plan.
- Also, Throne and Liberty has received a new expansion that significantly expands the scope of the MMORPG. At launch in October 2024, I had my share of fun with the game for a few weeks. With the first expansion, I leveled my character to the new maximum level last year. After the launch of “The Frozen Divide: Nix,” I wanted to see again what had changed since my last visit.
Spoiler: Although I enjoyed the two online role-playing games at their respective launches and was looking forward to returning, the reunion in both cases was above all: frustrating.
Less is more
What is the problem? Where Winds Meet and Throne and Liberty can be nicely put together here because I faced comparable pain points in both games – and these pain points are unfortunately very typical for online role-playing games from Asia. I’ve noticed similar issues in games like Lost Ark in recent years.
So when I logged back into Where Winds Meet or Throne and Liberty after a long break, I found the following in both games:
- Welcome screens with information about the numerous ongoing events, battle passes, and shop offers
- Interfaces full of red dots indicating collectible rewards or important updates
- A mailbox full of messages from the developers, with countless additional rewards that I automatically earned during the break or with which the developers want to make amends for, for example, server downtime
- Countless unfamiliar menu windows for new progression systems, through which numerous new rewards can be unlocked
In both cases, it easily took about 2 hours until I had looked at everything, collected all rewards, and equipped my character with the most important upgrades. But even after that, I couldn’t really dive fully into the gameplay.
As soon as I took a few steps and completed a quest, it flashed and blinked at every corner. Level up! In several progress paths, new rewards rained down, and other red dots suddenly indicated newly mastered achievements. Once again, I spent several minutes in the menus. Unfortunately, this had nothing to do with fun.
Twice as bitter is: This type of experience is fundamentally exacerbated in Asian online role-playing games by the attempt to quickly bring returnees and newcomers to the latest content through numerous parallel events, reward systems, and progression aids.
Or to put it another way: The developers want to make my return easier and achieve the exact opposite through the mass of systems and rewards: I feel equally lost and overwhelmed; I just want to play but have to wade through menus forever.
Of course, Western online role-playing games also struggle to bring returnees and newcomers on board. Especially if they have been expanded with new content over many years. However, I can get back into WoW, ESO, or Guild Wars 2 much faster than with their Asian counterparts.
In any case, Where Winds Meet and Throne and Liberty have now definitely lost me.
I am very curious to see how upcoming Asian titles like Aion 2, ArcheAge Chronicles, Chrono Odyssey, or Honor of Kings: World will manage this balancing act. After all, these games often have many other typical errors or peculiarities that repeatedly clash with Western MMO fans.
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