MMORPGs are full of clichés and things that players encounter time and again. Here we present the 5 biggest of these clichés.
The world of MMORPGs is vast and diverse. Whether you dive into World of Warcraft in the Shadowlands, lead the Sith Empire to former glory in Star Wars: The Old Republic, or pet some Khajiit behind the ears in The Elder Scrolls Online, there is always something to do and something new to accomplish.
However, all these games – and pretty much all other MMORPGs – have earned a reputation over the years for some clichés. We present the 5 biggest of them here.
You are the Chosen One! … But so is everyone else
MMORPGs often try to strike a balance. On one hand, the game must provide a great experience for groups and thousands of players simultaneously, who can meet and interact in the game world. On the other hand, telling an interesting story is important, because a good narrative can keep players engaged for a long time.
This inevitably leads to the story becoming increasingly heroic and glorious over time. What began as a small, unknown adventurer or traveler inevitably transforms into the Chosen One. Whether you become the “Champion” in WoW or you are the chosen Jedi who will overthrow the Sith Emperor – our characters are always great heroes sooner or later.
In the “personal” story, all other players are mostly just side characters who get lost in the mass of soldiers or adventurers while the player’s character is elevated to a pedestal. However, this rarely diminishes the strange feeling that it is somehow surprising when all twenty paladins next to me also carry the unique, legendary weapon meant only for the Chosen One.
A problem that none of the current MMORPGs have convincingly solved.
Fetch Quests that send you across the wilderness
The game worlds of MMORPGs are extensive. After all, one of the great appeals of this world is that you can completely lose yourself in it. While exploring on your own is often interesting, long errands can become a chore.
In almost every game, you find these errands. Time and again, our hero – who is actually the epic savior of an entire land – is exploited as a mail carrier. These are the so-called Fetch Quests.
So you meander through the game world for several minutes, trying to carve your way through unfamiliar maps, only to finally arrive at the camp at the “edge of the world” and report some guy about his wife’s troubles. This is usually rewarded with only a fraction of the experience points of a “real” quest.
This is particularly frustrating only when the errand ends with your character standing in a camp where there is nothing further to do, perhaps because the level is still insufficient. Then you want to slam your teeth deep into the keyboard and demand back the lost half hour.
At least: Most MMORPGs now offer shortcuts like mounts or the ability to teleport to the destination. But sometimes you just have to walk yourself – and that can be exhausting.
Women are healers. Always.
I’m sure that just reading the headline made you think of one or another lady from your guild or your environment, who always plays the dutiful healer in every dungeon or raid visit.
Why this cliché – and somehow also prejudice – has held up so well over the years is hard to say. The “urban legend” behind it is that guys introduced their girlfriends to MMORPGs and they wanted to play something that supports their partners. This quickly narrows the selection to a healer role.
And sure: These women exist. The caring guild nurse who guides all groups through the dungeons with her healing skills and perfectly embodies this cliché. Every female gamer cliché is fulfilled somewhere – the one for guys, by the way, too.
But then just think a little deeper. I bet you know just as many women who play tanks or cast spells at a distance to burn the enemies? That they always have to be mean, red-haired witches is another whole different cliché…
Drop rates that defy all logic
Many missions in MMORPGs are standard fare and follow a simple pattern. A few rogues need to be dealt with who have attacked the local farm. Or a plague of particularly large bears is causing chaos and must now be contained.
Particularly prominent examples of this category have long existed in World of Warcraft. For a long time, you were supposed to collect ears from trolls, only to become frustrated after a few minutes, finding that only every fifth troll has one or two ears. Looking even further back, in WoW Classic, there was the dreaded quest where players had to collect Zhevra hooves. Each of these animals actually has four of them. However, the developers probably found it funny to only give one to every fifth animal in the inventory.
A cliché that still holds today, even though the developers have become smarter. They no longer ask for troll ears, but for “well-preserved” or “beautiful” troll ears. At least they have a reason for why they are so rare.
The Free2Play transition after everything else has failed
A cliché that too often turns out to be the truth is the transition from a full-price title with a subscription model to Free2Play. Once expensive games with monthly costs become suddenly free after a few quarters and come with a cash shop or other optional purchasing options.
No wonder then that players have become increasingly critical of new subscription games. After many games have inevitably slipped into Free2Play, subscription costs for new games were scrutinized. After all, it was just additional acquisition costs for the game spread over several months – for a game that would soon be available for free anyway.
The list of games that have gone this route is long. Big titles such as Star Wars: The Old Republic have been affected just like WildStar. While some survived the “fall” and recovered (SWTOR), others had to shut down shortly thereafter (WildStar).
Only a few of the major MMORPGs still cling to their subscription model – the most famous are probably World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV. Most other MMORPGs have made the jump to Free2Play and now offer subscriptions only as a “bonus,” which then grants certain advantages.
Do you remember any more clichés from the realm of MMORPGs that you have noticed time and again? If not, you can search for them in the best Free2Play MMORPGs.
