This Will Blow Your Mind
I am sure exactly none of my readers are aware that World of Warcraft recently released a new expansion to their incredibly popular online role playing game. I am sure even fewer of you care (like some of you actively don't want to know). But I saw this comic and thought it was worth sharing for those few of you who have ever experienced the global insanity that is online RPGs.
This comes courtesy of the gaming comic Penny Arcade.
If you get the joke, right on. If you don't get it, basically the mechanics of these games are such that no matter how accomplished you are in the game, you'll always be tasked with doing stupid, repetitive stuff to get money or gain favor. Like always this expansion was delivered with great fanfare, offering realms and features only the truly advanced can reach, but the gameplay always remains the same.
OK. Fine. I am a dork.
But why? Why is the MMO model so damn successful? There's no fun in this stuff! They've created a whole new world (apparently called Northrend) and filled it with the same exact stuff that's everywhere else. And then they sell it for $30 (actually it's $40) and millions and millions of people will spend every free moment consuming this garbage. How is this possible?
Is this a symptom of the human condition? Are people satisfying their aching need for answers and their quivering fear of the uncertainties of life by submerging themselves in mindless pointing and clicking? Did we kill God only to replace him with a video game?
See, I got all deep and philosophical there. Bet you didn't see that coming!
5 comments:
Well, I mean, I get the joke, it's a funny cartoon, but I never really understand what people are expecting. I mean, the game mechanics are the game mechanics, they're not going to change, at least not as drastically as people seem to expect in this one video game genre.
What do you think is going to change? You think because you've advanced your character to level 80 or whatever you can stop killing enemies and grinding rep and switch to a minesweeper-based advancement system?
No one ever complains about this in other genres. No one ever complains that there's nothing to do in Madden '09 but play football over and over again.
I don't remember anyone getting mad playing Street Fighter when they played all the way to the end and it turned out that the whole game was one-on-one hand to hand combat with no 2-D platforming stages ala Mario or Sonic included.
I mean, if you don't like this genre, that's understandable, since they're basically just tiered treadmills you can run with your friends. But if you don't like them, don't play them. Don't complain that they are what they are. Yes, the expansion has many similarities to what's already in the game. They're not releasing a whole new game, they're introducing a new tier of treadmill. That's what the game is. That's all any game is really, most games just don't come with the same time commitment. By the time you realize it's just a treadmill grind, hopefully it's over.
For the record I don't actually play WoW. I play their non-union J.R.R. Tolkien-based equivalent. Man this comment is not only incredibly long, it's also incredibly nerdy. Ah well, it's not like it's a secret. I'm a nerd everyone.
I do not satisfy my aching need for answers and quivering fear of the uncertainties of life with video games. So, no, this is not a symptom of the human condition.
But, then again, I am the next stage in human evolution.
That's right, CBAM. Though we'll need to do some blood tests to be sure.
Kid, it's not so much that I don't like the style of game, it's just that with $40 million to spend, I don't think it's too much to expect a some innovation.
I wonder if it's harder than we think to innovate on this model. They've got all that money. But maybe the graphics engines being what they are, they can't do much else.
Like, is what they can't do this: innovate a puzzle as you're playing, and respond to what you do in a complex way (more complex than Choose Your Own Adventure books). Maybe with millions of players they actually have very little room for innovation. I've heard Tom describe many games, more specifically describe hope for a game then disappointment after it's out. I wonder if this isn't a constraint of video games in general. It seems like Sim City is the only game that can change in a complex way as you play and fool you. All the rest are 'follow a set path.' Do you think?
I think you're on to something, YSA. Though I think it's not the same as what I'm saying in my post it's definitely a criticism I agree with.
Video games bill themselves as being freer and more open than other forms of entertainment (like movies and books), but aside from the interactive element I don't think that they've moved too far ahead.
WoW and LoTR tell a story, a long, slow meandering story in which your character plays an important (though immensely redundant) role. You're the star of a movie, but the choices you make don't change the script. And that's disappointing to me.
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