03-18-2010, 03:57 PM
Slamz Wrote:The next big, successful game will have to innovate. We aren't addicted. We are the opposite of addicted. We're bored!
I tend to disagree. The Purge is bored, but gamers are addicted. I think we are a different batch of gamer, middle aged working professionals with a very low threshold for bullshit. We've been around playing these games for over a decade now and we can smell the bullshit a mile away. We also are simply limited by time, which college kids and young adults have much more of.
But think about all those college kids, young adults, and the socially inept and there's a hugely addictive mentality there waited to be mined for money. There is no doubt in my mind that MMO's are designed to keep a player addicted and continually paying a monthly fee. WoW took that to a ridiculous level. They even copied what worked from other games to keep players paying.
I was definitely addicted to EQ and WoW. I specifically remember you as a player Slamz and you were always on the outside of the addicts. You cared more about gameplay skill and PvP, and you never got into the High End game that required hours of instance clearing. I wasnt as much of a "cool shiny thing" reward player in EQ than I was in WoW, (tho i still remember the hours I spent trying to farm a fungal tunic) but in WoW I was in 2 different raiding guilds after the Purge and I was an addict. We raided 4 days a week and each night was at least 4 hours farming the same dungeons over and over again for shiny trinkets. I got to a point where I was pretty much maxed out on the best DPS gear for a warrior...and then the expansion pack came out rendering all that shit useless. That was probably the breaking point for me.
In any event, don't discount the gaming companies and what they will do to keep you paying a fee, and don't discount the market that is out there of people who are addicts and crave these games as some sort of personal worth. We're older and wiser, but most people aren't. there are still 11.5 million people playing WoW and the game is over 5 years old now.