MMORPGs not my cup of tea anymore

Dorreah

Hey guys,
I got sort of feeling recently... mmorpgs are not so much fun anymore. It is more like work - and it is only my oppinion. Playing for stats, for experiences in shortest time, builds, fast daily quests... it is like go to work in game. Maybe i am going back to offline gaming, because there you can feel bigger immersion of rpg magic. I know, mmos are not suitable for full rpg experience, like witcher or divinity... but i am sick of this guild chat only for profit and looking for the right people not to feel like total crap because i am not playing lastest or the best build for my class. So this is i quit eso for a while (and all mmos). Dont take it wrong, I love these big worlds with so much opportunities but... sometimes you need a break. Anyone has sometime same feelings?
Have a nice game anyway!

BretonMage

I feel the same way. This is actually the only MMO I've played, but I've noticed it does feel a lot like work. You log in daily to do your chores. You have sales quotas to meet. You have to train regularly to meet minimum combat standards.

The only difference is that you pay them to do this work. It's a very bizarre kind of "fun" I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

Lieblingsjunge

Then we're playing a different game.

I'm logging on daily and doing different things. Whether that's Trading, PvPing, PvEing or farming materials/nodes or otherwise keeping myself busy. Also duelling and standing around in a city roleplaying is fun. Decorating a house is fun.

Sure, I do my crafting writs daily, but they don't feel like a chore. I don't *HAVE* to do them. It's just a nice way to make some moneyZ. But by bar not needed.

And then you're also around the wrong people. Find a laidback, social guild. There's a few on EU at least that does laidback PvE, PvP and just all-around socialising with each other. Funsies.

MMO is it's own genre, so ofc it's gonna feel different than your single player games.

Bouldercleave

BretonMage wrote: »

I feel the same way. This is actually the only MMO I've played, but I've noticed it does feel a lot like work. You log in daily to do your chores. You have sales quotas to meet. You have to train regularly to meet minimum combat standards.

The only difference is that you pay them to do this work. It's a very bizarre kind of "fun" I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

I don't do any of that. The only daily chore I do is feed my horse because it takes an ASININE amount of time to train it up. What other "chores" do you feel required to do?

Sales quotas? If that is the case, perhaps you are just in the wrong guild - or type of guild.

Train to meet minimum combat standards? wut?

I log in, feed the horse, chat with the guild for a few, throw down some quests or dolmens or just explore and mat farm, put some stuff for sale, say goodnight to my guildies, then log out.

If it feels like work, you are doing it wrong.

Genomic

I think part of the problem is the techniques MMO devs use to keep people playing. You simply can't provide enough real content to keep people playing for years, so most of the gameplay design is keeping people running on that treadmill. So MMOs, by nature, are fundamentally structured around the grind (moreso than SP games that are typically designed for at most a couple of months of gameplay).

ArchMikem

If you think the only way to succeed in the game is to keep chasing the meta, then youre doing it wrong. I haven't changed my builds in over a year cause they still work, and they dont use Trial sets. I only grind when i choose to and you dont need to find that good guild to profit. Sure it all helps but its not needed.

If you burnt out that's fine, i have too at times, its just a game. But remember that it really is just a game. It only becomes a job because of the people that make it one.

Danikat

If you're feeling that way then I think you're absolutely right to take a break.

But I will say MMOs don't have to be like that (and single player games can be treated that way too). It is easier to get drawn into it when there's other people right there in your game showing off what they've achieved and rushing to do more and demanding you have the right build and the right DPS and whatever else. But it is possible to ignore all that and just play.

When you think you might want to come back try playing solo, or join a small casual guild and just play for the sake of it without thinking what you're going to achieve. Do the kinds of things you'd do in single-player games, whether that's focus entirely on the story or make weird themed builds that maybe aren't efficient but are fun, or just go wandering off across the wilderness and explore.

It might take some getting used to, but it can also be a lot of fun to play like that and have the bonus of other people around to share it with.

Mayrael

Well first MMORPGs I have played were more about RPG, now it's more about MMO but its not because of games. ESO is the best MMO when it goes to RPG aspect I have ever played, but it's me who have changed...and this will be the case for many of us. It's a lot harder for me to sink into the plot, feel the story like I did ears ago. Adult life in many cases kills the imagination, mine is still here but with each ear its harder to use it It makes me really sad

RedRook

Danikat wrote: »

If you're feeling that way then I think you're absolutely right to take a break.

But I will say MMOs don't have to be like that (and single player games can be treated that way too). It is easier to get drawn into it when there's other people right there in your game showing off what they've achieved and rushing to do more and demanding you have the right build and the right DPS and whatever else. But it is possible to ignore all that and just play.

When you think you might want to come back try playing solo, or join a small casual guild and just play for the sake of it without thinking what you're going to achieve. Do the kinds of things you'd do in single-player games, whether that's focus entirely on the story or make weird themed builds that maybe aren't efficient but are fun, or just go wandering off across the wilderness and explore.

It might take some getting used to, but it can also be a lot of fun to play like that and have the bonus of other people around to share it with.

^ This is great advice.

It's also smart to walk away if you're not having any fun. Part of the treadmill is the idea that the fun will start as soon as you've done X, you just have to get that out of the way first. MMOs in their current incarnation really are a strange kind of game, built like mazes to keep people in and focused on the game whether fun is happening, or not.

Dorreah

You guys are right, maybe I am messing with the wrong people to play. I just start to play it more casualy and try to find some social group just for fun. But maybe taking a break anyway, but thanks for you thoughts! Very helpful for me!

myskyrim26

I stopped doing any MMO activities in ESO. No daily "work" - crafting writs or daily quests, no gathering mats, no trade, etc.
I feel free and happy slowly doing quests. I don't even have to pay attention to my characters level - any level is fine for questing. So, I created a fearsome Orc and enjoy Orsinisum now. No sets, no builds - to Oblivion with them!

Gandrhulf_Harbard

BretonMage wrote: »

I feel the same way. This is actually the only MMO I've played, but I've noticed it does feel a lot like work. You log in daily to do your chores. You have sales quotas to meet. You have to train regularly to meet minimum combat standards.

The only difference is that you pay them to do this work. It's a very bizarre kind of "fun" I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

Yeah, for the first time in nearly a decade I have no MMORPG subs running at all.

Modern MMORPGs mistake "grind" for difficulty, and "repeatables" for actual content.

Shame really.


All The Best

BretonMage

Bouldercleave wrote: »

BretonMage wrote: »

I feel the same way. This is actually the only MMO I've played, but I've noticed it does feel a lot like work. You log in daily to do your chores. You have sales quotas to meet. You have to train regularly to meet minimum combat standards.

The only difference is that you pay them to do this work. It's a very bizarre kind of "fun" I'm still trying to wrap my head around.

I don't do any of that. The only daily chore I do is feed my horse because it takes an ASININE amount of time to train it up. What other "chores" do you feel required to do?

Sales quotas? If that is the case, perhaps you are just in the wrong guild - or type of guild.

Train to meet minimum combat standards? wut?

I log in, feed the horse, chat with the guild for a few, throw down some quests or dolmens or just explore and mat farm, put some stuff for sale, say goodnight to my guildies, then log out.

If it feels like work, you are doing it wrong.

My trading guild is great, and I love them. But they do have a (low) minimum, and I've notice that all trading guilds in major areas have insane minimums or weekly fees. And I've noticed people do expect minimum DPS from DDs.

Of course, we can do as much or as little as we want in ESO, I'm not saying we're forced to do it. But if you want to be involved in the content, there are high levels of expectations and responsibilities that one does not find in RPGs.

Androconium

Dorreah wrote: »

Hey guys,
I got sort of feeling recently... mmorpgs are not so much fun anymore. It is more like work - and it is only my oppinion. Playing for stats, for experiences in shortest time, builds, fast daily quests... it is like go to work in game. Maybe i am going back to offline gaming, because there you can feel bigger immersion of rpg magic. I know, mmos are not suitable for full rpg experience, like witcher or divinity... but i am sick of this guild chat only for profit and looking for the right people not to feel like total crap because i am not playing lastest or the best build for my class. So this is i quit eso for a while (and all mmos). Dont take it wrong, I love these big worlds with so much opportunities but... sometimes you need a break. Anyone has sometime same feelings?
Have a nice game anyway!

If you avoid the high profile guilds with minimum sales targets; and dungeon runs with Uber grind-players; then that doesn't leave much else to do.

ZOS' ongoing QOL changes to increase your play time subsequently suck any remaining fun out whatever dregs are left.

I'm having more fun currently, by returning to Skyrim modding. At least my effort shows some rewards from learning more.

Fun is something that has been nerfed continually and it needs to stop.

Shantu

It's a game. If you're not logging in to have fun, then what's the point? Take a break. Life is short. Do something you enjoy.

Maggi12

i had the same feeling "work, not fun" when played lineage 2 long time ago, but it is korean mmo, it must contain grind and hardcore farming / trading.
When i started to play eso year ago i had a lot of fun and didnt thought about dailies/trading, etc. Then i started to create characters one by one.... to see how it is to play another class/build.... and now....
i have 15 maxed out chars and i spend a lot of time doing just dailes!!
so conclusion: we generate problems for ourselves.

Khumbu

MMOs have always been layers of fairly shallow grinds to keep people playing and allow the illusion of an 'infinite' game, the content buoyed by forming social bonds as you tackle challenges in the form of guilds, PuGs, etc. Even with innovations from back in the stoneage of EQ1, which honestly feels more like a modern survival game than MMOs in their current state, to the current MMO model of dailies, factions, etc. - it's all the same thing. You're playing the same game, doing the same stuff, over and over until either your fingers fall off or you get bored.

It's totally ok if that's not your thing anymore.

For me, before MMOs came out I would play all 3 of a favored game's save files to 100% just because I loved the game enough to play through already seen content over and over. So the MMO model is a lot of fun for me, especially the extra challenges modern endgame affords. I'm not happy with the state of the entire genre at the moment, as the grinds feel more transparent than ever and the focus on soloing is eroding the social factor, but that's a rant for another thread.

MartiniDaniels

Well, I may say I got quite opposite experience here.. i never played MMORPG before ESO. In last years, to take a break from MMO FPS I enjoyed replaying various great single-player stories from good old trio Beth-Blizz-Bioware.. But after ESO they all feel small, not-real, even Skyrim or Witcher don't feel so immersive like before.. because in ESO those are all real people everywhere and world is huge.. it's not scripted.. you are exploring some old overland where you don't see other player, well, for 10 minutes. .and then BUM he falls god know from where on chest you wanted to loot

Dungeons are just one huge amusement, especially random vets. And if you'll be honest there is no quest in W3 or Skyrim or GTA which is comparable by it's lore and mechanics to dlc dungeons.

MLGProPlayer

ESO is the only tolerable MMO for me.

AcadianPaladin

My elf played 4000 hours in Oblivion. Then she played 4000 hours in Skyrim. Really like the open world single player medieval fantasy rpg but, after a few years, these games became too . . . 'small'. So her home is, for the moment, in ESO. I love the beautiful world, massive scale and decent combat system. That the game is multiplayer is a drawback I deal with until what I want presents itself. So yes, I 'get' the mechanics drawbacks of MMO genre that very much include no mods and this frustrating fetish with balancenerfing. As far as other players, their presence is a minor distraction. With discipline and knowing how to say 'no', I am able to avoid getting pulled deeply into the world of herding cats, scheduling conflicts and social drama that I have found 'grouping' to be. I'm in the game to spend quality time with my elf - not with human players.

Abigail

Not so much.

I'm very much a solo artist. One of the things I like best about ESO is getting to do my own thing, on my terms. Some days I feel like just running around, gathering stuff. Today it was all about questing. Some days I do nothing but delves. I really like that ESO allows me to live in the world, with many different things to do. Playing strictly solo, I don't ever feel like I'm working toward someone else standards or schedule.

[Deleted User]

Hello everyone,

With goodbye posts being against the Forum Rules, we've gone ahead and closed this thread. Though we appreciate your constructive post stating your reasons for the break. We wish you much luck on your journey through other worlds!

Thank you for understanding.