What has playing MMO's taught you about yourself?

LuC1ll3atTh3Wh33L

I like steak. Sometimes I like it with A-1 sauce. I like pork, sometimes with bbq sauce. I like chicken, sometimes with a nice hearty zesty lemon sauce. I also like...you see where I'm going with this? I've been enjoying steak, pork, chicken and even some fish for more than 8 years. I go back and forth, depending on what I'm hankering (for a hunk of cheese?).
I've seen countless comments about must have "new content" or about how the "new content" is just a re-washed version of some older content. I have to wonder sometimes if some folks just like to complain, although tbh at my age I know some people do. I don't have to wonder. I enjoy this game and all it's content. Some of it I don't play unless there's an event w/exp boost attached but it's nice enough for me to know fish is still on the menu.
Since I started participating in MMO's some 20-odd years ago I've had to learn some hard truth's about myself. The hardest? I suffer from FOMO. IMO playing MMO's is a lot like eating an elephant (proverbially). Believe me when I tell you I've choked down some un-tasty elephant.

Necrotech_Master

the 2 key things ive learned:

1. my friends all hate me for how generally lucky i am with RNG
2. if i get into a game i like, i will play it up to the minute the servers tick off (did this with city of heroes, i even stayed up till 3 am even though it was a worknight to be in game until the servers shut off because i enjoyed the game so much)

Gaeliannas

I learned (or maybe just grew mellower with age), that I don't enjoy being a try hard, which I did for many years in MMO's. Been there done that with the raids, back when they could take 12+ hours with 50 of your closest friends, have killed many of the end game bosses, etc as well in most games.

Now I like to chill, poke about, accomplish some character growth, make some gold, and collect stuff. Generally things I can do on my own at my own pace. I also PVP, which falls into the chill category for me, as there is not a lot of pressure for the most part, just fun running around killing and being killed, with no consequence's and earning boatloads of AP while doing it.

I also like Steak, Pork & Chicken as well!

Kiralyn2000

1. I have no interest in "boss fight" (TERA really hammered that lesson in, with it's groups of generic/overland grindable mini-bosses)

2. I fall into "keep coming back to do the daily chores" gameplay loops too easily (and f2p games make it even easier, since you don't have to re-sub to come back to them. You just need to see an announcement of an interesting event or content drop to get pulled back in.) ESO, STO, Fallout 76...

3. I dislike PvP
3a. I'm not competitive.

hexnotic

it has taught me that i have little patience for those who can't do their job

Sylvermynx

I'm a renegade: I've played single player RPGs since the pencil and paper D&D days in the mid 70s. I play MMOs (WoW, RIFT, and now ESO) because the problem with SPMR games is they're static (yes, even Skyrim, with all those player crafted quest mods, is static after you've done them all several times) and MMOs change with every content release.

I'm quite patient - I will log in every day on however many characters I'm crafting and researching on (mains plus a couple others each on two accounts, both PC megaservers). I'm not really a combat oriented person - I'd far rather have XP from diplomacy, intervention - I love the "lost dog" sort of quests.

I don't have much interest in events any more - except for Jubilee. But I no longer have the sheer grit to run 4 mains and 60 alts through crafting writs every day. I have the time, yes.... but not the interest at this point.

And I really enjoy the outfit system, and housing.

So - I'm not a hard core anything. I'm far too old for that!

whitecrow

I am intrepid explorer.

WhyMustItBe

I enjoy projecting stories and ideas onto virtual avatars.

I enjoy theory crafting mechanics and figuring things out in general.

I LOATH gambling, predatory marketing, and the insatiable push to micro-monetize every pixel.

[snip]

I believe the insatiable grasping at ever-increasing short-term profit over long-term quality and meaning is humanity's greatest weakness, and will probably see our civilization become just another statistic of the Fermi Paradox.

[snip]

[Edit for real world religion.]

LostHorizon1933

I’m actually fundamentally decent. Even in the game, I don’t like to steal. I even avoid trespassing missions.

Since I’m male but prefer female characters, i’ve learned that sometimes you make yourself look nice just for yourself, and not to impress anyone else.

And I learned the sad truth of Adam Strange. This was a DC comics hero who would periodically travel to the distant planet Rann via something called a Zeta Beam. He would have great adventures there, but then the beam would wear off, and he would find himself back on boring plain old earth.

If that feeling is familiar to you, then I don’t need to explain.

AcadianPaladin

I'm a soloist and play ESO for its mass and scale; that it is multiplayer is a drawback I live with. And indeed, I hate the constant nerfing and buffing of skills in a futile attempt at 'balance' (which as a soloist I don't care about). That said, what I have learned in a positive vein from this foray from sp to mp is that my elf has quite a nurturing streak and, when she rarely does group, rather enjoys healing. I also must admit that I kind of like the fact that the world is dynamic and does not stop for my character or remain constant.

Vevvev

Gaming is not as fun alone. If I can't play a game with others I don't want to play it at all even if it's good.

LuC1ll3atTh3Wh33L

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I also must admit that I kind of like the fact that the world is dynamic and does not stop for my character or remain constant.

That right there is what first drew me into MMO's. I looked forward to seeing how other players might have an impact on my play. Good or bad.

I also found how well MMO's fed my anti-social nature. There are times when I play just so I can be anti-social.

Kesstryl

Biggest lesson for me was to not knock others' play preferences. When I first starting playing MMOs way back in the golden age of Everquest 2 and Star Wars Galaxies, I used to think it was odd when males played female alts, or that anyone would want to play something opposite gender (wasn't against LGBTQ people and was fine with them being whatever gender they wanted, but didn't get everyone else). Back then I equated my character as being me the player somehow, something learning to role play later stopped me from doing. Then my whole view changed when I made my first male character, and as a heterosexual female and I was like, "Hey that's some nice eye candy to look at, I totally get this now!"

Now I usually have an equal number of male and female characters, and they are each their own person with individual characteristics, living their own lives which I happen to tag along with when I game with them, and none of them are a projection of me like my characters were in my early gaming days. I truly became a role player in my head and heart.

I also find it hard to be mean to good NPCs. I can't simply see them as a game mechanic. I play the game through the eyes and personality of my character and what they would do or not do, and most of my characters are either lawful good, neutral good, or even chaotic good. That means I feel bad if I kill a good character, LOL, or an innocent (turning off attacking innocents is a must for me as I don't currently play DB or TG content). I guess I can't be mean to pixel people, LOL.

Sylvermynx

Vevvev wrote: »

Gaming is not as fun alone. If I can't play a game with others I don't want to play it at all even if it's good.

Eh, I don't have any use at all for others in my gaming. Not my thing at all.

Toxic_Hemlock

Mindlessly slaughtering npcs and monsters is REALLY REALLY fun....

Must have something to do with pent up anger, but as I am not a psychologist, nor do I want one, I can't tell you.

Edit: spelling, I'm just waking up.

Abigail

Absolutely remarkable how much I see myself in preceding sentiments.

At my core, I'm a fundamentally honest person; while I've tried playing thieves and assassins in this game -- many times -- I simply cannot. Many is the level-50 character I've deleted because their intended behaviors did not correspond with my innate desire to do good and kind things.

So, too, has this game and its lore solidified my resolution that the mortal coil upon which our human spirit resides does not extend beyond our earthly and tangible existences. Thus, while my characters strive for goodness, they are also stoic with regard for the gods of Tamriel. As I am want to do, they will tolerate, even defend others' spiritual convictions, but their behavior is not informed by any superstition or myth.

While my characters and I may quip colorfully that we have lived by chance, nothing could be less correct. Neither perfidious chance nor the pointed chaos of random number generation are commodious traveling companions. We are obsessive planners and will invariably oppose foes most systematically. RNG in this game, like engaging in unpredictable enterprises in real life, is something I will forever cross the proverbial street to avoid, even when rewards merit increased risk.

The pathway upon which I trek is beyond 80 years. In my sojourn I've unceasingly sought the far horizons. I was one of the original sky marshals, a deputy sheriff, US Marine, teacher of History, newspaper editor, and writer of prose and poetry. Married for 43 years, I successfully saw two children into their majority. I did as I wanted with little regard for peer approval, and dare I say success was a frequent visitor. I learned rather early in this game, and others preceding, that they do not define me in any respect whatsoever.

katanagirl1

This being my first MMO, I played it because I ran out of things to do in Oblivion and Skyrim.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like it but decided to give it a try. It took a while to get used to dozens of other players running around and jumping and doing crazy and sometimes stupid stuff around me all the time. It took a while to get used to being able to walk through other players!

My goal was to do everything solo that I could. I have done much more than that. I still play solo almost all the time but I enjoy group play sometimes.

What have I learned? I actually love PvP when our faction can get their act together and play together. I love housing too, didn’t think I would really be interested in that. Sometimes I just like farming mats and listening to the game music in my favorite zone.

Chadak

Playing MMO's since the original Ultima Online release has taught me a lot of things about myself, but that implies a lot of discovery of things that were already established. There has been some of that, but much moreso have been the traits and tendencies I've developed because of playing MMO's.

Chief amongst them is that I have grown to psychopathically loath the sensation of my time being disrespected/wasted. I don't consider the activities I chose to engage with to be a waste if I could at least learn something from them, but when other entities take actions or refrain from actions that culminate in a sensation of my time being wasted?

Look out. I'm 'bout to yeet something out a figurative window, be it a game, some other piece of media or a whole company's array of products.

I can never get time back. I can get more money. I can get new/other/different computer hardware. While I wouldn't be appreciative of my money or my stuff being abused, I can get more money and stuff; those are replaceable commodities.

I can never get time wasted in unnecessarily long queues or on negligently-dilated load times back. MMO studios and developers count *their* time in labor metrics and hours billable, but our time as consumers is typically treated like river water in the early industrial era - an infinite resource that exists just to abuse and dump all over.

I understand better than many what the limitations of the technologies involved are, and I do not include tech limitations in my measure of that which feels like an egregious waste of my time.

Abuse of my time through negligence, incompetence, and cheapness are all circumstances that I am quite sensitive to, and MMO's taught me to be more than everything else in my life combined.

No other service or product that I've ever been a consumer of has treated me so poorly and with such flagrant disregard.

No other service or product that I've yet encountered in my personal life has sought with such cavalier intensity to waste my time as have the people that collectively think that it is their job to waste all of our time on nonsense that doesn't amuse or entertain us in any way, shape or form.

The goal of a game, for the player, is to have fun. Well, they don't want to make a fun product because fun is difficult and complicated. They want to make addictive repetitions and to create atmospheres of negative reinforcement that make you constantly feel the anxiety to complete a series of menial tasks rather than anything resembling genuine enjoyment.

The creators of these games do not wish to entertain us, and if they do, that is an irrelevant interest on their part because what they're going to care about is money. Any dev or other creative laborer that works on these games is shackled to the shareholder unless they're a non-public entity, and then they're still almost certainly going to be shackled with equal absolution to the greed of the C-suite all the same, and to the exact same effect.

MMO's have taught me not to get invested in MMO's, or indeed to any other form of media that is using my entertainment as a form of bait rather than the point.

Anything that is not made with the sincere, leading and primary intention of being a good product that I, the consumer, should want on its own merits? I don't let myself care about it that much. I don't get invested too much in it.

This MMO is a convenient way for me to toodle around in an Elder Scrolls environment and enjoy what there is to enjoy.

If it disappeared tomorrow, it wouldn't leave a hole in m ylife because I'm just not that invested in it. The entire basis for engagement between myself and Elder Scrolls Online is that they get my measly amount of money every month because I do indeed like to be subscribed when I play, and I get a modicum of Elder Scrolls entertainment out of the time I spend putzing around in game.

This is not an environment I hold dear. This is not a platform I have built strong or deep connections to in any other area of my life, and I absolutely never will; that would be utter folly from my perspective.

Why? Because ESO was not designed to be a good game that I should want to play on its own merits.

It exists, per the design intentions of its creators and its sponsors, to trick me into spending as much money as possible in the crown store. That's it. There is no other pertinent fact to add to that one-item list.

I'm sure there are plenty of developers who have brought their passionate desires for the game to be an enjoyable game into the mix whenever they could squeeze that in there as well, but let us not be naive - that was, is and shall always be the guiding intention that always winds up on the cutting room floor when it's time to go over budgets.

Making this be the best online-format of an Elder Scrolls game it can be? That was never an option from day one. It was never going to be that; it was never intended to be that. It was, is and shall always be an investment on the parts of its investors, and if you find your fun in it somewhere, that's the best you can hope for with MMO's.

They exist to waste your time, to annoy you into spending money to buy relief from the annoyance and to plague you with unfinished-task anxiety so that you'll keep coming back. Every other intention that any developer or program manager or artist has ever had? Doesn't mean a thing to anyone but them, really. Certainly isn't and will never be the point of any of this, though it bloody well should be.

Khenarthi

Coming strictly from single-player games, the only MMO I have played is ESO.

Playing this game I discovered I still prefer playing solo and hate it when people race me to nodes/chests/bosses, but the occasional RND with PUG can be very rewarding particularly if the others are new players (as opposed to steamroller, speed running people who have no respect for other player's speeds or quest steps).

phaneub17_ESO

I like cat people.

Paulytnz

1st thing I learnt was that EVERY MMO is always dying, even on it's very first day. So just don't even bother playing them dudes, not worth it........

Paulytnz

LuC1ll3atTh3Wh33L wrote: »

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I also must admit that I kind of like the fact that the world is dynamic and does not stop for my character or remain constant.

That right there is what first drew me into MMO's. I looked forward to seeing how other players might have an impact on my play. Good or bad.

I also found how well MMO's fed my anti-social nature. There are times when I play just so I can be anti-social.

This is similar to when I first started playing MMO's 20 odd years ago. It was the fact you could play a game with other people in it. Furthermore it was with people usually half way across the world from me, so I was getting to learn other cultures somewhat too. Of course the bad came with that too - toxicity - even before it had that label.

But the fact that I could type something into my computer and have someone else see that who is half way around the world and actually respond back to it with in mere seconds - was just ground breaking in gaming for me.

BTW I believe the term you mean is "unsociable" and not "anti social". It really gets on my nerves when people mix these up and label me as the latter when really it's the first.

Unsociable - you don't really like to deal with other people if you can help it. More so in real life usually, but it can carry over into gaming. This is me.

Antisocial - a person who goes out of their way to ruin society/communities as much as they can for the thrills of it. Think trolls, criminals and even terrorists. I am assuming that this is not you in this game. Surely you do not mess with other people for jollies right?

Sorry I had to clarify that, I just hate being labelled the latter.

LuC1ll3atTh3Wh33L

Paulytnz wrote: »

BTW I believe the term you mean is "unsociable" and not "anti social". It really gets on my nerves when people mix these up and label me as the latter when really it's the first.

Unsociable - you don't really like to deal with other people if you can help it. More so in real life usually, but it can carry over into gaming. This is me.

Antisocial - a person who goes out of their way to ruin society/communities as much as they can for the thrills of it. Think trolls, criminals and even terrorists. I am assuming that this is not you in this game. Surely you do not mess with other people for jollies right?
.

I also enjoy the etymology of words and how dynamic language is. So many definitions for a single word and it all depends on context...irregardless.

Kitziboo

I stupidly avoided ESO for many years because it was multiplayer and I thought you needed other people to be able to play. It was a lack of new RPGs and the boredom of replaying my limited collection of favourites that made me take the plunge and it was the best decision ever. The world is so amazing and I can choose how much interaction I have, strictly without chat.

I’ve found that I care about other players. If I see anyone with low health, I’ll run over and heal them or help out in fights, I’ll hold back in delves and stay at a WB I just completed if someone turns up just after. I’ve opened chests for people struggling and guided many puzzled players to the annoying sky shard in Bahraha’s Tomb.

The most important thing I have learned as a shy person with low confidence, is to just give things a try. I initially thought that I wouldn’t be able to do PVP and dungeons as I have no tank, dps or healer characters and don’t understand crit/damage figures. I gave it a go because I wanted event tickets and can now solo the easier Undaunted dungeons and managed to get to 4th place in last months Grey Host (XEU) using my PVE main and even more surprising, I enjoy it thoroughly. The feeling of achievement is even more amazing when you thought it was impossible.

I’m also more Khajiit than human 😹

JARTHEGREY

Vevvev wrote: »

Gaming is not as fun alone. If I can't play a game with others I don't want to play it at all even if it's good.

Quite the opposite for me. I've learnt that I don't like collaboration, I don't like engaging with (real) people, I don't like joining groups or guilds then selling stuff for very over exaggerated prices because "I can".

Funnily enough - this applies to my work too.

Larcomar

That I need to get out more....

Mofasa

Long time MMORPG:er here. From Ultima Online to here and have played DAOC, Everquest, SWG (of course), RIFT, WOW and several more that I can't remember right now.

What I have learned that I'm a good boy, always standing up for others and helping them, makes me feel like an hero
Always an rebel fighting the establishment.. unless there is a good ruler.

I also play my chars through their lives, I'm just a spectator seeing going around doing good deeds and saving innocent people.
I like to see the NPCs as individuals with their own lives and history and I do love ESO for giving us some background and fitting surroundings.
In ESO I hate!!! seeing dead NPCs in the streets due to some greedy player have killed them after they have been caught while pick-pocketing.
It's usually street sweepers, lonely women and so on that lays dead in the street.
Killed by a player with more money than that NPC will ever have.
Killed by a player with so much more strength and power that they can kill big monsters.
The NPC have no chance, getting killed by greed.

I think I sound like a nut job now.. Oh Well

I do not like this ability at all in ESO and I have had my share of gaming sessions ruined simply by seeing innocent people laying dead in the cities.
Especially when I can not do anything about it.. if only ESO would implement the Justice system where players could hunt criminals..

I do most of my gaming alone and rarely any PVP unless forced to it in an event.
Dungeon running nowadays is boring due to all steamrollers.

Sinlar

When they are viewed in the context of a metaphorical mirror.
That you too can reflect.

Lysette

I learned that I don't like to play with random people - and I interact with not that many at all, and those have to be decent honorable and trustworthy people, most are not anything near to that, so no, I don't like to play with people. There are a few I play with, but I know them for more than a decade from other games, I know their character and they are reliable, trustworthy and a pleasure to be with.

SammyKhajit

It’s nice to have other players in the game to observe/interact with or help each other out with dungeons, world bosses etc.

DarcyMardin

This is proving to be a really interesting question! I love reading other people’s responses.

I’ve not given a lot of thought previously about whether my gaming reflects my real life personality, but I guess it does, in some of the following ways:

* I’ve always loved games, beginning with card and board games back in day pre-computer days (I am 74). From Rogue in the early 80s, to Leather Goddesses of Phobos, the the early RPGs and Nintendo’s Zelda, gaming has been a major source of leisure time activity for me. Guild War I was my first MMO and I still have fond memories of that game.

*GW set an interesting pattern — I mostly played alone, except when forced to group. I’m an introvert IRL, too. I was happy to use GWs “henchies” and later, the more adept AI “heroes” to form my own one human plus several AI companions groups. I did join various guilds, and make a few in-game friends, but I can only think of one person whom I remained in touch with for any length of time outside of the game (other than my husband, who also played).

*It isn’t that I don’t like other folks; in fact, I love to see others in game, maybe chat a bit, hear about what they enjoy or how they play. But I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to do things myself. And I love to explore and do stuff at my own pace. I don’t get lonely because my mind is always occupied with something — I find the world a fascinating place and there is always something new to learn. My real life has reflected this, too, with much travel, exploration, embracing of other languages and cultures, and high-level learning and teaching. Especially in my younger years.

*In LOTRO, the next MMO that I spent years playing, I made more friends, in part because I played a healer in a top raiding guild. But I wouldn’t call myself social, in game or in real life — I am a professional author and have spent much of my working life alone in front of a typewriter (initially) or a computer (for the last 40 years). I engage with friends mostly by phone or by social media. The pandemic shut-down affected my life far less than it affected most people — business as usual for me.

*In ESO, where I don’t raid (my reflexes aren’t what they used to be), I pretty much play alone, except my my husband and I duo dungeons. Our schedules don’t often mesh, though, so both of us solo a lot. I had great hopes for the companions when I heard about them, and I do use them. I’d like to see them made more powerful and I’d be happy to use more than one simultaneously. I’d be delighted if I could do all the game’s dungeons with a couple of companions.

*The things Iove about MMOs (and I’ve played many of the major ones, at least for a few weeks) have stayed the same — exploring the world, questing (especially when the story is great), making alts so I can learn as many play styles as possible. Min-maxing has never been a thing for me; I’m content to be a jack of all trades, master of none. I rarely get into the trading/making piles of gold game, but I do enjoy crafting. But I never seem to enjoy PvP.

*When I really dig a game, like GW I (GWII, not so much), LOTRO, ES III Morrowind, and ESO, which I’ve played since beta, I’ll stick with it for years. Doing content over is fun for me, especially if there’s a slightly different way to do it or a different outcome. I’m one of the folks who definitely did NOT want to see the achievements homogenized — I love my alts!

I believe it’s important to recognize that we all have different play styles and sources of pleasure in gaming. The folks who proclaim that “it’s an MMO so you’re *supposed* to play with other people and make friends” are only looking at the game from their own perspective. There are many ways of playing — let’s give each other the room to do our own thing.