September, 2010

I love video games.  I don’t think there’s anyone who knows me who wouldn’t agree with that statement.  I got hooked on Warcraft years ago, mostly for the social aspect, as I’m home by myself during the day and talking to the dogs is pretty much a one sided conversation unless I use the words bone or treat.

I’ve always looked at games as something to do to keep my mind active.  Logic puzzles, strategies, stat dispersement; all of these add to the fun because when you get them right, you get a reward.  I still love playing games, but something has changed.  I can’t say if it was just me getting older and being less tolerant of people, or if it was the community in general, but I finally closed my WoW account a few months back for the final time.  I know there’s an expansion coming at the end of the year, but honestly, I can’t get excited about it.  I’ve gotten a few characters to the level cap over the years, and I’ve deleted more than a few of them over time as well.  The thing with the game that bugs me now is that it’s less about the journey and all about getting to the top as quickly as possible so you can raid and get better gear.

I think I hit the wall when I realized I was gearing my character with equipment that wasn’t the best stats/bonuses for me but I was doing it because it was a higher level.  As far as the expansion excitement, I would like to see the new races and areas, but at the same time, I know that the majority of players are going to be flying through the content as quickly as possible to get back to that end game push.    I’ve also gotten tired of those people that are running content they’re over geared for, complaining about the players that have just started in an area.  Yes, you are “pwning” the meters, but you’re also wearing armor with a +9000 bonus and we’re all wearing +5 to suffering and ridicule.  There’s only so much of that combined with the trash talk that I want to deal with in a day.

A few months ago, my husband started playing Lord of the Rings Online again, and I decided to join him.  He’s definitely the casual gamer in the family, while I spent the better part of a year raiding end game content on my druid.  He putters around, crafting, questing and generally exploring a game and is content to just play and have fun.  Something in that idea has rubbed off on me recently.  I think it was the fact that the community there was so different from what I was used to.  Yes there is end game raiding, and there are those guilds that push to be first to complete boss kills etc., but it was refreshing to ask a question and get actual answers rather than the standard “Gah nub, l2p already.”

I have to say that I thought it was because the gameplay centers around an established story, and maybe the players are a bit older and more mature, that I was starting to have fun again.  It was refreshing to not feel rushed to get through the content.  Stopping along the way to goof off and do silly events was part of the agenda for most of the players, and there are quite a few now that will sit around while they’re working on crafting skills or gathering materials to sell, and will take the time to help out new players.

At first I thought the community vibe in LotRO was unique, but a few weeks ago I installed the free to play version of Everquest 2 and created a character there.  Funny enough, the community is very similar to the Lord of the Rings players.  Generally people are helpful and fun to chat with, which in turn makes the game more enjoyable.  I’m starting to question whether it is me being old and less tolerant, and more a matter of the type of players who gravitate to different games.  I find it interesting that some communities have found a collective voice and are able to police themselves to keep things from getting out of hand, while others are a verbal free for all where you end up ignoring half the players online at any given time, just to get a break from the spew that runs endlessly in the chat channels.

I’m curious about opinions on this one, feel free to add to the discussion…