Biggest Looser in the Galaxy

[thanateros]

I recently read an article in PC Gamer (March 2004 I think) describing a group of people the play Star Wars: Galaxies and do nothing but play music in cantina's and beg for money. I'm sorry, even though I'm a huge computer game fan something about forking over 50 bucks and then spending an additional 15 a month to continuously click 'play instrument' just seems wrong. For that kind of money I'd go develop some sniping skills or tickle some Jawa's in Mos Eisley.

 

So does anyone else know of sad and pathetic MMORPG stories where people throw their money away to lead existentialist PC lives?

[vandorssen]

I think I made myself rather clear on how I personally feel about these MMPRPGs in this thread. Over all I think they are a waste of money, and a poor one at that. For the price of two month's subscription, I could go out and buy a whole other game. That simply is not a good value, regardless of how good the game is. I personally will loose interest in a game after the “new toy” feeling has worn off, usually after a month. But, a short while later, I will gain interest again. For me to continue paying for something that I am not using, but might choose to use again later, is almost heresy.

[Zmid]

I personally will loose interest in a game after the “new toy” feeling has worn off, usually after a month. But, a short while later, I will gain interest again.

That was more or less what I thought - until I started playing some. Before, my record for a game holding my interest was two months. Now, I have been playing Eve Online since early December and I still play it (though, admittedly, not quite as often).

 

For me to continue paying for something that I am not using, but might choose to use again later, is almost heresy.

 

Actually, a lot of MMOGs keep your character(s) on their servers for a few months after you stop paying your subscription, so you can take breaks from playing without losing anything in the game, or paying for a service you're not using.

 

So does anyone else know of sad and pathetic MMORPG stories where people throw their money away to lead existentialist PC lives?

 

Well, I think someone would have to go some to beat this for total pointlessness and sadness - in Eve Online, there is an in-game web browser which requires web pages to be done in a special format to be compatible. Someone went to the trouble of making a porn site in this special format, so it was viewable in the in-game browser, and also made a pay-per-view section that you could access by paying in ISK, the game's currency!!!! :o :blink:

[Dark0ne]

Someone went to the trouble of making a porn site in this special format, so it was viewable in the in-game browser, and also made a pay-per-view section that you could access by paying in ISK, the game's currency

 

I don't know - the concept is actually quite clever, minus the porn side and maybe make it a pay-per-view of, say, gimmicks or creating some sort of trading website with a small fee on all transactions would actually be a clever idea - especially if it's an ingame function. Hell, would be even better if they had a booky system where you could bet on big matchups and PK events! :)

 

(Does that make me a loser? :blink: )

[Marxist ßastard]

That isn't pathetic, that's a smart business decision. He has an asset that is the fruit of a one-time effort, and perhaps an update once a week or so, that is probably bringing in currency daily. Such a practice is far removed from what Thanateros described, for the guy that gains the profit from this service can, for the most part, do whatever he wants beside that.

 

Edit: Damn, Darky beat me to it...

[Zmid]

I don't know - the concept is actually quite clever, minus the porn side and maybe make it a pay-per-view of, say, gimmicks or creating some sort of trading website with a small fee on all transactions would actually be a clever idea - especially if it's an ingame function. Hell, would be even better if they had a booky system where you could bet on big matchups and PK events! :)

That isn't pathetic, that's a smart business decision. He has an asset that is the fruit of a one-time effort, and perhaps an update once a week or so, that is probably bringing in currency daily. Such a practice is far removed from what Thanateros described, for the guy that gains the profit from this service can, for the most part, do whatever he wants beside that.

 

:lol: - getting it in stereo. I suppose you have a point there, but porn????? Considering you can only view it through the in-game browser, and that he would only benefit by getting fictional currency, it just seems sad to me. But maybe that's just me. ^_^

[drowst]

I started playing MMORPG back when they were text only. Part of it was the fantasy settings, part the "changing universe", and part was the community. I've kind of burned out on them these days, after too much time playing EQ then DAOC. I still played solo games at the same time. For me it all boiled down to what entertained me. If I was playing a really good solo game, great. If I was deep into EQ or DAOC, that was great too. On the business side, lets not forget that in its heyday, EQ had a community of folks who lived of leveling a character and then selling it on EBay. Occured to some extent on DAOC too. Paying real money for ingame characters and objects seems kinda funny, but a lot of folks did it.

[Shakkara]

Lame behavour? In UO there were those guys just standing in front of the bank and bowing... :blink:

 

And yes, MMORPGs? You mean Multiplayer Massively Overpriced Roleplaying Game right?

[Slaiv]

I don't play MMORPGs except for Runescape, and only then because it's free and more in depth than most payed-for ones. This leads to my point. I would play MMORPGs if they were actually finished [Gasp]. Most MMORPGs are so awfully set up, with unintersting and lacking combat engines, poor graphics, little to no storyline, etc....

 

And don't forget the dicks who PK noobs for fun.

[Blackmage]

I've played Everquest for a few years, but quit due to boredom and lame groups. I plan to play World of Warcraft, and even have a functioning guild for it. The way I see it, the game is so massive and consumes a lot of time. 10 - 12 bucks a month is worth something that will consume my boredom time.

 

look at it this way:

 

A new game = $40

Roughly 25-35 hours of gameplay

 

MMO - $12 a month for as many hours as you can/want to play?

 

MMO is better imho.