Question about MMORPG's

[loinburger]

This question is for those who play MMORPG's, have played them, or know people who play them: What satisfies you about playing an MMORPG?

I am used to playing RPG's where there is a goal: kill the bad guy, save the world, and rescue the girl. I prefer non-linear to linear (FalloutII or Daggerfall, not Final Fantasy), but am by no means opposed to all linear RPG's (I quite enjoyed FF7, for example).

Well, I've seen people play MMORPG's (primarily Everquest), and fail to see much in them that I would enjoy. Whereas I am used to having an ultimate goal like "kill the bad guy, save the world, and rescue the girl," it appeared that those who I have seen play Everquest have the ultimate goal of "hit level 50" (or 55 or 60, or whatever it is now).

I'm not saying that this is a bad goal to have in a game, only that it is a goal that would fail to satisfy me. However, I'm wondering if I'm missing the big picture here. So, tell me: why do you (or why does somebody you know) play MMORPG's? What is your "goal"?

Note that "goal" doesn't necessarily mean "the thing that ends the game." I play Half-Life Team Fortress, and my "goal" in that game is to "help my team win the round (by capping more flags than the enemy, by taking the command center or defending the command center, whatever) while at the same time having a kill/loss ratio no less than 2/1." This is a "goal" in that it is how I evaluate my performace (and I gain enjoyment by meeting or exceeding the goal), not a "goal" in that the game ends if I meet these requirements.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by technophile
What satisfies you about playing an MMORPG?

Nothing. Which is why I no longer play them. I've played EverQuest, Asheron's Call and Ultima Online, none of them are actually Role Playing Games, they are all hack and slash, only about 0.05% of the player base roleplay. The rest of them either spend their time chating with each other, or questing for 'phat lewts' and exp. Heck, these MMORPGs make diablo look like a hard-core RPG.


I'll get into the specifics of each one though.


EverQuest

Pro:

• Good graphics.
• Detailed world.
• Large Selection of races and classes.

Con:

• World is broken into 'zones'.
• Levels are everything, you can not have any good adventures or do anything worthwhile with out being a high level.
• Very difficult to advance in levels.
• No open PvP.
• Very linear character development.
• Fixed monster spawns and item drops.
• Handicaped roleplaying due to the lack of open PvP, the linear atmosphere of the game, and also the games focus on hack'n'slash.

Asheron's Call

Pro:

• A very large and open world, featuring vast wilderness and dungeons, with out any 'zones'.
• Non-linear character development.
• Randomly generated loot, in the style of Diablo.
• Unique game setting, with original monsters, races ect...

Con:

• Even though the game setting is unique, it is very poor. The monsters are not very good and lack variety and character, and the races are basically: Mid-East human, European human, and Asian human.
• Poor combat system.
• Unoriginal spells and very poor magic system.
• Poor graphics.
• No open PvP.
• Not a very good roleplaying atmosphere, due to the shody graphics and poor game setting.

Ultima Online

Pro:

• Very open character development.
• An atmosphere and game engine that allows for roleplaying.
• Useful trade skills.
• Housing.
• Open PvP. (I hear that has changed, though)

Con:

• Outdated graphics/engine.
• Poor combat system.
• Housing. (Even though it's nice to have a house, it's not nice when the world is one giant slum and you can't go 2 steps without bumping into another house.)
• Lacks immersiveness and depth.