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Original post by Extrarius Quote: Original post by Dauntless I say play the pen and paper variety RPG's. Unfortunately PnPRPG'ing[...] The biggest problem with P&P RPG (beyond the stigma) is that it takes TONS of work compared to MMOs and the like: you have to find out about the game, meet some people that do it, find a good GM{definitely not easy}, possibly spend $100s on books, mats, dice, etc, and then actually schedule games and make them. With an MMO, you buy the game (possibly buying it online and downloading it w/o leaving the house), then play whenever you feel like it. Sure, you have to pay monthly, but paying monthly fees is easier than paying up front (see credit cards). If I knew how to find a good GM, I'd play constantly, but as it is the few people I've played with insist on systems I don't like and the only person that didn't suck at GMing that I know(the older brother of a friend) GMs for several other groups(his friends) so he doesn't really have time for us. I've searched all the online databases I could find on such things, and I couldn't find anybody remotely near my area running anything interesting (I don't much like D&D).

You can probably find an IRC game somewhere...I'm thinking about starting a new one (probably Fallout P&P or GURPS, though a new one would be cool if I could find one).

Get ahold of me if you're interested.

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Original post by PinFX ... it's a relatively low-stress game (compared to action games) and can be played to relax, and it's extremely social.

I've always considered blasting demons with a shotgun to be a stress reliever [grin]

I have to agree with the anti-MMORPG opinions. I don't think they totally suck, but they are not as enjoyable for me as a single player RPG. It's easy to get lost in a world that is dynamically changing around you, because of things you are doing. This is, for the most part, removed in MMORPGs. It's almost as if your presence is pointless. Nothing you do is going to make much of a difference to anything other than your own character. And if you can make a difference, it's going to remove everyone else's chance of making that difference.

In my opinion, a great MMORPG, as I would see as great, would take a 20 man designer team about 30 years to develop.

Personally, I've seen very few MMORPGs that I'd want to play. I have played EverQuest and UO, and I've seen several others played. None of them are worth paying $10 a month for. For that much, I could buy new books, other games, etc. every couple of months.

I think one of the biggest problems with MMORPGs is, as has been said before, a lack of direction in the game. Anonymous mentioned that it's hard to be a hero in a world with 10000 other heros. It's true, and it's a flaw of MMORPGs to think that players should be heros. If there are 10000 people just like you, doesn't that make you ordinary?

Have to disagree with almost all points in the thread (except a few). There are 70k subsribers in UO, another 70k in EQ2, another 70k in Lineage II, yet another 70k in FFXI, yet another 70k in SWG, yet another.......

The figure may be abit exaggerated but that's not the point, the point is how you are going to explain it as a phenomenon of human behaviors. AND they pay for bordom doesn't seem to be a good explanation.

I have to agree that MMORPGs are boring, but that's just my opinion. Like the last post said, there are thousands of people who disagree.

The bottom line is that as long as there is market demand, there are going to be more and more MMORPGs.

As far as indy game programmers, they write MMORPGs because they like them; not because you like them.

The point is, or at least in my opinion, an MMORPG doesn't feel like an RPG at all. It has very few of the qualities of an RPG. That doesn't mean people won't like them, it just means hardcore gamers won't.

I prefer to play RPGs alone. When my buddies come over, it's time for some fighting or racing or shooting. 2+ people means constant chaotic action is better. I think a decent RPG should pull you in and make you forget to eat for 10 hours. This means immersive, detailed, grabbing, and weighing heavily on you for the right decisions.

/disagree again

I know of many MMORPG hardcore gamers who spend 16 - 20hrs (yep) per day constantly to grind up the treadmill just for the sake that they are going to siege a castle with their hardcore clanmates.

I myself have no problem spending 12hrs hunting non-stop in a MMORPG.

Role-playing to me means how much you'll get attached to your toon and how much your toon is representing you in a virtual society. It's less obvious in a MMORPG than in a classic RPG where you are a hero which is your social status in a vitual society. It's abit tweaked in a MMORPG, first you are not a hero, however you can be a jerk, a rogue or a pker. To me a MMORPG actually gives more room for role-playing but you cant be a hero, that's it. Nonetheless will have your own position in the vitual society, as a noob, or a vet, in rags or uber leet gear, with a Lord or Dread Lord title of which someone may care too much to lose. The virtual society is abit tweaked too, that can be a commnunity in reality.

Different people will have different definitions about what RP is, but to me in most situations it's more about the degree of the RP factor instead of truly a big difference in definition. The RP factor is not strong enough for me to treat it as RPG, that's an easy conclusion to draw as a MMORPG never equals a single-player RPG especially when you can only accept that RP means role-playing a hero.