MMO Tropes: Shipwrecked
I have played more than “a few” MMORPGs over the years. It’s an enjoyable (and accessible) genre of video games. But like any other type of game, MMOs have a fairly standard formula based on a handful of game mechanics. There is levelling, gaining experience and the acquisition of skills and points. Gear such as armour, jewellery and weapons come and go as you progress through the game. Then there’s crafting, trading and gaining “gold”. Another key aspect is the social dynamic. Often there’s content specifically designed for groups to complete. But this homogeneity also extends beyond the systems that underpin the games. The MMO genre is rife with its own set of tropes; recurring themes and motifs that have become established and ubiquitous. All of which are ideal material for a hastily produced, lazily conceived, recurring blog post.
MMOs I No Longer Play
I started playing MMORPGs over a decade ago, at a point when the genre was growing. It seemed at one point that every developer wanted to produce the game that usurped World of Warcrafts crown. I therefore ended up trying many of these massively multiplayer online games yet ended up sticking with few. All too often many of these titles were too generic or had an inherent flaw or flaws that killed my enjoyment. Sometimes it was just a case that the game just didn’t chime with me. Naturally over time, I have revisited some of these MMOs and a few have become a mainstay of my gaming activities. The Lord of the Rings Online, Star Trek Online and The Elder Scrolls online are three such examples. Yet there are numerous other games from this genre that I have not returned to or if I have, I still found them to be problematic, so they have not become part of my leisure activities.