That doesn't make them addicting, that makes them time consuming. MMO's are addictive because it's never over.
MMOs are addicting because of the social aspect. People challenge themselves to best others playing and do this by acquiring better gear/more gold or beating them up in PVP. The fact of the matter is, there really isn't an endless stream of amazing content in MMOs. It is very possible to do all there is to do within an MMO, however it's more a matter of what is worth doing. I say "worth doing" because I doubt anybody would strive to complete every possible quest within an MMO - even though they could - because that is not their motivation in playing. Most people don't even immerse themselves in the quests, for example, but rather skip the text and follow and addon's directions to where they need to go exactly. This happens because people are not fussed by Adjective Noun's woes (he lost his rum... he thinks some troggs stole it) but just want the reward at the end so their progress to the top is hastened just a little bit.
You said what I meant, just longer winded. The addiction is that an MMO doesn't end because there are constantly new goals to obtain, whether you play the MMO to obtain better items/gear than someone else, to enjoy the active social network, economy, to relax from real life, to play for the challenges, etc. Every player has a different goal, though many will have similar.
I suggested that no one can beat an MMO because you can't. I did not say that you couldn't go around getting the best equipment or getting things 'worth' getting. I suggested to 'beat' the game. To
complete a game is to
finish the game. As in, doing all there is to do, not all there is
worth doing. Do not confuse them for the same thing. They are not. I was suggesting the first and not what you are saying.
In contrast to most all other games that are not MMO. You could complete them. Not because they have a boss that when you kill him, the game ends, but because you can finish the game 100%. In the example of FF12 (using the example cause I beat 99% of it), you can go around killing every single hunt, synthesizing every single item from ingredients, beat every mini game, buy all the best items and gear, max out all your characters, have as much money as you want, and then finish the story line of the game. That's 'completing' a game. That is something you cannot do in an MMO. This is where my logic stems from.
Even doing the same thing more than once will yield a different outcome, leaving more to be explored.
It's likely the "different outcome" here is just different loot dropped by a boss, with some having an insanely low drop rate but godly stats. People do the same thing over and over so they can get better gear and be better than others, not because the dungeon is just so very interesting to walk around in.
This is what I was referencing. I didn't say what kind of different outcome, I just said that there would be. New loot from an old boss is a different outcome, no? (Yes, I do realize sometimes a boss may drop the same loot more than once.) But it's also more than that. Perhaps a few of your teammates die in battle that didn't before. That dynamically changes how the battle continues, etc. This is a different outcome, no? This is all what I was referring to. You're right though in that the likely outcome would be different loot. Obviously a dungeon's physical dimension stays constant, so I don't know why you thought I could possibly have meant walking around a dungeon for new scenery or something.
That there's always more to do or something left to explore.
The argument of what is worth doing pops up again here, I guess. In the context of WoW, people normally complete new content the day it is released, and then continue to play through that content (be it in PvP of PvE) for new gear so that by the time more content is released, they will be able to acquire the godlier loot much faster. Rinse and repeat this race for gear so that they can feel accomplished in knowing they are better than whoever doesn't share the same loot. Eep, I'm starting to feel like a bit of a broken record now.
You've taken this out of context. Where I wrote "That there's always more to do or something left to explore" was in reference to what I just quoted from you, about yielding different outcomes. You sound like a broken record because you quoted a redundant sentence. I sometimes tend to be redundant. Sometimes it's to make a point more clear, and other times it's because I can't help it. lol
My point about no credits, is that if you go and take down the very last boss of an MMO with 39 other people, there's nothing.
This does happen, and people do find themselves twiddling their thumbs with no idea what to do next. This is normally when people come to their senses and realise how boring and limited the MMO genre really is. In the case of an active MMO like WoW however, developers are soon to occupy their players with the same content wrapped in a brand new package. However, this content does eventually end.
... we've gone off on a tangent, haven't we? I don't even know what I'm arguing anymore, but that's not going to stop me.
I agree fully here. lol
An MMO is built to have a series of goals or checkpoints that don't have an end.
All MMOs have an end, in the sense the overall story ends and in the sense content ceases to be released.
I agree that an MMO could have an end if you can complete the game like I was talking about, and then when this happens if there is no more new released content. However, my point still stands that the purpose of an MMO is to keep you occupied by having many different goals or checkpoints that don't end. Obviously, if they lead to an ending, then they didn't do a very good job since an ending psychologically brings closure, which would reduce the incentive to continue playing. I will reference WoW though. When you beat the final boss, the incentive to continue playing is more gear for yourself, to help someone else get gear, or to interact with other online players that make your experience better some how. There are other reasons too of course. Also, I'm sure that all MMOs have a story that ends, but I never once meant to insinuate that they didn't. I meant that the gameplay never ends. Even if in WoW you brought down the King Arthas with all the other guild-mates, you can still come back and do it again. The story is over, but the game is not. This is my ultimate point. This is what I mean, by not ending. (Unless you apply how I suggested that a player can beat a game. [Not beating by what's 'worth' but beating by completing.])
The only way you could possibly beat an MMO to the max, is if you have some how accumulated every singe piece of equipment possible using every class at the highest levels with the maxed out amount of money on every server etc etc.
No? That's like saying the only way you could beat Oblivion to the max is if you gather up every single item in the game and store it in your house. You must also create hundreds of saves, each one having a character with a unique race and birthsign combination, and each character having all stats maxed. Instead, it'd be sensible to say the only requirements to say you completed the game 100% would be to maximise your stats and level on one character, complete all quests, visit all buildings and by extension complete the world map and... that seems about it? This seems like a reasonable parallel to draw here but you're welcome to argue whether or not it isn't.
Hm. Interesting point bringing up Oblivion. I'm going to say that I wrote it wrong. Again though, I'll bring back what's 'worth' beating in a game and what's completing a game. You can bring closure to yourself by doing everything you want and calling it quits, but my point still remains that the game isn't completed. I'm not saying that you have to complete a game. I mean, most games I play I don't go balls to the wall and try to do 100% of everything. I'll play and do everything I find enjoyable then finish off by beating the last stage of the story line and roll credits. I find that games that have HUGE replay value are almost impossible or futile to try to complete 100%. Games like Oblivion and Fallout. There are just so many different ways to play it, that you can't consider the game completed really in every aspect in one character. If you play though fully evil, you don't get certain aspects of the game that revolve around being good, and vice versa. Just to reiterate though, I'm talking about completing a game 100%. I don't suggest playing Oblivion or Fallout or similar games through 100% anyways. It's more fun doing new things the next time through the game. What you're saying would be sensible to playing a game, but not completing the game. Basically, what I'm suggesting is impossible lol.
It's impossible.
And no, it's not impossible, it's just long and tedious and ultimately not a requirement to have done all there is to do in a game.
You're right, it's not impossible, just extremely implausible. No one would do it, nor is there nearly enough incentive for anyone to do it. So impossible, maybe not, but I don't think it'll ever be done. (with out hacks. lol)
MMO's are also addictive because of the goals that are set within the game.
Outside of the A to B goals of quests, all goals within an MMO are likely set by the user/s. The goal could be the best character on the server (or within your group of friends) in the case of a single player, or the goal could be to move your guild up in the ranks to the top position in the case of many players. I know I'm really hammering the BE THE BEST argument here but that's really the motivation behind doing much of anything in an MMO.
You're right about this though. You're not really saying anything different from me here. All you're suggesting are goals that are likely to be common among most players in an MMO. I was just referring to any goal in general and not just the obvious ones. I've known plenty of WoW players that didn't try to be the best in combat or have the most money or something. My personal friend actually bought the game just so he could prove that you can explore every area of the game as a level 1 human. However, he ended getting to like level 9 or something from just straight discovering places. He played normally afterwards, but his first goal was to just walk around. I don't remember where I read this piece of awkward knowledge, but apparently walking from one side of WoW's continent (one of them) to the other is equal to walking the distance from one side of a medium sized state to the other, in the USA. I don't know which continent in WoW it was, but I think they're pretty similar.
People spent countless hours working in the game for their very own set of goals. Accomplishing a goal in an MMO yields a very realistic feeling of accomplishment. That emotion of victory of that goal is not fake, even though it cannot help you outside of the game.
We seem to be arguing the same thing now - that thing being that it isn't the endless stream of amazing content in an MMO (which doesn't happen, by the way) is what addicts people to them.
You're correct.
Ugh man, I said the same thing over and over in that text. I'd go back and edit it but I can't be bothered. Somehow, I was trying to argue that it is possible to complete an MMO like any other game, it's just much more tedious to do so. I think.
Lol, no problem. I'll agree that an MMO can be beaten, but if you've read through this, you've read how difficult it would be by my suggestions. I feel like the major difference in these arguments are that you justify completing a game by doing all that you personally deem worthy to complete as being the best, whereas my justification for completing a game is literal and less personal where I suggest that a completed game is what it is. It would have to be complete as in 100% beaten and not completed with only things a person feels is personally worth doing. I will, however, completely agree that playing a game with the mind set of doing what is worth doing is perfectly fine and worthy of being a way to complete a game. It's a personal level of accomplishment at hand rather than the annoying and tedious amounts of work and time that must be put into a game to actually
complete it. lol. I hope that helps clarify and difference between our opinions, though both absolutely valid.
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