addicting like Everquest?

[Coates]

I was addicted to Everquest for about a year and it ruined my relationship with my girlfriend not to mention my friends since i would have rather have played EQ then hang out with them.

 

Is this a addicting game like Everquest or more of a normal game that you can play for 1-3 hours and stop for a few days and not day dream of it ?

 

Thanks for the input.

 

I told myself i would never play another game like EQ again where i would play 8-15 hours a day EVERY day.

[Tal-N]

I've never played a MMO before but when i was in beta there was sometimes that urge to keep going since you weren't far from having enough exp for that next level. The drawback is that it gradually subsides once you get into an elite profession since the progress between boxes is so huge that you'll never manage it within a few sittings. Once you are not far from that box the urge to keep going does return though.

 

On the whole however if you get in with a great group of friends it totally changes you're outlook on things, not just with the fighting in groups but the actual socialising with groups too. You spend ages simply hanging around or if it's a professional relationship then you have a mix of talking work and talking about general nonsense. So yeah, if you allow it then the addiction is there.

[-=ReApEr=-]

Sounds good, im going to give up a bit to play this. And really hope i get hooked on it.

[Exar_reborn]

I'm thinking that it won't be too addicting, it will be more of a fun game. I was ADDICTED to AC (which is the reason I didn't get a new comp cause they thought I would just play and play and play) But I found that I was addicted b/c I always felt I had to accomplish something (AKA leveling) the need to get as high a lvl as possible. I'm thinking that this games lack of lvl will let more fun come and less feel for NEED to do stuff therefore letting you stop when you want.

[Akabane]

Hahahaha, an AC player, thats classic. Anyways...

 

The mentioning of EQ addiction, wtf is your problem, I personally thought that game was ABSOLUTE C-R-A-P. We all have opinions eh? But even so, I played AC also, that doesnt mean freakin 8-15 hours a day!

 

My family wouldnt even allow that, nor would I allow it myself. I suppose school was in the way then, but now I enjoy going out with friends + I have to work, theres not really any 8-15 hour stretches for me.

 

Damn, if anyone was playing games that long, Id have to smack em, providing I knew them, Id just be like *smack smack smackedy smack*.

 

I must admit though, since launch day all I can think about is SWG, but ever since launch day, I havent had a day off work, so I cant exactly hang out with friends at 10 and find enough time to do something.

 

SWG is fun, but I wont let it ruin my already pathetic and uneventful life -_-

[Cik]

Addictive? Please you weak minded troll.

 

-Cik

[Exar_reborn]

Akabane did you get into AC2 at all or just stopped with the original?

[Akabane]

My friend managed to get AC2 beta, then not too long ago, month maybe I picked up the 15 day trial and was going to buy the game, but SWG came out ^_^

 

My friend still plays the game and is WELL known on Thistledown, god forgive me for even SHOWING that kid the game, because he doesnt stop, even though he says he wants to.

 

Was a fun game, never got into it THAT much to consume my life though.

[Exar_reborn]

yeah it seems the determination to level is just what keeps someone playing for so freakin long. I have it right here in my hand, never opened. I bought it a year ago but my comp wouldnt support it so I think i'll either give it to my friend or maybe play a little lol

[Akabane]

I see...

[Exar_reborn]

Haha, well i'm gonna hit the sack.

[Luey Fubar]

AC2's alright, gets boring too fast though.

[Coates]

So is it more of a game that you play EVERY day for 3+ hours or more of a game that you play for 3+ hours every FEW days?

 

Basically i'm saying its summer. Golf, cottage parties, workingout, beach's, BBQ's...... I don't want a time sink where i will spend my summer like a geek in front of a PC.

[Mujahid]

When I got invited to beta test SWG, I thought "Finally! I'll get to see what it's like to play an MMO that doesn't have any artificial treadmills!"

 

....boy was I ever wrong.

 

There are treadmills in SWG just like there are treadmills in EQ, AO, AC, AC2, etc. It's the "treadmill effect" that makes a game addictive, just like a poster mentioned earlier. You always have that "next best thing" to strive for, which creates the "treadmill effect", since you essentially do mind-numbing things for hours on end just to crest that next hill....only to find there's a higher hill beyond the one you just crested.

 

In truth, I'm giving up hope on MMOs. That's not a slam. I just can't see a way to design an MMO in such a way that there are no treadmills.

 

Initial interest in the game, and word of mouth, sells units. Addiction retains accounts. That is the sad state of the current MMO business model.

 

Just my opinion, of course.

[enite]

Time to get the hip boots cause Akabane's BS is getting REALLY thick up in here ..

 

dude GROW UP .. you are so full of yourself ..

 

for everyone else ..

 

notice that the people that complain about things only complain about it because they suck at it ?

 

(whistling while waiting for Akabane's idiotic response)

[Mujahid]

Originally posted by enite

notice that the people that complain about things only complain about it because they suck at it ?

 

Oh I think my complaint is quite valid.

 

Suck at what? Going through the same mind-numbing actions repeatedly in order to get a little yellow/green/[pick your color] bar to move across the screen, only to have to repeat other, more mind-numbing actions to get it across the screen once, twice, three times more? Take an infinite amount of monkeys and set them before an SWG session, and eventually one of them will be a Jedi, or master crafstman, or master scout, or master bounty hunter, or master whatever.

 

My complaint isn't specific to SWG. It's much broader than that, encompassing just about all MMOs currently on the market. The question is simple: Why do MMOs force the "addiction" factor to be controlled by the treadmill effect? Why does repetition of action have to be the sole way a person can get from advancement stage "A" to advancement stage "B". This simply demonstrates that at the end of the day, there's no imagination going into new releases these days.

 

SWG had a lot of hype surrounding it regarding their being no "levels". Don't kid yourselves, folks. There are definitely levels in this game, they just materialize in a different manner than they did in EQ/AO/AC/AC2/E&B/etc. True, you have a lot more variety to choose from. But you STILL have to rely on repetition of action to advance. This is why I'm losing faith in MMOs in general. No matter what they say, it always seems to come back down to repetition of action. To me that's not fun. I get PLENTY of repetition of action on my job.

 

Want to advance as a craftsman? Open up your crafting tool and make 1000 of "x" or "y". (And no, making 500 of "x" and 500 of "y" does not constitute "variety" to me, haha)

 

Want to advance as a Dancer? Go to a cantina, find an entertainer's group, start dancing, then go AFK for a few hours.

 

Want to advance as a scout? Harvest, harvest, harvest. Or build camp, build camp, build camp.

 

Advance as a combat-oriented person? Kill 1000 "x" to get from skill "A" to skill "B".

 

My point is this game is NO different than the others, when you get right down to it. We've seen all these play systems before, folks, just in a different setting. Except instead of watching 1 xp bar crawl across the screen, I get to watch over a hundred. But, each one, when taken by itself, requires repetition of action to advance.

 

Back when we were all playing pencil and paper RPGs, how often did your characters have to sit in one place and repeat action "x" 1000 times before the DM would grant you enough xp to level?

 

And before I'm accused of wanting to level quickly: My complaint has nothing whatsoever to do with time. My complaint is with time "sinks". I played EQ for 4 years before my primary character reached level 50. He's still level 50 now, in fact. You see, I don't care how long it takes me to get to my ultimate goal! But I want the JOURNEY to be interesting, not just the DESTINATION! If I'm going to spend 4 years developing a character, I want that 4 years to be fun, not simply repetitive.

 

"Time", for me, means knowing that it's going to take 4 years to reach a certain status.

 

"Time Sink", for me, means knowing that in order to get my next ability, I need to spend "x" amount of time doing "y" action.

 

The former is open, and potentially filled with great fun and adventure. The latter, on the other hand, is nothing more than a mathematical formula that we "play" in order to get an ability that we want.

 

The problem I have with most MMOs is that they all tend to fall into the latter category. I've yet to see a non-PnP game that can mimick the openness of the former.

 

If, by those definitions I "suck" at MMOs....then I guess I "suck" at MMOs.

[Deft Aklin]

Mujahid, I fully understand what you are saying.

 

Here is my point. SWG was made to have a much shorter period of 'grinding' or 'Power-Leveling' than most other games. Three months for the average gamer to be precise. SWG was not created with the same mindset as the games you are comparing it to. Yes there is a lot of grinding....at the very beginning, but in the end, it's not about that. As the developers have stated time and time again, SWG is about what you do after you have maxxed out your character. At that time, there is nothing left to do but RP. THis is what makes the game so interesting. I am an avid roleplayer, and though my PA is power-leveling right now, we will move straight to RP at the completion of this task. That is when we will truly shine. In about a month, we will have all made our characters to be exactly what we want them to be. Then come, watch, learn, and I will show you exactly what SWG is all about. Then I will create the story. I will start PA wars and decimate Dark Sovereignty's foes. Then you will see me, standing over you, deciding your fate.

 

(These are the sentiments of a truly deranged lunatic. SHould you be repulsed by roleplay, or simply don't like things of a sinister nature, please ignore the comments you have already read. Wait, I probably should have put the warning at the top. LOL)

 

Anyways, yes, SWG is addictive. I can't wait to log in. I love hunting with my buddies, overseeing the construction of our strip mining operation, training new players in the art of combat and creating a vast sea of corpses on my way to my elite professions.

[Mujahid]

Originally posted by Deft Aklin

As the developers have stated time and time again, SWG is about what you do after you have maxxed out your character. At that time, there is nothing left to do but RP.

 

That's a pretty good perspective on it, Deft. And that is one of the things that DOES make SWG different than the rest, that is true.

 

The problem, in my case, is that since my play time is so severely limited (as little as 2-3 hours per week), I need to make sure that the game I'm playing is also fun *during* the journey to max out my character.

 

For the average player, they will be maxed out in 3 months or so. For me, you can easily quadruple that number (if not more). So, for me, the prospect of mind-numbing activity for that 1 year period is a real turnoff. The pot at the end of the rainbow sounds awesome! It's just that I'm not willing to spend that year with repetitive action just to get there.

[Deft Aklin]

Mujahid, if you were to spend those three hours a week with my members, I can almost assure you that you'd be maxxed in less than six months. If you can somehow muster 10 a week, I'll get you there in two to three. DS's members, about twelve of us, tested every aspect of advancement in about every field. I can say this, we have created a near flawless system of Power-Leveling, and it's working perfectly. With around ten hours of time devoted to leveling, I am halfway to my desired Elite professions. Of course, I put about twenty hours in of preparing the whole thing and organizing the ranks a little, but now that's all done. With a little daily maintenance on the PA harvesters, I'm off to get XP every day now. I have to assume I'll be maxxed in about another six to eight weeks, tops. Thats' with an average of about 15 hours a week. Even if my estimate is off, I'll still be close enough that I won't have to worry about it too much.

[Mujahid]

Wow! If that's the case, I'll definitely be looking you guys up! (I haven't purchased the retail copy yet. Waiting for next payday to roll around).

 

Also, I'm VERY interested in the RP aspects you mentioned your guild was into. I've never been involved in an RP guild before and would really like to test the waters.

[Deft Aklin]

Well, if you get a chance to see what our members are capable of, take a look at the RP boards. JodoBaas, Sckitzo, Thrackan Solo and myself are all avid RPers that frequent these forums. RP can make the world that much more immersive. Many of us were MUSHers, existing as RPers in a fully text based environment for some time. We have been anxiously awaiting a venue like this to better display our RP talents. After all, I think a few of the devs used to be MUSHers, it's the only explanation for their enthusiasm about the post leveling game.

[Jan Gaarni]

So, for me, the prospect of mind-numbing activity for that 1 year period is a real turnoff. The pot at the end of the rainbow sounds awesome! It's just that I'm not willing to spend that year with repetitive action just to get there.

Just to add a quick comment, I'm sorry, but that's how RPGames work, and how they should work.

The less you use FPS elements, the more of a roleplaying it will be. You should rely on your characters skills, not your own, as much as possible. And to do that this is how the system must work.

 

Here's how I see RPG:

You are the brain.

Your keyboard/computer/internet connection is your neural net.

And the servers are your muscles.

If you get my meaning.

 

Whereas, FPS are like:

You are the brain, neural net, and muscle, and the keyboard/machine/network takes a very small part in the above mentioned fields.

In other words, you are yourself, in every aspect.

 

This might not make much sense, I just transfered the idea into words, and I'm not to good with that.

[compuguy1088]

The game is addicting. I was in beta, and it rocked. I just don't have a copy of it!

[Armar]

im getting it soon!

[Dizon]

With EQ it was nearly impossible to actually accomplish anything worthwhile in a reasonable amount of time. So far with SWG, there are plenty of time sink activities with which to avail yourself as well as plenty of simple missions and tasks you can do if you do not have 8-15 hours to play.

 

I really like that aspect. It would appear as if SOE really took some of the more socially corrosive aspects of EQ into account as they developed SWG. For that I am very grateful.