Complexity in MMORPGs
Hey fellow MMORPG players, I'd like to discuss a certain topic I had on my mind for quite some time and would like to hear your opinion. Please forgive me in advance if I'm not up to date when it comes to terminology.
I've tried a fair share of MMORPGs over the years and nowadays often find myself not really satisfied. Here's a short list:
Played a lot (>300h): Runes of Magic, WoW, FFXIV, GW2
Played moderately (~50h): SWTOR, Aion, Tera, BDO
I feel like most of them have what I feel like are a lot of missed chances. Primarily, I've noticed something, which could be seen as a form of pseudo-complexity: In many mainstream MMOs there are systems, which look complex at first but every choice seems to be either irrelevant or collapses to the same outcome. I would guess the reason boils down to the game trying to be more friendly to newcomers and having more control over the state of the game this way. Here are some general examples, which apply to many MMOs:
- Gearing: Equipment often comes with substats, which in many cases don't seem to matter much until the endgame and even then only slightly change the build. Moreover, they are often calculated and displayed as one big stat and you basically always choose the higher one. This pairs with the fact that the main story quest line already gives you good enough equipment. Using the auction house or crafting equipment is often meaningless until the endgame. It sometimes feels more like a chore than a system where I can meaningfully gear up my character
- Levelling: A level-balance system where your level is projected down to match the region's level is very common nowadays. This kind of destroys the immersion and progression feeling for me, often making fights the same difficulty throughout the story. Sometimes I even like being underleveled just to have some variance to it
- Loot: This is a big one for me, since I like the feeling of being able to encounter more difficult enemies and expecting something good in return, even if they drop it by chance. This is often missing due to strict loot tables and most things being locked behind group content
I could go on, but what I find most interesting is that most common games like WoW had these systems originally as far as I understand, but now everything shifted away from it. One of my favorite games was Runes of Magic since it played like the original experience, but it has other problems being barely functional at all. I also recently have learned about the difference in theme-park and sandbox MMORPGs, although I think I have not really played a sandbox one yet.
Have any of you encountered a similar feeling regarding the current state of MMOs?