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  Blog \Blôg\, n. [Jrg, fr. Jrg. "Web-log".
     See {Blogger, BlogSpot, LiveJournal}.]
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Saturday, December 28, 2002
14:18 - How do you feel about MMORPGs?

(top) link
Here's an interesting Slashdot thread, beginning with an article/diatribe by someone unclearly identified as Sanftenberg, exposing the grim underbelly of EverQuest and how it works.


Everquest is a game centered on rewarding you for how much time you put into it. This is the core design philosophy behind the game, since they charge you by the month and make more money the longer you stick around. What they don’t tell you is that taking your money is about all they’re interested in. They care little for player complaints, and less about player suggestions and requests. They’re in this to milk you for all you’re worth, and that’s the first thing you have to know.

The second thing you have to know is that the game stops being fun. By that time though, you’re so “addicted” to the game, you don’t realize it. The game becomes a source of frustration and anger instead of a source of entertainment and fun. It becomes a chore. It becomes a job. You plod away at the keyboard, obsessed and consumed with getting that new item, or finishing that last quest, and while so consumed you begin to hate the game. Vehemently. It’s a game that goes on forever, and one that you can never win.


What's especially noteworthy, though-- at least to me-- is that the comments from readers seem to span the spectrum of opinion about addiction and gaming, from "EQ sux, AC r0X0rZ" to "Quitcher bitchin' and turn off the damn video game if you aren't any good at it" to "Sony is the evil entity creating a new drug empire and exploiting addiction using the same rules and tricks as heroin dealers". My favorite bit:

You plod away at the keyboard, obsessed and consumed with getting that new item, or finishing that last quest, and while so consumed you begin to hate the game. Vehemently. It’s a game that goes on forever, and one that you can never win.

"He loves and hates the ring, as he loves and hates himself."
-Gandalf in the first LOTR movie, referring to Gollum.

(Quoted from the movie, of course.)

Anyway, a good read, if the world of MMORPGs has touched you in any way, which is going to be the case more and more often, for more and more people, as time goes on.

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© Brian Tiemann