Members Only?

A lot of people have asked me, “Why play a MMO when you don’t want to play with other people?” and though I haven’t really come with a good answer for that, I believe that I’m starting to understand my picky preference. The problem I find with a lot of MMORPG’s is that the balance for a fun, visually entertaining game that can run well while soloing isn’t what I look for in a game. First and foremost, I honestly believe that even a crappy game with a good, open community where you can enjoy yourself is more important. Unfortunately, finding such communities are few and far in between.

What qualifies as a ‘good’ community?

Here is a short list of common standards of warm neighbors:

1)      Speaking the same language.

         With the World Wide Web, yes, there are many different languages from every corner of the globe, so unless one has taken many….many courses in languages or slept with tapes playing of Rosetta Stone, speaking the same language really helps in trying to feel comfortable in a MMO. The use of your own slang is almost a must, and people must have to understand both comical phrases and insults without a breakdown of an explaination. (It takes all the fun out of it!) Many a day, have I gone into games where the language is suppose to be based on English, American English even, and it is overrun with people sporting the BR tag. Not that I don't think the language is very beautiful, however, trying to get directions in a party or help makes it a big issue.

2)      Players VS Bots

Once the language issue is out of the way, you still have to filter through who are players, who are gold farmers, and praying there is an ignore button for the constant gold spamming. There are plenty of bots in P2P games, but in the freebie, imported MMO world, they can get out of hand very, very quickly.

3)      Douches

I don’t even know a nicer why to say this. The world, especially in the internet, is full of douches.  And, since games are basically competitions, you will have to find a balance to enjoy getting up to the point where you are considered ‘powerful’ and a 'good player' all while getting out of that completely nub phase everyone has to go through while trying not lose heart from all of the assholes in the game that kick you down when you’re little, weak, and virginal. If you do have a weak heart and not willing to bent over a table often, I do not suggest a game with open PVP.

When you find a place where you feel comfortable, a lot of gaming flaws are overlooked, say for example the entire community obsessively playing Warcraft. When one doesn’t feel comfortable, it’s very easy to nitpick at graphics, gameplay, sound, even the background music enough for them to easily stop playing without a second thought. Also, games that are graphically great and highly playable can seem to vast and empty to continue there.

Personally, the games that stick out in my mind that I find fun, great to look at, and enjoyable, but have communities where it is very empty at the early levels are Final Fantasy, Warcraft (although I have max level characters), Shin Megumi, Dream of Mirror, Holic, and Sword of the New World. All wonderful games, but finding friends is difficult for me. I’m eager to hear if there are games where it’s not a hassle to ‘get in’. As always, feel free to comment.