I think there's a bandwagon going on with MMOs nowadays. Here are some that I can think off at the moment. For me..these are sickening to some extend..

1. Developers tend to focus more on the graphics rather than the game itself ; value of replayability
2. Based on #1, games are most of the times ridden with bugs and instability (Age of Conan, Rohan and Hellgate London comes to mind)
3. Based on #1, players HAVE to upgrade their system just for the sake of playing it
4. Most MMOs depicting female characters with big breasts and half naked costumes for games developed for the general audience and players (unless rated 'M', like AOC)
5. Encouraging youngsters to spend money pointlessly.
6. Inserting into youngsters's mentality that high level characters and big sum of money in any games makes you a somebody, and not school grades which should have been focused on.

What do you think?

i would agree with you.. but you have to remember.. most games are financed by business men/women in w/e company.. to turn a profit. Only a few are made and financed by actually gamers or ppl who care about the gamers.. which is why you see alot of copy cat games coming out.. thats just them trying to get a piece of the pie.

*shrugs* but who knows.. maybe one day soon.. will see some more good games coming out with more then just how good they can make it look.

I do like good looking games tho.. lol but gameplay is alot more important :D which is why i still say RO is my fav MMORPG ever made

I mostly agree with 1-3.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Magdalene08


I don't think there's a problem with the costumes and how female characters look in games, it doesn't bother me at least. I can see how it might be not exactly appropriate for younger players, and it's good that some games have an M or R rating, but it's easy enough to give a false birthdate anyway, so not much anyone can do about that right now.



Not sure exactly what age group you mean by "youngsters", but if they are young enough to not really realize the value of money, chances are they don't have access to payment methods over the internet anyway.



You may be right about the first part, because kids' minds are pretty susceptible as we all know. Most should still be able to distinguish between real life and a game though, and I guess would understand that high level characters etc. make you a "somebody" in the gaming community.

There's obviously a healthy balance between fun, e.g. online games, and work, e.g. school. If the kids are young enough to not realize the consequences of their actions, it's likely their parents will have input as to when they are made to study etc., and also have control of how much time kids spend on the computer.

For people slightly older, they know the consequences of not studying or doing homework, and can hold themselves responsible.

1. I will agree with for most games but not for all games like my favorite Runescape for example the developers do not focus on graphics more then gameplay. Yes they are releasing updated graphics next month but most of there updates are game play updates & not graphic related which shows a focus towards gameplay.

2. As for there bugs in several games most are fixed pretty quick I have to say which is a good thing some always get though the testing the testers are only human & could not possibly find all possible bugs we gamers as whole are usually willing to explore alot of options that a few bug testers might never due to there being so many of us with varying ideas.

3. This is very true I like the approach that Runescape is taking allowing the current modes still so that older computers can still play without needing an upgrade.

4. I think point 4 is a real concern they are starting to add Armour & change looks to show the mid areas on girls & the chest on guys as well even in the game that I play & kids are allowed to play. It doesn't even make scene really as if you were to wear Armour you would want to have it covering as much areas as possible.

5. I think that some spending on things like entertainment isn't to bad you have to have some fun sometimes & paying for something actually teaches an invaluable lesson in its self. Try coupling it with some form of work say they need to do some chores to be able to pay for the game. You could teach some great lessons of life to your kids this way.

6. As for school grades there not always important I had high grades at school always an A student yet I consider most of my school time a waste as I learned so much more after I was done with high school. Really all they did for me was look good on paper. Even though I always had high grades I consider my knowledge that I have now just a few years later to greatly outstrip all that I learned in 12 years of Schooling. I know there important to some & help build steeping stones in learning but looking back they did not help me that much at all. I consider those 12 years to be a almost complete waste. I could have learned better & faster outside of school in the workforce.

Even Uni is a waste if you ask me I earn more now & am in better step for advancement then several of my collages that spent years at Uni. I am glad that I decided not to go now.

If school grades really are important to you or to your kids future in your opinion games could actually help. You can use them as a motivation tool. Say do your homework then you can have some gameplay time. Having a reward at the end of work whether it be school work or otherwise is a great thing if you ask me.

This post has been modified on Jun 11 , 2008 01:10:26 AM by nerbne.

The only trends that I see with games currently is more and more of them are replicating WoW's gameplay and changing the graphics.

Sure, WoW is an amazing success but that doesn't mean you will be if your game looks like something else but plays like WoW. Games that come to mind: Requiem, LotR Online, Talisman Online, anndd... I'm sure there are more out there.

Why can't anyone be original anymore? We don't need ten thousand MMO's that are exactly the same but with different graphics. You can say a game is totally different because of one feature within the game, but in reality they all are clones.

I also dislike how a lot of games are going from p2p to f2p with a cash shop model. MMORPG's use to be respectable because you got your character to higher levels due to your persistence and your ability to level and develop your character to be strong. p2p games have been ruined by gold farmers by making it easier for people to get a hold of good equipment. Some people had to work hard at it, but they were just handed the gateway to getting stronger.

As far as f2p games go, Cash Shop of course is the devil. It has stifled the difficulty aspect of MMORPG's greater than gold farmers have. Instead of teaching their players to be respectful for what they have due to the difficulty of getting it, half the time you just go in the Cash Shop and can make your character godly instantly. Your character isn't strong because of the time and effort you put in, but just how much money you have. And that pretty much is how our world works.

Many of us have the ability to succeed, but we aren't given the opportunity. And while you can't necessarily fail at succeeding in an MMO, it will still stifle your ability to achieve your goals if you are not even half the strength as someone who bought cash shop items.

I still will always prefer p2p games. Although gold farmers are a nuisance you still have to work relatively hard to get where you want to be. I'd rather pay once a month to have equal opportunities and the same features than it be f2p and my months of hard work null and void because someone's daddy decided that they'd pay $100 bucks for their kid's online game.

Good I think I agree with the last 2 posts

Thank you for the replies.

Those matters actually can be literally be seen with one of my sister's kid. He's a 13 years old, doesn't want to do homework, keeps failing in ALL subjects, saved his pocket money to buy game points and doesn't go out to play like a normal kid anymore. She even caught him trying steal her creditcard! Oh wow..

I have a 6 years old daughter and this sort of thing worries me. So..I beg your pardon.

Well if you let him play for doing homework it gives him a reason to like doing homework. If he has not done his homework then don't let him play.

The points you make are all very valid, but not very surprising in reality.

Quote:
Originally Posted by assasingaru234


This theory works on kids who haven't been allowed to do whatever they wanted already. Generally, they will throw a fit and will end up not being punished very well. He will see you forcing him to do homework as a punishment rather than seeing him being able to play the video game as a reward.

You can't just throw structure into an environment that hasn't had any obviously if the kid is allowed to play video games without having any homework finished.

Magdelene you are right.
And you have only given 6 reasons,
there are much more.
I can say those 6 reason are very carefully chosen, i mean really important reasons and objective...
I totally agree..

To nerbne;
What you say at 6th point can be true but it changes from Country to Country... not the same at everywhere and ofcourse if you are something more intelligent then the others in your school you will get achievement tough if you play 12 hours mmorpg xD

I agree with you because many MMOs out there are pretty boring. Some MMOs get so much hipe because of their graphics capabilities but usually end up being duds. Not many of the great MMOs out there get enough hype even though they may have a better format.
This post has been modified on Jun 11 , 2008 02:01:15 PM by PimpYourRide.

I agree on some points. I believe that most games with Cash Shops are trying to get someone to spend money quickly, because a Cash Shop-heavy user will continue to buy when items expire so you could end up spending more a month than with a P2P game, and there are -still gold farmers.

As far as naked girls, that's the trend. Games are made to attract young, pre-pubescent males...and they like cute looking, mostly nude girls to play with. Even games without high graphics like RO, the boys would chase any female avatar they found (even though most were played by other boys to begin with)

About your sister's kid...Games aren't the roots of evil. If he's acting out and failing, it's a duty of a parent to deal with that. No offense or anything, but if she's letting him play games and not study, then she needs to do something about it and not blame a game for his behavior.
This post has been modified on Jun 12 , 2008 04:54:04 AM by Lushy.