… therefore, it follows that if you’re not having fun there’s no reason to play.
That’s an ornate way of saying I will not be subbing to The Secret World. I’ll give the game another shot in a few years months when it inevitably descends to the lower planar realms of F2P.
I have had my own list of games I’ve gone thru, but I have to be picky on what I have to choose (money/time wise) to play. I have 3 subscriptions incl. a lifetime account to LOTRO,one to Rift, and one to Swtor. Needless to say playing more than one at a time is impossible and for me the fun comes from not what game it is but who I play with. I have been a core part of the same guild and we’ve loyally moved with each other thru each game as they emerged, evolved, and changed over the years. Our current game is Swtor. While far from perfect that game, and the rest I mentioned, are fun in their own right because of people not product. Maybe the fun you are seeking is in loyal friends in the gaming world, not the game itself. xD
“Maybe the fun you are seeking is in loyal friends in the gaming world, not the game itself.”
Normally I’d agree 100% with this. I’m a Roleplayer. My content is other people.
However, there was a good sized bunch of friends and SG mates from CO testing the waters with me in TSW and I think all but one, sooner or later, returned to CO.
I have my own list of reasons as to why the fun evaporated for me, but this isn’t a gripe post.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been having more fun in The Secret World than I’ve had in any MMO since Vanguard. More fun than I had in Rift (which I played for six months and still play on and off) and more fun than I had in any of the GW2 beta weekends (GW2 being a game I expect to play for many years to come).
The fun I had in TSW was intense and concentrated and while I was having it, it was more fun than I’ve had in an MMO for a very long time. It wasn’t, however, the kind of fun that goes on and on. That’s absolutely fine. I got my money’s worth and then some and I will drop back in as and when they add more of the kind of fun I was having so much of.
For anyone that tried it and didn’t have fun, as for anyone that tries any MMO and doesn’t have fun, the right and rational thing to do is move on. Leave the door open and come back later, see if something’s changed. Playing MMOs isn’t a religion or a marriage. Take it as you find it and keep an open mind.
“Playing MMOs isn’t a religion or a marriage. Take it as you find it and keep an open mind.”
This a hundred times.
Same thing with SWTOR.
False. Games have two reasons to play:
– First is to have fun (the game part, much like a sport or board game).
– Second is to experience a story, as a work of fiction (much like a book or pen&paper campaign)
Shown by the fact that people are willing to drag themselves through nightmarish tedium in order to find out what happens next. It’s not fun at all, but the story can be worth it.
The best games are those that succeed at both.
Well, I can’t speak for you, but the reason I choose to “experience works of fiction” such as a book, a p&p campaign or any well-crafted story is because I find it fun! Fun is the common denominator, they aren’t really discrete things (for me, anyway.)
I think I’m with Machination in the general case: there are definitely books I’ve read (and, maybe more obviously, movies I’ve seen), which I’m happy I read (watched) but which I would not call fun. This doesn’t really happen with pulpy page-turners (summer blockbusters), of course.
(The first examples that come to mind: Waiting for the Barbarians, Schindler’s List.)
Games are tricky, though, because the story, or at least the storytelling or dialogue or presentation or something, is always so bad. And let’s be honest, even if all that was perfect, it’s tough for a non-fun story to support 20 or 40 or 80 hours of non-fun gameplay, at least for most people, just like it’s tough for a non-fun story to support horrible writing or filmmaking for most people.
As Kal said, I think fun (or enjoyment/pleasure) is still the common denominator here. I don’t see them as discrete either. You only want to keep experiencing a story if you’re enjoying it.
Story is really secondary to games and not required at all. Many of the industry’s most successful games have no story whatsoever.
That’s certainly true. I’ve always considered these two halves of a gaming whole, but it really does boil down to enjoyment in the end.
And as Pyrthas said, “…I’m happy I read (watched) but which I would not call fun.” Both forms of entertainment are playing to our emotions in ways that the other can’t (which is why we find them compelling).
Games usually play to our sense of excitement, progress, and competition — something passive fiction can’t really do.
Books/Films usually play to all other spectrums of emotion that don’t translate well into Games.
But I agree, as soon as you realize that you’re not feeling anything at all (not even anticipation for story), there’s no reason left to play.
No true Scotsman has fun?
I had a lot of fun in the first two areas and with the class quests but in Blue Mountain it became a real drag. I think it was just too full of mobs it became a real slog to move from one area to the next and my enjoyment dropped off drastically.
It was much better duoing with someone but I had real issues finding anyone to group with. Everyone in the cabal I joined seemed intent on just running nightmare dungeons or PvP and I wasn’t interested in either of those things so, in the end I played for less than a month and already cancelled.
Yeah, I quit after the first month as well, and will eventually return when it likely goes F2P. I found the game and its premise appealing, but all too often I felt like I was enjoying the bits that TSW borrowed from similar single-player franchises more (Silent Hill) and less for the more cludgy MMO elements. Either way, I won’t trust Funcom with my billing data so they need to either offer some time cards or go F2P before I shall return.