Vanguard: The point

The point

The thrill of a new MMORPG brings to mind so many things to the players who are ready to rush out and grab it. The promise of a new game opens up so much for new players who are ready to experience the excitement that the game can bring them: new monsters to fight, new items to obtain, new levels to achieve, a new race to get to the end of the level grind, and to get into the fierce competition to have the best character out there.

These are all great things about MMOs-things that drive players on. However, as much as I enjoy most of that list, the last few seem to be a bit strange to me, as far as MMOs go. Well, in MMOs like Vanguard for the most part, anyway.

I enjoy fighting new monsters, I love getting new items, and yes, getting a level gives (or should anyway) a rewarding feeling. However, an MMO such as this being seen as a competitive experience seems a bit odd to me. Although, with human nature, it's pretty understandable, we make many things into competitions. Look at the concept of a pie eating contest. Eating a desert-which a pie usually is-is often seen as a relaxing, fun, rewarding thing, not a competition. Yet, a competition can, and is, made out of it. I find the situation of MMOs to be pretty similar-they're more made into competitions than actually being competitions intentionally, usually.

I can understand that need and fun to race to the top. I can understand why people enjoy it and I don't actually want to put down anyone's play-style. However, I do want to discuss another take on playing a game-one that I tend to prefer. Perhaps some of you also enjoy it; perhaps some of you would like to know why we enjoy it.

It isn't roleplaying (although that can be included, optionally), it's playing for the content, discovering the world, immersing yourself in an environment that is more than just a race to level 50 (or 60, or 75, or whatever). It's a play-style that doesn't focus on the numbers primarily.

There's a big world out there

MMOs, a lot of them anyway, offer players huge worlds for them to explore. However, a lot of players don't necessarily go out to actually see this vast world for the world itself. A lot of people just head out to an area to start killing higher level mobs than they had been before, just so that they can move onto another area. Sometimes, there's a thrill of discovery found in this as people travel to a new area, finding something interesting before moving on. Yet, at the same time, a lot can be missed.

There's a lot of stuff that people miss. A lot of MMOs have some nice details in them, even though often times they go unnoticed. Areas can have strange ruins, or other exciting locals. Some players will find this neat to look at, but, there might be some actual story behind them, some actual reason why they are there. But, most people aren't going to be curious enough to find that out.

With what Sigil is promising us, we will have a huge world out there for us to live in. While it seems we are largely being encouraged to form communities in areas-I just see that as more encouragement to get out there and check out the world. If we're getting stuck in certain places, those other, more exotic, locations will be all the more intriguing to see and to explore. Plus, because of this and because travel will be much more meaningful, going out to just explore might truly be an adventure in itself-which is how it should be. I believe Sigil's plans will actually enable that to happen.

So, instead of sitting in one spot grinding all day, just because the local creatures happen to be good experience, why not get out into the world and have a real experience? Explore, have an adventure, find interesting locations, and it isn't like you can't advance along the way. Sure, it isn't as efficient, but you're paying $15 a month for entertainment and access to a high fantasy universe, not to work by grinding out the same mobs in the same location all day, right? (Granted, you might actually find that fun).

You're not alone

Not only are MMOs potentially filled with all kinds of lore and little tidbits for you to find, with large worlds to explore, they're also filled with a lot of other people. These various people all have their own stories, their own experiences, and can offer a lot more than just a group invite or a guild. In fact, there's a lot of other people outside of your guild too.

Guilds are excellent things, as I've stated before. Guild groups are also excellent things; they allow members of a guild to work together to accomplish something and to form bonds between each other. The people you are closet to will probably be the people in your guild-which is great.

However, that doesn't mean that there are not other people out there who can be interacted with. Try a pick-up group now and then. Sure, there's bad that can come from them, but there's a lot of good too. You can meet new friends, find other players who might join your guild, or form an alliance with you. Besides, if things get to out of hand, it isn't like you're trapped in that group.

Not only that, but you can talk with people outside of group situations and guild chat. Guild chat doesn't have to be the only place where you can talk about random stuff, while group chat is just about group stuff, with /shout selling things and filling up groups, and tells for setting groups and sales up, and /say being left alone most of the time (it's remarkable how rare I find /say being used in games).

We're given a lot of forms of communication, why not use them? Sure, it makes sense for a group to be focused when they need to be, and they should be, but why is it that so much of the communication in MMOs are purely based around 'playing the game' outside of guild chats? Sure, random conversations over /shout or /ooc can be pretty annoying, but that doesn't mean you can't stop to chit-chat a bit now and then with people.

There's a lot to do

It never ceases to amaze me with the number of people who end up leaving MMOs because of 'how little there is to do'. So many people seem to get fed up because, to them, it seems like there's nothing else to do in an MMO besides grinding out mobs and getting good loot until you max out and finish up any end game content-then, that's it. MMOs can come off to be pretty shallow games.

But, are they? MMOs potentially offer players with a lot to discover, a lot to find and to explore. Players are given quests to complete; they don't have to just grind mobs all day (granted a lot of games feature pretty dull quests). There are places to go, people to meet, and all that.

An MMO doesn't have to be a competition. When looking back to the example of the pie-eating contest, an MMO can be a competition, but, an MMO doesn't have to be played that way.

One of the most wonderful aspects of these types of games is how open-ended they are. Not just in what you can do, but also in how you play the game. You can play it for the numbers, but you don't have too.

-Arrakiv