So reading all those responses I think it’s pretty clear that there is a clear definition between two types of players; ones that see things from a competitive standpoint and those that don’t. And I think the OP’s hypothesis was really shown to be accurate. The competitive players did need the time commitment to achieve what made them happy, while those that approached it from a more casual standpoint were content with whatever their time allowed for.
To me, it isn’t a question of game design; it’s a matter of personal organization. My experience was that the time requirement of EQ mostly came from looking for groups or trying to organize something. Like most twenty-somethings, I was not the most organized person, and I didn’t really need to be because I had the free time available. So I could sit in a zone looking for a group for a few hours and when I found one, stick with them for a few more. But now, that’s not how its going to be. Everything is more organized and scheduled out of necessity, and that’s ok. Think about it. If you played sports when you were younger, you could hang out at the local gym waiting for a pick-up game of basketball. If you’re a bit older now, would you do this? Probably not. I still play sports, but now the calendar is an essential tool. As long as I can plan for something, the time commitment can be managed. Like some people said, don’t water down the content because you think your audience can’t accommodate it, let us worry about that. If it means we can’t do the highest tier content, so be it. Or maybe it just challenges us, with f/t jobs and families etc., to organize ourselves better so we can. At least until retirement sends us back to endless days of leisure. :)
And as others noted as well, there are plenty of people who will be playing Pantheon who are where we were at in life back when EQ launched. I want them to have the same kind of experience with Pantheon that I had with EQ.
PS. We’ll be highlighting some of the responses is this thread for discussion on the Rewind podcast this week. Links in the Fan Creations forum.
I agree with Philo - I don't think it's about being more or less competitive (although that is certainly another dividing issue we have in this community). I'm one of those players who really feels compelled to try to see and do everything because I'm an explorer by nature. I don't want to only follow the path of least resistance along with everyone else. I want to go check out all those obscure dungeons and storylines and learn as much as I can about the game world. That includes raiding, and it includes contested content. However, at the same time, I don't really enjoy having to fight against other players for these things either. Competition is not something that I really thrive on. As far as time requirements, that doesn't really enter the equation. Unless something is requiring me to stay logged in for more than 3 hours in one sitting, it's still achievable. It just takes however long it takes. As long as I'm invested in what I'm doing and I have goals to pursue, that's often enough.
However, these are also all things that vary by the individual. Some players are naturally going to be more interested in keeping up with everyone else, or with trying to do things first. I can relate to this - in most MMORPGs, there's a real difference in the personal challenge of doing something when it's new and unknown, vs. doing something that's well-known and that has been documented to death and that has an established meta. From a challenge perspective, I *far* prefer to have to figure out content on my own, and not have someone else's strategy dictated to me. That makes me naturally want to be one of those first people to do things because social dynamics mean that if I'm not, I have to deal with some tactless moron telling the rest of the group that they should have watched the video and expecting everyone to be perfect at whatever the content requires.
If we want to find the happy medium where players of all (or most) stripes can enjoy Terminus together then we have to realize that players all have different things that motivate them and different ways that they express that motivation. It's not a simple black/white definition like casual vs. hardcore or competitive vs. non-competitive. Instead of trying to put people into boxes, we should be more focused on understanding all of the different things that drive people and trying to find a way for Pantheon to accommodate those factors side-by-side with each other, rather than attempting to divide the player base.