Random encounters with other player characters or getting side-tracked with other player characters. Like, I could be headed somewhere to do something and I will run into someone and strike up a conversation or hear someones conversation or and end up spending more time involved in that. Or doing planned things like multi group events or planned exploration with established friends
#1. Challenge and immersion. No real way to beat the game, there is always something to conquer and attain while feeling like you are apart of the world.
Then: friendship, content, strategy, the ability to recognize status or accomplishments from time and effort invested (through gear, spells, level, appearance - maybe new skins, eyes, some sort of aura like fire or smoke around one's character or something for the max level or epic)!
I'm not sure I could pick a single thing that is my favorite...
- Being able to inhabit a persistent world with others.
- The RP communities that inevitably develop, and being able to roleplay a character of my own creation in the world.
- The fun, challenging teamwork of dungeons and raids!
- Exploration and collecting everything.
- Playing dress-up to make my character truly my own.
- The story! I love quests.
Kilsin said:What is your favorite aspect of playing MMORPGs? #MMORPG #communitymatters
MMORPG by default implies community/people/guilds/groups. So outside of that.
Having multiple things to do and not just one main thing.
If I want to group up and XP camp, so be it. If I want to craft, so be it. If I want to explore, so be it. If I want to focus on lore, so be it. The incredible draw of MMOs in general is the ability to change up or switch gears and focus on other things for short or long periods of time. If I feel the need to PvP a bit, so be it. If I desire to RP for a bit, so be it. If I want to sit in my house, so be it. If I want to raid, so be it.
The best aspect of an MMO is having multiple things to do and being able to do or not do those things as you wish.
On PvP servers I enjoyed being feared by my enemies and cheered by my allies when I entered an area. I likely won't be playing PvP in PRotF though due to the combination of where PvP is today (mostly griefers) and how this game will be designed with a focus on PvE. In PvE RPG I enjoy continually creating and developing my characters personalities (Roleplay) that can sometimes develope from game experience. I try to immerse myself into that character to the point that I make decisions in the game based on what I think my character would do according to the ficticious personality I've developed for them. (i.e. If I'm RP'ing a shady rogue, and someone gives me a /salute, I'll maybe reply with a /nod or a /wave, but never /salute or /smile. If I'm playing a Paladin, I'll go out of my way to help others... within reason of course.)
Short answer: Immersion/role play are my favorite aspects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjMQbzBhTb4
Socializing, #1 by far. I'm tired of soloing in a world filled with thousands of players where I can reach the endgame without ever having to talk to anyone. I miss the old days when we had to make friends to get anything meaningful done even when that meant grouping with people who were good players but "ugh" people. After all, an MMO is (or used to be) mostly a chatroom that provides material to chat about.
Following that are Challenge and Variety. Nothing should be easy -- you never remember achievements that were handed to you. And there must be things other than raiding to occupy ones time, diversions, lest they become bored and walk away.
edit/afterthought: Challenge and difficulty do not mean having to do things that take a long time but are easy once you get there. Nor crafts that require components only available from raid boss rare drops. Those things aren't challenging, just annoying and artificial gates on quantity. I'm talking about boss fights that require everyone to perform near-perfectly or crafting that actually requires some skill beyond the God of Random. The former should not be too difficult to create though the latter would be a challenge for the devs.
I like the never-ending aspect of it. You will never complete or finish an MMORPG, there will always be something to do - gear to get, bosses to kill, things to collect/gather, places to explore, stories to learn.... This leads to a long-term 'relationship' with the game where the NPCs and the lore become your world and the people who play in it become your best friends, sometimes family. And all along the way you get to blast things with fire or call down lightning from the sky haha
I'm not sure how to answer this question. Or rather, I'm not sure I have a 'favorite'
I love adventuring. I love being able to take a tight-knit group and go to a dungeon or some other dangerous location, and triumph, and return with some shiny treasures or a quest completed.
I love challenge. I love having to use every trick I know to win, and make some up along the way, and feeling like we really earned our victory.
I love raiding. I love getting a small army of people together and doing something that truly feels epic in scope and scale, and isn't just some giant monster.
I love exploring. I love being able to learn the lore and history of the world, or of leaving the road and finding something interesting and new on the other side of that ridge that everyone else just runs past.
I love crafting. I love being able to take various ingredients and components and turn them into something that players will use and value. I love setting up my little virtual storefront and seeing other people come through and buy things that will help them in their adventures.
I love depth. I love having to really strive to master the nuances of game systems, and not having everything just handed to me after a few simple trials.
I love breadth. I love having lots of different ways I can improve and grow my character, and even after years of playing, having multiple choices of how I focus my time in the game.
I love community. I love seeing people out in the world, chatting with them in chat channels, interacting with them in markets and towns and cities.
I love pespective. I love not feeling like I'm an unbeatable demigod, and I love feeling like the world is way bigger than just me and my adventures, but that my adventures still do make a difference.
What's my favorite? I don't know. I think all of those things are equally important to me - and probably others that I am not thinking about right now.
Kilsin said:What is your favorite aspect of playing MMORPGs? #MMORPG #communitymatters
The growth of the character over time in terms of manapool; capabilities; stats; availability of content; breadth of spells or abilities. Stagnation will quickly lead me to abandon a game.
The difficulty and challenge.
Not having catch up mechanics (or pay to win features) for people who never play the game that can come in for a few hours be at the top level and feel just as powerful making your character feel so ununique and giving new players nothing really to strive for.
Asides from that i love the way they have made the character abilitys so interactive some really cool ideas, like how the rangers big momentum dumps are melee based and your momentum build ups are ranged based atks and the safety at range aswell of course so no standing still from a far spamming shoot, then the mage where you have to cycle through all 3 elements to manage threat dumps(frost) mana build up(arcane) and dmg out put(fire). the exploring abilitys aswell like the rogues rope, druids bridge or light from wisp gives you more to think about outside of combat this added with climate and perception system will truly make this game unique and stand out in my opinion.
last but not least a good community and lore to go with a good immersive game.
Kilsin said:What is your favorite aspect of playing MMORPGs? #MMORPG #communitymatters
The ability to create my own character, me as it were. I want my guy/gal to be one that killed the dragon, or wiped out the orcs in a zone. I want to save the kingdom or find the lost sword.
Among other things like meeting other people, helping them, building my own reputation, etc.
Community first. An MMO won't hold my attention long if I have no interest in socializing with those who are also playing. It's lonely and boring.
The lore is my next favorite thing. I LOVE LORE. I ARE A LORE-FIEND. (Just ask Kaitheel over at EQ2. He knows me all too well. LOL!)