MMO vs Multiplayer

This is a topic I've been thinking about lately.

In my past mmo's have been a large chunk of my gaming time. I played games such as EverQuest and World of Warcraft, which involve countless hours of "grinding". Grinding for xp to reach max level, doing dailies for money, doing heroics for valor, etc. Then there are the raids which can take hours, with chance you might not get a single drop. All of this is so that I could get a small increase in my characters stats.

Vinzulu - 19 Troll Rogue Twink - World of Warcraft

It seems in mmo's that you have to put in an incredible amount of work to have a little fun. I've read before that mmo's are designed to get you to play as long as possible. This means dragging out everything as far as they can. In 2011 I started slowing my grinding to an eventual halt. I first stopped raiding, then heroics, then dailies. I still enjoyed pvp doing battlegrounds, but since I didn't grind for honor points I didn't fare very well.

Then in 2012 I eventually stopped playing WoW, and pretty much swore off grinding. So what had brought on this change to reduce and eventually remove grinding from my life? I came to a new philosophy. If I am playing a video game, I am playing it to have fun. As such, I am only going to play it if I am having fun. What I realized is that I wasn't really playing at all, I was working. Doing dailies, heroics, etc was work, not play.

Since then I've rarely played an mmo, except for Guild Wars 2. I'm mostly playing single and multiplayer games, such as Skyrim, Tribes Ascend, Farcry 3, and Chivalry. These games can be immensely enjoyable, and have a high fun for your time ratio. Have half an hour to kill? You could do a heroic you've done fifty times before, or you could rack up a great kill count or go on a quest to save a town from pirates.

Zappi - Asura Engineer - Guild Wars 2

Writing this article has brought up a few questions however. Leveling up is found in both an mmo and in multiplayer/single player games. So what is the difference? Why does one seem like a chore while the other is often just a byproduct of having fun? One of the answers I think lies in an earlier statement of mine, that mmo's try to stretch things out. Why are there so many games coming out as mmo's?

Also, what MMO would you like to have been a multiplayer game instead? What would it be like?

Chivalry - First Impressions

Chivalry is a new game made by Torn Banner Studios. It's an FPS game that takes place in medieval times, as such players use melee weapons instead of guns. While that alone is something that sets it apart from most other shooters, its combat is where things really start to get interesting. There are several types of attacks you can perform, such as overhead chops or stabs. You can also block a players attack if your timing is right. It is all very skill based, meaning it takes time to master and good reflexes help.

It's better to watch a video or play the game yourself to get a better understanding of how fun the combat and gameplay is. Chivalry offers several types of pvp, such as arena deathmatch, or team based objectives. There are four classes, Archer, Man At Arms, Vanguard, and Knight, each have their own play styles and weapons. As you further play a class, you can unlock even more weapons for them use. These weapons you can unlock seem to be sidegrades, each having different pro's and con's.

As mentioned in the title, I am still new to the game. I purchased it during one of the steam sales and had been putting off playing it. I finally started playing it this past week. First thing I did was use the handy tutorial that came with the game, then rushed to a game. It was a team objective type game, meaning two teams with an objective such as pushing a cart. Somehow I feel as if I've done this before somewhere.

I didn't fare too well of course, as to be expected of a noob. I didn't have the timing down for blocking attacks, and I only managed to get a few lucky kills. After getting thoroughly owned for a good while, I decided to hit the showers. While the gameplay was certainly interesting, there was a bit of a rough start. Then a few days later some steam buddies wanted to play the game, and we hopped onto an arena server.

I tell you I laughed so much I couldn't count the times I almost peed my pants. Afterwards not only did I learn some pretty decent fighting skills, but also had unlocked several weapons for the knight class. So I guess the moral of the story is to hang in there, and bring your friends if possible. Thank you, and I hope to be dismembering you in the game soon!

[All video and pictures courtesy of http://www.chivalrythegame.com/]