BombPoll #2: Are You Tired Of Fantasy?
Five years ago, when I was trying to get a friend to try Guild Wars 2, he commented that it looked OK, but he was "tired of fantasy MMOs." It's an understandable concern. There are a lot of them, with more coming out all the time. Fantasy is how RPGs -- not MMORPGs or even video game RPGs -- basically got their start, and it's been the most common setting for such games ever since.
(Well, unless you count this, which was probably the first actual role-playing-game session. But I digress.)
Still, is that enough of a reason to discount a game entirely? I didn't think so then, and I don't think so now. Sure, I wouldn't mind if there were more MMOs out there with a non-fantasy feel, like Secret World Legends or Eve Online. But I won't choose not to play something just because it's fantasy. I'm still OK with swords and dragons just as much as I am with lightsabers and starships.
That's today's BombPoll question: Are you sick of fantasy? Are you like my friend and won't even touch a game these days if it has wizards and witches (or Witchers) in it? Or are you still OK with swords and sorcery as long as there's a good game to be had? Let us know in the poll and in the comments!
Last week's BombPoll asked: "Which is the better battle royale game? PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds or Fortnite: Battle Royale?" Maybe because we're a site that specialized in free-to-play games, Fortnite won out, 60% to 32%, with 8% of people voting "Other." And a few comments echoed my personal sentiment, such as Diefool who said:
"At THIS moment in time PUBG ... but when Fortnite implements some sort of progression and unlocks, it will EASILY take the number one spot for me."
That's what I'm waiting on, too. Heck, just let me change my soldier and track my stats and I'll be all over it.
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About the Author
Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.
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Lately, I often feel the urge for a good Sci-Fi MMORPG, most of which are either outdated, not quite authentic enough or just not very good in the first place. Free ones are quite awful and there is lacking the pure open-world and/or sandbox experience in nearly all of them.
I try all game types but after many yaers im still play fantasy MMORPG!
1. The world setting:
Fantasy games have beautifully designed worlds that take you across different biomes and areas. Most games try to make them as real as possible, so we can all appreciate the beauty easily. On the other hand, sci-fi games' worlds are harder to impress with. All you see is metal everywhere. "But there are planets with beautiful landscapes!", you say. Well? Isn't that a fantasy world right there?
2. The items/equipment
Fantasy games emulate items and equipment of the past. Swords and maces are melee. A shield blocks attacks. A bow is a ranged weapon. Sci-fi? Pistol. Rocket launcher. Laser gun. Lightning gun. Flamethrower. It's like all fantasy spells are just copied and thrown into a gun. There's no variation in "cast times", or fancy "animations". Just shoot everything.
In a Fantasy game you see a "Grinding Stone" and you know it's most likely used in a profession like Blacksmithing or something that has to do with "sharpening" your weapon and basically boosting its stats.
I'm yet to play a good Sci-Fi game aside from Mass Effect 1-3 and Star Wars KOTOR 1 and 2. For me a Sci-Fi game is about an open world space where you can freely travel between planets and do whatever you want, but such game is technologically impossible at this time. No Man's Sky boasted it can provide hours of fun, except it was a pathetic failed attempt.
In a Fantasy game the world doesn't need to be that huge, because there can be multiple explanations why it is not. Like got destroyed, or there is a magical barrier, and simply the story can revolve only a small portion of the world and in the end players will be satisfied with what they had.
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Either way for me personally setting was never a deciding factor when picking games to play. If gameplay is solid, style / athmosphere consistent, and story interesting (if applicable) throughout the game then I'll play it regardless of its setting.
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Something tells me that for most people behind "I don't want to play fantasy MMORPGs" lies something else entirely, something closer to "I've had enough cheap WoW copies". After all, average gamers are notorious for never knowing why they like/ dislike certain games (especially when they are sure they've found the reason).
It retracts and does not attract. it may entice players for that brief moment but in the end it completely ruins the idea behind gaming, & that is to take part in a theme or fantasy of something, not being side tracked by following the Jones'zzz's in game development & attempt to show a copied hand of it.
This only mess's up to what the point the game is.
Therefore the game dies, flops or is wilted, the player becomes BORED with the over stupididizeble concepts of what it isn't, and now what it is.......A complete mess of every kind thing you can think of.
In closing.
Mass of everything is nothing as it attracts from the one thing, the theme.