This isn't just limited to MMOs but, to a certain extent, it is. Do you have to get the absolute best gear possible? Do you have to re-run XYZ instance 15 times for ABC ability?
When you max out your character's level do you feel obligated to continue playing the game?
Yes. Obligated is the key word and for several reasons :
A) Clan/Guild or playing partner
B) General addiction
C) In hopes of getting the best items
Do you have to re-run XYZ instance 15 times for ABC ability?
No, have never played an MMO since the original EverQuest, where actually using skills increased their value. But if you rephrase it to "running an instance for items," then yes, that's the end game for all modern MMORPG. And 're-run' is the crucial aspect here, as carrot-stick mentality is how the developers keep players engaged until they release new content.
Unfortunatelly all the nonsense and bullsh!t that goes with MMO endgame is seriously destructive to health and well-being.
Obviously no one is forcing people to stay up late and attempt another 'boss run' for the nine hundredth time, but would it kill developers to ensure that all attendants to a successful 'raid' actually walk away with something useful?
I think the idea that people will quit if they get 'uber' items too soon or too easy is nonsense and paranoid thinking.
When people get uber phat lewtz they like parading around the virtual world showing it off to other morons who are living in a fantasy and actually care about such useless crap.
And they also want to go actually make use of that new weapon, shield or armor.
Who on earth would spend time doing end game scenarios and acquire new items only to then quit?
If anything it would encourage them to stick around more and help others because at least while they are helping(as that's one of the things you get stuck doing at end game), they can enjoy it more with their new items.
And yes, like computer components, MMO items get outdated, and sometimes fast.
Given how much time spent in obtaining such things, it's a real salt in the wound.
Most of the problem is rooted in this concept that MMOs have to be about community and communial advancement. Yes yes, sure they say, you can solo for a while, but for when you get serious(sounds like a Marcy home-gym) you have to group/raid...and in order to do that you probably have to clan, and then you have to go do a bunch of pre-requisite quests, which are more or less mini raids, and require assistance from people who have already done it and probably don't want to help...and then after those quests, you have to schedule and attend the raid - and that comes with it's own separate set of headaches such as the hour long wait with continous chat bubble pop-ups of lame 'your mom' jokes by fifteen year olds with the subsequent "LMAO" over and over, and the annoying 'wifey' of one of the senior clan members (because you know, every clan has to have at least one 'couple') who puts herself on auto-follow for the entire raid and conveniently shows up when you're looting the boss and walks away with something she didn't earn.
Then you have to do quests within the raid to get to the boss, and then when you get to the boss, you have to down it and stand around with fingers crossed that out of the dismal five items it drops, one will be for your class, and none of the other twenty similar classes there needs it, and that you win the roll.
And if you don't..there's always next week - and on the mention of 'next time' what the hell is with 'lockout timers?' Seriously, do they think people are going to raid 'too much.' And what motives drive them to not want people to raid 'too much?' Is it altruistic in that they are concerned for people's health, or because they don't want people to get items too soon and too easily? I scoff at the latter, especially given how difficult it is to even raid, let alone get an item you can use anytime soon. On top of all the bullsh!t, to then turn around and say you have to wait to do it again is ludicrous. People have lives, schedules and they should be able to PLAY when they want to play -hell they are paying for it. It's not like people waltz into a raid and come out in ten minutes with every item imaginable. At least they could let you try it as many times as you like...it's your time and money, not theirs.
Should they actually make MMOs without an endgame, but still allow for heavy group play from the early levels, then you'd somewhat appease both sides of the arguement.
But what they do is just make 'elite' mobs for 'group quests' to keep you group-happy until you raid later on.
Unfortunately, by end game, mobs that were soloable at level 79 are now not soloable versus their level 80 counterparts.
Ultimately, 99% of MMO end game results in three things :
A) Reroll a new character/class (because for some reason, idiotic devs can't learn to utilize a job system like FFXI/FFXIV, so you don't have to start ALL over).
B) Raid raid raid!
C) Quit and 'take a break' until new content comes which you can do in about two weeks and be back right where you started.
This is why offline type MMO/RPG are the best. You get that sense of immersion and 'big world,' but without all the online nonsense and demands and time structures and morons you find on the internet. The only downside is that you don't get weekly maintenance/updates/patches and the world is only evolving if DLCs or mods are released. Still..it's a lot better than playing the same old crap online with the same old idiots and you can do that on your own time at your own pace and reap your own rewards.
I payed, and I played.
Simple concept - someone should get on that bandwagon, they could make a fortune.
