MMOs: Do they have one month to impress you?

[Morreion]

The Daily Grind: Do you believe MMOs have one month to make a positive impression?

Is the first month really the sink or swim times that internet buzz makes it out to be? Or do you believe an MMO is something that grows and refines itself over time like a fine wine, or cheese? A product that gets distilled by its developers and eventually turned into something brilliant?

With me personally, it's usually the first 2 months. I often think a game is good the first month, but 2 or 3 months in is when I start seeing the issues that exist.

That doesn't mean a game cannot improve (such as AO and AoC), but most people judge games on release and many will not give a poor release another try on down the road.

I used to stick around for far longer than I do now. It probably has to do with having more MMOs to choose from as well as Jaded MMORPG Syndrome.

[Regolyth]

With the amount of time MMOs take from your life, it's hard to give them too long to get better. And if you do drop it, that also makes it hard to come back to, especially when you remember the reasons you quit in the first place.

I do agree with the writer though, MMOs (in general) do get better over time, because that allows them time to see what works and what doesn't, then they are able to fix the game or alter it's path, based on those results. However, too many MMOs launch in today's market that are technically still in their beta phase, with the thought process of "we can fix this stuff after launch, it's an MMO." This leads to massive amounts of people be disappointed when a game is released, then quitting before their first month is done, and therefore never returning. No matter how good it is now, a game like Vanguard cannot get that bad taste of a launch out of it's gamer's mouths.

[EchoVamper]

I think one month is two short for a personal trial. We are at two months for Aion now and, even though I'm discouraged, part of me thinks that may be too short a trial as well.

As an experienced gamer, I have some positive markers I look for in a game, and some triggers that throw up big red flags. For instance, I tend to be more skeptical and less tolerant when bots appear.

We are probably now in the 3rd or 4th generation of MMOs. It's a different, and in some ways more discerning, player base.

In the absence of game flaws that violate my core principles, I think that a 90 day trial sounds about right. But I certainly can understand that other people can come to their decision sooner.