Stupid En Masse

Roleplaying games are some of my favorite. I love feeling like I've made meaningful choices that have positively (or negatively, depending on how I like my character) affected the universe. It's a little chance for a real-life nobody to feel like a virtual somebody. Unfortunately, everyone else shares that same feeling.

The difference between a CRPG and an MMORPG is that, in the former, you, the player, are special in that you're the hero. Your choices affect the world around you, and everything can be bent around your pinky, should you so desire. It's all about you, and the world reflects that. In contrast, MMORPGs try to tell everyone that they're special and have that same power, but when everyone is special, no one is special, making everyone insignificant.




Of course, that doesn't even touch on the biggest reason that MMORPGs fail: people are stupid. Now, although I don't play MMOs at all, I have played roleplaying games with excellent multiplayer capabilities, and the problems are all the same. If there aren't enough people, it's boring because, unlike single player, you create your own story (or else, like in World of Warcraft, everyone repeats the same monotonous quests), and you need others to do that. On the other hand, if there are too many people, then you're plagued by people who don't care about roleplaying and just want to either be annoying or make a mess out of everything everyone else has created.

Maybe I'm a prick elitist for enjoying what I call "roleplay" by making up some character and playing him without interruption from the real world through a game, but it seems to me that most who enjoy a roleplaying game, whether it be single player, multiplayer, or MMO, agree on what it is they want: a fully customizable avatar that they can live through and interact with, as opposed to a lifeless mass of polygons to complete grindtastic quests and kill hundreds of look-alike baddies through.

What's worse is that there are tons of just such boring games that exist (and require regular monthly fees), with even more on the way. A friend of mine spoke highly of one such game, Star Wars Galaxies, that, while innovative and fascinating with open-ended true roleplay gameplay, a player-run world, and a non-standard level up system, quickly turned into what he called a "WoW clone", taking out all reason to really work towards any goals because the game hands you your cake and pats you on the head without any effort on your part like a lazy toddler trying to get through America's education system.

Maybe MMORPGs will change one day, but I somehow doubt it, as each new step towards something better, as was the apparent case of Star Wars Galaxies, seems to fall back into the same crippling hole. Sure, maybe the lack of individuality (or personality, for that matter) is a credit to the game for some, and maybe the repetition and static quests are lauded in gaming circles, but while all the other horses break their legs on prairie dog hill, I'll be perfectly happy prancing around in the thriving green meadows of single-player CRPGs. At least there, the only annoying person I have to endure is me.