That sinking feeling.

One of the main ways of making a paying customer renewing a subscription is to repeat a task over, and over, and over again - giving a reward every 300th repetition or so. The time-sink is the bane of the MMO design. It's cheap, lacking in creativity, and keeps the paychecks rolling in. But getting rid of time sinks is unmaking what the RPG genre, in general, is all about.

To question "Why have time-sinks?" is basically asking the question "Why should I be bothered to go through all levels of Super Mario Bros, when I'm eventually going to get to the end anyway?"

The answer - challenge. It's not easy sitting through the more boring aspects of a game (or less interesting I should say) - that's what makes getting to the end worth it. Of course, today's MMO's don't have much to offer at the end... And there lies the problem... And I can't think of a solution. Besides making the "grind" more enjoyable...

I feel like a mouse, pushing a button for food, over and over again... Worrying.

More than one subscription isn't just expensive, it's necessary.

More than one subscription isn't just expensive, it's necessary.
There are features that you'll find in every single MMORPG - chat functions, inventories, usable items each more shiny than the last, quests, factions, stats, group activities, etc. etc.

Oh yeah and they're online, and you can speak to other people online. That's pretty important too.

But these features don't make an MMORPG fun or exiting (although I always find chatting to strangers fun - this might be why my childhood was so eventful), they simply make a game an MMORPG.
Just as an FPS requires some sort of projectile weapon, an RTS requires some sort of squad you move at command, and a sports simulation requires a complete lack of imagination.

So when faced with such a growing smörgåsbord out there, with the same base ingredients, we have to dig deeper: read the labels over again, remember what the doctor said our dietary limits were, what causes a terrible rash, what makes us drool at the mouth, and most importantly what our budget is.

It might just be opinion to say World Of Warcraft may have slowed the innovation of the MMO genre; creating a winning a formula that anyone and everyone could try and milk for some easy bucks. But it's pretty clear in my mind they reinvented the wheel and no-one seemed to give a shit about coming up with the jet engine any more, "the path of least resistance is currently plated in gold" the publishers have decreed. But as World Of Warcraft slowly grinds to a halt, which it most certainty is according to figures from G4tv.com's MMO Report, creativity will soon be necessary for profit. In the meantime I've been playing alternatives to my five-year post in Azeroth.

"I want fully controllable character customization and regular content updates" City Of Heroes/Villains £8.99 a month.

"...but I also want an innovative crafting system and unbeatable community atmosphere" Lord of the Rings Online £8.99 a month.

"...and a virtual economy I can really influence, with unprecedented player vs. player combat and my own SPACESHIP!" EVE Online £12.99 a month.

For a monthly total of £30.97.

...Not taking into account I had to throw down a base cost of £20 on average per game.

... We soon begin to see there isn't a game out there that will cater to all of a core MMO-player's needs. And as a result it becomes necessary to spend more and more to get an immersive fix. What one game lacks another excels in, and vice versa. Bioware could be the answer to my prayers - a company that cares, enjoyable gameplay, constant updates, AND a space ship? This might just be what the genre needs. I'm sick of spending half my pitiful student loan on subscription fees.

Scurvy isn't attractive, nor is it healthy. But hey I'm staying inside anyway, right?

It's free, but it'll cost you.

Free-to-play MMO's. What a wonderful concept. Don't have a monthly budget to spend on virtual goods? Can't really commit that much time to a subscription-based MMO to make the payment worthwhile? You're 12 years old and don't have a debit card? NO PROBLEM!

Sure, we're not offering the quality of a AAA title - but what choice have you got? Oh, did we mention that to fully utilize this game you'll need to visit our game store? And make a couple of micro transactions?

This is the make-or-break point for a free-to-play MMO: If you can make a game offer the full immersive experience, with the *option* to spend a couple of pounds on a shiny new horse, or some cosmetic changes then fair enough. I understand. No dilemma. But how about we make the first 30 levels of your experience brilliant, and then you hit a wall - a wall that requires you to purchase new skills, equipment or XP potions to get back to that wonderful experience you had at the beginning.  No dice.

So when you advertise your wonderful imported, aging, eastern MMO to the west don't do it under the false pretense of "free-to-play". The user will feel cheated. And after throwing hours of their time at something only to find it's now going to cost in order to progress any further, they'll feel inclined to throw money right at you. It's almost pyramid-scheme in nature.

Free Realms (from the creators of some of the great MMOs of the genres short history, SOE) is the worst perpetrator of this awful back-handedness. Although it offers a "membership" option - it doesn't quite state how important a membership really is. After 30 minutes or so it became apparent this "free online sensation" was simply a demo - a demo for the membership priced £3.99 a month. I am well aware that free trials, and day-long demos are perfectly normal business practice for subscription-based games and I'm fine with that. But when you brand a childrens game as free, only to find your child complains days later that "theres nothing left to do without a membership" you're on really bad form. Shame on you SOE.

Oh, and that scenario really happened - ask my dad, or my distraught 11-year old sister.

I shout because you won't listen.

Player attitude is a big factor for my length of stay in a certain game-world. I recently decided to try out Lord Of The Rings Online... mainly due to the recent disappointment with many new releases (I'm looking at you Aion, Global Agenda and Star Trek Online!).

It turns out I'd forgotten what a decent community felt like. Now by "decent community", I don't mean simply someone who can be your leveling buddy, or a skilled bunch of players destroying the latest content, or a guy who'll give you the best deal for that shiny pair of boots. No, I mean a group of people who will point you in the right direction, give you no-strings-attached advice, and generally be an understanding listener for the newbie in need. It's no surprise that a player-base such as this has supported Turbine through the rougher parts of LoTRO's three-year existance. A quick scroll through their forums gave me a wonderful change to the "this-is-what-you're-getting-yes-we-can-hear-you-but-we-won't-listen" attitude of a lot of MMO developers of late (take this thread, for example).

As a generally lone wolf in many MMO worlds, I didn't really pay attention to my fellow adventurers. My attitude may have been down to the fact I was simply shying away from the abuse usually found when one asks for assistance ("lol, lern to play, this isn't WoW") - and I've come to realize I, as a paying customer, shouldn't have to put up with such treatment. If a player-base can't be utilized by a developer to be caring, sociable and welcoming due to poor customer relations then I'll gladly take my coin elsewhere.

It's almost a like a food-chain: The developer feeds the player with recognition of their existance and listens to their cries, the player then treats it's fellow player in the same manner. Help to help yourself, Mr MMO Developer, and don't be a faceless machine that churns out new content for it's selfish player-base. A selfish player-base YOU created.