Eh, I genuinely enjoy the slow progress of the game, being an oldschool grinder gamer. First video game I can remember playing is Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System and that seemed to set the tone for future gaming; mindlessly slaughtering monsters, completing the same tasks, over and over again in order to get anywhere.

Also a sociological study for me, and one I find more interesting than most other social media platforms. The quote, "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." (Oscar Wilde), is true without games involved, but I don't find people fascinating enough on their own and need some other form of entertainment to go with it. I'm especially tickled by the huge amounts of hypocrisy present, where players often denounce an act, then turn around and employ the same. I can be amused by such when the affects are relatively mild, unlike when it has real life consequences of import.

Your thoughts are probably quite fascinating and reminds me of the first Nintendo games that I started playing for the first time.  Next is snes, ps1... PC. 

I was introduced to the first PC game because of the title game "The House of the Dead" when a college friend played in the computer room.  Next on the PC is the game on the flash platform and simulator ps2, psp then the world of comics and animation... 

While my friends only care about parties and hot girls.  They never care about the games and said it was just for kids! :(

I recall an old story. My college friend liked a high school student. They dated but then he was kicked because the girl ran after a richer man. After that, he was drunk with broken hearts, took a picture and uploaded to his personal page. Some time later I reiterated but he is still hurt.

Real life is as complicated as chasing illusion.

Eh, I genuinely enjoy the slow progress of the game, being an oldschool grinder gamer. First video game I can remember playing is Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System and that seemed to set the tone for future gaming; mindlessly slaughtering monsters, completing the same tasks, over and over again in order to get anywhere.

Also a sociological study for me, and one I find more interesting than most other social media platforms. The quote, "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." (Oscar Wilde), is true without games involved, but I don't find people fascinating enough on their own and need some other form of entertainment to go with it. I'm especially tickled by the huge amounts of hypocrisy present, where players often denounce an act, then turn around and employ the same. I can be amused by such when the affects are relatively mild, unlike when it has real life consequences of import.

But, all that noise aside, it's escapism, pure and simple.

BiohazarD said:

Insanity Talisman said:

Eh, I genuinely enjoy the slow progress of the game, being an oldschool grinder gamer. First video game I can remember playing is Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System and that seemed to set the tone for future gaming; mindlessly slaughtering monsters, completing the same tasks, over and over again in order to get anywhere.

Also a sociological study for me, and one I find more interesting than most other social media platforms. The quote, "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." (Oscar Wilde), is true without games involved, but I don't find people fascinating enough on their own and need some other form of entertainment to go with it. I'm especially tickled by the huge amounts of hypocrisy present, where players often denounce an act, then turn around and employ the same. I can be amused by such when the affects are relatively mild, unlike when it has real life consequences of import.

But, all that noise aside, it's escapism, pure and simple.

That's common in both games and life.  People don't like a strategy being employed against them because it's effective, then use the same strategy against others for the same reason. 

I have schizoid personality disorder and claim to be an existentialist if asked about my faith, as it aligns with my beliefs and gentle mocking of religion pleases me, although I try not to outright attack the beliefs of others*. I've studied psychology extensively, as well. Still, while I understand it in layman's terms, I often find myself at a loss when faced with the sheer magnitude of the lack of awareness in society regarding how everything we do interacts with everything around us, to a greater or lesser extent. The recognition of cause and effect seems to be dying at an alarming rate, but that might just be due to my low opinion of humanity. Ninety-nine percent of the time, if I offend someone, I intentionally meant to, but this growing (seemingly), pervasive shunting of accountability, whether pinned on offhandedness or insensitivity, makes my skin want to rip itself from the bones and crawl away. XD

...I think I had a point in that rambling. Ah, right. As long as someone realizes and admits that they have no moral high ground over anyone, no matter their excuse or personal justification, in their use of what they consider a reprehensible tactic, I'm okay with it.

*while sober

djmoody said:

I started playing this game because I wanted to play a strategy game.

It no longer is fit to be called a strategy as the only strategy of any merit is finding people who are willing to spend shit tonnes of money on the game to join your league. That offers no gameplay to me.

In fact MMO as a genre has become so unsatisfying due to greed, that I have returned to playing single player games. Some amazing games, even the best don't cost more than £20 if you wait for Steam sales. Many indie games with creativity and innovation cost less than double figures.

It's a crying shame because a strategy game with people is so much more enjoyable. People refine, learn, completely change strategy whereas with a single player game you can learn how the AI plays and eventually overcome with ease and it never develops. People won't butt their heads against a brick wall, if they lose they evolve their approach. 

Also some of the best elements of MMO are what happens outside of the confines of the game, the alliances, politics, personal grudges etc etc. The meta-game is often far more enjoyable and more rich in content than the actually game itself. You can't get that with a single player game.

MMO's have such massive advantages but the developers have taken the piss with short term money grabs, delivering little to no content and preying on exploiting human nature to make money rather than delivering great games.

Rented a server together with some friends and having a blast doing zombie survival/crafting/base building, whatever together :p Funpimps, best pimps :p    can't say the name of the game but I can give a hint right :p