An Interview with DrainingSouls.net on MMORPGs

February 21st, 2008

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Its not often that I cover PC games let alone MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) in this blog so I thought that it was about high time I did. But I have no idea where to start, I’ve never even played a MMORPG before. So to fix this I’ve enlisted the help of DrainingSouls.net’s Adrenis whom I recently interviewed to clear up some misconceptions and possibly help start me off on my own MMORPG experience.

Daniel Primed: Thanks for being part of the article Adrenis, can you introduce yourself to the readers so that we have an idea of who you are?

Adrenis: My real name is John Pickett, and I’m a 27 year old guy living in the southeastern US. I’m married and have a one and a half year old son. I was introduced to MMOs when I picked up WoW (DP: thats World of Warcraft) a little over two years ago, and basically haven’t played any other video games since then.

I’m slowly turning my entire household into WoW fanatics – I’ve already convinced my wife to play with me on occasion, and I’m sure that my son will be an avid player as soon as he can sit at a computer and not try to eat the keyboard.

DP: Now as you know I’m not into MMORPGs myself, its just a genre which has never interested me. So what do you think is the appeal of MMORPGs to so many gamers?

Adrenis: I think there are a number of things that attract people to MMOs. First is their social nature. It’s nearly always more fun to play games with other people. The last video game I was really into before WoW was Halo
2. I logged around 40 to 50 hours in the Campaign (singleplayer) mode and then got pretty tired of it. On the other hand, I spent hundreds of hours online playing multiplayer on Xbox Live before I got tired of that. Most games are more fun and engaging when you can play them with other people.

On top of that is the go anywhere, do anything factor in MMOs. If you want to quest, then go right ahead. If you want to go exploring, you can do that to. If you want to just hang out in a city and talk to people in chat, that’s an option too. I think people enjoy not being forced to do stuff like in a typical video game.
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DP: Awesome, now I can think of 3 or 4 reasons why I don’t play MMORPGs but deep down I can’t help but think that they are preconceived notions or stereotypes that I’ve formed from my outsider view of the genre. So I want to run each of these past you so that I can get a better perspective on the games.

Adrenis: Ok, shoot.

DP: Firstly; it takes a lot of time and dedication to play a MMORPG and I don’t have the extensive free time to play it so therefore its not worth me playing.

Adrenis: That is a misconception that I bet a lot of people have. It is entirely possible to devote your entire life to WoW. It’s addictive enough that you can enjoy playing it for 8 to 10 hours straight and there’s enough to do that you don’t get bored easily. However, having vast quantities of time to spend in it isn’t required in any sense. It is totally possible to spend more normal amounts of time in WoW (say, an hour or two a day) and still enjoy it.

It really all depends on what you want to accomplish in the game. If you want to be a top level raider in a leading guild or a world famous PvPer (DP: PvP = Player Vs Player), then that will require a good bit of time and dedication. But if you just want to play the game to have fun, it wouldn’t require more time than any other video game you play.

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