This is Terminally Online: PC Gamer's very own MMO column. Every other week, I'll be sharing my thoughts on the genre, interviewing fellow MMO-heads like me, taking a deep-dive into mechanics we've all taken for granted, and, occasionally, bringing in guest writers to talk about their MMO of choice.
One prevailing bit of industry wisdom about MMOs is the idea that they're a little grey in the beard—and so are their players, too. We can see a little of that in design philosophies for the modern MMORPG, which have leant more towards seasonal structures over long-term grinds, alongside more stuff to do for "midcore" players, who might be decently competent, but lack the time for organised play.
There's also the point that most popular MMOs themselves are old—World of Warcraft's past its 20th year, FF14 is past its 10th. Newer games, like Amazon's New World, don't last long. Even Guild Wars 2, which I could've sworn was spritely, came out in 2012. Where the hell does the time even go?
But I'm curious as to how that translates to you, dear reader. I myself have been playing MMOs since middle school—and while I did indeed beg my parents for a World of Warcraft subscription back in vanilla, I was playing RuneScape and bragging about my Granite Maul long before that.
Which does put me in the category of "I've got a 9/5 now and bills to pay". No longer shall I stay up until three in the morning, questing in the barrens—my CPAP calls to me and my eyes grow heavy if I stay up past midnight. Truly tragic scenes.
Thus it's incumbent upon me to discover if I am indeed preaching to the choir when I talk about the good old days, or whether I need to try and fit in with the youth of today a little more. Perhaps I shall purloin a skateboard and a backwards cap to become 'cool' and 'relatable'.
Or perhaps you're all decade+ veterans like me. Either way, go and have a gander at the poll below, and if you feel like sharing some war stories from your MMO heyday (or just want to call the rest of us… chopped? Is that the word for old? I can't keep up), feel free to drop a comment below, as well.
