That question should never arise. Everything you can do in a game should be “worth the effort,” as a game should be, you know, fun and entertaining. Now, before I go down this train of thought any further, I need to clear up a few things quickly: When I say that everything should be “worth the effort,” that doesn’t mean that I believe all games should be extremely easy. I have no issue with games requiring me to spend a long time on certain activities to progress further, or whatever. However, those activities should be fun to do. It shouldn’t be a question whether or not the end result will be worthwhile, I should want to do those activities for the sake that they’re enjoyable to do.

If you’re including gameplay systems, they ought to be fun. If I need to kill a thousand enemies before I level up, that’s perfectly fine. However, those battles should be enjoyable. If I have to create a thousand wooden boards to progress in crafting, creating those boards should be fun, too. It shouldn’t be some arduous task that requires some special reward to be worthwhile.

Mind you, that’s all easier said than done. I have played MMOs with fairly fun combat systems (PlanetSide – I never specified MMORPGs – and, oddly enough, Vanguard). I’ve never really played a game with fun crafting, but I would say that EQ2 came closer than anything else (before I realized that spamming random abilities was just as effective as paying attention). So, I believe it is possible to create fun systems. This isn’t just limited to crafting and combat though – any activity that players do, should be designed so that they’re having fun doing the activity. I think the primary question that a designer should be asking is “would I do this if there was no reward attached to it.” If the answer is an emphatic “heck no!” then why is it being included? Find the fun – a guiding principle in game design that I sometimes wonder if MMO designers actually remember to focus on, instead of just creating expansive games.

It doesn’t matter what the genre is, it just matters that the gameplay is fun – the addiction to getting some sort of reward shouldn’t be the main motivating force behind players actions. This isn’t to say that all MMOs are entirely unfun, after all, everyone has different tastes and what one person finds fun, another will not. Yet almost all MMOs contain activities that are, without a doubt, not designed to be enjoyable. That shouldn’t actually happen, even though it can be difficult to avoid such pitfalls.

Today marks the official release of the free-to-play MMO, Runes of Magic. RoM might be an MMO originally out of Taiwan, but it certainly doesn’t feel like an Asian MMO. Actually, it plays an awful lot like a Western one. In fact, it is quite different from most free-to-play MMOs, featuring a ton of content and quests, mounts, dual-classing, and even player-housing. There is actually a full game here that you could almost mistake for a title we usually see with a subscription fee.  Not only that, but the release of the game marks the opening of new zones and new content.

Given all of that, is RoM actually a good game though? Sure, it is free, and doesn’t seem like a game that would be, but that doesn’t mean it is good. I gave it a shot, although admittedly not for a long time. My opinion is actually about the exact same as the one seen over here.

RoM is polished, it has a solid, familiar interface, you have the ability to customize your character a bit, there’s plenty of content from what I saw, and while it isn’t Crysis (or even Warhammer), it doesn’t look bad. It basically comes down to being a WoW clone that isn’t quite as polished, doesn’t have quite as much content, but is free other than optional microtransactions. That’s hard to complain about. It seems that they pulled in an awful lot of players during Open Beta, so I imagine that it will continue going rather strong, with a large player-base.

At the same time I haven’t felt a huge draw to go back. Mind you, given that I’m a bit unwilling to spend much these days, RoM is pretty appealing for that. Yet, I did not feel particularly grabbed by it either. I really do suspect that this is partly to do with being a bit jaded to this style of MMO these days.

Today marks the official release of the free-to-play MMO, Runes of Magic. RoM might be an MMO originally out of Taiwan, but it certainly doesn’t feel like an Asian MMO. Actually, it plays an awful lot like a Western one. In fact, it is quite different from most free-to-play MMOs, featuring a ton of content and quests, mounts, dual-classing, and even player-housing. There is actually a full game here that you could almost mistake for a title we usually see with a subscription fee.  Not only that, but the release of the game marks the opening of new zones and new content.

Given all of that, is RoM actually a good game though? Sure, it is free, and doesn’t seem like a game that would be, but that doesn’t mean it is good. I gave it a shot, although admittedly not for a long time. My opinion is actually about the exact same as the one seen over here.

RoM is polished, it has a solid, familiar interface, you have the ability to customize your character a bit, there’s plenty of content from what I saw, and while it isn’t Crysis (or even Warhammer), it doesn’t look bad. It basically comes down to being a WoW clone that isn’t quite as polished, doesn’t have quite as much content, but is free other than optional microtransactions. That’s hard to complain about. It seems that they pulled in an awful lot of players during Open Beta, so I imagine that it will continue going rather strong, with a large player-base.

At the same time I haven’t felt a huge draw to go back. Mind you, given that I’m a bit unwilling to spend much these days, RoM is pretty appealing for that. Yet, I did not feel particularly grabbed by it either. I really do suspect that this is partly to do with being a bit jaded to this style of MMO these days.