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The Soapbox: Rooting for the fail
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. I'm going to start this with a strange admission: I love MMOs. I love them as a lumpy, imperfect collective; I love specific ones immensely, and I love being a fan of the genre. I feel that I have to clarify my stance when I sometimes -- often -- see people who apparently follow MMOs quite closely become a neverending fount of bile and venom toward these games. Apparently, not all MMO fans love MMOs, and that perplexes me. Odd as that may be, whatever, I can accept that we live in a topsy-turvy world. What I really don't get are the folks who hate specific games so greatly that their entire bodies and minds have been honed into a dedicated game-loathing entity. Mention that title anywhere on a forum, a blog, or in a post, and these people come out to scream through clenched teeth how this MMO sucks beyond the telling of it and that we are all fools, fools for getting anywhere near it. They aren't just content to say their piece and be done with it, oh no; their vitriol literally knows no end. They will rant, they will attack, they will laugh with derision, and above all else, they will root for the fail. Their greatest desire in life is for this specific game to die so that they can rend their clothes and let out a blood-curdling victory howl. And I don't get it. I feel like an alien in their presence, perplexed at their rage and fixation. Why do people root for MMOs to fail with such intensity? What motivates them and what do they hope to achieve?
The Daily Grind: The Dead Pool
Now it's widely known that MMORPG players are a cheerful, optimistic bunch [citation needed]. It also goes without saying that no Massively reader would ever be caught wishing the downfall of a particular MMO or company [citation needed]. After all, the more titles that survive and thrive, the more the genre as a whole grows. With games like EverQuest, Ultima Online and Asheron's Call pushing well over a decade of run-time at this point, MMOs have proven that -- given a chance and enough initial steam -- they can go the distance. However, realism is a nasty mistress, and we can't ignore the fact that sooner or later MMOs will shut down. We've seen some flare up and burn out quickly (Tabula Rasa, Auto Assault), some struggle for years before capitulating (The Matrix Online, Asheron's Call 2), and some quietly put to pasture after all attempts at prolonging life failed (Shadowbane). The dark truth is that even the games we currently play have a finite lifespan, and one day will see their light extinguished. Cheery, right? So today, let's engage in a bit of macabre speculation and wager on a MMO dead pool. Without using this as a platform to rail against a MMO you hate and were personally wronged by on one midsummer's eve, what MMO do you think will be the next to close its doors? Will it be one of the newer titles, or one published by a company that has the tendency to shutter struggling games, or an aging beauty? Enter into today's dead pool, and earn the right to say "I told you so!" when the sad day happens. Because that will totally make you look tactful, don't you know.
