Global Chat: Rose-colored glasses vs. realism edition

I have confidence that the product ArenaNet releases will be a wonderful game. It won't do my dishes for me. It won't wash my car. When I install it and fire it up for the first time, dragons won't leap out of my screen and start a dynamic event in my living room. It probably won't blow my mind so severely that I forget that I'm playing a video game, or even that I'm playing an MMO. There will be things I don't like, and there will be bugs, and there will be work to do.

Expecting it to do anything but be a wonderful game that's worth your time and money is setting yourself up for a disappointment. That's all anyone can expect for his $60-ish. If enough people decide that it's a wonderful game, the other stuff will follow, but I see a lot of hand-wringing over whether or not GW2 will be a massive industry success, more so than whether or not it'll be any fun.

While we can't really predict whether or not it'll be the second coming, and its arrival might not be heralded with trumpets and choirs, we do have information to support the idea that it'll be fun (like yet another crop of demo reviewers coming out to say that they didn't want to stop playing it).

That's applying real world social norms to a game where storyline factions encourage religious oppression, slavery and hyper-capitalism, where player-run corporations are allowed to build huge military assets unchecked (imagine Wall Street firms with personal aircraft carriers) and trade ships in high-security zones are routinely attacked if they are carrying high-value cargo.

It's a dog-eat-dog world, and trying to pretend it's not by condemning these people would be disingenuous. If you play EVE or see EVE for the world that CCP envisioned, then you do envy these people for being able to rack up more ISK than most EVE players will ever have. Some people like a no-holds-barred game world; why criticize it if you don't like it? Just don't play the game -- there are plenty of other MMOs where nobody loses. Vote with your subs and go to those other games. Let EVE be what EVE is.

I was discussing slot machines with a friend today, real slot machines in casinos, and his side of the argument was that you should only play them with the highest chances of winning with the least amount of money spent.

My theory is that if you're going to be doing something like playing a slot machine, where you know your odds of winning are less than 50/50 and even perfecting the math will only net your return to 90-95%, then there better be something intrinsic to make up for that loss, and that is fun.

If you're not having fun while doing it, then it's a complete loss. My fun when playing slot machines is playing low bets and multiple lines and seeing how my friends are doing on their machines. That, to me, is more fun than just playing the numbers. If you just play the numbers with no fun involved, you're still going to lose. Fun and enjoyment go a long way. If I break even or lose a small amount but still have fun while playing (and possibly got a free drink), it's a win in my book and I'll come back again.

That's how I feel about MMOs, and that seems very similar to this article. If they don't make the entire experience enjoyable and fun, then no amount of "phat loot" will make me feel like I really won anything or like it was worth my time.