messing-around
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MMOGology: Playing around
Whether it's completing quests, running dungeons, or taking down super villains, any good game has decisive goals for player progression. Most of the time there is a clear and structured path that will get players quickly from one goal to the next. You level up, you unlock new abilities, you get better gear and you take on more challenging and entertaining tasks. It could be as simple as that; a straight and narrow path to completing a game. So why do many of us get in snowball fights outside of the bank in Ironforge? Why do we join others playing music outside of taverns in Lord of the Rings Online? Why do we jump off the highest structure we can find, only to fall to our deaths? Could it simply be because it's ... fun? MMOGs afford us interesting opportunities to goof off with others and "play" a game in ways that developers may never have intended.Of course, many people don't like playing around, even when playing a video game. They love the challenge of being the first to complete every objective. They consider any diversion from the leveling process to be a waste of time and potential experience gained. While I fully understand and appreciate the desire to have the bragging rights as the first guy to hit the maximum level, or the first guild to take down the latest raid boss, I personally could never do it. I guess I'm somewhat of a slacker when I play MMOGs. Sometimes I like to fish, or climb the highest mountain and stare at a virtual moon. I don't mind that I'm not progressing toward the end of the game because I'm just enjoying having fun doing whatever it is I'm doing at the moment. Sometimes when our gaming experiences become overly competitive I think it's healthy to stop and smell the virtual roses. After all, we're playing a game. Shouldn't our main goal be to have fun, however it's defined?
