| I'd think that the burnout could be more easily attributed to an aging, more cynical playerbase combined with a frequently buggy game who's concept hasn't grown in over 3 years, and whose lack of creative implementation has destroyed what little (or large, depending!) immersiveness the game at one point held.
An open ended game seemingly requires either practically infinite and diverse content or open ended gaming objectives in order to remain entertaining over a long period of time.
It seems the slow trend has been from: Everquest -- You're in our world now. to Everquest: Time to Catch up on the Will and Grace reruns while you grind xp and/or raid.
For all the faults of pvp (and there are many), it offers a different gaming experience each time out and a variety hard to emulate ,though not impossible, in a pve format. Eq was a damn good game. Then a pretty good game. Then a waste of time. Then a really crappy game. Then i quit, and I dunno where it's gone from there.. but judging by this and other boards...
I think it had less to do with the xpacs. If you look at them, each really are a refinement of the origional concept. Naggy / Vox taken to their endpoints. But given the limitations of their systems, manhours, and their whorish capitalist pigdog wearing a tophat desires to make the most profit off the least effort the result isn't all that suprising or unexpected.
Resturants generally only last 2-3 years. And they sell FOOD. GG Sony, even if their shit is rotten now.
And stuff |