Do some people just crave to be told what to do?

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Okay, this is just something that's been bouncing around in my head for a bit, and it has because I've had a bit of a chat with a couple of people whom I know of that chose to leave Champions Online, why they did it, and the kind of game they're going to.

I just need to expunge this, so bear with me.

I'll start off by saying that they pretty much choose to go to a game like ****, World of ********, or Lord of the Rings: Online. This is invariable with the people I talked to, and I have to stress here that this all relates to the small sample I spoke with.

First of all, the type of game they left for has:

- A direct quest-line, where you're told exactly where to go, all the time.
- A simple quest system for the majority of the game; kill X, collect X, or kill X to collect X*.
- A game in which one runs around like a worker bee, following those quests without having to think much.
- A game with hard-set classes that don't require much thought or variation to be successful.
- A game in which 'entertainment' (such as a raid dungeon) is a reward for hard work grinding/questing.
- A game where there are no unknown variables due to the hard-locked class system.

The reasons they left Champions Online are:

- They don't like that they have to look at the Crime Computer from time to time.
- They don't like the unknown variables presented by being able to choose any powers.
- They don't like being subjected to those unknown variables (someone has a better build than them).
- They don't like unknown variables like Grond, ranged mobs, or anti-air devices providing random danger.
- They don't like having to block or use observational skills in battle.
- They got fed up with he bugs (fair point, but what MMO doesn't have bugs for a while after launch?).

My point is that it seems that there are people out there who see a smooth MMO experience as one where they can just shut off their brains and be told exactly what to do, where it's all very "safe". You have your class, you know what it does, you know what all the other classes do, there are no risks there, there's no Grond, and all the quest-lines hand-hold you as much as possible.

Is breaking away from this mindless style of worker drone gameplay a bad thing? I don't think so, but I do find it worrying that anyone actually enjoys that kind of thing. From my perspective, I can't understand it. I like freedom, I like having to think, I like having choices, I liked being able to design myself and my Nemesis, I like needing to engage my senses and my brain in combat if I want to succeed.

But that's the difference between people.

Personally though, I'm hoping that Champions Online will never try to cater to that crowd, because there are too many games that do all ready, and it's nice to have one that doesn't. It's nice to have a game that has individuality, character, and unexpected variables. And if anyone ever tried to take Grond away from the desert, I'd be out for blood! D: Yes, low level players die to him occasionally, but that's the nature of this game. Strange, random, weird, and even wonderful things can occur.

I suppose at the end of the day... I'm just glad that Champions Online is what it is, it's the most fun I've ever had in an MMO. I'm a superhero, not a worker drone in fantasy attire.

I suppose I'll never figure out why some people crave just being able to shut their brain off totally like that.

I wonder if "turn your brain off" games will be a contributing factor towards Dementia in the years to come?

Still, I'm rambling now, so I'll leave it at that.

I do wonder what Cryptic's other games will be like though, if they're as engaging then I might end up playing those too, even though I'm not the biggest fan of Star Trek. :p

* - I admit that CO has some of this, but it breaks it up with other content and different types of quests, it isn't almost solely made up of that kind of quest, not by a long shot.

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I suppose I'll never figure out why some people crave just being able to shut their brain off totally like that.

I read this in a book somewhere...

In all honesty it just comes down to preference. Some people like one game style, other people like another. I don't think it's a factor of them enjoying being told what to do. Help is nice, but I'm pretty sure they're not enveloping themselves inside the game.

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I really agree with you here. I really love CO because of the special things it brings. I really fell in love that there are missions where you can take a supoer villain by yourself if you're smart and the fact you can mix and match skills for more viarity.

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People miss Resto Druids, Ret Paladins, and Death Knights :P

"Ok I'm going to run up to this player/mob and just spam Death Strike."

It worked for me and was only fun when intoxicated.

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I've noticed a lot of people seem lost when they aren't told what to do.

I watched someone play Morrowind and complain they had nothing to do. Where-as I had completed The Main questline, a House Questline, two Guild questlines, a ton of random quest/questlines.... and I still had things to do. Most of which didn't involve a quest! :confused:

People don't like open-endedness. They don't like thinking or being creative. It drives me nuts sometimes. :mad:

WoW... ****... LotRO... WAR... Eve... sure, they're pretty. But they are all the same thing over and over and over again. Which is fine.... but then you switch to another one only to do it all over again!?!?

Champions broke out of the mold a little; that's why I'm here.

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People don't like exploring or having to explore anymore. Instant gratification or bust.

Not to de-rail, but to date one of the greatest games ever is the first Legacy of Kain on PS One-while the storyline was linear, finding all of the goodies was totally up to you. You could even miss out on some of the more potent items/equipment if you just tunnelvisioned through the story.

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WoW... ****... LotRO... WAR... Eve... sure, they're pretty. But they are all the same thing over and over and over again.

I'm suprised you dropped Eve in that list since it was my experience that it is the one MMO out there that really is a sandbox and where you really can be successful without ever getting involved in combat or without ever crafting or ever running a single mission. The downside to it (aside from being somewhat like Excel in 3D) is that your avatar in the game is really a ship, not a character.

As for the OP, yes there are a lot of people that want a game that is more like an interractive story or a more obvious series of linear steps leading to the end than an open world type of game. But it's not always about being told what to do, for a lot of people that's how they measure progress and a game without obvious steps don't feel rewarding because their vision of advancement isn't being met. The Morrowind example posted earlier is a perfect example because while it does have a 'story' giving you a linear progression through a portion of the game there is a lot more to the game than that. Compare that to Oblivion where the main quest was a more significant portion of the total game and you'll see the complaints from Morrowind fans over Oblivion being 'dumbed down' while other players really enjoyed Oblivion when they didn't really like Morrowind.

You can really see this when comparing my wife and I and the games we like. I like the open-ended sandbox type games but she find those boring because she doesn't get any sense of accomplishment. It's not that she needs anything handed to her on a silver platter, she just gets onvolved in the story of the game world where I get involved in the game world itself, rather than the sotry, and what I can do with it or in it. I remember when we were playing NWN2 together she was really enjoying the story and it was hard to pry her away from the game. Me, on the other hand, I was frustrated in the campaign because I felt restricted even though the story was very good I didn't like the fact that it was like a multiple choice test with no 'none of the above' for me to click on. :)