The Daily Grind: What made it click?
by Eliot Lefebvre 
Feb 9th 2010 at 8:00AM
Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind
Perhaps it was the first time you took part in a major PvP battle. Perhaps it was your first struggle against a difficult monster in PvE, realizing that you actually had other real people at your side fighting the monster. It could have been the first time you crafted something you were proud of, or even just a close friend you made in the game that you wouldn't have met otherwise. Today, we're asking you what moment in an MMO first made the whole idea click for you. And for bonus points, looking back on it now, does it seem like you were excited over something silly, or does it still feel unique?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
MrGutts said on 8:22AM 2-09-2010
I am going to take a screen shot of the Frontpage today.
No STO news/info/advertising/propaganda on the main page! :)
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Pewpdaddy said on 8:29AM 2-09-2010
Spiroc Lord in Plane of Sky. Back when the level cap was 60. Death touch and 20+ out of a 70 man raid being clerics. 6-8 of them standing in the back of the group rezzing our "Cazic Touch'd" tanks. =p Go Go Cloak of Spiroc Feathers.
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alzeer said on 8:35AM 2-09-2010
in ffxi it was the COP expansion intro CS
i was just a level 18~ noob in qufim island
we got a link and everyone started running toward Delkfutt Tower to zone
and as soon as i zoned a CS started i was like O_O when saw Bahamut
i always had a thing for Bahamut and his ffxi version was by far the coolest
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Hans Gruber said on 8:37AM 2-09-2010
Hell, that's easy, what got me into the MMO genre: my friend showed me a game (UO) and I was like "all those other characters are real people too?".
The rest is history.
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Anon said on 8:51AM 2-09-2010
More to explore
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Don said on 9:10AM 2-09-2010
i like a good story, if an mmo was that then im hooked plus PVP is also good and perfect gameplay
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Kalex said on 10:22AM 2-09-2010
I agree with you,
but what about a particular exact moment from an MMO you've played in the past that now makes you feel nostalgic and you can indentify it as one of the "moments" that made you know you were playing something special?
It's usually a distinct encounter of some kind.
Katsurou said on 9:21AM 2-09-2010
When I was in an excellent guild on the Alliance in WoW, loggin on everyday made me come back because the guild always said hello and when ANYONE asked for help, if there was a free person, they would get that help.
Now I am looking for that either on Aegwynn horde side or anywhere else for that matter.
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Cap said on 10:00AM 2-09-2010
Deadmines, Sneed's Shredder. Those were the days...
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xslipperyx said on 10:11AM 2-09-2010
It was hanging out with RL life friend & some others we had met while hunting on Naboo in the first few days of SWG. We had a camp set up when it was dark out and we were chilling and talking around the fire. Then a huge dinosaur goes walking near our camps. We were trying to decide if we should try to take the huge thing down and what would happen if we did. A few "pew pew pews" later and the rest is history. Good times....
Looking back that far, it doesn't seem silly it all. It makes me want to get that feeling back in a game but I'm been so disappointed with MMO's the past few years that I don't think I'll ever experience something like feeling of awe again.
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Kalex said on 10:18AM 2-09-2010
in Everquest, it was probably Dorn B'dyne or whatever his name murdering me that made me fall in love.
In WoW, it was finding fights in ashenvale with the horde on my nightelf that made me fall in love, or perhaps the trek from the docks as a nightelf all the way to ironforge for the first time.
In EvE, it was me trying to exploit a juicy sell order in low secure space the led to my demise at the hands of pirates camping a gate that did it!
The trend for me usually involves meaningful encounters with death that do it! lol
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Bryan said on 10:43AM 2-09-2010
My first experience, MMORPG experience to be exact, was in SWG very close to launch. I was running out of some city on Naboo, it was night time and I heard this BOOM BOOM BOOM coming near. I look around and see this lone alien running from this massive Dinosaur, shooting his pistol behind him. Right across my path. It was incredible.
Next experience was in FFXI. I made some great friends there, and still know them to this day. Doing those first skillchains and being helped by a high level paladin to do some Mission quests. Sharing the awesome storyline Cutscene moments with my new friend.(One of the main reasons I think story and how it is delivered is the most important aspect facing MMORPGs these days).
WoW gave me a world to get lost in and it was fun, and everyone was there, and it kept growing, and then we had flying mounts, which was just awesome. Then...it grew a little bit more and ..stopped for some odd reason. But I digress. These were the moments defining my MMORPG life.
Now I am being bitten by the sandbox bug thanks to Darkfall Online and now Eve, now that I "GET IT" when it comes to dying and losing stuff but you still got your skills at least. Heheh. Can't wait to see what the future brings. Lots of games coming that hopefully forge some new memories and friendships.
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Mr Lee said on 10:55AM 2-09-2010
Mine was in Warcraft. I'd never played an MMO before and knew nothing about the game at all. I logged in and made an undead character, got through the starter area and then the friend who got me to try the game logged in and said to meet him up the road at the first town. I had a look on the map, he was on the other island so I couldn't imagine how he would get to me. While I was waiting I looked around and noticed a big zeppelin flying over head...
"Hey guess what I just saw, there's a zeppelin flying past over here"
"Yeah I know, I'm on it!"
That was just amazing to me, a game world so big that you need public transport to get around. Of course everyone moans about how long it takes to get from A to B nowadays but I still think very few if any other games have done that 'big world' feeling as well as Blizzard have done with WoW.
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W. Graves said on 10:55AM 2-09-2010
The first time I sacrificed my own ship to save a fellow pilot, the "meaningful encounters with death" is really what made MMOs speak to me, and why i so quickly stopped playing WoW.
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Muddleglum said on 11:07AM 2-09-2010
Spending my entire first play session lost in Neriak in EQ1, the next day I got kicked by a snake.. it was all over. 5 years later I rejoined the real world.
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Glovely said on 11:13AM 2-09-2010
Defending Jhelom farms from gankers and rival guilds with my guild of 5 so that the newbies could kill more cows.
Lol ... good times.
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raenger said on 11:17AM 2-09-2010
This sounds stupid, but I was probably 13-14 at the time, and had no concept of how MMOs were played or anything.
I started playing FFXI, and before I even made it out of Valkurm Dunes I learned the first time the concepts of party roles (Tanks, healer, etc). Obviously I had played RPGs before and some of these were apparent, but it was the first time I'd ever even conceived of teamwork between real people like that. I started playing FFXI at launch and didn't truly quit until mid 2009.
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Chris said on 11:20AM 2-09-2010
It started with Everquest Online Adventures on a dial-up connection.
My brother and I would stay up into the wee hours of the morning playing with our friend across town. While this was really nothing special by itself, there was one night where we were questing in the Qeynos Prison.
As we descended deeper into the recesses of the prison to battle a troll boss, our character got stuck in a perpetual running motion. Soon after, we saw the text box pop up "Connection Interrupted".
Our mother had picked up the phone, a technique she learned to see if we were playing, and she was fast approaching. Not only did we have real-life aggro (SERIOUS aggro. We were grounded), but we were in the process of battling the troll boss for our quest. The boss dropped, our mom barreled through the door, and between her screams and thrashing at the PS2, we managed to loot the quest item before she unplugged the phone line.
The next day, I told my friend (our ranger) about the situation, and we agreed the game was awesome, and I have been hooked on MMO's since.
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Weez said on 12:28PM 2-09-2010
OMG Qeynos Prison! I'd forgotten about that until you just mentioned it. My EQOA time was pretty brief. I'd already been playing EQ at that point and the thought of playing EQ on my PS2 was awesome, but I picked the PC over the PS2.
First for me would have been a good 6 months to a year before said EQOA fun. I was a Noob High Elf Paladin, I guess about level 14ish, grinding the Throne Room in Crushbone. I was new, didn't know where to go next, and was just having a bit of fun, and someone came up to me and told me i should go to Padual Caverns..
I didn't have PoP yet, so Off we go to the Nexus Scion in Gfay, wait our 15 mins and port to the nexus, into SH and into PC. The Bandit Camps. C1. So much fun. And the loot. OMG! Loot that solid for actual PLAT..I was thrilled..and I walked very slowly from there back to SH to sell..So Encumbered lol
I was hooked at that point. Still looking for that feeling I can't get back.
Anon said on 12:00PM 2-09-2010
The realisation there was more to explore?
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