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In a 60-second piece on G4TV called "Attack This!", sexy gamer grrl
Olivia Munn posited that September means only one thing to gamers: Halo 3. Frankly, I don't give a
damn. Or do I?
I
mentioned in response to some comments on my blog "SuperFad" that I
see more and more first person shooter (FPS) fans coming into MMOGs
now. I referenced the upcoming Tabula
Rasa (Tabula Rasa Ten
Ton Hammer is now live!) as an example of how this audience has
affected my favorite genre of video games. So, as Halo 3 comes around on September
25, my usual instinct as someone who does not give a rip about FPS
games is to say, "So what?" But it's pretty short-sighted of me to
claim that FPS fans are making waves in the MMOG genre out of one side
of my mouth and then to say I don't care about them out of the other.
Even in Vanguard, the only
MMOG that currently garners a monthly subscription from me, I have seen
quite a few FPS players. I see conversations about games like Counterstrike, Brothers in Arms, and of course Halo in regional chat. Now, I could
chalk it up to popular culture and note that there were people who had
never played a video game in their lives who knew about Mortal Kombat in 1992. Some things
become so popular as to transcend their genre and/or medium and reach
the mass market. Halo is
definitely one of those things.
We've all heard of Doom LAN
parties, but only recently have I stopped to consider what the
long-term effects of such a phenomenon might be. As the adrenaline
junkies (no insult intended) who enjoy FPS games stumble into the world
of interactive online play through their games, they become curious
about other offerings. They begin to wonder what the deal is with this EverQuest thing they keep hearing
about from their peers.
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Halo 3 promises
to be pretty--and violent!
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As the FPS players migrate into MMOGs, they bring with them a different
approach to gaming. See, in FPS games, online play is about quick,
decisive forays of only a few minutes at a time. Sessions are
action-packed, and a winner is determined in a very short time. Sure, a
night of Halo on Xbox Live
might run 4-5 hours, but that would be several dozen games with clear
winners.
And for the FPS player, nothing short of domination is acceptable. It's
not enough to win 11 out of 20 matches and have a good time. Players
feel an urge to push for 15 out of 20 and then 18 out of 20, during
which much of the pleasure derives from the losing player's
frustration. Don't believe me? Take the new Mountain Dew Gamer Fuel
commercial as evidence. In what looks like a timely attempt to
re-market Mountain Dew Code Red to coincide with the launch of Halo 3, the commercial features
gamers from around the world yelling at their televisions with a
controller in hand. They look to the heavens and plead with the game
they are playing to make it not be so, but they have been fragged (FPS
slang for killed by another player), and by a laughing American of
course. An American who is drinking Mountain Dew Gamer Fuel.
As the FPS player transitions to MMOGs, he brings with him that
mentality that domination is the measure of the gamer. In a genre that
doesn't afford instant metrics of success, FPS gamers are unable to
count kills. But they can count the number of times their guild takes
down a rare spawn. And they can get a feel for their dominance of the
Tier 4 harvesting materials monopoly.
If I'm shooting straight, I have to admit that there has always been a
handful of hard-core MMOG players who drive to be the first to reach
the level cap, the first to kill the dragon, and the first to build a
guild hall. Still, I remember a time when a new MMOG meant new
opportunities to interact with thousands of like-minded people, chances
to explore alien worlds, and prospects for adventure. Not so anymore.
Now the attitude has permeated fully. Every other player is an
impediment--further competition for resources and mobs. It's kill or be
killed. We run in "gangs" of friends and seldom take the time to meet
new players.
It's when I stop to look at it that I come to blame an influx of FPS
players for the acceleration of the social norm in MMOGs from
cooperative to competitive. And when I do that, my first thought is,
"What will make the FPS players grow bored with MMOGs?" Bored. That's
the key! They're only here because they are bored. They just need a new
game!
In the end, the arrival of Halo 3
in September is a big deal after all. The impending release of Tabula Rasa is a big deal, too. We
should welcome these games with open arms so that Telon doesn't have to
be such a vulmane-eat-vulmane world. I Told You So.
Comments? Thoughts? Criticisms? Share them here.
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