MMORPGs are, as a rule, a waste of money. They eventually boil down to one thing: Killing stuff and getting loot. You can try to prove me wrong by citing (insert new fangled MMORPG name here) and how it (Insert seemingly new economic/strategic/combat/leveling/skill systems here), but the truth is they all are nothing more then corpse looting simulators. I have quite a few friends who, on occasion, will go back to DAOC or EQ and rave about how much fun it is to them again. I love how I get to tease them when they come back a month later and tell me I was right for calling it a waste of time.
The fact is, these games are *not* RPGs. Heck, they aren't even Computer RPGs...they are no different then a casino...instead of pulling on a lever and looking for quarters, you kill a rat and look for the expensive tail it will drop 5% of the time. There really is no difference.
The only good use of your internet connection is something simplistic and visceral...like a good FPS (BF 1942). These MMORPGs are laughably pathetic, and I don't think I'll ever understand why all of these kids are drawn to them. None of them last more then a month on my HD, and I've played enough to feel fairly confident when I say they are all a waste of money.
One thing I can say is that at least NWN got the whole "RPG" thing right. They made it possible for a talented RPG'er to create his or her own world and then run a real campaign with it, with the player as a live DM. As far as I'm concerned, if I'm going to play an RPG online, it is going to be a NWN module run by a live DM.
This comment was edited on Jun 2, 22:30.