I cant see how any one finds them fun. Click the link watch your guy run into a zone and kills a few packs of monsters. Click another link and your guy turns in a quest. Where the skill? Have we gotten so lazy as a culture we cant even play a game anymore?
If people stop buying their way to the top in these things maybe the developers will step it up and create a real game, not a book with a lame show.
Oh and before this gets locked as not useful discussion.
It is useful. We are the consumer and these "games" are just a drain on what was a nice industry. If people don't get to talk about things how can we make the industry better.
More and more sites ad this kind of games (and some only build up for this kind of games)... cuz its a way to earn some money. AG also needs money (remember, the rest of the site is free), and i think they get a certain propotion if people spent some money on this games... thats why they have this kind of MMOs.
We are the consumer and these "games" are just a drain on what was a nice industry. If people don't get to talk about things how can we make the industry better.
Same answer as ever, as long as people are willing to pay for this kind of games sites will have this kind of games.
It's not about skill, it's about psychology. These games are popular because people don't care about having direct control of their character, they care about seeing numbers go up.
http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/
Go look up progress quest, or idle quest, candybox, gold and gems, a dark room, rise of tyrants, kings of chaos. This kind of game has been around for quite a while now.
These kind of games appeal to the person who doesn't have time to sit and play, and likes to click that button that makes their character do something for 10 minutes, so they can do other stuff and come back to rewards sitting in the game for them, just for interacting with it sporadically.
Nothing wrong with those kinds of games, especially since most people don't have the full amount of time to be addicted to games that demand 4-8 hours a day of 'real' gameplay.
Same answer as ever, as long as people are willing to pay for this kind of games sites will have this kind of games.
Ahem, but that free market isn't just some inert metaphysical entity, not a one-way street where consumers are in control: Of course it creates its demands, just as well.
As a consumer, or as a participant (e.g., a gaming site), one does of course have, and one does make, an active choice in what to promote or stimulate or not.
I think its funny when someone doesn't like some small detail on the best gaming site there is. I guess it would be better to not even play games at all... or perhaps GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE then later coming back because all the other sites suck
I have to agree that the MMOs need to stop. They can be fun, but once you play for awhile you really start to see the "scammy-ness" of it all.
Some people say, hey you can just avoid those games, but honestly you can't.
- Ads for them are plastered on every corner of the site. These ads even serve as the background of the site often.
- Quests have been released for these types of games, pushing players to play them, which will get you to invest time in the games and feel committed to them, in turn, making you more willing to pay for in game items.
- Dawn of the Dragons has been put back on the front page, further promoting the game.
- Three games that are "Popular Games" are MMO games (War Tune, Galaxy Online, and The Last Stand Dead Zone). Further promoting the games.
On top of that, MMOs don't have ratings. Why? So that people won't know which ones are bad and which ones are good. More people are liking to play these games if they see that they have a high rating or none at all.
It's very obvious Armor Games is pushing these MMOs on the user (due to the reasons above). Being a long time user of the site myself, and very much liking the site and how great the community, mods, admins, and staff have been over the years, it pains me to see Armor Games become so, how to say it, corporate.
And let me also say this, I feel confident that the Armor Games is beginning to use Quests to push premium content on the users as well. Seems like the last few games (Shell Shock Live 2 and Monsters Den Chronicles) with quests also have premium content. (Although, I don't mind premium content as it seems way way more fair and reasonable, see below).
Sure, you don't have to unlock premium content to get those quests, but playing those games for the quests will get you hooked and leads to a greater possibility of paying for premium content.
What really grinds my gears is this. When we are told that the games on this site, all of them, are free. Okay, yeah you can play most of them for free, but MMOs constantly ask for money ("Hey, tired of waiting for x timer/items just pay y amount of money for some amount of z coins and you can remove those timers/get those items." Plus all the ads we see for MMOs that encourage you to play and then pay for them.
MMO companies know their games won't hold up in the market of gaming, so they can't expect to ask for money up front. So how do they make money. "First hits free!" yup you play for free, but you soon realise you can't do much in the game without paying, or it will take forever to do what you want without paying. So they get you "addicted" and time invested in their games first and then ask for your money later. Feels like a scam to me.
Prices are never reasonable either. Most MMOs have $200 price tiers. Seriously? You can buy at least 3 real PC or console games for that cash. Not to mention the $5 to $20 payment options wont buy you barely anything. So we have a ton of companies, churning out games that don't live up in quality or content to real PC and console games, but ask you to pay for equally or more money.Sometimes up to 3 ore 4 times more money than an actual PC or console game.
Now, flash games with premium content make mush more sense to me. Usually you can play through the whole game with no wait timers and the premium content is only a one-time $5 fee. I can understand that. You get a decent amount of premium content for only $5. I don't mind flash games with premium content for this reason.
This leads to my final point. Some players may feel that these companies are offering a great free MMO game and when you purchase a few in game items you are supporting the companies cause. But that's not true. These companies shouldn't exist at all. Like I said before, they know their games don't live up to the standard of a full fledged $60 PC or console game. So they should only be asking for, at maximum, a one time $20 fee to play such games. (OR these games should be like other flash games with $5 premium content). But these companies know that barely anyone would pay for (or play) their games if it cost $20 up front to play. So they rope you in with a "free" "MMO" and then hound you at every moment to pay for in game content. Scam!
These companies shouldn't exist in the first place, putting out inferior products and then so sleazily asking for money at every turn, after claiming their game is free. And what is their core demographic. Kids that are about 13 years old. Isn't the average age of users on Armor Games somewhere from 13 to 16 years old. Isn't that an age group that's to young to own a credit card? Even the 18 year olds on here probably don't have the kind of money these games are asking for. So what's the plan, advertise your game to 14 year olds who will have to ask their parents to pay for in game content?
Even the naming is scam like. Massively Multiplier Online, yeah in the thinnest sense. All the flash games are online and are played by multiple people, we could call them all "MMOs". I have yet to see one of these "MMOs" feel anything like World of Warcraft or Guild Wars, etc.
... Although Reton8, I think I can largely agree with your scam description of (much of) it all, and then with a view to the intended age group, indeed.
Well, Idk, I've been thinking about my post/rant. And it's bothering me.
1.) I don't like this kind of stuff being pushed on us and what not for certain.
But,
2.) Armor Games is a business and they do need money and they also have to compete against Kongregate, which, from reading their Wikipedia page, is huge now and owned by Gamestop. If Armor Games loses all it's players and money, no more Armor Games and no more playing games on the site at all.
3.) Although many of the MMOs feel scammy, I have to admit, many of them are fun to play and I enjoy playing them. Also, the people that make them do put a lot of time into the games. I was being a bit harsh sorry about that.
What I'm saying is, yes I get frustrated when there are lots of ads or when it seems like paid content is being pushed. But is it really being pushed? And even if so whats offered is of quality and any business needs to advertise and make money, so it's not like it's truly uncommon or rude.
I really enjoy Armor Games, the site is great, the community is great, the customer service is some of the best I have ever seen. Maybe I was a bit tired and worn down when I posted earlier and maybe I am worried about the site becoming too "corporate" as in, cold and distant from it's user's, only asking for their money (how Apple and Microsoft seem most of the time). I don't think that will happen, but I worry because I enjoy the site and it's high quality, as it is and as it has been since I joined (and even before). I'd hate to see it go to something highly "corporate", cold and distant. In all my last post was bothering me, I feel I was too harsh in my last post and it didn't fully reflect how I feel.
There is also a long term problem that I have considered: these could damage the reputation of ArmorGames. That's my biggest concern. While the repute would still be miles ahead of any where else I've spent time, it wouldn't be as good. It could lead to a slow, long term downward slide that would hardly be good for anyone involved. Will it lead to this? I don't know, for all I know I might just be me being paranoid.
The MMO's that are quality can stay as far as i'm concerened... this includes swords and potions, skyshard heros, and legacy of a thousand suns. the rest can burn honestly, they are either boring, never load, or its a pay-to-win scenario so I could care less about what happens to the AG MMO list.
On the other hand, the list is growing a bit too rapidly for my tastes...im looking for a good MMO that you can keep playing and im stuck honestly.
