The Ossiranth Chronicles

Any time new patch notes come up on MMO-Champion or WoW.com or wherever, there is always discussion in my guild circle about which features they like. And there are always discussions going on while playing discussing which features are annoying and they want to go away. These are always things like "There should be a graveyard right outside the instance portal" or "We shouldn't have to repair armor ever" or "I wish you could just teleport wherever you want". The features they like and want to be implemented are almost always the ones I hate because of one reason: They remove complexity from the game.

Dual spec means you never have to respec again. The random dungeon queue teleports you straight to the dungeon, eliminating the need to actually go find the portal. They redo half of the daily quests so you don't have to leave the area you pick them up in.

While these things can be annoyances, they also add depth to the game. They bind the world together as an actual world, and not just a random couple of cities bound to quest hubs with tons of empty space that can be safely ignored. They give you the feeling that you are playing an actual character, an actual person which inhabits the world and not just some person looking shell housing raw power that no mere mortal should possess. They give a sense of immersion. They make you feel like you are actually in another world, and not just some guy at the keyboard mashing buttons. These games are supposed to be played to let you get away from the real world. They aren't meant to be games that are to be played for 20 minutes at a time on your lunch break at work or while watching TV or cooking dinner for the kids.

I understand why the business side of the games industry has completely taken over and pushed out the creative world building types of game developers. The majority of players aren't looking for immersive gaming experiences. They are looking for something to kill 20 minutes with. They want to blow things up, stab things to death, set them on fire, or just stand around looking pretty.

This doesn't mean I have to like it though. I like my games to be complex sandbox type worlds where things are not spoon fed to me. I like to explore and find things on my own.