Online games such as Warcraft and others

I have been a big proponent of online gaming ever since I got hooked on starcraft about a decade ago or so. Before I played this game online or really any online game I would only play home console games in one player or with other people sitting on a couch together playing. I was always skeptical of computer gaming at the time because of the hardware requirements, bugs and fixes, as well as video card compabability. Even the Dreamcast was not out yet which really was way ahead of its time in regards to online gaming as even with a 56k modem it played 3d games at fast speeds. So when i played starcraft for the first time I was really hooked by the amazing community at battlenet and how it was so much of a social network instead of just a game. There were private rooms and public chat rooms there, and many of the players got to know each other through clans among other things.

Ever since that time I have been playing online games on and off ranging from quake to half life. I noticed one thing though and that is that some games occupy the majority of players while tons of other games sit unused with only a couple of players on them at a time. Half life and its modding community for instance really seemed to have took over the first person shooter scene when I still played first person shooters (my pc is too weak for modern ones) and it had amazing modifications to go along.

Now I noticed massive online multiplayer games have really taken off and become popular among players. I always have been pessimistic about playing such games due to monthly charges and the repetitive nature of such games. I think they are more of a social get together with players getting to know each other and escaping reality rather than skill based quick short burst style gameplay games that are based on trying to become more skilled at the game. These games such as Warcraft seem to mostly be about becoming something else and interacting in a different world. Maybe I will try one of these someday so far I only tried a couple of free ones and this Korean mmorpg called ragnarok online which I couldn't get into.