Empty MMORPG servers freak me out.
It isn’t as though I don’t play plenty of singleplayer games and sims and RPGs and can’t stand to be alone. But being in a world that is supposed to have a ton of people but doesn’t? That really bothers me. So I will go to great lengths and spend stupid amounts of money to get off empty servers. I will strategize about how not to end up on a future empty server. And I will quit games that become empty if the game developers refuse to sort it out. I just know that I will have a bad time; very few MMOs are truly fun for me once there’s no one to trade with, talk to, and hunt alongside. (Especially if the economy tanks, I am outta there!)
But there are some gamers who apparently actively seek out the most deserted servers they can. For example, Ultima Online players who’ve long been asking for server merges to deal with the dwindling populations of some of the tiny servers are always reminded that some people actually like being on those tiny servers, where they never have to contend with fighting over spawns, over-saturated crafter markets, high ammo prices, or housing space competition. (I’m sure the sale of character transfers is a backwards motivator for the studio too!)
Are you one of the gamers who seek out empty MMORPG servers, and if so, why? Or are you all about massive or bust?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
