Massively Overthinking: How much research do you do before playing a new MMORPG?

On this week’s MOP Podcast, Justin and I discussed our experiences in No Man’s Sky (again), and both of us came to the conclusion that while it’s a gorgeous and content-packed MMO, it’s just not a super intuitive sandbox – meaning that if you’re starting new (or returning after a long time away, as I was), you’re probably best off to do some research before going in and getting frustrated (as I did). Granted, it’s the fun kind of research, like watching videos and reading guides, but it’s definitely not “playing” and therefore isn’t something everyone is going to be willing to do. And… maybe we shouldn’t have to, either?

Let’s Overthink it for Massively Overthinking. How much research do you do before playing a new MMORPG? What about when you return to an MMO after time away? Does it help? Do you think it’s a barrier to entry for most players, even if it isn’t for you? And should the expectation be standard practice for MMOs?

Andy McAdams: When I think about the absolute worst “research” experience, it was watching a one-hour YouTube tutorial to figure out how to get my to my ship in Star Citizen, and it was at that point I said, “This is stupid,” and tried to uninstall, only to realize that I needed to watch another tutorial to even uninstall the game. My rage was legion. I’m OK with a little bit of research about a game, but it’s to understand how the game plays at a meta level and whether I would enjoy it or not.

As I’ve said before, I’m an MMO nomad and will switch games frequently and sometimes not make it back for a few years. This is the situation that’s absolutely terrible in my mind. Coming back you still remember the basics, making the starter tutorial useless, but you don’t remember all the nuance, so you are completely lost with more advanced gameplay.

Then the research really sucks at that point because there’s no good content for “Coming back in 2024? Here’s what you need to know.” What does exist in that vein is fluffy and two bunny hops above the starter tutorial in the game, too long by half, and scattered across 14 different videos from 4 different creators.

Brianna Royce (@nbrianna, blog): I would prefer it if MMOs and survival sandboxes and everything in this side of the genre were just intuitive enough to guide me to the point that I could figure out the rest from context. But of course, the game has no way of knowing where that point is for me, so it should probably offer too much guidance and then an option to turn that guidance off for folks who don’t need or want the help. There’s no shame in either way of playing. Some folks want a puzzle; some folks want a buzz. It’s fine.

But there are also different types of research, and some I find a lot more interesting than others. I’ll spend hours poring over builds in City of Heroes, for example, or puzzling out arcane crafting in Star Wars Galaxies, or even reading TTRPG sourcebooks. So clearly there’s a motivation disconnect going on here for me: I need a certain amount of intrinsic motivation to want to get past that confusion stage, otherwise I just nope out.

Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes, blog): I don’t know that I try to do much research before I enter a game, but if I am locked in, then I’ll certainly do some digging around for information or resources like maps and trackers, especially if I decide to come back to certain games after time away. I would not be able to play Elite: Dangerous nearly as effectively if I didn’t have certain external websites.

Now would it be better if these things were… well, in the game? Yes, absolutely. But I also think that it’s not a complete dealbreaker, though of course that’s certainly a subjective matter. I would rather learn how to get through fights in Final Fantasy XIV by myself than listen to some of the sweatlord creators’ tidbits, but I’ll also happily have a large overworld map in Craftopia open on my second monitor to keep track of resources.

Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): If It’s brand-new, I usually approach blind and trust that the devs have got the onboarding process streamlined for novices like myself. But sometimes I bounce pretty hard because there’s a learning curve or different style of gameplay, and that often requires some homework so as to reduce frustration and help me push through the barrier of ignorance.

Sam Kash (@thesamkash): I usually do little to no research before going into a new game these days. I just don’t have the energy or the time typically. Once upon a time I really reviewed all the classes and would try to find out what combo of skills and weapons I’d be into. I’d look at whatever damage and condition types were going to be available and theorycraft.

Nowadays, though, I kind of just want to play and enjoy my time doing that. I still can’t help but theorycraft builds once the game clicks with me, but that’s been few and far between recently.

When games don’t have a proper on-ramping system, that’s a real issue for me. Maybe that’s a big reason I haven’t clicked with a proper MMO in so long.

So I’d say if it’s a barrier to entry for me, and I really want to play more MMOs, it must be for others too. Game developers need to do better

Tyler Edwards (blog): I think it’s a failure of game design if you need to do out of game research to play a game effectively. The game should naturally teach you all you need to know.

Of course, like so many things that’s easier said than done, especially where games as complex as MMORPGs are concerned. But that should be the ideal we’re shooting for, at least. Too many games are relying on the crutch of fansite guides to avoid spending the resources on good teaching tools in-game.

I’m surprised more games haven’t tried to include something like WoW’s dungeon journal. It may not be perfect, but at least it gives you some information in-game without the need to tab out.

Myself, I don’t like doing a lot of research beforehand, except for reading up on classes and builds before I start a new game. Partly because I’m paranoid about picking a class I don’t like, partly because I enjoy theorycrafting characters anyway. If I stick with a game long enough to be involved in its endgame (which is rare), I may do a bit further research on related topics, like how to gear for dungeons, but only to a minimal level. I’m not looking to min/max or become a slave to the meta. I just don’t want to be a complete burden to any group I join.

Every week, join the Massively OP staff for Massively Overthinking column, a multi-writer roundtable in which we discuss the MMO industry topics du jour – and then invite you to join the fray in the comments. Overthinking it is literally the whole point. Your turn!