We’ve got a couple weeks to go until we can play V Rising’s next major update, Invaders of Oakveil, which is hitting on April 28th. And I’m looking forward to it, since I plan to start a new playthrough with a friend on a fresh server… which, y’know, isn’t so much a choice as a rule, as the game doesn’t let you keep playing on old servers or just patch things. It’s something that always makes folks in reviews and elsewhere angry, which strikes me as odd, since the whole point of the game is that it’s an MMO you can win.
You might think that this is a weird sentiment, especially since that is very pointedly not the stated point of the game; you are introduced to the game as a chance to play as a vampire doing vampire things (drinking blood, hunting humans, sitting in a castle, also somehow gardening and fishing rate) in a hostile world where you don’t inherently seem like the worst thing in existence. And it’s also much more of a survival sandbox than a traditional MMO. All of that’s true. But I’m not talking about the themes or technicalities. I’m talking about the actual play experience, and my friends, this is an MMO where you get to win. And then you’re done.
Anyone who has ever picked up a tabletop RPG rulebook has probably read an introduction that outlines the basic premise of the game, and at least four-fifths of them include some variant on the phrase that this isn’t a game you can win. And in the broadest sense of the word, yes, that is true. In a game of Candyland, someone gets to the finish first and wins. In a game of Lancer, it is entirely possible to have an adventure in which all of the characters die and fail without the game even being lost.
Of course, that’s kind of a lie, isn’t it? You can absolutely win and lose in these games. There is not a single fixed win condition, no, and there’s nothing saying you can’t play a campaign that ends with what you would argue is a win only to say, “Hey, let’s play these characters again.” That is all true. But that isn’t quite the same as being a game you can’t win.
MMOs, on the other hand? You can’t win… but you also kinda can, and it gets a bit tedious then.
You cannot an MMORPG to throw up a big mark showing that you have now Beaten The Game, but it is absolutely possible to run out of leveling to do, achieve everything you want to accomplish, finish all of the storylines, and then… what? The thing is that the game needs to keep going.
Part of why people make alts is to experience this part of the game again. It’s not that the leveling game is always the most entertaining part of the game (although sometimes it absolutely is), but if you want to have that experience back, sometimes the only path is to start the game all over again. And sure, you can argue that some of that is just like playing a familiar RPG over again, but there is a different texture to an MMORPG. Just as a hamburger is not a steak, an MMORPG leveling experience is not a single-player RPG experience.
This is why V Rising winds up being fun – because it lets you have that.
At the very start of the game, you have few options and you’re scrounging for resources, like any new character. That means your primary focus has to be establishing a base of small size, getting some basic crafting, unlocking the most fundamental tier of stuff that you need. It’s tedious but important. However, it’s pretty early on when you gain access to the resources needed to make a proper, shielded castle that you can use to wait out the sunlit days. That lets you start turning your attention to maintenance, to reshaping the world, to crafting and building your character.
The game doesn’t pretend that this is anything other than a climb up in power. You are unlocking new tricks and abilities, sure, but your primary motivation is growing in power. As in an MMORPG, you are interacting with the story at arm’s length, in a fashion. You have the space to insert your own motivation, and ultimately that motivation can be whatever you tell yourself.
And it’s great fun, for a while. Building yourself up, scouring valuable crafting resources, starting automation chains to get more of the most valuable items you need. Enthralling servitors you need to provide you with resources and capturing humans with valuable blood. It’s all quite straightforward and familiar, especially when playing with friends.
If one friend likes being the crafter and another likes most of the combat? That is functional and fine. If you like doing all of the above, you can still divide and conquer for acquiring resources. There are a lot of options, and they all work well. And over time, you go from being weak into being functionally untouchable by all but the strongest bosses, whom you will eventually fell.
And then what? Well… then it resets.
Oh, sure, there are still things you can do at the top of the climb if you want to, but the designers know that once you’ve accomplished everything the game has to offer, you are kind of done. And that’s all right. Even more importantly, that’s a chance to stop. You’ve built a fun lair, you’ve experimented and maybe fought some of your friends (or not), and now you have a story to tell. You don’t have to start a new character to start over; you start a new world.
Maybe this time you’re all playing in a PvP scenario and stalking each other. Maybe this time you just want a different division of labor. Maybe you want to turn resource acquisition down or make the night shorter or otherwise tweak your experience. The point is that you can. You can have that MMORPG experience in a smaller, contained environment – in one where you get to win and then just start over.
I do understand why people are annoyed when, like, you’ve built the perfect castle and now you have to start over… but that’s also the fun part. Building the castle, getting it just right, getting yourself kitted out – that’s the game. You don’t want to lead a raid of a dozen people in a fight against Turbo-Dracula; you want to just go fight Dracula and then you won. And yeah, there’s some perfectionism you can do at that point, but you can also just say “I’m done” and stop then.
Until the next update, and you get to do it again because building a cool vampire castle with spires and patrolling thralls is cool. That’s the fun part. Something you can get, over and over, by playing an MMO-like game that actually just lets you win.
There’s an MMO born every day, and every game is someone’s favorite. Why I Play is the column in which the Massively OP staff members kick back and reminisce about all their favorite MMOs. Whether it’s the new hotness or an old fan favorite loaded with nostalgia, each title we cover here tugs at our heartstrings and keeps us coming back for more.
