I’m going to start this edition of the Daily Grind by answering my own question with a sighing, “I’ve tried.” Seriously, I’ve tried several times. But there are just some persistent design elements of South Korean game design that rub me the wrong way every time. Gender-locked classes, having you simply occupy a fixed character and class instead of getting to customize your character, a lack of stylistic cohesion, grinding focus, weak storytelling… there are definite design tropes to the industry in the region, and those design tropes are things that I personally just don’t like. Sorry. It’s not you, it’s me.
But let’s be real here, whether you like them or not, South Korean MMOs have not been hard to come by over the past several years. Heck, it feels easier to find a new Korean MMO than a new Western one, and that means that a lot of people have found homes in these games. So do you play any Korean MMOs? Do the things that I personally found space to whinge about actually make the game more appealing to you, or are they unrelated clauses? And even if you don’t, are there ones you’re looking forward to?