Growing up as a poor Brazilian in the 2000s, gaming options were somewhat rare and limited, consoles were very inaccessible and expensive, and building PCs was also not a reality for many.
I was lucky enough to own an office computer, but the hardware was very modest to say the least: Intel Pentium 4 531 HT (1 core/1 thread), 2GB DDR2 RAM and, depending on the year, an entry-level graphics card. I remember owning a few models, all from Nvidia: 7200LE, 8400GS, GT210. They were all TERRIBLE. These things definitely were not designed for gaming, but for basic video output and common office usage.
Due to hardware limitations, there were only so many games I could play, and they also had to be free to play. This meant that I was restricted to a few genres:
The first MMORPG I played was MU Online. A friend of mine told me about the game at school, but at that time I was busy trying to get better at Counter-Strike, so I wasn't particularly interested. I decided to give it a shot either way, it would change my life forever.
I got home that day, downloaded the private server installer, created an account, created my character (Dark Knight class) and spawned in Lorencia for the first time. It was unbelievable, when you create a MU Online character there's no tutorial and no fenced initial area, you spawn on Lorencia town center and what you do next is up to you.
My 16" monitor was instantly filled with hundreds of players, framerate dropped to 15-20 fps, everyone was wearing shiny armors and gigantic swords/staffs, and they were all spamming trade offers. None of it made any sense, and I was totally lost, but I loved it! There was something so cool about seeing so many digital avatars, and knowing that each one of them was a real person, the possibilities were endless.
I would continue on to play MU Online for years, eventually leaving it aside for a few months to try a different game. It sparked my passion for multiplayer online experiences, Counter-Strike 1.6 had a text chat and voice chat, but the level of interaction with MMOs was something else, you had parties, guilds, PvP, PvE, trading, exploring the world, killing new players, getting killed by older and stronger players - it was amazing!
I think it's fair to say that, objectively speaking, most MMORPGs are subpar games, with a few exceptions. Some common flaws include:
When you compare these games to single-player experiences of the same era, you'll have a hard time making an argument for MMOs. So what makes these games so special? Why do I and so many other people have had such a remarkable time playing them? Why is World of Warcraft alive after two decades?
To me, it was the social aspect, and the possibilities that came with it. Interacting with NPCs will just never come close to interacting with a fellow human being. Massive PvE groups to kill a world boss, the adrenaline rush of PvP, running into someone alone in a totally random part of the world and making a new online friend, the chaos of guild vs guild battles, trading items with people (or getting scammed), helping a newbie player with a quest, getting that sweet rare drop and proudly wearing it, seeing a different character wearing a cool item, etc.
Every aspect of what makes MMOs so special involves socializing to some extent. The gameplay itself is usually barebones, the graphics are nothing special, the stories tend to be very generic and shallow, and so on, but the fact that we're all experiencing that virtual world together sells the idea.
The year was 2020, I was in my last year of college when the COVID-19 pandemic happened and stopped any sort of normality. Back then I had been out of the MMO niche for a few years, the time you need to invest in these games was no longer compatible with all the responsibilities that come with adulthood.
Suddenly I saw myself with plenty of time, given that we had to stay at home. I don't exactly recall the first time I heard of Albion Online, I think it was in the list of the most played games on Steam. Something about it really attracted me. I really liked the art style, the freedom provided by the class-less system, the full-loot system (you lose everything you're carrying upon death). I also loved the fact that almost every single item was crafted by someone, with materials that were gathered by a totally different player. I decided to give it a shot.
I played that game for almost 2 years, every single day, for hours, it felt like I was 14 again. I was hooked instantly. Albion Online is a very special game because the social aspects of it are unlike anything else on the market. The game consists of a single global server, so you're constantly in contact with players from all over the world, anyone could be a friend, an enemy, or a random stranger you pass that was hunting mobs for hide.
The economy was alive, cities were crowded, the auction house reminded me of Lorencia's main square. You could recognize players if they played for one of the major guilds. About two or so weeks into the game, while I was still playing solo, I met a group of Brazilians that for some reason decided to help me. I was in a full-loot zone, but instead of killing me for loot (not that I had anything interesting) we begun chatting and I joined their guild. I would continue on to play with this group for months. We really bonded.
The major aspect of the game that kept me hooked was ZvZs, which stands for Zerg vs Zerg. Basically, it's when 100+ players from different guilds face each other on open world and battle to death. It's incredibly dumb, there's almost no skill involved, just obey the random Russian yelling at you on Discord to drop all your skills on North East - each zerg is commanded by the guild leader through voice chat. ZvZs were some of the best times I ever had with videogames, it's just so much fun to see hundreds of players fighting on the same map, in real time.
When life started to feel normal again we all slowly drifted off and eventually disbanded. Of all the MMO titles I tried - and there were lots of them - Albion will forever be the one I enjoyed the most. Here's to the 2000+ hours spent online.