[andrepd]

It's legitimately insane that perhaps the best MMO, or at least the one which came closer to fulfill the MMO's promise of a shared, persistent, virtual world, was also the first. How come in three decades of technological and creative development did nobody do it better?

[djtango]

Because the real world isn't "fun" and video games became more commercially successful when they realised that theme parks are more accessible than simulations.

Gaming was more ambitious and experimental then. The FFXI documentary [0] made me reflect on how much games have changed since. FFXI was heavily inspired by EQ so more credit to EQ but games today are so much more bland and engineered by design. That's how they achieve universal appeal and commercial success - by engineering its engagement. Reminds me of how packaged foods are engineered to be the most addictive by empirically finding the bliss point [1]. In games it will essentially be dopamine per minute and now mainstream games will never do something as crazy as crafting experiences as random and lumpy as real life. Instead every engagement is crafted to never be too frustrating and to give just enough rewards to keep the gamer on that hamster wheel, with the next engagement never being too far away.

Original Soulsborne games felt fresh because FromSoftware put friction and obscurity back in the spotlight.

[0] https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MUAJ-cJbOFY

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bliss_point_(food)