MMORPG and skill

Hi guys,

Im new to MMORPG's but not new to gaming by any means. I have reacently downloaded and have been playing the Lord of the Rings Online beta(the first MMORPG i gave a chance because i love lord of the rings) and something hit me. Where is the fun and skill in these games? I am probably very uneducated in the genre so feel free to correct me, but where is the fun and compettion in wandering a vast earth just trying to level up your character. This genre has is exploding right now and every month you hear news about a new MMORPG and i do not see the excitment. To me if feels like whoever plays the longest and gains virtual experience will be the best.Thats not any fun for the casual gamer and is the reason why we hear horror stories of gamming adiction. What happened to the great online genre games such as all the FPS's like Unreal Tournament, Quake, Counter Strike. RTS's like C and C, Warcraft, and Age of empires series. What about Sports games and fighting games. These games took skill. The experience gained through these was real physical knowledge of combos and timing, precision and  patience. It may sound dumb but its true. Try joining an advanced server for your first time playing and watch yourslef did over and over and people jump around and snipe you with precision pulling of incredible shots and combos. Why do you think they have nationwide tournaments for these game to declare a winner? Because it takes skill. Is that possilbe for games such as WoW, or would it be more like crowning the biggest loser becaus he devoted his life to building up his virtual chracter. Is the skill in WoW knowing when to use which power? Wheres the skill in sitting back and hitting the auto attack button and watching your character dominate everyone? I understand there are some great features in this genre such as the ever growing and expandable community as well as the team work but to me the combat and point of the game seems very flawed. I understand the other genres i mentioned above are still going strong but i would hope they are not eventually overtaken by MMORPG's. I also hope for the future of this genre that people try and rethink the combat system and try to focus more on the HUMAN PLAYER rather then the players chracter or virtual representation.


I bet i probably offended many MMORPG fanboys so i would love to hear what you have to say
and hoppefully there are a few of you out there who agree with me. Feedback is encouraged.

Cheers,

Dave 

some MMOs don't require it and some do. Guild Wars (to some this may not even be considered an MMO) relies alot on strategy timing spells and attacks just right to do maximum damage and so does World of Warcraft (WoW has more grind tho). Everquest (even though I do love the game) requires no skill, just time. It sometimes just depends on how you percieve skill.

In my eyes, the reson MMOs are so fun is the feeling of reward after you lvl up, beat the hell out of someone in pvp, or just buying new armor. It's like the life us nerds have always wanted. 

try guild wars it has a 20 level cap so you wont have to worry to much about levels and its very skill based. It requires some skill and strategy to be good at it. Plus theres no monthly fee. 

Read up on Age of Conan, this MMO is going to revolutionize the genre. In the past such a feat as real-time combat would not be possible, but now that we have the technology for it... why not? I believe that real-time combat will be the future for MMO's, and that it will be highly interactive and require skill. bibbalo

There alreay are MMORPGs with real-time combat. Dungeons and Dragons Online is the first one that comes to my mind. So, adding real-time combat to a MMORPG really isn't that revolutionary anymore.

try guild wars it has a 20 level cap so you wont have to worry to much about levels and its very skill based. It requires some skill and strategy to be good at it. Plus theres nomonthly fee.

the_hsoj

Nooooo guild wars is aweful... In my opinion its more about making friends working as a team and there is some skill involved in the end game stuff. Aswell as pvp....not saying its like Unreal Tournament but anyone who says there is no skill is wrong in my opinion....check this guy for example....his gear is crap...but he beats people with WAY better gear. http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-7505574532023614998&q=Vurtne&total=109&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

Conan will have more skill than these more conventional onesbut to say theres nothing to them is wrong. That doesnt convince you? Check out Sorrow Hill (Otherguy)