From the notes of someone who experienced Ultima Online in 1999
Today MMORPGs are reduced to farming…
How it used to be:
The game was a magical, unexplored, unknown adventure. You didn’t know what to expect from today’s “stroll.” Now they aren’t strolls, they’re “sessions.” Such a repulsive word. Sessions… As if you’re eating plastic curd from The Matrix.
Before, we played for the sensations and emotions. Now, we play for numbers and colorful pixels.
We used to play for the social interactions (ranging from fierce hatred to brotherly love). Now, interaction is a waste of time, time better spent farming more numbers in your character’s database column.
There’s no warmth or coziness. It only remains in our memories. And all further gaming is about trying to rekindle those memories. To capture nostalgia. But the further we go, the worse it gets.
Both we and the games are tainted, as if cursed. Corrupted, immolate improved.
All that remains is to come to terms with it. With our age, sessions, plastic curd, and… farming. Grinding. The slow dying out and extinction of that subspecies of cozy gamer.