Last week, I did an interview trying to explain exactly what was going on with the whole City of Heroes drama. Almost immediately, the host went off script and asked me something that seems like a really logical question: Can you explain what an MMORPG is for people who have no idea? And my brain absolutely blanked. Usually I just tell people it’s games like World of Warcraft – everyone knows what that is. But MMORPG players don’t even agree on what an MMO is. Nothing I said was going to make everyone happy. Trying to explain it to non-gamers either makes MMOs sound silly (make a character and kill shit and wear fancy armor!) or takes an hour to explain all the intricacies and exceptions, which was an hour longer than we had.
Fortunately, the rest of the interview went much better (I had five pages of notes!), but this part still sits with me as one for which I’d prepared a cleaner answer. It was surprisingly hard as heck off the cuff, and I desperately hope it isn’t aired! How do you explain MMORPGs to non-gamers in 2019?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
