One Feature: Enough to Play an MMO?

I consider myself a pretty well-rounded gamer. While I’m often drawn in by compelling stories, I try to experience everything a game has to offer. I enjoy running dungeons, dabbling in raids, crafting extensively, grinding for gear, and participating in mini-games and social activities. Of course, some activities appeal to me more than others, and I might skip certain content. MMOs typically offer a variety of features to cater to diverse player preferences, making it impossible for one person to excel at everything.

The good news is, we don’t *have* to do it all. Progression often requires certain activities. Unless a game offers a “skip” option for its narrative, you’ll likely need to complete main quests. Side quests are often optional, but main quests are usually mandatory. You’ll also need to unlock content to access specific features, like housing.

This brings me to the question of whether people join games solely for one specific feature. I was recently discussing Throne and Liberty with a friend and mentioned its upcoming housing system. While he had a negative opinion of the game overall, I was intrigued by the housing system. The prospect of interesting housing alone is enough to make me consider playing a game I haven’t tried yet.

Since it’s a free-to-play game, abandoning it wouldn’t be a major loss. However, as I mentioned, features like housing often require unlocking, which could involve content I don’t particularly enjoy.

But sometimes, I think it’s worth the effort. My preferences differ from my friend’s. We enjoy some of the same games, but for different reasons beyond the story. I can tolerate flawed mechanics if there’s another aspect of the game I’m interested in. My friend has less patience for such issues.

So, yes, I’m likely to download Throne and Liberty just to experience the housing.

I know I’m not alone in this. A friend joined Final Fantasy XIV because he was drawn to its crafting systems. He was lured in by the challenge of the crafting system. Like most MMO features, it requires unlocking, either by playing the game or buying skips. Once unlocked, there are many other things to unlock and level to fully participate in crafting and gathering. It’s not a simple process, and he loves it for that complexity.

So, here we have someone who’s uninterested in the game’s story, primarily focused on crafting, and paying a monthly subscription for it. Considering that, it doesn’t seem strange for me to download a F2P game just to try its housing system.

Still, I wonder how many players do the same thing. How many of us are playing MMOs primarily for one specific feature? In some ways, focusing on games built around the feature we enjoy might make more sense. However, those are often single-player games, and the experience just isn’t the same.