“Well, MMOs like WoW fill this idiom, don’t they?” You may well ask. My dear friends, I would argue that they do not. I agree, they present a level of escapism: who can claim they aren’t escaping when they run around the lush fields of Azeroth as their chosen muscular Night Elf or ludicrously buxom human mage? However, escapism is a misnomer when the developers insist on emphasising human interaction within their game world.

In order to truly succeed in MMOs like WoW, you have to organise yourselves into groups to wade through dungeons and especially to defeat the larger enemies. However, the game world is plagued with exactly the same cretins and morons as the real world. In fact, games such as WoW seem to be havens for the feckless; a concentration of brainless knock-holes that ruin the experience for everyone with either petty squabbling, or moronic behaviour.

Despite their shortfalls, MMOs have become spectacularly popular. The financial viability of releasing your very own massively multiplayer game seems to have seduced almost every developer out there. MMOs are essentially a licence to print money. I mean, who wouldn’t love to have a game where players wilfully hand over wads of cash to continue playing?

The added benefit of the monthly fee is that players become more invested in the game world than they would otherwise. Players will think not only of their enjoyment when they think of moving on to other games, they will also consider how much time and money they have ploughed into the game. This is the primary reason for WoWs continued success: why would you leave when you’ve already spent so much time and money developing your ‘level capped’ creation?

I count 20 people on screen - that makes £160 a month just from these guys...

Perhaps the most harrowing fact about MMOs is the extent to which they are seeping across genres. Whilst RPGs have been traditionally the only successful MMOs to date, faster broadband has meant that other genres could soon be equally as aflicted. Anyone sharing my fear of having to pay for a game several times over with monthly subscription payments will feel the same chill down their spine when they hear a Call of Duty MMO has not only been planned, but is currently in the making.

I implore you, gamers of the world: don’t be seduced by the enticement of continually added content. Don’t ignore the fact that you will be paying many times more than the box price to play the game within it. And most of all, don’t ignore the fact that the game world will be littered with the same idiots you avoid in the real world. Say no to MMOs.

MMO = Massively Multiplayer Online – a video game capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players interacting simultaneously.