Why Is Generic Gameplay Considered Bad In MMORPGs?

If there’s one thing about the MMORPG community at large that doesn’t make sense to me it’s the consistent use of the term “generic” when referring to a game that one found to be boring. There are dozens upon dozens of popular shooters that play in near-identical fashion. The classic JRPG formula rarely sees any form of innovation and yet JRPGs become popular time and time again. Why is it then that MMORPGs are constantly criticized for being “generic?”

I have seen many claim that the cause of such criticisms is investment in one’s character and the amount of time spent watching it grow. This argument makes little sense to me. The average single-player RPG takes approximately 50 hours to complete and its fans move on to another game where they spend another 50 hours. That is more than enough time to become invested in a character, yet they have no problem repeating the process in a similar game.

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If MMORPG players are so invested in their characters why not stick with them? Moreover, if they were so invested in that game, what’s wrong with it being similar? Do they not want to play a game following a paradigm they already know they like? I don't believe that player's attachment to their characters and the time invested in a game is the reason they won't repeat it in another.

Another explanation could be that stories don’t get players invested in their characters to begin with. I recently argued in one of the podcasts that a full-blown story, as you would have in a single-player game, has no place in MMORPGs. I stick by this statement. In theory I believe MMORPGs should let players write their own story. Whether this means that the GMs are running an ever-evolving storyline based on player actions or the game is simply a sandbox with better methods of getting players invested, the end result is the same. Pre-written stories inherently kill the sense that there’s a community of thousands around you.

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I can’t dismiss the fact that perhaps the lack of a decent story is what players really mean when they call something “generic.” In other genres games that don’t get players invested via the story are called “generic.” I would hazard a guess that the reason for this is that the story distracts players from rehashed gameplay elements.

The only issue I have with this theory is that at this point MMORPG players are notorious for skipping every bit of dialogue that is thrown at them. They’re tired of the quest boxes. They’re tired of the mountains of dialogue they’re forced to read. If they never read in the first place why would that be the issue, and what of the near-storyless sandbox games like Ultima Online that genre veterans love so much?

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Perhaps then there are a combination of issues at play. As the genre’s audience has grown players themselves have become more and more antisocial, both through the introduction of more antisocial players and the constant fear that you will encounter assholes. More so than ever players are keeping to themselves in games for as long as they can. Even when taking on difficult content, such as raid bosses, it is not uncommon to encounter complete silence.

With stories averaging out to a “fair” on our grading scale and many players avoiding interaction, perhaps there is simply nothing left to get players invested. In single-player games we rely on the story and NPCs to get us invested in the game. In MMORPGs, we rely on other players while simultaneously falling back on the stories that we expect will ultimately let us down. When both let us down, all that’s left is a game that rehashes elements of older games. All that we see is generic gameplay.