Rant: Online Games

Playing games online has become extremely popular over the next few years and more times then not these games are impressive but there are a few major problems I have with many of these games. One of these problems which will be the first that I'll talk about it the lack of creativity when it comes to titles for games that are playable online. What I'm talking about is the fact that at least half of the games out there that are mainly directed at online play include the word 'online' in the title. Sure this may be trying to make it a little more obvious as to what the game contains but I'm sure they could come up with something a bit more creative then that.

Final Fantasy XI would be a perfect example except for the fact that online is only a subtitle in the name so I have no choice but to give Square credit for that but that doesn't mean that I have no problem with the fact that they made Final Fantasy Online into one of the main numerals in the series. Then again I'll rant about that some other time.

A lot of game developers are taking the concept of online gaming a little too far now for example a few weeks ago I started looking into the different titles that use the word online in them and you know what I found? A game titled Hello Kitty Online that's scheduled for release some time in the future. Now do you see the problem with that? Who's really going to want to play an online game related to Hello Kitty? Maybe some little kids but that brings me to the next problem with online gaming, the cost.

Many games like Final Fantasy XI as I mentioned earlier as well as possibly the most popular online game, World of Warcraft cost not only for you to get the basic software for the game also but a fee in order for you to play the game itself. Most games these days which use similar mechanics to these now have monthly fees which if you ask me is a bit of a waste as well as a huge rip off. You payed the money for the game itself so you should be able to play the game as much as you like without any boundaries right? Wrong, companies want to get as much out of you as they possibly can. Xbox Live is similar to this as well except for one thing, most of the games that are playable online through Xbox Live also have single player games for those who don't have Xbox Live.

Even after making you cough up the money for the game itself as well as the monthly fees to play companies soon come out with expansion pack after expansion pack adding onto the game but of course they don't just give these expansions away, you have to cough up even more of your hard earned cash for them. I guess some of these games may be worth the cost but I still believe it to be a huge waste of money to pay so much for just one game when you can obviously get multiple games for the price of just one of these online games.