What happened to the golden days of FPS, when it was more than go to A, shoot enemy B, move on to C, rinse and repeat. I remember the day when they're were RPG elements, or when you had to solve complex puzzles and had to use your brain. Nowadays the closest thing to a puzzle is go here and gun down hordes of police/demons/gangster/terrorists/etc. and get a key. I remember how in System Shock how there were multitudes of different items you could make out of simple parts lying around, then again Bioshock did this as well but it's made by the same people so it doesn't really count.

I remember how in Deus Ex... well actually I couldn't stand Deus Ex, but a lot of people who did enjoy tell me it that you were supposed to go along upgrading weapons and making choices of morality. Hell, even the original Rainbow Six as boring as it was, was satifying in that you felt good whenever your plan worked out.

The average PC gamer would argue that Halo started this trend, but I have to disagree. I think that it would honestly be the original Half-Life. While undeniably fun, it didn't have much substance gameplay wise. The only difference was that instead hunting for keys, you were hunting for switches or valves. Half-Life 2 fixed this problem by including those clever little gravity gun puzzles now and again. Still the trend caught on, and it has degenerated from there. The latest game that comes to mind that tried the whole inventory thing was Alone in the Dark, and we all know how that turned out. Bioshock executed it fairly well, but it was still pretty shallow.

Then again, looking back upon such titles, maybe it's for the best.

I'm the kind of player who doesn't like to offend, which is why I can never be a leader of any sort, be it guilds, groups, raids, etc. I can never be gruff with anyone if they're making a mistake, I usually just quietly mention and one of two things happens. The person making the mistake ends up somehow blaming it on someone else, or just plain out ignoring me. I've come to realize that you need to command people to do things and correct their mistakes. I just can't do that, it always makes me feel bad. Another thing that stems from this is that people generally walk all over me, which I really don't mind. This does, however, make it somewhat problematic in making online friends, as they all begin the same way, being nice and kind. It is hard for me to tell which it is at first, thus making me somewhat of a loner.

This brings me to my next problem: guilds. When I played Silkroad online (my first MMO), I had a guild called Kessen that consisted of only around five players or so, who were really great friends. If you needed help, help would come. If you needed money, you got money. If wanted armor or weapons, you got armor and weapons. If you wanted...well, you get the idea. All of them have moved on and only one two of us, including me, even plays MMO's anymore. The one that does still play is always so caught up in something else, however, that he rarely has time to play with me anymore. So usually it's just me. After awhile I decided that it was time to try and find a guild to be in. I put out a few broadcasts on the guild recruitment channel, and I got a few offers. What alarmed me was that there was no entrance test, no quiz to see if you would be a nuisance, nothing. What alarmed me even more was the amount of people in the guild. Forty Seven. When I saw how the members treated each other, I suddenly realized what it was: the guild prioratized quantity over quality. I immediately quit.

I thought, "Okay, maybe it was just that one guild." I joined all of the guilds that been offered to me and was alarmed to see that they were all the same way. I just couldn't figure it out, what was the point of so many members? Especially if they treated each other like dirt. The question still plagues me to this day.