Why Endless-Online is Amazing

(A note of clarification - I do not refer to the current abomination that is the main server - it is not amazing. Stava's EO, however, has captured the spirit of what EO should have been).

There are few who have been around longer than me. I don't know whether that's good or bad. It is. I don't wear longevity as a badge of honour - it simply is what it is. I've stuck around for just under a decade.

There's a reason for that.

The reason is that Endless-Online has captured just the right amounts of "it" to be successful. It can be analyzed. Digitized. Metricized. I don't think it can be recreated in a formulaic fashion but there's a reason that 10 years after it's initial release - an incomplete game is still able to capture our imaginations and dominate our time.

If I were to deduce some of the variables I would start with its simplicity. Endless-Online was never too complicated. Walk and whack. But what makes it fun is that you do so in real time with very few systemic interjections. As a writer that offered a numbing escape to the emotional highs and lows of the creative process. I could grind out a level or chase a new item. A couple hours would pass but I didn't have to engage much of the thought process.

Then I'd look to the diversity of experience. Even though the game was not anywhere near complete it has always been varied in game play. Different PVP modes. Group hunting. Competitive farming and crafting. Even just hanging around where level, equipment, or ability had very little to do with whether you belonged. What you need when you need it.

Finally I'd suggest the community. Edgy. Accepting. Combative. Supportive. Young. Old. Wise. Foolish. Refreshing. Hip. Old School. Ugly. Beautiful. All of that. Of all the people I've encountered across pixels over the years - I've felt invested in them - a common bond - the unity of family that brings us together. I came back because there are people in this community that I will never meet - and yet they are important to me - where do you find that anywhere else. I've yet to find this experience anywhere else.

Endless-Online - as long as it holds on to these core values - will truly be that. Endless. Simple. Diverse. One. When I took a step back I missed it - not because it was addictive - but because it was important. You are important.

To me, anyways.

Wikky