Had a bit of Puzzle Pirates drama last week. Out of nowhere, my Captain gave up the game. I didn't investigate why, personal reasons outside the game I'd imagine. Perhaps connected to the amount of time it takes to run a small fleet and crew.
The Captain took with him our crew's Queen as well (they're a real life gaming couple. I think.) so our crew lost our key leadership in one blow. He promoted one of the officers to captain, and a flurry of new officerships followed. They role-played it to the end, maintaining the piratey accents in their farewells... even switched their avatar clothes to rags to simulate a Riches to Rags story.
I don't begrudge their choice at all. It can be a daunting challenge and an unexpected time sink. It's even more surprising given that it's a bunch of damn puzzle games; you don't anticipate the grip you'd expect with the usual MMORPGs. The loss of Captain Proteus and Queen FengPo reminded me that I'm playing with real people here, not bots or NPCs. Maybe they just decided it's not fun anymore, or they're tired of the monthly fee. None of my business really, but I like that their real world decisions can impact my own gaming experience. It makes for an interesting little drama. As online game developers already know, adding community creates instant depth!
Assuming the community doesn't suck. I picked up Resident Evil Outbreak yesterday, and I'm already worried. The game's chat lobbies were packed with the usual sorts of teen moron fuckups. Happily, Outbreak doesn't support chat inside the game, so you can't have one player wrecking the ambiance with l33tspeak. Although I doubt it will stop a player from jumping in circles and wasting the party's green herbs.
I haven't played the game itself yet. So we'll see. For a year I've been promoting this one to my PS2 friends as a reason to string ethernet across their living rooms, so it would be nice if it could live up to that.
