The Problem With Asian MMOs

Asian MMOs suck. That is a blanket statement that applies to the vast majority of Asian MMOs. So often are these games filled with pointless, arduous grinds, exorbitant, game-breaking levels of pay-to-win, or a lack of overall depth that you’re left to wonder.. what goes through the heads of these developers?
Have they grown so comfortable in the return on the mediocre content they develop that they’ve given up their creativity as a result?

If you’ve watched my channel for any length of time, you’d know I love Asian MMOs. I hyped Lost Ark, SoulWorker, Closers, Justice Online, Blade & Soul and a plethora of other Asian MMOs years before they they were licensed for distribution in the West.

So much so that some people online often refer to me as “the weeb MMO guy.” Which if I’m being honest.. isn’t entirely untrue. And it’s because I’ve enjoyed, it’s because I’ve focused on this sub-genre that I feel I have a unique perspective on it, and its future.

Before we get into WHY Asian MMOs suck.. I do want to note that Korean, Chinese and Japanese MMOs all differ substantially from one another.
Chinese MMOs tend to focus on hybrid action combat systems. They’re often heavily inspired by Chinese culture, have aerial mechanics, are highly pay-to-win, and are filled with endless exposition. Examples of this include Revelation Online. Moonlight Blade. Swords of Legends Online. Justice Online. Swordsman Online.
If I were to show you those 5 games on screen at the same time.. you’d struggle for a moment to discern which is which.
Korean MMOs are a little different. Typically, they utilize action combat systems, and tend to sway towards medieval fantasy. Including races like dwarves, elves. They often present players with stunning graphics, deep, intricate character creators, are highly pay-to-win and are built to provide an endless grind.
Examples of this include Black Desert Online. Lost Ark. TERA. Astellia Online. Blade & Soul. Elyon. Unlike Chinese MMOs, however, Korean MMOs tend to offer a little more in terms of originality.
Japanese MMOs however are what many people perceive to be the “the weeby MMOs.” You know, the kinda games neckbeard losers that play sexy catgirls and live with their parents play. But that isn’t exclusive to Japanese MMOs. I did that until I was 24, and I did that as a Blood Elf in WoW.
I will say that Japanese MMOs tend to differ quite significantly from one another. PSO2 is an Anime MMO with action combat. Final Fantasy XIV is a 3D MMO with tab-target combat. Shin Megami Tensei was an Anime MMO with tab-target combat that let you capture monsters like Pokemon.
They share almost no similarities with one another, but at the same time, the number of Japanese MMOs are displayable on a single hand.

So when I say that “Asian MMOs suck,” what I really mean is that “Chinese and Korean MMOs suck.” If I needed to spell that out for people.

Asian MMOs are gorgeous games, and Asian developers know exactly what players want.. to an extent: Stunning characters. A picturesque world. Fast, fluid combat.
They build these games to completely captivate you as soon as you log into them. You’re often provided with an extensive character creator, allowing you endless freedom to customize every facet of your avatar.
This can take people hours, and you’ll find no shortage of social media posts showcasing all the different ways people utilized the tools to create some of the most incredible, and disturbing looking characters imaginable.
You log into the game, and you see this absolutely gorgeous world. Everything looks so bright, so vibrant. It feels full of life. Personality. You start taking quests, you start leveling, you start engaging in the combat. Everything feels fantastic. Everything looks amazing.
You’re riding that high that these developers bank on at introductory levels. After dedicating countless hours to the game, after the novelty has worn off, you begin to realize that there are some alarming issues present. That inhibit you, that have been inhibiting you this entire time.
But you were enjoying yourself initially too much for it to matter. Or, maybe you just didn’t notice it. Nevertheless, beneath the surface of pretty much every Asian MMO, lies an ugly, vicious, predatory gameplay loop.

Before we get into the predatory gameplay loop, let’s discuss one of MMO players’ biggest gripes with Asian MMOs: gender locking. This is, predominantly, one of the major reasons players are immediately turned away from playing Asian MMOs.
You wanna play what should be a hulking mass of testosterone wielding a 10 foot long 200lb battle axe? Sure, no problem. Here, create your 3ft little kawaii bunny girl.
This is 2022. I know it takes substantially less effort to design costumes, to design gear for a single race, for a single gender at a time, but c’mon. If we want to play as Shaq wearing a dress, we should be able to.
I cannot express how many times people I know saw the Ninja or Reaper classes in TERA, and immediately upon learning that you could only select Elin as the race, closed out of the game and went to play something else. The same thing happened with Summoner’s in Blade & Soul.

This leads me into my next point: an inconsistent art style. When I did my first video on Elyon, the number of comments I got complaining about the car mount I had were.. numerous.
I’ve asked around, read some reddit threads, and have learned that this is a much larger issue than I ever would’ve expected. Seeing, as an example, some guy wearing baggy jeans, a crop top, massive butterfly wings, flip flops, and a power ranger helmet running around a medieval castle dual-wielding sparkly cucumbers.
Immersion is an integral part of every game. There’s a reason roleplay is so popular in Final Fantasy XIV. Breaking that immersion ruins the game for a large number of players, and not being able to consistently stick to a specific art style plays a large part in that.

Next, let’s discuss grinding. There’s a reason the term “Asian grinder” is a thing. And no, it isn’t the name of some weird-ass dating site to hook up with Asian’s. Although maybe some of you could use that…
Regardless, the term is more or less an amalgamated phrase that is often used to characterize both Korean and Chinese MMOs. It defines a very specific type of gameplay, where players repetitiously recycle tasks ad infinitum.
This can be as simple as farming the same group of monsters in Black Desert for hours, to running Guardian Raids twice per day per alt in Lost Ark.

Then there’s pay-to-win. Which is arguably the main reason Asian MMOs repeatedly fail over here in the West. Now the term “pay to win” is definitely open to interpretation. Some people are of the opinion that any advantage offered for real money is pay-to-win. Meaning XP boosts. Potions sold in the cash shop.
Heck, there are people that believe the motorbike mount I have in Final Fantasy XIV is pay-to-win because it has a faster base movement speed by default, which allows you to navigate zones for the first time faster than other players that don’t pay for it. Even though you’re capable of increasing your base movement speed in-game.
Others believe that it is specific to tangible items that provide a type of statistical bonus.
Regardless of your definition, their business model encourages players to spend as much money as they can, typically for small incremental increases in statistics in the form of outfits, quality of life improvements, or at times.. something as ridiculous as enhancement protection.
If you’ve ever played BDO then you’d know how bad upgrading can get. Imagine working months to obtain gear, to farm the materials necessary to upgrade it, and then.. to lose all of that hard work, with your gear ending up destroyed because you didn’t pay real money to protect yourself from a failed enhancement attempt.
There are endless forms of pay-to-win in video games, and in MMOs specifically, because there are endless amounts of players that are willing to pay for things like this. The vast majority of us just don’t want to put up with it in whatever form it takes.

I read a thread on Reddit a couple days ago titled “Lost Ark is ruining my relationship,” where the poster went on to state that not only did her boyfriend spend over 350 Euro in Lost Ark as he wanted both the Plat and Gold Founder’s packs, but he also purchased two additional packs after they became available.
Fast forward a few days, he went and spent 100 Euro’s on a pack because he needed potions. And it continued, as did he. This leads me to my next point.. gambling and addictions. This is why Gacha games like Genshin Impact are so predatory.
These packs are available, and at first glance you wouldn’t think you need them. Until you do. At which point, they become almost too difficult to resist the temptation to purchase. “It’s only 100 bucks this one time.” No, it isn’t. It’s 100 bucks THIS time.
Asian MMOs – or more specifically, the developers behind Asian games really understand how addiction in gamers works. And they take repeated advantage of them with predatory practices found throughout games from their respective regions.

Then comes the sexualization of female characters.
I know there were people that were complaining Lost Ark’s outfits weren’t “revealing enough,” with people claiming “ew, censorship” for our version of the game. But typically, the opposite opinion holds true.
Look at any MMO – BDO, TERA, Blade & Soul, Elyon. Female characters run around in absolutely nothing. And many men love dressing their characters up in nothing, because it’s the closest they’re likely going to get to seeing something akin to a real woman. Jokes aside, I have nothing against tiny outfits that amplify characters’ assets.
I mean, look at the types of thumbnails I use, right? This kinda stuff sells. Yet it is one of the most mirrored complaints that resound throughout the community. And while I’m generally okay with it, Asian MMOs take things much too far. Seeing Elin and Lyn running around in outfits meant for full-grown women?
Seeing the loli characters in Astellia. It’s just.. disgusting. I’m actually of the firm opinion that Final Fantasy XIV handles this well. If it’s skimpy on a female: It’s equally as skimpy on a male. At times, even more so.

MMO developers have become complacent. Both Eastern and Western. They’re satisfied creating something they know isn’t going retain your average player’s retention long-term, something that is lacking in originality, something that is used as a means with which to milk as much money as they possibly can from their players.
Asian MMOs – and more specifically, Asian games in general – as can be seen from all of the Gacha games making billions of dollars have become nothing more than pretty, glorified, predatory, copy-paste slot machines.
All creativity has been thrown out the window. Every game that comes out both looks like and simultaneously does what every other game did. It’s like the fast food industry. “Oh, ANOTHER chicken sandwich?” But this time it’s called “the McCajunDoubleFilet.”
Don’t get me wrong, there are some incredible looking games coming out – but at the end of the day, I feel like every Asian MMO is.. well, just another “Asian MMO.” And while I get excited for every new MMO that looks remotely enjoyable, I’ve been let down by almost every single one.
For one of, if not multiple of the reasons listed above.

Yes, Asian MMOs suck. A lot of them – most of them. But that doesn’t mean Western MMOs don’t suck as well. On the contrary, Western MMOs, and even indie MMOs which are handled by mostly Western “developers,” are just as bad if not even worse than Asian MMOs. Which is evident by the fact that…. well, nobody even wants to play them.
I guess that’s an interesting topic for another time, right?