I think FOMO might be the most popular recurring topic posted in these forums, so I’ll just add to the quota.
Healthy FOMO:
Seasonal PvP mounts, aesthetics, achievements
Seasonal PvE mounts, aesthetics, achievements
Trophies commemorating participation and/or great performance in a seasonal event. Insert any sort of sport or organization that offers something like this. Olympics, World Cup, World Series, marathons / iron man’s, a 9 year-old kid’s soccer season. There’s an infinite number of examples. It feels good to be rewarded for doing something and for solidifying that memory with a token.
Some relatively Unhealthy Fomo:
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Daily quests that have fairly high impacts on player power and disappear after a relatively short amount of time. More of an issue in prior expansions and their grindy systems (artifact power grinding with daily quests only lasting 24 hours) than Dragonflight.
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A poorly designed system / event that rewards players for exploiting it while it’s broken and is then fixed within a short amount of time
Frogs are one example.
Another is absurdly overpowered specs in PvP with players who achieve ranks they’d never be able to without the spec performing not as intended, and then never queueing again because they know they’d tank their rating as soon as the issue is corrected. Not talking about the meta or specs being stronger than others. I’m talking stuff like unintended one-shots that are blatantly not WAI, or were simply obviously not tested before rollout.
- Generally, any key systems design(s) that can cause massive swings in player power for lack of participation within a very short amount of time.
Some Key Distinctions:
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Time Availability of Event. The shorter the availability of the event, the less accessible it might be, which can trigger FOMO. It doesn’t feel good to be punished for going on vacation for a week. That said, cutting edge, AOTC, gladiator, etc etc, largely shouldn’t be impacted by taking a few weeks off. The events last long enough, generally speaking.
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Advanced Notice of the Event
When the event is clearly advertised ahead of time, players have more time and opportunity to plan ahead accordingly.
- Equal Accessibility of the Event (to a reasonable degree)
1 & 2 play a large component here, but effectively, it’s just ensuring that there aren’t any arbitrary or asinine hindrances to participating in said event.
Apply these distinctions to a concept like a PvP Season:
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is there sufficient time to engage in event? Yes. All good there.
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are the events communicated clearly in advance? Yes. Check.
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Is there a reasonable level of accessibility? Yes. You need an active subscription and a max level character. This is absolutely fair.
Apply these distinctions to a concept like frogs in MoP Remix:
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is there sufficient time to engage in the event? No, it only lasted for a few days and was hot fixed not long after discovery.
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was there advanced notice? Theoretically, yes and no. I’m not really into mop remix, but my understanding is the frogs were a historical farm, so it could probably be argued that there was some amount of advanced noticed. However, a key distinction here - this is player created.
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Was there a reasonable level of Accessibility?
Since the frogs already largely failed 1 & 2, it’s not off to a good start. you would’ve had to be active very early on in mop remix, which wasn’t feasible for many.
Mage tower:
- Sufficient time to engage? yes
- advanced notice? Yes
- reasonably accessible? yes
If you want seasonal rewards, engage in the seasonal events while they’re active. If you want cool, prestigious rewards, play the current game and earn them. Have fun!