Avoiding Fantasy MMOs

Fantasy is not my favourite genre.  With a few exceptions I have not much clue of who is who among fantasy authors – the only author whose books I have read a lot is Terry Pratchett. I do not dislike fantasy – I just have difficulty to show any extended interest in it.

For MMOs, my first 4 MMOs were categorised in different genres (Anarchy Online, Earth&Beyond, EVE Online, Star Wars Galaxies) and I got my introduction to fantasy MMO with Final Fantasy XI. There are certainly some quite good fantasy MMO games out there, but I do find that I am perhaps in some cases less tolerant and less patient with fantasy MMOs than with some other genres.

Good or bad, I see little reason to go back to World of Warcraft, LOTRO, Everquest 2, Dungeons&Dragons Online or Age of Conan. Or try Warhammer Online or Aion for the first time. Guild Wars and Saga or Ryzom are perhaps my exceptions – in particular Guild Wars’ quite strong story part and interesting skill system and mission/game mechanics still has made it fun to play. And one reason I will likely try out Guild Wars 2 despite the fantasy genre.

But if I look at any part that may be less than stellar in a game I have certainly had more than enough of farmers and others wanting me to kill boars/wolves/orcs/trolls/dragons/elves/whatever. Similar mechanics but with some other genres seem to work out better for me.

How important is the genre for you? Does it matter at all?