From dice to dragons - the evolution of MMOs

by Jennie Lees { Dec 10th 2005 at 11:00AM }

1up's latest instalment in their "Evolution of Online Gaming" looks at the MMO world's preoccupation with dragons and tights (part 1 examined the current state of MMOs). The fact that most MMOs take place in a fantasy setting can lead to outsiders pigeonholing the entire genre, although the heritage of fantasy is rich enough to lend itself well to the persistent-world RPG concept, and is easy to step into ("Everyone knows what orcs, elves, warriors, and wizards are supposed to be and do", says Ryan Seabury of NetDevil).

With upcoming MMOs such as D&D Online still sticking to the fantasy genre, and only a few daring to break the mould (such as NCsoft's City of Heroes and Auto Assault), are developers hurting themselves by playing it safe? World of Warcraft's success may be as attributable to its gameplay as its fantasy setting, and with other cultural pools to draw from—pirates, Greek myths, ninjas—perhaps the lessons learned from WoW will help bring more originality into the world of MMOs.

MMO designers are still trying to capture the audience of hardcore gamers who spend hours each day playing FPS games online; with persistent levels and statistics, some FPS games fit the MMO concept in a way, but MMOFPS may be the elusive solution to get hardcore gamers going massive. We've had MMORPG, we're getting MMOFPS, what of MMO-Strategy, MMO-Adventure, MMO-Sports and MMO-Driving?

[via Slashdot]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Merus @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

I can attest from Puzzle Pirates that there are way easier things for people to get than fantasy. A Wild West MMO would be just as easy - everyone knows cowboys and indians, and roleplaying is as easy as saying 'howdy' or 'how' instead of 'hi'. Compare to most fantasy MMOs, where the roleplayers tend to try and talk almost exclusively in Elizabethian English, even if it doesn't actually fit the setting (see: WoW).

Kenofthedead @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

MMORPGs are funny to a degree, as most people simple play instead of role playing.
Not that they have to, it's just intresting to see how diffrent it is from table top to on-screen.

Things like Puzzle Pirates and Gaia Online show that other routes can work.

As for other MMO games, we are starting to see it slowly develop now.

The increase of racing games for the PC, X-Box Live, and the Nintendo Revolution's online service (and once it gets racing games), and perhaps PS3 now that PC and game systems are connecting to each other, all show a good future.
MMODriving games could easily be made now.

All it would need is for the story mode of a game, say Project Gotham Racing, NASCAR, or even Mario Kart could work (would be hard, but possible there) made to include multiple people.

Now I didn't really think that through a lot, mostly because except for Mario Kart, Outrun, and F-Zero I don't really enjoy racing games.
So someone else could come up with a better idea I'm sure.

A MMO-Action/Adventure game isn't to hard to think of either.
A large scale Dynasty Warriors could work, the technology to hold that many players and NPCs at once in one area is needed.

As for a MMO-Strategy or RTS, a Sid Myer game will fill that niche someday.

Scott @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

MMOFPS is the most exciting prospect to me. MMO Driving is also a good idea but might suffer from some of the "selling" practices of other MMOs. People would buy extra parts on Ebay, thus destroying the ingame economy.

jl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM

Thinking about it, Auto Assault is basically MMO Driving, but in a MMORPG setting (you have a character, you have levels, but instead of running around and killing wolves you drive around and shoot things). Maybe that'll prove the bridge between the two types.

Kenofthedead, interesting idea! I can just imagine Sid Meier's MMO-Civ, where everyone is a world/planet leader and they interact in a vast galaxy.. Kind of like Planetarion meets EVE.