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Who should take the next Big Chance?
Speely
Member CommonPosts: 861
It seems that the majority of mmorpgs coming out these days are based on a small handful of fundamental premises and diverge from the templates thus provided only in trivial ways that we call "features." Well I am sick of features.
Where are the fundamentally different games? Being developed by indie teams who are underfunded and have a snowball's chance in hell of securing proper funding due to their maverick vision? Failing because of a lack of design expertise despite an original idea? Bogged down by convoluted business models in a F2P world where everyone wants it all and they want it for free?
Who is going to take the next big chance, conceptually? Who should? When is a game going to navigate its way from the womb of a creative spark through the trimesters of funding, development, and publishing, to eventually arrive at the birth of a truly original product? What kind of a logistical and financial nightmare must this be? I can only imagine.
Will anyone ever achieve the fabled triple threat of vision, talent, and funding or will every mmorpg be poured through convention's filter before it even has a chance? I want to play a game that has the heart and soul of the designers in it. I don't want that heart and soul mangled by market analysis and focus groups. To hell with them. When will we ever again see a truly unique, original vision in this medium? Perhaps we are just destined to choose from Themepark/Sandbox ---> Fantasy/Sci Fi/Mixed ---> Skill-based/class-based/Mixed ----> PvP/PvE/Mixed ----> F2P/P2P -----> Add two to three gimmicky features here -----> Product, with every step along the way being scrutinized, dissected, reassembled, and generally crapped-up by the publishers, their "experts," and the angry mob until either anything daring or visionary has been homogenized or abandoned?
I know a lot of Kickstarters and such are in development, and I am very excited for some of them. But even THEN, there are thousands of backers arguing and complaining about this or that feature or gameplay element or race selection or payment method before a game even has a chance to present itself in a playable form. Sometimes I feel like developers who listen TOO MUCH to players compromise their vision to the point that they are LETTING themselves get watered-down. Players often base their (very vocal) opinions of design elements in future games on their experience with those element in previously-played games made by different developers. "Feature X totally broke Game X and it will totally break Game Y." No, it won't angry internet person. Crappy implementation and/or catering to uninformed demands will break it. Every time. How bout presenting a solid vision, stating VERY specifically what the product will (and won't) be, and letting the microchips fall where they may? (Of course, many indie devs ASK for input, and it's up to the individual to determine whether this is just lip service or legitimate inquiry, but either way I think it can go too far.)
TL;DR(ish)
Who do you want to take the next big chance in the mmorpg world??
How do you want them to take it?
Do you think taking a big chance on a truly original game would be worth it?
("Big chance" could mean anything you consider to be truly unique or revolutionary enough to make a game stand out from everyone else definitively. Obviously this is a subjective descriptor.)
Let's have fun with pipe dreams. Maybe a format will be helpful:
1: Developer (can be "Unknown" or a dream team made up of various team members)
2: Type of "big chance" mmorpg (can be a specific idea or a design element that is a "big chance")
3: Chance of being properly published, on a percentage scale
Input/fiery flames of unbridled contempt and ridicule welcomed 
Comments
1. Cloud Imperium Games - "Star Citizen", CCP "World of Darkness" and Pearl Abyss "Black Desert"
2. Sandbox Themepark Hybrid!
3. 100%
Haha that is quite the all-star lineup! I would be almost afraid to instll such a game.
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/PerfArt
People like screaming for new Ideas like the OP....All I would like is a real mmo. One that you can play for a long time with exploration and a social.
Games we have now are just that, games !....I would like to see an mmo.
I'm usually cautious and read between the lines before I buy an mmo. But I got fooled twice with Warhammer and FF14. I assumed that ff14 would be a full mmo. So much for assuming. It's just another theme park short 30 day game with ppl running around on my screen, and a few very short dungeons that once everyone figures out the little trick to each becomes easy.
I think most would be OK with just being an mmo, something we have not had in a long long time.
So someone should make an mmo?
Well luckily Sony Online Entertainment IS developing a little mmorpg at the moment that, while maybe not revolutionary, is looking to be somewhat of a risk-taker and innovator. Since they are developing AND publishing, the lines of communication between the money and the talent are presumably healthy, as well
And hey start small! Find some kindred spirits and pool your talents and make a simple game for IOS/Android or something. There are lots of dev tools for that kind of stuff out there, and you never know where the experience might take you!
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/PerfArt
UO,Shadowbane,SWG,Darkfall,MO,Wurm Online,Secretworld,GW,GW2,PotBS,LotR,Atlantica Online,WWII Online,WoT,Battlestar Galactica,Planetside2,Perpetuum,Fallen Earth,Runescape,WoW,Eve,Xsylon,Dragon Prophet, Salem
I'd like to see Runic Games (makers of Torchlight 2) make some sort of MMO. Those guys are solid designers.
But I don't want it to be THE NEXT BIG THING. I want it to smart small/medium sized but successful and build from there into something bigger.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
Wurm looks really great in regard to the freeform design and player-driven content. While I generally prefer more "modern" combat, I am not adverse to more MUD-like interaction if the rest of the game has depth (which it seems to... literally!) Thanks for reminding me about this one, as I have been meaning to give it a try. It's a great idea.
What's the player base like?
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/PerfArt
I will be VERY surprised if Rockstar's next big announcement is not the next RDR with online features similar to GTAV's online play. A senior graphics engineer at Rockstar New England recently stated in his resume that he was working on a next-gen version of a "popular IP." I can see Rockstar cutting their next-gen teeth on RDR, and if GTAV Online is any indication, there will be no stopping them from providing online play AT LEAST that robust, if not more.
Doesn't really qualify as a "big chance" but it would be pretty awesome. RDR is a great IP.
http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/PerfArt
They have the money. They have the creativity. They have the great IP. Red Dead has one the best atmosphere of any game.
Make a sandbox where we can do what we want it would be awesome. But I think it would be a big risk for Rockstar.
An MMO version was talked about early on but they totally scrapped the notion around this time last year.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
[quote]The official word as of right now is that we encountered unexpected complexities in porting Torchlight 2 to the Mac, simultaneous with our scramble to ramp up on our next project and get it moving forward. The Mac platform still poses some challenges for us as a company (as anyone who waited for the Mac port of Torchlight 1 can attest). As a result, while we are still pursuing it, we don't have a date or any real details to share on the Mac port of Torchlight 2 just yet. When we do have something to share, though, we'll do so as quickly as possible.[/quote]
http://kotaku.com/a-couple-of-readers-have-asked-about-torchlight-2s-much-1006075540
Yeah, Lokto, looks liek they are not so set on the full MMO move, though it sounds like they are working on something. Looking forward to it!
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
Very different depending on where you play or start out at....
Freedom servers are PvE only- very much a safe crafting and building area, has its appeal for some that just want to build nice things lol.... but not for me.... However, because its a very casual game play the community there is rather friendly....
Then there is Epic (Where I play)
This is the Full loot PvP game that can be very hostile or friendly....
Epic is divided into 3 Kingdoms 2 are considered White Lighters or the stereo typical good guys.... They cant kill there fellow kingdom members or do negative actions like stealing without great penalty... They have a larger population because of this fact that they are "The good guys" but also because Black Lighter Kingdom spys cant randomly gank there new player bye rolling an alt so it can be a much friendlier community and by far an easier place for a new player to start out....
Affliction the smallest Server on the Epic cluster is the home of the Black Lighters- This is far and away the hardest place for a new player to start, (My home) and new players are often not trusted as White Lighters love to create alts that can do mischief like killing other's, like newbi's who are not expecting there fellow kingdom member to kill them....
This Alt Spy business is the one glaring negative in wurm from my point of view... and I hope someday Rolf will limit 1 account per IP.... but if you can get past that and you can brave the very harsh world of wurm and get thru a very hard learning curve the game is amazing, you can farm, you can make toys, you can cook, you can fish, you can breed animals, you can tame, you can alter every tile in the game, you can build a shed, a castle, you literally can do anything you could ever want...
You want to breed your female horse with its father go ahead- So the result is a horse with malformed legs and looks very week and fragile.... oh well you made that choice.... you want to attack a person with a plank you cut up out of a log, you can...
Oh the Epic cluster is comprised of 4 Servers the 3 home servers of each kingdom and a large server in the center that is fought over between the kingdoms.... Sure you can sail to a home server and raid their, heck you could sail to another home server and attempt to build a house and live there though it may not work out well....
And traveling is not instant.... You want to travel to another kingdom well you have to get on a boat and sail there this could be as quick a trip as 15 minutes depending on your geographic location or it could be 2 hours... You could end up having a crap wind in a ship of sail or you could have gusting winds at your back....
The game is so multifaceted.... it amazes me daily....
UO,Shadowbane,SWG,Darkfall,MO,Wurm Online,Secretworld,GW,GW2,PotBS,LotR,Atlantica Online,WWII Online,WoT,Battlestar Galactica,Planetside2,Perpetuum,Fallen Earth,Runescape,WoW,Eve,Xsylon,Dragon Prophet, Salem
I don't think a MMO can add much to the online ARPG formula. TL2 is fine as an online ARPG.