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The Fantasy MMO: No imagination required
Pocketprotectorgames
Member Posts: 22
Swing a mighty epic axe! Slay a dragon! Use wizzzardry!
In 2014? Again? Really?
You mean I can't walk into a saloon and have a pvp gunfight in an old west game world?
Or roll a spy in an espionage/military virtual world?
Just dragons, the occasional space craft and killing hundreds of critters for xp?
How does one gain experience from killing 10 rats besides a pest exterminator anyway?
Oh well.
Comments
By playing a cat?
The Secret World.
Defiance.
Fallen Earth.
Eve.
Xsyon.
Champions Online.
PotBS.
A Tale In The Desert.
Should i continue?
Largely has to do with the investors/publishers who steer things to 'successful formulas' which has been repeated a thousand times now. Give me a billion with no hope on return investment and full creative control and I can make something completely unique.
Unfortunately money speaks in this genre.
How would you feel being that sneaky spy, looking for the secret papers when another player sneaks past you, then gets caught and fighting breaks out. What do you do? How about watching as 10 other "sneaky spies" are in the same building, doing the same thing? The tension created by being sneaky is better served in single player games, where you are truly alone, in my opinion.
The gunfighting Old West PvP MMO could be a lot of fun for some folks. I probably would pass it up since I dislike PvP, but I bet there are lots of players that would enjoy the game.
Fantasy is easier as developers get to make the rules. But they seldom do. There are some titles coming out, though, that seem to buck the system. WildStar comes to mind.
Isn't there an MMO that has the tagline, "No Elves", or something similar. Sorry the name escapes me right now
As far as killing rats for XP, would you rather learn your skills by attacking a target dummy? A player has to start somewhere in the learning curve.
[EDIT]
I decided to Google the phrase and found it is called Global Agenda.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Believe it or not OP,the idea is NOT OLD or used up,imo the surface has barely been scratched.
If you know of FFXI,i mean really know of the game,you would know what i am talking about.That game did some things to the DEPTH of game play that other devs are just beginning to understand,there is TONS more room to improve on it.
The problem is not for lack of imagination,i truly believe there are a lot of game studios who could do it justice,the problem is money and too many are making games for profit NOT with passion.
I would bet 90% of the forum users have a better imagination that what we are seeing in games,does that mean develoeprs are not as smart?I highl;y doubt it,they simply will not afford the EFFORT to making a TRIPLE A game,instead are looking for cheap selling points or gimmicks to entice customers.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Cancel making FPS and RTS games also. Games like God Of War.. toss those out too, they been done before.
The truth is games genres will be used for eternity becuase that is what, we as humans, relate to. Sci-Fi is just dreams of what humanity might be at one day.
Sure could a western mmo work, yes. Will it outsell most other games, no. There is a reason high fantasy outsells all other mmo genres, because that is what people want.
I've been thinking of a Wild West MMO, with towns, ranches, cattle drives, bandits, hostile Natives, gold mining, etc.
It would be a territory based game, with the Cowboys trying to expand into Indian territory. Each side also has a bandit side, so it is really 2 factions, with 2 more weak bandit factions (Outlaws and Renegades) that could group together.
Also including an RTS side with town and ranch building, cow herd and horse herd growing, mining, blacksmithing, etc. Bandits rob banks which reduces the town's controlled area.
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
The good news is that only one company since 2004 has really set a standard, and we all can "wow" at what mmo that was. So - we have NEVER reached a saturation point of quality titles. I see so many posts about how the market in fantasy fiction is just overdone. Surely it is if you count what we have in the same way you compare fast food to fine dining.
So...just no. 2014 if we are lucky might herald in a decent mmo with some actual RPG since politics are built into the lore, i.e., The Elder Scrolls Online. Sadly, it's broken combat/UI mechanics that will kill this in many ways unless they make a drastic change...which HUBRIS will guarantee ala Warhammer that they will not even consider it.
Sadly, the state of that game is so over-processed it's disgusting. We play mmorpgs for the Role-Playing part we experience with other players while engaging in challenges of epic proportion. Isn't that the basis of most fictional novels?
Now enter Dungeon Finder: My rogue: "Hello everyone!"
Everyone else:
Though I have made a special effort to type: Hello Everyone! on every occasion while grouped. I do get rewarded with the occasional hi...or SUP.
Yeah..well...sadly there's nothing on the market that doesn't offer the very same game with much less content. Still waiting for something that matches my side logo here at mmorpg.com.
Funny enough I can never stick with sci-fi games or many other games unless they are fantasy or "medievil".
I like sci-movies, good westerns, etc. but the games I have to force myself through to the inspiring parts.
"oh well".
In any case there are other mmo's out there such as The Secret World, EVE, Ryzom, Star Wars the Old Republic, Marvel Heroes, Pirates of the Burnign Sea (coming back) and a game set in a post apopolytic world (can't remember the name)).
Or is it that none of those are to your liking?
Well, "WELCOME TO THE CLUB!".
Just because a game is set in a certain settign doesn't mean it's good. I'm STILL wating for a fantasy game that is actually good and what I thought mmo's were going to be.
Which apparently they aren't.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
A lot of games try to capture the spirit of D&D but really few if any actually do it well. WoW isn't "the standard" sure a lot of people enjoy it but a lot of people also enjoy Transformers movies. Does that mean we should just stop making movies because Michael Bay's fans are happy?
For people who want a real fantasy RPG in an MMO WoW is pretty garbage and most other attempts aren't much better. Until some game really perfect the living breathing fantasy world you're going to see a lot of attempts because a lot of people love those settings and aren't at all satisfied with WoW and its ilk.
Not at all saying that a wild west or espionage MMO is a bad idea. Go kickstart that shit if you have the talent
I may back it.
As for fantasy there used to be a pen-n-paper game called Talislanta who's HUGE tagline was "no elves" their current tagline is "Still no elves". It is however a fantasy world.
As for wild west there is a genera called Weird West where things like zombies and the whole "Native American spirit world" spilled over into the "real" one. Also the Wild west was not actually that wild. Since many were packing, no on started a fight as you never knew if the guy behind you was a friend of a friend and had a bigger gun. There is no reason why a game such as that would not work if developers really tried it. Since there is an actual genera there are actual followers of it, thus you have a start of a fan base.
--> http://www.swtor.com/r/nBndbs <--
Several Unlocks and a few days game time to make the F2P considerably easier
I disagree with this thread's title.
Yeah, sure, there are mages, dragons, warriors, thieves, and guys with funny beards in just about every fantasy game out there. But do they have to work the same way in every game? No.
The fantasy genre actually provides, IMO, the most potential for imagination because it is, at it's base, pure fantasy, and generally only basic things like movement and melee combat are bound, and usually loosely at that, to real physics.
Now there is plenty of diversity in titles people have mentioned, The Secret World, DCUO with it's superhero theme, and there are probably tons of others I don't even know about that have less traditional high fantasy trappings than most games. It just seems as though games that make it big capitalize on many people's inner desire to be a spell-slingin' wizard or a brash warrior.
I love fantasy games. That being said, I wish more non-fantasy MMOs could gain a solid audience so we might have a different discussion than this one lol.
The OP didn't write "The MMO: No imagination required"
But to talk shooters... Holy crap, when are people going to get tired of the same old Battlefield Duty: Call of Heroes crap over and over? There are other themes out there, like Renaissance Heroes, Wolf Team, Natural Selection and such but damn if people aren't constantly drawn toward the modern soldier theme like flies to poop.
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
i have to disagree a tiny bit because battlefield as far as i know is quite unique, not like any other shooter. i play specificly for the battlefield feeling/vehicles wich others either don't have or failed to implement (im looking at you socom) :P
you have to admit tho the storytelling as shown in the call of duty single players is quite a ride. Altho i have stopped buying them after black ops 1, and im not buying one again.
but to be on topic: like wizardry said developers are making games to get money instead of making them with a passion.
i do not wan't to see these untouched themes touched by someone wich only wants to make money. it wil ruin them before they get out.
Developers need to listen less to the suits. or rather the sutis need to just shut their asses and mabey games will stay up longer then a year with a more healthy population.
If that is what people want than why is it that most movies and single player games sci-fi instead of high fantasy? Because mmo developers and their writers are too stupid to understand fringe science and lack the creativity to build a universe around it. Because in fantasy, writers can just make up some bullshit explanation for how everything works and its usually...ITS MAGIC
No it's not because devs aren't as smart as you (funny how that is a go to reason for everything around these forums
). I remember hearing how most of the sci-fi movies in the early 70s were hard science based and super realistic dealing with actual problems science might face in the future. What happens? Star Wars comes along with basically "space magic" and totally redefined the genre with its popularity. It's the same thing with low fantasy (something I would like to see games do more. But it's the big flashy stuff that sells. People want badass heroes and obviously evil mustache-twirling villains and big flashy explosions. Realism and subtlety will probably always unfortunately appeal to a niche market. I'm actually surprised something like Game of Thrones which is at least somewhat an exception got popular so maybe there's actually some hope though.
Nobody has ever complained about this before. This topic is new and fresh.
Right now, fantasy is hot. Thanks to Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and Game of Thrones. These things come and go. The new Star Wars trilogy might make sci-fi hot for a while, who knows.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Sci-Fi always been hot from terminator, aliens, fringe, lost, battlestar galactica, bioshock, mass effect, Marvel, Star Trek, Halo...I could go on. It doesnt need star wars to make it hot cuz its already and always have been hot.
Its not a binary state. It could be "hotter", if you will. ...and some of the stuff you mention is pretty old.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Meanwhile, just look at all the great modern westerns that have come out recently and made it big at the box-office.....
er wait..... Cowboys and Aliens?
Any surprise that Fantasy beats western themes hands down? Now, had MMO's been out in the 50s and 60's western MMO's might have dominated the landscape, but now days, not so much.
Western MMO's have the same problem that Western movies have these days, it's politically incorrect to paint native americans as the villains of the story, as was so often the case in early westerns, so it limits the bad guys to outlaws and robbers, so what you really have is GTA set in a western theme.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
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"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon