Innovating MMORPGs
When I witnessed the hundreds of new MMORPG titles in GStar 2007, much of them all look the same. For me, in order to survive in this highly competitive industry, it’s not just a matter of designing an MMORPG with better graphics or gameplay. There has to be something DIFFERENT in it.
Obviously, cloning a successful game like World of Warcraft won’t cut it anymore. Let’s face it, designers and developers have to come up with something original, something that would separate their game from the rest. This is where creativity comes in. This post is an attempt to look into what has been done before and perhaps hear your ideas on how you want MMORPGs of the future to look like.
First, let’s examine what’s been done and then go to what the future holds.
One more click, dude…
NEW STUFF
- High Level Content - this is where WoW excels. A game SHOULD have something to aspire for. The grind, the levels and the items are not enough to satisfy an avid gamer’s lust for “something to do”. Once you get all the uber-items, what next? This is one question that designers should answer. Perhaps a super boss can be adequate. Others turn to massive guild and faction-based wars so that you put your high levels, items and abilities to good news. In short, WoW’s motto of “life begins at 70″ holds true for them
- Instances -Â Instanced dungeons, quests or areas are not new anymore. But there seems to be a need for it. It’s not just the joy of knowing no one can mess with your plans but it may also be apparent in reducing lag. But this calls for an added layer of technicality, and in some, hardware costs. Instanced items are becoming a staple in MMORPGs today.
- A more interactive environment - towns are simply boring. I think it’s best that designers put elements where guilds or individuals can personalize stuff like a “tambayan” (headquarters). Also, camps and waypoints with guards and fortifications are a good way to tell the world that “hey… this is our turf! Go #@*#% somewhere or you’re gonna get hurt”. Another idea could be dungeons where “owning” factions can put traps or other tricks for the enemy to encounter. In short, give GM powers - well, not to everyone, to those who “win” it by completing a quest or acquiring requisites for it.
- User Generated Content - UCG is all the rave nowadays. Second Life started it and now companies want to cash in on it. But it’s not as easy as opening a box. In fact, that “Pandora’s Box” can mean disaster for the game system if the designers don’t get it right. By this, I mean it in terms of gameplay and balance. It’s a fine juggling act but we’re getting there.
- Pets - some MMORPG games call for a more interactive system of pets. Not only do you level yourself but your pet comes into play now. You also level them, give them skills and some items. Your decisions will affect your game as you make your pet augment your weaknesses and help you in PvP or PvE.
- Better PVP - I have observed that Filipinos want a “massive PVP” or siege system. Ragnarok is responsible for this. A huge chunk of the fun is in organizing your guild and planning for the massive combats. The games that have a stable design on massive PVP will make it big here in the Philippines.
These are just some things from the top of my mind. What about you guys? Care you share what you would like to see in future games?
Cheers,
GM T
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valfogg said
am November 11 2007 @ 6:58 pm
WOW is actually THE biggest mmorpg clone ever. none of its content is actually original. most of its content either came from korean mmorpgs and from its daddy everquest 1.
when wow was in development, blizzard managed to pirate a lot of korean minds which caused a brain drain in the korean gaming industry. mostly from a lot of korean game developers.
levin3d said
am November 11 2007 @ 9:30 pm
yea and blizz is not denying this.
they not just actually cloned stuff… they made it work better — how things really should work. if you’re gonna copy something make it better, otherwise people will mind it being a copy.
that’s the reason why those hardcore WoW players from EQ never went back, and have never found anything better. a lot tried LOTRO and GW and came back after a while. Vanguard is down to 2 servers now I think. i don’t think Tablua Rasa, Hellgate: London would be contenders. Maybe the best bet is WarhammerOL but its geared towards the hardcore geek crowd. nope. no WoW killer on the horizon yet. IMO.
9 million subscribers and big title clones… thats all you need to tell you what people want in a game. not really original ideas or high tech graphics; but simply good gameplay.
GM T said
am November 11 2007 @ 10:51 pm
Thanks for the added knowledge. Will we see clones of clones? Sounds like Star Wars Clone Wars hehehe.
sylv3rblade said
am November 11 2007 @ 10:57 pm
@valfogg
yeah…
but WoW still gives one of the best MMO experiences because Blizzard took what works and what’s appealing and packaged it into one game.
ah wait Levin already said my 2 cents.
Master Diwa said
am November 12 2007 @ 12:45 pm
It’s like what I always say: wala sa nauna yan, nasa diskarte.
Dish said
am November 12 2007 @ 7:33 pm
wow clone? = perfect world lol
valfogg said
am November 12 2007 @ 8:00 pm
although what i like to wait for is warhammer 40k online.
still in development though
The dude said
am November 14 2007 @ 1:40 am
I think they should add active “living” NPC`s too. Ones that also lvl up like players, and do stuff.
stuff like… y`know, heck, you should know as a player, there`s way too many bots in some MMO`s.
A nice behaviour would be rogue, townguard, berserker or evil… something… dude.
Or active town guards, with an event where the town gets overrun and you can choose the side of the monsters or townguards.
ofcourse resulting in a town that`s burnt down for a while(week? 2 weeks, month is too long) if they lose.
Stuff like that would make it a bit more a living world. I feel most MMORPG`s are way too “static” and there`s little or no change.
ofcourse, the amount of programmers they might need will be immense. :/ but I guess except for companies like blizzard, that would be a problem.
atheist_4_the_cause said
am November 15 2007 @ 6:11 pm
I’d like to see more random events like some have said. For instance, in WoW, they should have more npc monsters raiding cities, and if you happen to be in the area, you can help defend the city giving you something as a reward if you successfully defend it. More fighting in the wilderness would be cool, too, where you could beat up on the bully just for kicks and giggles. They wouldn’t even have to give exp or anything for that, it would just add to your fun. Also, super rare drops. I’m talking like 0.001% chance of dropping in a raid. That way only a few people get the item, so there is always a better item to work for. I also think it would be cool if you could permanently take over a city for one faction/alliance or another. This should be really hard to do, but would give you benefits such as warping there for free. There’s just some thoughts.
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