[MUD-Dev] When will new MMORPGs that are coming out get original withthe gameplay?

[Jason Smith]

Daniel Anderson said:

> After seeing game after game being an almost exact clone, when
> will things start to change?  Most developers know what works, so
> they will implement the same design, ( i.e. the D&D clone) but
> needless to say, how long will it be before people are sick of
> these clones?

> When do you think we'll start to see the majority of MMORPGs more
> original?

I guess the answer depends on what level of innovation you're
looking for, and what you consider to be an MMORPG. Because most of
the high profile projects are major investments by major
corporations, the level of innovation on each individual one is not
likely to be incredibly high, especially after considering all the
'failed innovations' these studios have done in the past (Majestic,
Motor City, Sims). Because of the dollar values involved, a failure
will definitely have an impact on the amount of risk a studio is
willing to take on a future project.

  - As far as the mainstream goes, SWG has a number of innovations
  new to these titles. There are several advancement paths open
  towards social gamers, and the crafting systems are designed to
  reward those that make contributions towards the game economy at
  large, rather than those who craft large numbers of items. While
  at the core it may have a similar foundation to the D&D-like
  standard, it's wrapped in a lot of smaller innovations that really
  set it apart for the time being. How many of these things we'll
  begin to see in future games remains to be seen.

  - Sims, of course, was a fairly radical change for a mainstream
  MMOG - and hasn't lived up to any of the expectations that were
  assigned to it. The lack of success here may have set the
  evolution of non-traditional MMOG's back a bit, although much of
  the results blame has been placed on the game design itself, and
  not the overall concept.

  - E&B and EVE are both having moderate success in their own niche
  - trying to replicate some of the classic Space Sim genre in a
  MMOG environment. They both use a flight engine more like the
  recent Freelancer than the more action oriented
  games. Unfortunately, neither game is doing what a major studio
  would consider exceptionally well (which bodes much better for
  EVE, who is fairly independent, than E&B, which is beholden to EA)

  - MCO, which is planned to close down shortly, was also attempting
  something new - bringing racing games into the MMOG genre.

The major problem is that, as of yet, no radically original MMOG has
been nearly as successful as the same old. And because of the
investments these sorts of games are, the publishers would much
rather take what looks like a sure bet at success than risk too much
innovation. The cancelled Sierra-developed Middle Earth game is a
good example of this sort of thing.

On a smaller scale, you definitely see some level of innovation, but
these games may be passing under the radar.

  - A Tale in the Desert, which I believe has been mentioned here,
  is a completely cooperative social MMOG. It's about as far from
  the D&D Clone archetype as you can get.

  - Fighting Legends, now defunct, was also quite original. Though
  oriented more on the cartoony side, you controlled a small army of
  upgradeable characters, and moved into a territory control
  game. Unfortunately, the developers ran out of funding and shut
  down not too long after the games release

  - Jumpgate is a space sim - in a similar vein to both E&B and EVE
  - but much more oriented on combat than the others. It has a more
  twitch-based flight engine, similar to the classic X-Wing style
  games, which is actually a lot of fun.

  - Time of Defiance is an online RTS that moves at a very slow pace
  - you begin on a small planetoid and begin building your home
  base, then begin expanding your empire by trade, treaties, and
  combat.

What I personally expect to see is that the genre itself will be
more reliant on the designers to innovate where they can, giving all
the games some level of evolutionary progression even though they
still have a common root - this is very similar to what we already
see in the other major genres. Very rarely do you see any major
titles in any genre that are wildly original, and it's less likely
to happen for a major MMOG just because of the investment
requirements.
_______________________________________________
MUD-Dev mailing list
MUD-Dev at kanga.nu
https://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev