list of real indie / experimental MMOs

VowOfSilence

just seen another thread about the love mmo - good thing, that.

but how many other mmos like love are out there? do you know any? or maybe just SP/MP games that would make an interesting mmo?



it's odd what kind of mmos ppl refer to as "indie" - to me, indie means much more than just "self-published"...

so, i'd like to put together a list.





Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMX69Priad8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-A8xvFKaRA&feature=fvw



Neverdaunt 8bit (N8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TygDc8TePo&feature=related



Minecraft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFms0vS_7Cc&feature=related

The Endless Forest

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spZIZ9BqkIc&NR=1





some non-mmo indie games:

Darwinia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA53SODRhIg



Flow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTBIG4tOMmE



Blush

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGaqVYsk3MU&feature=related



I made a game with zombies in it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UItrdJLixaI&feature=related

LynxJSA

 

JuxtaWorlds - http://www.juxtaworlds.com/

• Online and offline gameplay
• Control of a team of characters

 

Gods and Idols - http://godsandidols.com/

• Space themed conquest game
• Web-based stat system for monitoring your ingame worlds

 

 

 

Thenarius

Dawntide: A sandbox, open-world game who catters for both hardcore and casual crowd with a proper zone delimitation.

The hardcore/medium zones offer full loot, siege battles and a huge amount of players.

Well, that's how they hype it.

http://www.dawntide.net/

VowOfSilence

Originally posted by Thenarius


Dawntide: A sandbox, open-world game who catters for both hardcore and casual crowd with a proper zone delimitation.

The hardcore/medium zones offer full loot, siege battles and a huge amount of players.

Well, that's how they hype it.

http://www.dawntide.net/

Well... Dawntide is a good example of a game that is NOT indie in my book, and certainly not experimental.

Even if it's sandbox, it's just a typical and conservative mmorpg.



Same with JuxtaWorlds. Gods and Idols is kinda on the edge - I'm not sure where this game is actually going.

GTwander

My two examples are in my sig.

Duilyon

Well Minions of Mirth is an indie game but not experimental at all. Just an old school type MMO.

 

I would say Fallen Earth is definitly an indie game.

johnmatthais

Originally posted by VowOfSilence

Originally posted by Thenarius


Dawntide: A sandbox, open-world game who catters for both hardcore and casual crowd with a proper zone delimitation.

The hardcore/medium zones offer full loot, siege battles and a huge amount of players.

Well, that's how they hype it.

http://www.dawntide.net/

Well... Dawntide is a good example of a game that is NOT indie in my book, and certainly not experimental.

Even if it's sandbox, it's just a typical and conservative mmorpg.



Same with JuxtaWorlds. Gods and Idols is kinda on the edge - I'm not sure where this game is actually going.

You obviously have no idea what indie means. Indie = independent. The devs of all three of those games are independent developers. 

Indie has nothing to do with being experimental. You can make a list of experimental games, okay, but if you're making a list of indie games then don't reject the ones that are indie. 

I don't give a damn what indie means in your book. The universal term means made by an independent studio or one man show.

More indie games are: Global Agenda, Mortal Online, Darkfall Online, Remnants of Skystone, Pernica, and Haven and Hearth, as well as offline indie games such as World of Goo, Overgrowth, Lugaru, Natural Selection 2, and Eufloria.

EDIT: You mentioned James Silva and his game I Made a Game With Zombies In It (which isn't in any way experimental). You are a heathen for not mentioning Zombie Smashers or Dishwasher: Dead Samurai, especially when Dishwasher is his pride and joy. I'll let you not mentioning ZP2K9 slide, however.

VowOfSilence

Originally posted by johnmatthais


You obviously have no idea what indie means. Indie = independent. The devs of all three of those games are independent developers. 
I don't give a damn what indie means in your book. The universal term means made by an independent studio or one man show.

 Well, I know what indie means. The problem is: The "universal term" becomes redunant if indie-games are just the same as games with a publisher. If a big company like Blizzard decides to self-publish simply because they think they can make more money this way, why should gamers care that Blizzard is "indie" now?



When ppl refer to games, movies, or music as "indie", it often means more than "it's self-published". If the term stops having any meaning beyond its strict definition, i want a new term for "indie" that actually means something. :P





edit: i picked game with zombies mainly because it has that "indie vibe" - well, at least in my book. Looking at movies and music, the term indie has become so much about that vibe that it's almost a genre description. The irony is that many works in that "genre" are not actually self-published anymore.

But tbh i didn't put too much though in those examples, i just picked the first ones that came to mind.

johnmatthais

Originally posted by VowOfSilence


 Well, I know what indie means. The problem is: The "universal term" becomes redunant if indie-games are just the same as games with a publisher. If a big company like Blizzard decides to self-publish simply because they think they can make more money this way, why should gamers care that Blizzard is "indie" now?



When ppl refer to games, movies, or music as "indie", it often means more than "it's self-published". If the term stops having any meaning beyond its strict definition, i want a new term for "indie" that actually means something. :P

Inde in music and indie in games have taken on two completely different standings. Whereas in music, it's become it's own genre of Garage Rock bands, in games it remains what it literally is, a shortened form of independent. Films, however, are tough to take a standing on. Ever heard of Franklyn? Looked and was written better than half of the AAA films out there. Guess what. It was a British indie film. The same goes for the movie Right At Your Door.

robotish

Noticed your link to the Neverdaunt:8Bit trailer was down...  Dont know why, here's the offical one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7N50H-U3Wc

and the main website is here: http://8bit.neverdaunt.com/

Feel free to ask any questions, I am the creator

Daywolf

I'm surprised no one bothered to list EVE Online by CCP.

http://www.eveonline.com/pressreleases/

There are more, but this just needed to be listed.

It's indie. As for experimental, it is pretty much unlike the current trend as most games shed the virtual world for casual linear CRPG type game play.

Dreathor

That Minecraft looks awesome, even if just to explore. Going to have to take a look at that!

pinkdaisy

Mine is indie, experiemental, and retro.

HYPERI0N

Originally posted by Daywolf

I'm surprised no one bothered to list EVE Online by CCP.

http://www.eveonline.com/pressreleases/

There are more, but this just needed to be listed.

It's indie. As for experimental, it is pretty much unlike the current trend as most games shed the virtual world for casual linear CRPG type game play.

Should say tho that CCP may soon become more than just a small indie company considering they are going to add a second game to there franchise.

Daywolf

Originally posted by HYPERI0N

Originally posted by Daywolf

I'm surprised no one bothered to list EVE Online by CCP.

http://www.eveonline.com/pressreleases/

There are more, but this just needed to be listed.

It's indie. As for experimental, it is pretty much unlike the current trend as most games shed the virtual world for casual linear CRPG type game play.

Should say tho that CCP may soon become more than just a small indie company considering they are going to add a second game to there franchise.

Indie has nothing to do with big or small nor how many releases, and OP didn't specify size. They are the largest indie company, beating out most AAA in the genre. Actually sub-genre, and a really hard one at that as even EA failed at it, as the Space Opera MMO is not easy to pull off.

Only thing close in mmo was SWG:JTLS which was popular, apart from EnB. Last time there was a success I think was back when Origin Systems made a run with Wing Commander series, though not mmo but a space setting. EnB had a whole lot of Wing Commander fans I recall very well. When JTLS was released, there were a lot of discussions by ex-WC and EnB players. Though I didn't go to EVE from JTLS (post NGE), I know many did from the previous games, including ex-SWG players. At some point there will be another like it (wish Babylon5), be it by an indie or another, but yet another game that is more advanced than WC, EnB, JTLS and EVE, as the sub-genre keeps moving forward.

The new game is targeting an existing sub-genre as well. Right now it's very popular in the meteverse, a lot of gothic stuff/communities in SecondLife. They are jsut a really smart indie company, doing their own thing as indies tend to do.

rachoac

Hi there, I've written an experimental MMO in the style of oldschool Ultima 3/4 of yore:

 

http://www.janthus.com

Please check it out! Its in the playable stage, you can join up with other party members or try to go it alone against the hordes (really recommend you team up with a buddy). And cast spells, and pick up weapons/armor to help even the odds.

I'd love to get a few people on there at a time to see if the engine holds up. If it does, I will build a story, flesh it out, and perhaps imrpove the graphics, depends on the feedback I get. If you log in, don't forget to sign the guestbook!

And: to those with the most constructive feedback -- deity status, when the game reaches maturity (which it will, with your help): you will be able to terra form (move mountains, make oceans, continents, etc.). Those spells are reserved for only the few (or so I'm planning). Plus major karma points and unending thanks.

Thanks,

Aron

corpusc

Valkyrie Skye

 

a f2p 'MMO' that has Galaga inspired scrolling arcade shooter gameplay.

which is a legit reason to have its gameplay instanced, but city/gathering areas are MMO.  has loot, levelling up, auction house, quests.

Reizla

Originally posted by HYPERI0N

Originally posted by Daywolf

I'm surprised no one bothered to list EVE Online by CCP.

http://www.eveonline.com/pressreleases/

There are more, but this just needed to be listed.

It's indie. As for experimental, it is pretty much unlike the current trend as most games shed the virtual world for casual linear CRPG type game play.

Should say tho that CCP may soon become more than just a small indie company considering they are going to add a second game to there franchise.

The mooment CCP teamed up with White Wolf RPG's, they left their indy status IMO. WW is the 2nd biggest RPG (pen-n-paper) system out there and prolly the one of the best. And now that CCP is gonna make a WW based MMORPG...

Naowut

I ''played'' the endless forest a while ago, thats some weird shit lol.

Reizla

Originally posted by psyknx

I ''played'' the endless forest a while ago, thats some weird shit lol.

That "weird shit" made me curious, and you're right LOL

You are a deer. So are the other players. You meet each other in an endless forest on the internet. The setting is idyllic, the atmosphere peaceful. You communicate with one another through sounds and body language.

http://tale-of-tales.com/TheEndlessForest/

Perhaps I'll dive into this one as well... could be fun to play a deer for a change ;-)

Trokarn

Wizards and Champions is currently in development by one dude. http://wizardsandchampions.com/

 

Beta #2 will be announced shortly.  Ken (the developer) is changing the game around a lot right now, towards a more non-linear and Morrowind like feel. He just recently added a free aim targeting system, meaning there's no auto target, except for healing. It's pretty sweet.

Drafell

Even after ten years, DarkSpace can still be classified as indie and experimental. However, as already stated by others, there are a number of large, well-known titles that fall under the classification of "Indie".