[Column] General: MMO Adventure Games?

SBFord

In today's Independency, we take a look at whether or not something such as a "massive multiplayer online adventure game" actually exists. Wadjet Eyes Games' CEO provides us with some insight on the possibilities. Read on!

Though far from everyone's cup of tea, few genres offer the kind of silliness we've come to associate with adventure games. After all, who can forget slipping into Manny's well-shod shoes in Grim Fandango or that moment when it dawned upon you that Monkey Island wanted you to use a rubber chicken as a transportation device? 

Read more of Cassandra Khaw's Independency: Massively Multiplayer Online Adventure Games?

Ktara

It's an interesting question.  I think Secret World got closest to this idea.  It's definitely a puzzle game inside an MMO.  I never saw a clone of myself (or companions) like ToR.  Or even people dressed the same since I could mix and match my outfits. 

I love Wadjet, and if anyone can make this happen, I think they can.  Their Emerald City Confidential and Blackwell series are really fun, I hope they make sequels

ForumPvP

Larry Online ,what happens when you meet another Larry,world explodes.

maplestone

The problem with adventure games in a community setting is the rate at which you need to produce content.  Two heads solve puzzles faster than one.  A massive number of heads decipher and consume adventure-game style puzzles before everyone has finished downloading the patch.  I witnessed this with UO's old Inu story arc where the community collectively scoured the world every Friday to find unannounced weekly puzzles that were often discovered, deciphered and completed by the community within minutes of being published - they were great fun, but speed at which the community solved them was frightening.

Atis-nob

Idea is not new http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst_Online:_Uru_Live

bbbb42

that sounds like something you would say to a 16 year old lol

fR0z3nS0u1

read my lips: Runescape.

Blackbrrd

As noted in the first comment, The Secret World has a lot of adventure game concepts.

Avison

I did a lot of work with Uru live. I came to the conclusion long ago that mmos need to be designed around systems and not content for longevity. The problem with adventure games is that the only route is content which renders it wholly incompatable with the mmorpg genre.

hcosmin

Well modern RPGs share a lot in common with 90s Adventure games in terms of character interaction, story and some simple puzzle quests, etc... So arguebly a game like SWTOR or TSW with it's multi-choice dialogs and tons of scripted story  is part adventure game already.

The appeal of the genre didn't die it just mostly moved to RPGs.

The problem with old adventure games is that when your whole content is based on dialog and puzzles you have to produce those faster than it's being consumed for a MMO which is impossible. Whenever MMORPGs have tried puzzle quests a wiki sprungs up, one person solves it, everyone else googles it. So much for your content.

Also the gameplay of soive-puzzle->wait and click around the screen would get boring pretty quick if you're supposed to do it for literally months on end.

MumboJumbo

I've always liked the idea of Fifa-mmo, each player is a player in a team, and some players are managers and other associated football staff etc running a club and trying to win the league. So players train together and play match-days together and try to organise their careers etc and "skill-up" etc. It's be great to play on a pitch with 22 players coordinating.

>"Could a Massively Multiplayer Online Puzzle Game..."

There's Curiosity on iOS at the moment, not so much a puzzle game but sort of.

>""It would be interesting to see!" Dave exclaimed. "The main issue with creating a multiplayer game is that the world can never really change, because if it changes for you it changes for everybody."

Actually just have the world change and be destroyed and then reset ie a cyclic-mmo?

Veyr

It's not that hard to turn something like a "Fallen London" into MMO. Why everyone thinks that adventure games are all about point and click or puzzles and not about story or characters? "The Secret World" is clearly an action driven game. Look at the character stats, almost everything is about weapons or defensive and offensive skills. Adventure or rather story driven MMO should have stats that are all about the story you want to convey. Table top games and browser games like "Fallen London" made it right on the small scale. It's not about knowing how to solve some puzzles by clicking the right things and choosing the right dialog options. It's about going through the experience, making choices and gathering resources (which might be a charisma points, bottles of wine or familiarity with people or places). And finally about meeting other players and sharing these things to achieve some goals or to compete against each other if that's your choice. I really with someone would make a game like this.