I guess it all depends on your metric for that 'Great' means, but in my mind, the next Great MMORPG will be a matter of technology and/or doing something no-one has done before... a 'Twist' if you will.
Ultima Online's twist was that it was one of the first games to combine many players with a known and loved IP.
Everquest's was that it capitalized on the new phenomenon of 3d Graphics.
WoW's was that it showed up with an easily accessible game right when most of the world connected to the Internet.
What will the next one be? My surmise is that it will be the first one to seamlessly integrate whichever technology comes out on top in the imminent Virtual Reality Headset Wars.
Agreed with TS, it's impossible. Somewhere out there someone will always have something to say, whether good or bad. Playing an MMO and enjoying it really just boils down to what works for you, there's no pleasing everybody really. At the moment, the game that "pleases" me and my tastes would be Wildstar.
It's not impossible at all. Devs just won't do it until they make 100 failed WOW clones.
Here is what is needed right now:
HARDCORE, GROUP-CENTRIC (but soloable), FANTASY, OPEN WORLD, PVE
That's what's been missing ... for about ten years.
I think what's also been missing is data to show there's a sizable enough audience for that. If you've got numbers that show that type of game is needed, hook a dev up, bro.
Except for the millions that played those MMos pre 2004, and the 500k that are playing Eve right now...
If anything, market data shows there's no audience for themepark MMos, as they all crash and burn almost right away.
Hmm.. did you read that post? ReallyNow10 sugguested a game like Vanguard. Loko suggested that there is not a huge enough player base for a game like Vanguard(as Vanguard already proved somewhat). And then you talk about EvE and the failure of themeparks?
Heck.. most "failed" simplified WoW clone themeparks got more players than Vanguard,
Nice straw man. Vanguard had very few players for very specific reasons. Game design was not one of them. It was the game design that made it such a well loved and passionate game for so many people. it was other factors that kept people from playing.
Most failed themeparks do not even touch the numbers old MMOs peaked at.
Interesting mention of Vanguard. I would have given that game more of a chance, despite bugs and other issues, but for one design point that really annoyed me: the onerous quest hubs. Trivial, breadcrumb trails quests drove me away from that game almost instantly.
In other words, the one element that it had in common with themepark clones is what drove me off. Otherwise, the game did have its merits.
And that's a feature that they only added in in the last minute during beta due to pressure from publishers.
You can still find some remnants of how older quests functioned, by just walking into random NPC houses and talking to them until you stumbled on a quest.
Comments
I guess it all depends on your metric for that 'Great' means, but in my mind, the next Great MMORPG will be a matter of technology and/or doing something no-one has done before... a 'Twist' if you will.
Ultima Online's twist was that it was one of the first games to combine many players with a known and loved IP.
Everquest's was that it capitalized on the new phenomenon of 3d Graphics.
WoW's was that it showed up with an easily accessible game right when most of the world connected to the Internet.
What will the next one be? My surmise is that it will be the first one to seamlessly integrate whichever technology comes out on top in the imminent Virtual Reality Headset Wars.
And that's a feature that they only added in in the last minute during beta due to pressure from publishers.
You can still find some remnants of how older quests functioned, by just walking into random NPC houses and talking to them until you stumbled on a quest.
Or...at least you could...