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How many generations of MMOs have there been?
Caldicot
Member UncommonPosts: 455
Since every new game claims to be "next-gen" we must have had quite a few. But how many generations have there really been?
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. - Carl Sagan
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i estimate around 3 or 4 Generations of MMOs im not for sure though
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Well the first graphical MMO was released in the late 80's but if you include muds then I'm not sure lol
Two or three sounds about right. Ultima Online, then EQ, then Wow, as the pioneers. After WoW, nothing has really changed, and we have yet to see any sort of significant upgrade.
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.
3.
1st generation started with the text based MUDS
2nd generation was Everquest, UO generation
3rd generation is the crap we have now. I would considering this generation more of a half step from the 2nd generation. And in many cases a step backward even.
Quote:
How many generations of MMOs have there been?
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Forwards or backwards?
I break it down like this.
Pre UO ere (pre 1997) - age of text MMO's and everything preceeding UO
UO era (1997-1999) - Ultima Online was the best of the best as a 2D sandbox MMO and established that there was money to be made in this industry.
Age of Everquest (1999 - 2003) - The Golden Age of MMO's when EQ original was the end all to end all games and companies were trying to really make quality games. Set the precedent for 3D MMO's and gained strong following and massive numbers.
Reign of WoW (2004 - Present) - Dethroned Everquest as the dominant MMO due to easy learning curve and playability. Brought MMO's too the mainstream and broke records in profit and player numbers. Inspired a lot of competition with companies trying to create the "Next Gen" MMO that will dethrone this giant. All have failed so far. (Many consider this games reign to be a carebearish and insist that it has dumbed down the MMO player base and spoiled them, the death of "hardcore" if you will)
I'm ready for the next generation and I hope it gets here quick (hopefully DFO or Mortal Online will get it done)
Not sure what really defines a generation within games. WoW and EQ don't really seem that different, but how much change is required for a generation? MMOGs have from the very beginning covered different styles (e.g. UO, EVE, Ryzom, PotBS) which differ from the regular EQ / WoW mold, but that's hardly a generation thing.
If any split should be done, I'd say something like this (with example games):
1st gen: the transition from MUDs to graphical environments (M59, The Realm Online)
2nd gen: establishing the genre (UO, EQ, AC)
3rd gen: experimenting (WWII, AO, SB, AC2, EVE, DAoC, Ryzom, CoH), and Eastern MMOGs starting to impact the West (FFXI, LII)
4th gen (some overlap, of course): reinventing (EQII, VG) and licensing going for the big one (SWG, SWG trying again, D&D, WoW, LotRO, AoC, WAR) - experimenting continues (PotBS, TR)
Does that sound like logical generations? I didn't give it much thought really, but it's a basis for discussion. :-)
You mean late 90's
I say three if you don't include MUDs.
1.) Everquest & Ultima Online
2.) SWG, WoW, Everquest 2, Eve
3.) Age of Conan, Vanguard, WAR
MMO games played or tested: EQ, DAoC, Archlord, Auto Assault, CoH, CoV, EQ2, EVE, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Linneage II, LOTRO, MxO, Planetside, SWG, Sword of the New World, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WWIIOL, WOW, Age of Conan
been there, done that. btw, with my bare hands.
Personally, I would be AOL and TSN before the first generation. Muds even before that. See, imo, 1st gen wasn't orignal from a certain point of view and it was because of a ton or previous work that these games finally came into reality.
I'd say 3 also:
1. Text based MUDs
2. Complex graphical MMOs. UIs couldn't be customized. Generally not newbie friendly at all. Would take a long time to become familiar with game mechanics. Ex: Everquest, Ultima Online
3. MMOs in their current more casual friendly state. Pretty similar to generation 2, but with a customizable and generally better interface and more newbie friendly content. Ex: WoW, AoC, Warhammer
Some points:
- MMO combat is still in Generation 1. It's still relying on the old turn-based dice rolling DnD style mechanics hidden in a real time engine. Planetside is a notable exception here. Several games coming out of Korea in late 2009-2011 look to be breaking this mold too. Darkfall is also looking to break this mold.
- Everyone is trying to copy the success of WoW rather than reinvent the wheel. We should have been on Generation 4 a long time ago, but continue to get more Generation 3 games.
- Player freedom/exploration/immersion actually took a step back in generations. For most games (with a few exceptions) the list would actually be in reverse order if this were factored.
I like what Magnum2103 described. I think he pretty much summed it up.
Really have mmorpgs changed since Everquest? Sure they've become easier and more user friendly and sure we have better quests and combat but really we're still doing the same thing. Grinding or doing quests for XP in a static world to get to end level to only do raids.
We have the odd ones out like EVE and SWG Pre cu and all the shitty free mmorpgs but noone wants to play them other than EVE.
So the way I look at it...
You have the Everquest clones which havn't really changed and then the odd few that are different but crap so noone cares.
I don't think you can lump EQ in with UO. EQ is a very different game... and probably is the base for the current MMOs out now (i personally hated EQ). I'd break it down into 5:
1st gen: PRELUDE TO MMOs
M59, The Realm Online
(both horrible, but interesting in their potential) this generation almost doesn't count due to it's lack of success.
2nd gen: BIRTH OF QUALITY MMOs
Ultima Online
(This game had the most ideas/innovation, but rather than build on this - they strip it into something simpler in the next gen. below
3rd Gen: CREATING A FRIENDLIER MMO FOR MASS APPEAL:
Everquest. Asheron's call.
These games are designed to be addicting (level grinding) in order to keep the players hooked into paying.
They totally break away from UO's view on MMOs. It's also a permanent move from 2D to 3D. The "danger" aspect of the game is removed. Eventually, even UO (under new management) will try to copy these games as well by removing the "danger" from their game to try and get more subscribers.
4th gen: MMO FLOOD due to EQ's financial success
Anarchy Online, WW2 Online, Shadowbane, Eve, City of Heroes, Lineage2, DAOC, etc...
This should be the period where MMOs finally come into their own. Instead, it's mostly a lot of crap that tries to copy Everquest (due to the enourmous financial success of Everquest), while generally ignoring the concept of being innovative. There are a ton of games in here. Some do try to be innovative but they tend to always fall back on an EQ view of game creation rather than a UO one. DAOC is probably the bridge between the 4th and 5th generation.
5th gen. NO NEW IDEAS but better quality SOLID BUSINESS MODELS (current)
WoW, AoC, etc
This generation learns from the mistakes of the 4th gen who tried to simply throw together an MMO for money and realizes they have to put together a quality engine. There are NO new ideas in these games, rather they are a combination of everything that worked in the 3rd Gen and 4th Gen games. While tremendously succesful, they only further the stagnation of the genre by offering nothing new.
The future:
I hope to god we see something with new ideas come out soon. More or less, everything post EQ is an EQ clone with only minor tweaks.
Eh, if they where EQ clones we would see more hardcore games, more pve grouping and better communities. Only arguement you have there is a grind. Other than that I think you should say WoW instead of EQ.
I'd agree with this. There definately hasn't been a new generation since WOW (no matter what these guys want to claim in their marketing) and the text in red is a pretty good explanation of why the WOW generation is different.
The interesting question is, what the hell is going to set the set generation apart? Unfortunately, it seems like the most likely answer is more instancing, more directed content, and more linear...
I would considering this generation more of a half step from the 2nd generation. And in many cases a step backward even.
To be honest I agree with Milky. We haven't really moved forward, OK yeah there are some more features added to today's MMO's but the realisation of those elements coming into play is common sence. I hope Star Wars: The Old Republic will be our real next generation game. I don't want there to be too many so called next generation games, because it doesnt leave room for the real next gen mmo's. I think the line of definition between knowing if an mmo is next gen or not is smugded by failure. So for all we know there could be as many generations as there are mmo's. Errm that probably didnt help xD but its another point of view.
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Final Fantasy 7
3rd generation is the crap we have now. I would considering this generation more of a half step from the 2nd generation. And in many cases a step backward even.
Agreed
To me, VANGUARD was going to be the 'next evolution'... it just didn't quite pan out that way. If you look at the features they were hoping to have, it's really way ahead of its time.
Perhaps BioWare can surprise the industry... if anyone can, they're my bet... unless idiot corporate types force them to play it safe and maybe they'll just move the industry ahead by a quarter of a point or so...
BOYCOTTING EA / ORIGIN going forward.
If you're not including MUDs then two.
First:
UO to right up to the beginning of WoW.
Second:
WoW to present day.
Reason for this is I don't believe the refinement of a genre constitutes as a new generation. From the beginning of UO to the days of WoW it was an exploration of the genre in essence. There we some expanding ideas like sieging, instancing, and arenas but they were simple forms. WoW finally put two huge ideas, PvE instancing and low computer spec requirements, into one game that drew a lot of usual and not so usual MMO'ers. To me that signified a huge step in MMO's. Since there's been new ideas but no game as really put those ideas into a good game. Until we have another game that includes new ideas or mechanics and is a hit, we won't see another generation.
My money is on Jumpgate Evolution being the next big step though. It's out of the norm style of game, MMO space combat simulator, and has some really cool ideas not common or even seen in MMO's yet . It would be great if Netdevil could pull it off.
I'd say 2 generations
Gen 1(UO, EQ, and others up to and not including WOW)
Gen 2 (WoW, Conan, Vanguard, and other current MMO's)
MMO Era or age:
Just 1
(i'm not including anything prior to UO)
The mold has been the same -- My definition of Era would be core mechanics.
You have your Character sheet with health, mana, stats, skills
you have a hot bar with all the things you can do....
You have 4-10 backpack slots (who the hell can hold that many backpacks???)
You have a target box - you have an auto attack -- You get exp -- you loot
You have grouping -- you have raids
You Craft - and gather resources
You have levels
There are some variations out there but you can't call them a generation since everyone didn't follow -- there are some really cool and innovative features out there...but again they did not inspire all other games to use the same model--which is why I say we only have one Era.
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Generation is pretty subjective. Here is my opinion:
A generation is defined by the features, what is possible, and the overall feel of the game (community-wise). Time is not really a factor, so a generation 1 game can be made during generation 3. Again, this is just my point of view, but I basically define generations by games that feel similar (not by game-goals or mechanics, but in a more general sense).
No, I'll not include MUDs. I don't consider them to be "MMOs" (although many of them were certainly better than MMOs).
Generation 1: EQ, UO, AC, AO, DAoC, etc.
Generation 2: SWG, EVE, Planetside, EQ2, etc.
Generation 3: WoW, Vanguard, Hellgate, TR, etc.
I almost want to put AoC and WAR into a new generation, but I feel they really haven't changed fundamentally from generation 3 (most notably WoW). I do think generation 4 is looming though.
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I gave my personal opinion last post, but this is more of a detached opinion.
I have compared my ideas with other people that have posted, and have come to the conclusion that there are distinct generations that most of the people agree on.
1: Pre-MMO
Muds and early attempts to make an MMO.
2: UO & EQ
These two were definitely the WoW of pre-WoW. If you can remember back to circa 2002, Evercrack was a very popular term for describing MMOs.
2.5: Whoa, this is pretty cool!
After the success of EQ, many people tried their luck. To name a few: DAoC, Planetside, SWG, EVE, Lineage 2, FFXI, etc.
3: WoW / post-wow
Almost everyone agreed that there was a clear distinction between pre-WoW and post-WoW generations.
______________________
Give a man some fun and you entertain him for a day. Teach a man to make fun and you entertain him for a lifetime.
UM!!! Get it right, Everquest 2 came out BEFORE World of Warcraft.
Not counting MUDS or pre UO 2d games.
First Generation (setting the groundwork for all things to come):
Ultima Online, Everquest, Asherons Call
Second Generation(birth of the modern mmorpg)
Dark age of Camelot, Anarchy Online
Third Generation(many new ideas come and go):
Shadowbane, Star Wars Galaxies, Earth and Beyond, Asherons Call 2, Final Fantasy XI, City of Heroes, Planetside, Matrix Online, Neocron, Face of Mankind
Fourth Generation (LOTS of the same crap this generation, good games, but almost no innovation):
Everquest 2, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Vanguard
Fifth Generation (finally a break from the current "wow standard"):
Darkfall, Earthrise, Fallen Earth,
-Selek