The problem with historical games is...we already know how the story ends, in a civil war game if you roll southern you'll inevitably lose, if you roll Nazi you'll end up getting jesus stomped, if you roll traditionalist in feudal japan you'll eventually lose to westernization.
An RPG is about making your own decision, hence in the perfect mmo the story would changed based on player's actions
I'd be up for a SciFi/Horror saaaay something along the lines of Dead Space, but a Monty Python based MMO would be hilarious and extremely fun .
I believe Dana Massey did a column on the idea of a "comedy MMO" in his "Why not?" article a while back.
---
As for variety... I would just like different things to do, rather than "screw high fantasy, it's been around forever!" Frankly, I enjoy the whole ridiculous elves, dwarves, trolls, etc. etc.
Hell, in WoW, I wish I could play as a third faction, or a fourth faction, with races like the Harpies and Naga as Neutral and Hostile, respectively. Centaur, Ogres, Silithid, Daemons, Imps, those Robots from Tempest Keep, ELEMENTALS, BEASTS - playing Orcs from the Searing Blade/Burning Blade/Shadow Council. Then there's Humans, Knolls, Goblins and such from Buccaneer Bay Pirates...
I mean, from that end alone, WoW has plenty of potential Expansion there, and due to it's fantastic game engine (which I love, and don't think anyone's made as stable a client since) I would probably end up sticking around for a while.
Minigames would be a half-decent addition to any existing game - doesn't Runes of Magic do that with their crafting and things?
Anyway, meh, I like high fantasy, but I could go a steampunk or mecha game - mecha would be nice if they made character creation somewhat modular - Imaging adding various parts onto your Mech and seeing them in-game as you add them on. If you have a rocket launcher attached to your right shoulder, they're going to see it. If you have a small radar attachment on your headpiece, if someone's looking close enough, they should see it. There's a lot of room for improvement with the current look of "equipping" something...
Dana covered pretty much all of these in his "Why Not" series along with the "Top 5 or 10" series they were doing then. The only thing he didn't really have was the obligatory shot at people who don't like F2Ps (for whatever reason, like it'll ever be good enough for the article author) that Aihoshi brands his writings with.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Wait a second.... 'fantasy' football (pun intended)! Woah. Apply that to MMOs. Talk about a cross-breed of genres. Play as a pro footballer, move up through the draft, training camp, 2nd string, starting, bowls... factions being teams. And all the action console dudes could come hang with us 'nerdy' MMO guys.
I'm about 85% sarcasm. But I'm thinking outside the box! Saving my most productive post of the night for last! Night eastern seaboard.
That is exactly right, and we're not saying NO to save WoW, because it is already a lost cause. We are saying NO to dissuade the next group of greedy suits who decide to emulate Blizzard and Cryptic, etc. We can prevent some of the future games from spewing this crap, but the sooner we start saying no, the better the results will be. So - Stand up, pull up your pants, and walk away. - MMO_Doubter
Sci-Fi mmo with mech' : Anarchy Online (...ok the mech' is only good for tank in PvE group until yu use it for PvP)
I NEVER paid for fantasy mmo and each time i crafted and met a mature community with a different gameplay. You notice Anarchy Online has a very old battle system... it suxx.
I quite like the idea of a Stone Age MMO. But there's a potential problem here:
Do we make a game that's as historically accurate as possible? If we do, there wouldn't be any mounts or armours and a very limited choice of classes and weapons. In other words, something so boring, nobody would want to play it...
Or do we ignore history and concentrate on pure fun? In this case, gamers would have a whale of a time - pink Triceratops mounts, flying Pterodactyl mounts, sabretooth tiger pets, badass spirit-summoning shamans... The possibilities are endless. Except it wouldn't be a proper Historical MMO. It would be just another Fantasy title. And a "family-friendly" one at that.
The number of MMO genres out there is limited for a reason. MMO's are about unrestricted freedom. Only Sci-fi and Fantasy are flexible enough to allow that.
I'd be up for a SciFi/Horror saaaay something along the lines of Dead Space, but a Monty Python based MMO would be hilarious and extremely fun .
I believe Dana Massey did a column on the idea of a "comedy MMO" in his "Why not?" article a while back.
---
As for variety... I would just like different things to do, rather than "screw high fantasy, it's been around forever!" Frankly, I enjoy the whole ridiculous elves, dwarves, trolls, etc. etc.
Hell, in WoW, I wish I could play as a third faction, or a fourth faction, with races like the Harpies and Naga as Neutral and Hostile, respectively. Centaur, Ogres, Silithid, Daemons, Imps, those Robots from Tempest Keep, ELEMENTALS, BEASTS - playing Orcs from the Searing Blade/Burning Blade/Shadow Council. Then there's Humans, Knolls, Goblins and such from Buccaneer Bay Pirates...
I mean, from that end alone, WoW has plenty of potential Expansion there, and due to it's fantastic game engine (which I love, and don't think anyone's made as stable a client since) I would probably end up sticking around for a while.
Minigames would be a half-decent addition to any existing game - doesn't Runes of Magic do that with their crafting and things?
Anyway, meh, I like high fantasy, but I could go a steampunk or mecha game - mecha would be nice if they made character creation somewhat modular - Imaging adding various parts onto your Mech and seeing them in-game as you add them on. If you have a rocket launcher attached to your right shoulder, they're going to see it. If you have a small radar attachment on your headpiece, if someone's looking close enough, they should see it. There's a lot of room for improvement with the current look of "equipping" something...
Dana covered pretty much all of these in his "Why Not" series along with the "Top 5 or 10" series they were doing then. The only thing he didn't really have was the obligatory shot at people who don't like F2Ps (for whatever reason, like it'll ever be good enough for the article author) that Aihoshi brands his writings with.
Bingo. I find that element of Aioshi's articles irritating... He can't seem to simply write about F2P MMOs without having to hype them up, or make snarky remarks about those who don't enjoy them. That is, when he's not spinning or making otherwise blanket generalizations in defense of them.
Like, from this article:
"In the context of MMOGs, I can't help but wish we'd see more Monty Pythons. After all, how often do we see games that differ to a similar degree? There are certainly some out there. As it happens, they tend to be in the free to play sector, which flies directly in the faces of those who like to say it includes nothing but clones.But that's a bit of a digression. My real point is that I want more choices that are unusual."
I think he forgot the "My MMOs are better than yours! Neener neener!"... or maybe he left that out deliberately because he didn't want to look too blatantly biased... Oh wait, too late for that. And "digression" my ass. Just another example of Aihoshi's arrogance coming through... what he's conveying is "I just had to get a personal jab in at those who don't agree with me about how amazing F2P MMOs are... and now I can get back to the point of the article, which is, in part of course, to glorify F2P MMOs as much as I possibly can".
We get it... You like F2P MMOs. You wish the entire genre were nothing but F2P MMOs. You want a F2P MMO to adopt you as its child so you can be a proper F2P MMO yourself when you grow up. You absolutely *love* F2P MMOs more than anything else in the whole entire world.
We get it. No, really. We do.
And, incidentally, I see plenty of unique MMOs coming from the P2P sector... not that you'd notice from inside that bubble you proudly keep yourself in. Conversely, I acknowledge that there are some MMOs in the F2P market that are well-made MMOs overall and I would probably play if they were P2P.
I don't choose to not play F2P because I feel they're "all derivative and inferior". I don't play them because I don't like idea of cash shops, or spending real money on anything other than a flat subscription which allows me and everyone else to play and acquire everything else in the game... by playing the game. Others have stated this same sentiment, as well... many times, in many threads, for many games.
Can you please post something that's purely informational and stop pushing your F2P agenda down our throats in every damn article? At least try?
Thanks.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Originally posted by Tymelle The number of MMO genres out there is limited for a reason. MMO's are about unrestricted freedom. Only Sci-fi and Fantasy are flexible enough to allow that.
I disagree. MMOs are a form of Game. Games aren't fun because you can do whatever you want, they're fun because they have challenges. As long as the MMO provides enough diverse challenges it can be very restricted and still fun to play.
By asking "what about mounts?" "what about armor?" you're making the assumption that all MMOs are essentially the same game with the same mechanics and the only variation is the setting/backstory/artwork. If all MMOs are just different skins of the same game, that doesn't sound very unrestricted to me. If they're all forced to implement the same game mechanics then it doesn't sound very flexible either. I think you should reconsider your definition of MMOs.
I'd be up for a SciFi/Horror saaaay something along the lines of Dead Space, but a Monty Python based MMO would be hilarious and extremely fun .
I believe Dana Massey did a column on the idea of a "comedy MMO" in his "Why not?" article a while back.
---
As for variety... I would just like different things to do, rather than "screw high fantasy, it's been around forever!" Frankly, I enjoy the whole ridiculous elves, dwarves, trolls, etc. etc.
Hell, in WoW, I wish I could play as a third faction, or a fourth faction, with races like the Harpies and Naga as Neutral and Hostile, respectively. Centaur, Ogres, Silithid, Daemons, Imps, those Robots from Tempest Keep, ELEMENTALS, BEASTS - playing Orcs from the Searing Blade/Burning Blade/Shadow Council. Then there's Humans, Knolls, Goblins and such from Buccaneer Bay Pirates...
I mean, from that end alone, WoW has plenty of potential Expansion there, and due to it's fantastic game engine (which I love, and don't think anyone's made as stable a client since) I would probably end up sticking around for a while.
Minigames would be a half-decent addition to any existing game - doesn't Runes of Magic do that with their crafting and things?
Anyway, meh, I like high fantasy, but I could go a steampunk or mecha game - mecha would be nice if they made character creation somewhat modular - Imaging adding various parts onto your Mech and seeing them in-game as you add them on. If you have a rocket launcher attached to your right shoulder, they're going to see it. If you have a small radar attachment on your headpiece, if someone's looking close enough, they should see it. There's a lot of room for improvement with the current look of "equipping" something...
Dana covered pretty much all of these in his "Why Not" series along with the "Top 5 or 10" series they were doing then. The only thing he didn't really have was the obligatory shot at people who don't like F2Ps (for whatever reason, like it'll ever be good enough for the article author) that Aihoshi brands his writings with.
Bingo. I find that element of Aioshi's articles irritating... He can't seem to simply write about F2P MMOs without having to hype them up, or make snarky remarks about those who don't enjoy them. That is, when he's not spinning or making otherwise blanket generalizations in defense of them.
Like, from this article:
"In the context of MMOGs, I can't help but wish we'd see more Monty Pythons. After all, how often do we see games that differ to a similar degree? There are certainly some out there. As it happens, they tend to be in the free to play sector, which flies directly in the faces of those who like to say it includes nothing but clones.But that's a bit of a digression. My real point is that I want more choices that are unusual."
I think he forgot the "My MMOs are better than yours! Neener neener!"... or maybe he left that out deliberately because he didn't want to look too blatantly biased... Oh wait, too late for that. And "digression" my ass. Just another example of Aihoshi's arrogance coming through... what he's conveying is "I just had to get a personal jab in at those who don't agree with me about how amazing F2P MMOs are... and now I can get back to the point of the article, which is, in part of course, to glorify F2P MMOs as much as I possibly can".
We get it... You like F2P MMOs. You wish the entire genre were nothing but F2P MMOs. You want a F2P MMO to adopt you as its child so you can be a proper F2P MMO yourself when you grow up. You absolutely *love* F2P MMOs more than anything else in the whole entire world.
We get it. No, really. We do.
And, incidentally, I see plenty of unique MMOs coming from the P2P sector... not that you'd notice from inside that bubble you proudly keep yourself in. Conversely, I acknowledge that there are some MMOs in the F2P market that are well-made MMOs overall and I would probably play if they were P2P.
I don't choose to not play F2P because I feel they're "all derivative and inferior". I don't play them because I don't like idea of cash shops, or spending real money on anything other than a flat subscription which allows me and everyone else to play and acquire everything else in the game... by playing the game. Others have stated this same sentiment, as well... many times, in many threads, for many games.
Can you please post something that's purely informational and stop pushing your F2P agenda down our throats in every damn article? At least try?
Thanks.
You never cease to amuse and entertain me WSI... The entire focus of the COLUMN is that of F2P games... Thus they picked someone who is a *strong* advocate of F2P games... Given that reality, and your demonstrated lack of interest in his articles, why do you continue to inflict it on yourself time after time? We get the fact that you don't like him, or his writing style, No really, We do...
But neither he nor his style are likely to change. The column will remain focused on various aspects of F2P games, just as it has from the start. Of course he is "biased" thats a given going in. But at least some of what you mention is more projection, than reality. You might want to keep that in mind.
Bingo. I find that element of Aioshi's articles irritating... He can't seem to simply write about F2P MMOs without having to hype them up, or make snarky remarks about those who don't enjoy them. That is, when he's not spinning or making otherwise blanket generalizations in defense of them.
Like, from this article:
"In the context of MMOGs, I can't help but wish we'd see more Monty Pythons. After all, how often do we see games that differ to a similar degree? There are certainly some out there. As it happens, they tend to be in the free to play sector, which flies directly in the faces of those who like to say it includes nothing but clones.But that's a bit of a digression. My real point is that I want more choices that are unusual."
I think he forgot the "My MMOs are better than yours! Neener neener!"... or maybe he left that out deliberately because he didn't want to look too blatantly biased... Oh wait, too late for that. And "digression" my ass. Just another example of Aihoshi's arrogance coming through... what he's conveying is "I just had to get a personal jab in at those who don't agree with me about how amazing F2P MMOs are... and now I can get back to the point of the article, which is, in part of course, to glorify F2P MMOs as much as I possibly can".
We get it... You like F2P MMOs. You wish the entire genre were nothing but F2P MMOs. You want a F2P MMO to adopt you as its child so you can be a proper F2P MMO yourself when you grow up. You absolutely *love* F2P MMOs more than anything else in the whole entire world.
We get it. No, really. We do.
And, incidentally, I see plenty of unique MMOs coming from the P2P sector... not that you'd notice from inside that bubble you proudly keep yourself in. Conversely, I acknowledge that there are some MMOs in the F2P market that are well-made MMOs overall and I would probably play if they were P2P.
I don't choose to not play F2P because I feel they're "all derivative and inferior". I don't play them because I don't like idea of cash shops, or spending real money on anything other than a flat subscription which allows me and everyone else to play and acquire everything else in the game... by playing the game. Others have stated this same sentiment, as well... many times, in many threads, for many games.
Can you please post something that's purely informational and stop pushing your F2P agenda down our throats in every damn article? At least try?
Thanks.
You never cease to amuse and entertain me WSI... The entire focus of the COLUMN is that of F2P games... Thus they picked someone who is a *strong* advocate of F2P games... Given that reality, and your demonstrated lack of interest in his articles, why do you continue to inflict it on yourself time after time? We get the fact that you don't like him, or his writing style, No really, We do...
Cute, and your effort to be clever hasn't gone unnoticed... However, it rings disingenuous. Unfortunately, the "humor" you find in my post is the result of your selective reading, and not of anything I said. But hey... whatever floats your boat.
I don't take issue with his articles.. I find them interesting overall, which is why I read them. I don't take issue with his "writing style", either.
What I'm taking issue with - and I thought I made it pretty clear in my post - is him pushing his pro-RMT agenda down people's throats in every single article he writes; in particualr, the snarky, passive-aggressive remarks and pot-shots he makes to that end toward those who don't share his point-of-view, such as the one I colored orange and bold-faced. He's a featured contributing writer - not a "typical forum poster". I'd think he would be held to a higher standard. But hey... I could be wrong.
Is it too much to ask for the guy to make his point without the snarky remarks toward those who disagree, and thinly-veiled spin about F2P MMOs such as he's had in previous articles? Perhaps to you it is... but to me, they don't serve his point and don't strengthen his given argument.
If he came into the threads and debated or discussed his point-of-view, or defended his statements, like Jon or Dana or others do with their articles... then perhaps it'd be a bit different. But, from what I've seen - though I might have missed some - he doesn't. Aihoshi, from what I've seen, remains aloof of discussion. Thus, his snarky remarks seem like "hit and run" pot-shots... cheap jabs he takes from the safety of his writing chair and never has to answer for when called on it. He assumes no accountability for his comments. Now, am I "demanding" that he start discussing his posts? Nope... I'm merely making an observation and offering my opinion of it.
You can disagree all you want.... That's what makes forums like these great... we don't have to agree with each other.
But neither he nor his style are likely to change. The column will remain focused on various aspects of F2P games, just as it has from the start. Of course he is "biased" thats a given going in. But at least some of what you mention is more projection, than reality. You might want to keep that in mind.
Keep your psychoanalysis to yourself, please. I'm not "projecting". Again, you're disingenuously cherry-picking at my post and ignoring the key thing I was addressing.
Again, the man can be for F2P all he wants and speak highly of the benefits of it. I do the same with games or other things I'm interested in... except I do it without making snarky remarks at people who don't agree with me and I don't try to shove it down their throat. It's called "respecting differing opinions". In article after article Aihoshi writes, I see him spinning, generalizing and making unnecessarily snarky comments that do nothing to serve the article... and that's what I take issue with.
Thanks.
You're welcome.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Because of real or perceived racial tension - Civil War/War Between the States, Wild West, and the Mexican-American War will probably not be subjects from any of todays publishers - too risky. I also expect that from the media treatment of the subject of "War on Terror" based video games that we won't see any games that allow you to fight from the Militant Islam point of view (roadside bombs, suicide bombers, car bombs, airline bombs, airplanes as bombs, etc.).
There is quite a bit of room in fantasy for uniqueness, though. For example, every fantasy based game today treats every attack as a non-event that puts numbers over your opponant(s) head(s). I have yet to see physics play any real part in any fantasy MMO. If my 8 foot tall, 300 pound Minotaur warrior winds up an attack and solidly connects a 100 pound warhammer with a 50 pound Gnome, the Gnome should be plastered against the back wall of the dungeon with blood coming out of every orifice. "FORE!" The same 8 foot tall minotaur should have real difficulty fighting in a tight dungeon crawl.
To your a fireball is a fireball point ... If I throw a fireball into a small room - everyone in the room, including me and my group mates if we're stupid enough to be in there, should be blown to tiny bits and thrown into the walls of the room with any flammable bits of armor in flame. There should be consequences to your groupmates if you choose to use AOE attacks. Shot selection should be a critical part of ranged attacks. You can't go around shooting your groupmates in the back.
The warrior shouldn't just be a damage sponge that the healer hides in the back and refills. Make weapon based combat more realistic. Make the warrior have to physically keep the mobs from getting to the squishies - not with a "taunt", but with an actual whack to the unprotected backside that really hurts or by putting his physical body in between the mob and the pajama wearers.
Let the cleric do some whacking. In most fantasy games, he's got plate armor and a big honking mace. Make them useful for more than just a fashion statement.
I think an MMO based on Civilization would be cool. It could be done in a way where the focus of the game is not on the individual, but on the progress of the civilization to which the players belong. In the beginning, each civilization would start out with the same technologies, but with their specific flavor.
Perhaps there would be five or seven different civilizations to which players could choose to be a part of. There shouldn't be an even number of civilizations to choose from because the civilization vs civilization wars would have the potential to turn into 1 vs 1. Uneven numbers means there will be no stalemates numerically. Balancing the civilizations would be difficult, but if each civilization is different enough, it might balance itself out. One way to help this out is to have civilizations that aren't so well known in mainstream, or have all of them very well known.
Combat would be an essential part of the game. Players could conquer the lands of the other civilizations for the glory of their nation. Conquering lands would allow the conquerors to have access to resources they didn't have before, thus allowing their civilization to grow. Large battles could be fought over lands and cities.
When fighting in a battle, players will be in charge of a small squadron of their men, maybe 4 or so NPCs. Their soldiers will be armed and fight in the same way as the player. Outside of battles, players will be traveling with other players. As players advance, they will need to spend some time training their soldiers for when they go to war. Untrained soldiers will not fight as well as trained soldiers.
Crafting, harvesting and research and development would be a huge part of the game. Players that want to craft can help the NPC's of their civilization build their cities and all of the buildings that make them up. Players will be able to create buildings on their own out in the unprotecte world, but it will not be protected by the rest of their civilization unless they establish a trade route and allow the rulers of their civilization to tax the goods sold in their cities.
To increase the civilization's technological levels, players must help the NPC's of their civilization with the research and development. The ways they are helped could range from doing quests, harvesting needed materials or stealing technologies from other civilizations by breaking into their cities and taking a scientist hostage.
Basically, this could be an MMO where players actually have the ability to alter the course of the world in which they play. Maybe even to the point where a civilization can be taken over and assimilated into another. The players that belong to the assimilated civilization would now be a part of their conquerors. If they wanted, they could try to redevelop their civilization off in the outskirts of the world, but they'd have to rebuild everything from scratch and have to worry about being destroyed by another civilization.
I think plenty more ideas could be added to this, but I my lunch break is over and I have to go back to crunching numbers.
What about a game where the weapons are microphones or guitars. Bit like brütal legend, but then not with the heavy metal theme, more of a pop/hip-hop theme. Easiest way to see it is an elf singing someone's face off. Ofcourse me being a metal fan I would love to play a kiss-like character, and scream someone's face off. Melting like wax and all that. And ofcourse the last stand guitar attack, being smashing it in the enemy. Lost a guitar, but who cares. You just smashed someone to death with it!
Please no. The thought of a Hana Montana super-move in some MMO makes me shudder.
That is exactly right, and we're not saying NO to save WoW, because it is already a lost cause. We are saying NO to dissuade the next group of greedy suits who decide to emulate Blizzard and Cryptic, etc. We can prevent some of the future games from spewing this crap, but the sooner we start saying no, the better the results will be. So - Stand up, pull up your pants, and walk away. - MMO_Doubter
Comments
FPS-Zombie MMO
Now that would be amazing. Gathering up 3 of you best friends and head-out into the darkness.
Although I would Enjoy Headsets if there was a game like this.
An RPG is about making your own decision, hence in the perfect mmo the story would changed based on player's actions
I believe Dana Massey did a column on the idea of a "comedy MMO" in his "Why not?" article a while back.
---
As for variety... I would just like different things to do, rather than "screw high fantasy, it's been around forever!" Frankly, I enjoy the whole ridiculous elves, dwarves, trolls, etc. etc.
Hell, in WoW, I wish I could play as a third faction, or a fourth faction, with races like the Harpies and Naga as Neutral and Hostile, respectively. Centaur, Ogres, Silithid, Daemons, Imps, those Robots from Tempest Keep, ELEMENTALS, BEASTS - playing Orcs from the Searing Blade/Burning Blade/Shadow Council. Then there's Humans, Knolls, Goblins and such from Buccaneer Bay Pirates...
I mean, from that end alone, WoW has plenty of potential Expansion there, and due to it's fantastic game engine (which I love, and don't think anyone's made as stable a client since) I would probably end up sticking around for a while.
Minigames would be a half-decent addition to any existing game - doesn't Runes of Magic do that with their crafting and things?
Anyway, meh, I like high fantasy, but I could go a steampunk or mecha game - mecha would be nice if they made character creation somewhat modular - Imaging adding various parts onto your Mech and seeing them in-game as you add them on. If you have a rocket launcher attached to your right shoulder, they're going to see it. If you have a small radar attachment on your headpiece, if someone's looking close enough, they should see it. There's a lot of room for improvement with the current look of "equipping" something...
Dana covered pretty much all of these in his "Why Not" series along with the "Top 5 or 10" series they were doing then. The only thing he didn't really have was the obligatory shot at people who don't like F2Ps (for whatever reason, like it'll ever be good enough for the article author) that Aihoshi brands his writings with.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
Wait a second.... 'fantasy' football (pun intended)! Woah. Apply that to MMOs. Talk about a cross-breed of genres. Play as a pro footballer, move up through the draft, training camp, 2nd string, starting, bowls... factions being teams. And all the action console dudes could come hang with us 'nerdy' MMO guys.
I'm about 85% sarcasm. But I'm thinking outside the box! Saving my most productive post of the night for last! Night eastern seaboard.
That is exactly right, and we're not saying NO to save WoW, because it is already a lost cause. We are saying NO to dissuade the next group of greedy suits who decide to emulate Blizzard and Cryptic, etc.
We can prevent some of the future games from spewing this crap, but the sooner we start saying no, the better the results will be.
So - Stand up, pull up your pants, and walk away.
- MMO_Doubter
Cyberpunk (with excellent crafting system) : Neocron 2
Madmax style mmo : Fallen Earth
Sci-Fi mmo with mech' : Anarchy Online (...ok the mech' is only good for tank in PvE group until yu use it for PvP)
I NEVER paid for fantasy mmo and each time i crafted and met a mature community with a different gameplay. You notice Anarchy Online has a very old battle system... it suxx.
I quite like the idea of a Stone Age MMO. But there's a potential problem here:
Do we make a game that's as historically accurate as possible? If we do, there wouldn't be any mounts or armours and a very limited choice of classes and weapons. In other words, something so boring, nobody would want to play it...
Or do we ignore history and concentrate on pure fun? In this case, gamers would have a whale of a time - pink Triceratops mounts, flying Pterodactyl mounts, sabretooth tiger pets, badass spirit-summoning shamans... The possibilities are endless. Except it wouldn't be a proper Historical MMO. It would be just another Fantasy title. And a "family-friendly" one at that.
The number of MMO genres out there is limited for a reason. MMO's are about unrestricted freedom. Only Sci-fi and Fantasy are flexible enough to allow that.
I believe Dana Massey did a column on the idea of a "comedy MMO" in his "Why not?" article a while back.
---
As for variety... I would just like different things to do, rather than "screw high fantasy, it's been around forever!" Frankly, I enjoy the whole ridiculous elves, dwarves, trolls, etc. etc.
Hell, in WoW, I wish I could play as a third faction, or a fourth faction, with races like the Harpies and Naga as Neutral and Hostile, respectively. Centaur, Ogres, Silithid, Daemons, Imps, those Robots from Tempest Keep, ELEMENTALS, BEASTS - playing Orcs from the Searing Blade/Burning Blade/Shadow Council. Then there's Humans, Knolls, Goblins and such from Buccaneer Bay Pirates...
I mean, from that end alone, WoW has plenty of potential Expansion there, and due to it's fantastic game engine (which I love, and don't think anyone's made as stable a client since) I would probably end up sticking around for a while.
Minigames would be a half-decent addition to any existing game - doesn't Runes of Magic do that with their crafting and things?
Anyway, meh, I like high fantasy, but I could go a steampunk or mecha game - mecha would be nice if they made character creation somewhat modular - Imaging adding various parts onto your Mech and seeing them in-game as you add them on. If you have a rocket launcher attached to your right shoulder, they're going to see it. If you have a small radar attachment on your headpiece, if someone's looking close enough, they should see it. There's a lot of room for improvement with the current look of "equipping" something...
Dana covered pretty much all of these in his "Why Not" series along with the "Top 5 or 10" series they were doing then. The only thing he didn't really have was the obligatory shot at people who don't like F2Ps (for whatever reason, like it'll ever be good enough for the article author) that Aihoshi brands his writings with.
Bingo. I find that element of Aioshi's articles irritating... He can't seem to simply write about F2P MMOs without having to hype them up, or make snarky remarks about those who don't enjoy them. That is, when he's not spinning or making otherwise blanket generalizations in defense of them.
Like, from this article:
"In the context of MMOGs, I can't help but wish we'd see more Monty Pythons. After all, how often do we see games that differ to a similar degree? There are certainly some out there. As it happens, they tend to be in the free to play sector, which flies directly in the faces of those who like to say it includes nothing but clones. But that's a bit of a digression. My real point is that I want more choices that are unusual."
I think he forgot the "My MMOs are better than yours! Neener neener!"... or maybe he left that out deliberately because he didn't want to look too blatantly biased... Oh wait, too late for that. And "digression" my ass. Just another example of Aihoshi's arrogance coming through... what he's conveying is "I just had to get a personal jab in at those who don't agree with me about how amazing F2P MMOs are... and now I can get back to the point of the article, which is, in part of course, to glorify F2P MMOs as much as I possibly can".
We get it... You like F2P MMOs. You wish the entire genre were nothing but F2P MMOs. You want a F2P MMO to adopt you as its child so you can be a proper F2P MMO yourself when you grow up. You absolutely *love* F2P MMOs more than anything else in the whole entire world.
We get it. No, really. We do.
And, incidentally, I see plenty of unique MMOs coming from the P2P sector... not that you'd notice from inside that bubble you proudly keep yourself in. Conversely, I acknowledge that there are some MMOs in the F2P market that are well-made MMOs overall and I would probably play if they were P2P.
I don't choose to not play F2P because I feel they're "all derivative and inferior". I don't play them because I don't like idea of cash shops, or spending real money on anything other than a flat subscription which allows me and everyone else to play and acquire everything else in the game... by playing the game. Others have stated this same sentiment, as well... many times, in many threads, for many games.
Can you please post something that's purely informational and stop pushing your F2P agenda down our throats in every damn article? At least try?
Thanks.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
I disagree. MMOs are a form of Game. Games aren't fun because you can do whatever you want, they're fun because they have challenges. As long as the MMO provides enough diverse challenges it can be very restricted and still fun to play.
By asking "what about mounts?" "what about armor?" you're making the assumption that all MMOs are essentially the same game with the same mechanics and the only variation is the setting/backstory/artwork. If all MMOs are just different skins of the same game, that doesn't sound very unrestricted to me. If they're all forced to implement the same game mechanics then it doesn't sound very flexible either. I think you should reconsider your definition of MMOs.
I believe Dana Massey did a column on the idea of a "comedy MMO" in his "Why not?" article a while back.
---
As for variety... I would just like different things to do, rather than "screw high fantasy, it's been around forever!" Frankly, I enjoy the whole ridiculous elves, dwarves, trolls, etc. etc.
Hell, in WoW, I wish I could play as a third faction, or a fourth faction, with races like the Harpies and Naga as Neutral and Hostile, respectively. Centaur, Ogres, Silithid, Daemons, Imps, those Robots from Tempest Keep, ELEMENTALS, BEASTS - playing Orcs from the Searing Blade/Burning Blade/Shadow Council. Then there's Humans, Knolls, Goblins and such from Buccaneer Bay Pirates...
I mean, from that end alone, WoW has plenty of potential Expansion there, and due to it's fantastic game engine (which I love, and don't think anyone's made as stable a client since) I would probably end up sticking around for a while.
Minigames would be a half-decent addition to any existing game - doesn't Runes of Magic do that with their crafting and things?
Anyway, meh, I like high fantasy, but I could go a steampunk or mecha game - mecha would be nice if they made character creation somewhat modular - Imaging adding various parts onto your Mech and seeing them in-game as you add them on. If you have a rocket launcher attached to your right shoulder, they're going to see it. If you have a small radar attachment on your headpiece, if someone's looking close enough, they should see it. There's a lot of room for improvement with the current look of "equipping" something...
Dana covered pretty much all of these in his "Why Not" series along with the "Top 5 or 10" series they were doing then. The only thing he didn't really have was the obligatory shot at people who don't like F2Ps (for whatever reason, like it'll ever be good enough for the article author) that Aihoshi brands his writings with.
Bingo. I find that element of Aioshi's articles irritating... He can't seem to simply write about F2P MMOs without having to hype them up, or make snarky remarks about those who don't enjoy them. That is, when he's not spinning or making otherwise blanket generalizations in defense of them.
Like, from this article:
"In the context of MMOGs, I can't help but wish we'd see more Monty Pythons. After all, how often do we see games that differ to a similar degree? There are certainly some out there. As it happens, they tend to be in the free to play sector, which flies directly in the faces of those who like to say it includes nothing but clones. But that's a bit of a digression. My real point is that I want more choices that are unusual."
I think he forgot the "My MMOs are better than yours! Neener neener!"... or maybe he left that out deliberately because he didn't want to look too blatantly biased... Oh wait, too late for that. And "digression" my ass. Just another example of Aihoshi's arrogance coming through... what he's conveying is "I just had to get a personal jab in at those who don't agree with me about how amazing F2P MMOs are... and now I can get back to the point of the article, which is, in part of course, to glorify F2P MMOs as much as I possibly can".
We get it... You like F2P MMOs. You wish the entire genre were nothing but F2P MMOs. You want a F2P MMO to adopt you as its child so you can be a proper F2P MMO yourself when you grow up. You absolutely *love* F2P MMOs more than anything else in the whole entire world.
We get it. No, really. We do.
And, incidentally, I see plenty of unique MMOs coming from the P2P sector... not that you'd notice from inside that bubble you proudly keep yourself in. Conversely, I acknowledge that there are some MMOs in the F2P market that are well-made MMOs overall and I would probably play if they were P2P.
I don't choose to not play F2P because I feel they're "all derivative and inferior". I don't play them because I don't like idea of cash shops, or spending real money on anything other than a flat subscription which allows me and everyone else to play and acquire everything else in the game... by playing the game. Others have stated this same sentiment, as well... many times, in many threads, for many games.
Can you please post something that's purely informational and stop pushing your F2P agenda down our throats in every damn article? At least try?
Thanks.
You never cease to amuse and entertain me WSI... The entire focus of the COLUMN is that of F2P games... Thus they picked someone who is a *strong* advocate of F2P games... Given that reality, and your demonstrated lack of interest in his articles, why do you continue to inflict it on yourself time after time? We get the fact that you don't like him, or his writing style, No really, We do...
But neither he nor his style are likely to change. The column will remain focused on various aspects of F2P games, just as it has from the start. Of course he is "biased" thats a given going in. But at least some of what you mention is more projection, than reality. You might want to keep that in mind.
Thanks.
People who hear Monty Python and think immediately and only of The Holy Grail should be slapped firmly in the genitals with a large mackerel.
Bingo. I find that element of Aioshi's articles irritating... He can't seem to simply write about F2P MMOs without having to hype them up, or make snarky remarks about those who don't enjoy them. That is, when he's not spinning or making otherwise blanket generalizations in defense of them.
Like, from this article:
"In the context of MMOGs, I can't help but wish we'd see more Monty Pythons. After all, how often do we see games that differ to a similar degree? There are certainly some out there. As it happens, they tend to be in the free to play sector, which flies directly in the faces of those who like to say it includes nothing but clones. But that's a bit of a digression. My real point is that I want more choices that are unusual."
I think he forgot the "My MMOs are better than yours! Neener neener!"... or maybe he left that out deliberately because he didn't want to look too blatantly biased... Oh wait, too late for that. And "digression" my ass. Just another example of Aihoshi's arrogance coming through... what he's conveying is "I just had to get a personal jab in at those who don't agree with me about how amazing F2P MMOs are... and now I can get back to the point of the article, which is, in part of course, to glorify F2P MMOs as much as I possibly can".
We get it... You like F2P MMOs. You wish the entire genre were nothing but F2P MMOs. You want a F2P MMO to adopt you as its child so you can be a proper F2P MMO yourself when you grow up. You absolutely *love* F2P MMOs more than anything else in the whole entire world.
We get it. No, really. We do.
And, incidentally, I see plenty of unique MMOs coming from the P2P sector... not that you'd notice from inside that bubble you proudly keep yourself in. Conversely, I acknowledge that there are some MMOs in the F2P market that are well-made MMOs overall and I would probably play if they were P2P.
I don't choose to not play F2P because I feel they're "all derivative and inferior". I don't play them because I don't like idea of cash shops, or spending real money on anything other than a flat subscription which allows me and everyone else to play and acquire everything else in the game... by playing the game. Others have stated this same sentiment, as well... many times, in many threads, for many games.
Can you please post something that's purely informational and stop pushing your F2P agenda down our throats in every damn article? At least try?
Thanks.
You never cease to amuse and entertain me WSI... The entire focus of the COLUMN is that of F2P games... Thus they picked someone who is a *strong* advocate of F2P games... Given that reality, and your demonstrated lack of interest in his articles, why do you continue to inflict it on yourself time after time? We get the fact that you don't like him, or his writing style, No really, We do...
Cute, and your effort to be clever hasn't gone unnoticed... However, it rings disingenuous. Unfortunately, the "humor" you find in my post is the result of your selective reading, and not of anything I said. But hey... whatever floats your boat.
I don't take issue with his articles.. I find them interesting overall, which is why I read them. I don't take issue with his "writing style", either.
What I'm taking issue with - and I thought I made it pretty clear in my post - is him pushing his pro-RMT agenda down people's throats in every single article he writes; in particualr, the snarky, passive-aggressive remarks and pot-shots he makes to that end toward those who don't share his point-of-view, such as the one I colored orange and bold-faced. He's a featured contributing writer - not a "typical forum poster". I'd think he would be held to a higher standard. But hey... I could be wrong.
Is it too much to ask for the guy to make his point without the snarky remarks toward those who disagree, and thinly-veiled spin about F2P MMOs such as he's had in previous articles? Perhaps to you it is... but to me, they don't serve his point and don't strengthen his given argument.
If he came into the threads and debated or discussed his point-of-view, or defended his statements, like Jon or Dana or others do with their articles... then perhaps it'd be a bit different. But, from what I've seen - though I might have missed some - he doesn't. Aihoshi, from what I've seen, remains aloof of discussion. Thus, his snarky remarks seem like "hit and run" pot-shots... cheap jabs he takes from the safety of his writing chair and never has to answer for when called on it. He assumes no accountability for his comments. Now, am I "demanding" that he start discussing his posts? Nope... I'm merely making an observation and offering my opinion of it.
You can disagree all you want.... That's what makes forums like these great... we don't have to agree with each other.
But neither he nor his style are likely to change. The column will remain focused on various aspects of F2P games, just as it has from the start. Of course he is "biased" thats a given going in. But at least some of what you mention is more projection, than reality. You might want to keep that in mind.
Keep your psychoanalysis to yourself, please. I'm not "projecting". Again, you're disingenuously cherry-picking at my post and ignoring the key thing I was addressing.
Again, the man can be for F2P all he wants and speak highly of the benefits of it. I do the same with games or other things I'm interested in... except I do it without making snarky remarks at people who don't agree with me and I don't try to shove it down their throat. It's called "respecting differing opinions". In article after article Aihoshi writes, I see him spinning, generalizing and making unnecessarily snarky comments that do nothing to serve the article... and that's what I take issue with.
Thanks.
You're welcome.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Because of real or perceived racial tension - Civil War/War Between the States, Wild West, and the Mexican-American War will probably not be subjects from any of todays publishers - too risky. I also expect that from the media treatment of the subject of "War on Terror" based video games that we won't see any games that allow you to fight from the Militant Islam point of view (roadside bombs, suicide bombers, car bombs, airline bombs, airplanes as bombs, etc.).
There is quite a bit of room in fantasy for uniqueness, though. For example, every fantasy based game today treats every attack as a non-event that puts numbers over your opponant(s) head(s). I have yet to see physics play any real part in any fantasy MMO. If my 8 foot tall, 300 pound Minotaur warrior winds up an attack and solidly connects a 100 pound warhammer with a 50 pound Gnome, the Gnome should be plastered against the back wall of the dungeon with blood coming out of every orifice. "FORE!" The same 8 foot tall minotaur should have real difficulty fighting in a tight dungeon crawl.
To your a fireball is a fireball point ... If I throw a fireball into a small room - everyone in the room, including me and my group mates if we're stupid enough to be in there, should be blown to tiny bits and thrown into the walls of the room with any flammable bits of armor in flame. There should be consequences to your groupmates if you choose to use AOE attacks. Shot selection should be a critical part of ranged attacks. You can't go around shooting your groupmates in the back.
The warrior shouldn't just be a damage sponge that the healer hides in the back and refills. Make weapon based combat more realistic. Make the warrior have to physically keep the mobs from getting to the squishies - not with a "taunt", but with an actual whack to the unprotected backside that really hurts or by putting his physical body in between the mob and the pajama wearers.
Let the cleric do some whacking. In most fantasy games, he's got plate armor and a big honking mace. Make them useful for more than just a fashion statement.
I think a MMO based loosely on that old Dinosaurs TV show would be awesome.
-w
I think an MMO based on Civilization would be cool. It could be done in a way where the focus of the game is not on the individual, but on the progress of the civilization to which the players belong. In the beginning, each civilization would start out with the same technologies, but with their specific flavor.
Perhaps there would be five or seven different civilizations to which players could choose to be a part of. There shouldn't be an even number of civilizations to choose from because the civilization vs civilization wars would have the potential to turn into 1 vs 1. Uneven numbers means there will be no stalemates numerically. Balancing the civilizations would be difficult, but if each civilization is different enough, it might balance itself out. One way to help this out is to have civilizations that aren't so well known in mainstream, or have all of them very well known.
Combat would be an essential part of the game. Players could conquer the lands of the other civilizations for the glory of their nation. Conquering lands would allow the conquerors to have access to resources they didn't have before, thus allowing their civilization to grow. Large battles could be fought over lands and cities.
When fighting in a battle, players will be in charge of a small squadron of their men, maybe 4 or so NPCs. Their soldiers will be armed and fight in the same way as the player. Outside of battles, players will be traveling with other players. As players advance, they will need to spend some time training their soldiers for when they go to war. Untrained soldiers will not fight as well as trained soldiers.
Crafting, harvesting and research and development would be a huge part of the game. Players that want to craft can help the NPC's of their civilization build their cities and all of the buildings that make them up. Players will be able to create buildings on their own out in the unprotecte world, but it will not be protected by the rest of their civilization unless they establish a trade route and allow the rulers of their civilization to tax the goods sold in their cities.
To increase the civilization's technological levels, players must help the NPC's of their civilization with the research and development. The ways they are helped could range from doing quests, harvesting needed materials or stealing technologies from other civilizations by breaking into their cities and taking a scientist hostage.
Basically, this could be an MMO where players actually have the ability to alter the course of the world in which they play. Maybe even to the point where a civilization can be taken over and assimilated into another. The players that belong to the assimilated civilization would now be a part of their conquerors. If they wanted, they could try to redevelop their civilization off in the outskirts of the world, but they'd have to rebuild everything from scratch and have to worry about being destroyed by another civilization.
I think plenty more ideas could be added to this, but I my lunch break is over and I have to go back to crunching numbers.
What about a game where the weapons are microphones or guitars. Bit like brütal legend, but then not with the heavy metal theme, more of a pop/hip-hop theme. Easiest way to see it is an elf singing someone's face off. Ofcourse me being a metal fan I would love to play a kiss-like character, and scream someone's face off. Melting like wax and all that. And ofcourse the last stand guitar attack, being smashing it in the enemy. Lost a guitar, but who cares. You just smashed someone to death with it!
Please no. The thought of a Hana Montana super-move in some MMO makes me shudder.
That is exactly right, and we're not saying NO to save WoW, because it is already a lost cause. We are saying NO to dissuade the next group of greedy suits who decide to emulate Blizzard and Cryptic, etc.
We can prevent some of the future games from spewing this crap, but the sooner we start saying no, the better the results will be.
So - Stand up, pull up your pants, and walk away.
- MMO_Doubter