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[Column] General: What MMO Developers Can Learn from Dragon Age: Inquisition
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
I’ve spent a good number of hours in Dragon Age: Inquisition since that game’s release. By now, many players have gotten enough of a taste to criticize some of the game’s flaws. By far, some of the more prevalent criticism is in how the game’s vast, open areas, and sidequest types make it feel like an MMO. Contrast that to how many MMO players feel like MMOs have now veered over and feel too much like single player games. Ultimately, design decisions happen for many reasons, but when things begin to blur together, is it still possible to preserve some of the things that make MMORPGs special, multiplayer experiences?
Read more of Christina Gonzalez's The Social Hub: What MMO Developers Can Learn from Dragon Age: Inquisition.
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Comments
There is ONLY one reason we are seeing change.The market is wide open to thousands more developers when we start accepting cheap games like MOBA's.It takes such a small budget and little effort to pull these games off and this si why even MMO's are heading in that direction.They simply want to cash in on what's popular ,especially if it means less cost doing it.
There is no law stopping these shallow non rpg games from calling themselves mmorpg's and as such this is what they do.
IMO devs are also afraid,they are afraid to actually build a real mmorpg now because it takes more effort and cost and if it fails,they all lose their shirt.These devs would be super willing and happy if gamer's just accepted a 6 month 2 million dollar game and allowed the m to call it a mmorpg.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Exactly!
I miss the single player games that told a story and led you down a path to the end. It was a like a movie that you were an actor in. Now there are many single player games that are "open world" and you wonder around to find the next thing to do. I have Dragon Age: Inquisition but I havent played it much because it feels like an empty MMO.
On the other hand you have games like SWTOR that feel like a single player game that leads you from one quest to the next. No open world feeling.
I loved SWG pre-NGE because you weren't necessarily the hero, you were just another citizen trying to make his or her way in the world(s). I started off as a smuggler, then I had a career change and became a bounty hunter. I ran with other imperials and attacked player made rebel outposts. I was a part of the machine, not the hero and leader of the machine.
A single player game can be the vehicle to make you a hero within that game much better than an MMO can. Even City of Heroes which was full of heroes felt more like you were just another hero trying to keep the world at peace. CoH did not try to make you the absolute hero. I think TSW wins in this way as well.
Simply put, I want my single player games to be more like Spec Ops: The Line and my MMOs to be more like SWG.
"I don't give a sh*t what other people say. I play what I like and I'll pay to do it too!" - SerialMMOist
And the amazing thing is that not only do players happily accept these "instant MMO's", but they also seem to spend MORE money on them (via Founder's Packs and Cash Shops) than they'd spend in the huge, big-budget and sub-based "traditional" MMORPG's...
on one hand i agree on the other hand the best single player games out there are mostly open world games...red dead redepmtion, skyrim, fallout etc.
I think you would be surprised by the reality of which you speak.
I'd have to find a list, but I'm fairly certain there are not thousands more developers in the market, not even close (not even if you counted mobile / facebook games in the list). It's hard to get a 100% complete list, but you're looking at (roughly) 1000 studios combined (between professional, indie, etc.) Maybe 100 more or less depending on how obscure you wanna get. Though I'm only including game studios that have actually shipped a game. Some of the ones listed I don't even think still exist either (either bought out, dissolved, bankrupt, etc.)
As for the 'no rules on MMORPG name' idea, you're right. However that's not exactly what's happening. Some devs are labelling their games 'MMO's but of the unconventional most don't actually label themselves 'MMORPG'. The issue with this spans back to MMO's inception. This is the first genre that was essentially based on 'tech' instead of gameplay mechanics. The birth of online tech and server infrastructure made MMOs possible, but they also ended up defining them. You're not an MMO without a lot of servers, and players playing in one zone! Which isn't actually unique to MMOs anymore. Neither is their gameplay. This is why the lines between what constitutes an 'MMO' are being blurred. The rest of the industry has caught up with the tech that used to define an MMO. It no longer makes them unique.
Furthermore, thanks to the WoW-clone craze (and general MMO fan reactions), more and more developers are actually doing the opposite. They are trying to avoid calling their games 'MMO', because they don't want the stigma associated with them. And in same cases (most recently destiny), they get that label anyway (and the scrutiny to match).
It's usually not the devs that are risk adverse (or at least, not the game designers). It's the business men of the equation (the investors, producers, etc.) that tend to be that clog. All the big studios have them, and the smaller studios can usually afford to take more risks. That said, there are outliers (SOE is actually taking a big risk with EQN.) Unfortunately with that example, SOE is also notorious for making games with great ideas and ruining them w/ bad business models.
We're likely seeing a bubble, when it comes to certain games. MMOs especially have gotten so expensive just to stay competitive. It's hard to make a new MMO that really grabs attentions, because the budget required is astronomical. Furthermore, it's become so difficult to hold player attentions lately that the payoff just isn't there anymore either.
In a way, the market has so many 'good' games that it's hard for there to be room for great ones. They do happen, but when they do the impact just isn't there anymore. You can have a studio release a masterpiece (i.e. last of us), and while the initial response is great, it quickly dissipates.
Gw2 does that.
So does FFXI, and Everquest 2. Lol.
I'm amazed more MMOs haven't adopted these systems, because they are a lot of fun.
Why would they be more afraid today than yesterday? It's odd people keep going on about what a big risk it is to do this or that TODAY but apparently back in the day, it wasn't. It wasn't a risk? Fallacy.
No one is making the game you want to play... isn't the same thing as they are afraid to make it... they don't want to make it.
I have been playing MMO's for over 15 years now and not once have I ever thought I want the genre to be more sociable. I have and will always play the games as a Solo experience. The multiplayer options are there for me when I get bored and to create a air of realism you can't get in a single player experience. If I was a betting man I'd say I am in the majority of MMO gamers as well when it comes to solo vs group experience.
Sandbox means open world, non-linear gaming PERIOD!
Subscription Gaming, especially MMO gaming is a Cash grab bigger then the most P2W cash shop!
Bring Back Exploration and lengthy progression times. RPG's have always been about the Journey not the destination!!!
I think LOTRO can sort of be thrown into that group as well since they have Fellowship Maneuvers. Kind of the same, yet different.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
And CoH and pen&paper D&D and others....
What, imo, will be interesting is to see how EA take DA:I forward (assuming they do). Games can / do cost a lot to make and having a robust business model to facilitate cost recovery is pivotal. How will DA:I fare going forward?
Specific to DA - Good game but the overall pacing is too slow for me. It does feel like a MMO in some aspects and as the saying goes; "If I want to play a MMO...I'll play a MMO..."
There is a lot to like about the game but I don't find myself wanting to play it every waking moment...
Seaspite
Playing ESO on my X-Box
Indeed, there were a few games I left out (LotRO is also on that list, as the poster above you pointed out ^^).
I was honestly surprised at how well DA:I turned out. It's no secret that EA has a long history of ruining good game IPs. Imho DA:I is easily better than DA2, and in many ways I would put it above DA:O (though there are definitely certain aspects DA:O did better). That said I just don't have any faith in EA atm. There is not a single IP they've acquired that they haven't ruined, except for I guess DA:I. I don't get the feeling EA is why DA:I was as good as it was. I get more of a feeling that Bioware managed to hold them off from pushing stupid decisions. But I didn't work on the game, so I dunno. Time will tell I guess.
One word describes DAI...Boring, once the novelty wears off the game is damn right boring. I would take any of the Drakensang rpgs ie River Of Time or Dark Sun. which are older games over DAI everyday of the week.. If you haven't played any of these games you are missing out on some epic rpg fun.
Typical mmorpg.com hyping know devs for payment when the games are actually nothing special.
https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHFX_en-GBGB569GB569&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=drakensang+river+of+time
NO...Just NO..Just because DA-I has a plentitude of collectors and find items quests and lots of things to do out on the maps it's a game that is inpired or like an MMO ? So if a game has Collections It's an MMO ?
Or is it because it has "rifts" ? Most MMO's today has some form of "rifts" !!
In the earlier DA games players would also say this , just because they had a hotbar that looked like it came from a MMO..
Look at EVERY single AAA title today singleplayer or MMO , each one of them has a PLENTITUDE of "collectors" activities going on, it's filler content and mostly a way for players to get more fammiliar with the lore of the game ..
These quests/activities and Collections are NOT required, mostly they will get done anyway by just exploring the map..
If this is the case EVERY new game today is inpired by MMO's , like FarCry and Assasins Creed etc etc
With that in mind, lets say the raid is a 10 man, but you and your friend only make 2 of 10, you have geared your companions though, (similar to how you gear your companions in DAI) , so you just select 8 of your companions to go with you. Maybe another friend hops online while you're in raid, you just drop one of your companions and pick up the friend.
- I will say the companions would need some sort of user control, for instance, you as the player would to hot key a command that controls the companions to some extent.
Simple commands like - regroup, spread out, stack up, just so you maintain some control, and furthermore just like one can in DAI, have the option to take full control of the companion at any given point in time and turn your character in the ai controlled character.
If nothing else, what a system like this does and help you prepare to step into the raid with a full player controlled group, it allows you to practice on your own time, and I wouldn't doubt difficulty could be scaled doing it this way as well.
I can think of how I could implement this into pvp as well, it would be a mixing of rts and an mmorpg, with a skew toward being more mmorpg than rts, think along the lines League of Legends, but your not only able to maintain control of your own character, but the other champions provided they are not controlled by real people, the towers, and the minions, not sure why you would want to be a minion, but there could be an application. Your in control just like in rts, but when you gain control you snap into that first/third person view on the single unit you're directly controlling. I think I have actually seen this in some games before, just not remembering the name, but something similar.
But Dragon Age Inquisition is something you can't seem to understand... it is NOT an MMO. It is a single player RPG and doesn't pretend otherwise. While I do agree there were too many "gather this for me" quests, you really need to stop comparing it to an MMO. You do have the option for multiplayer, but it is only an option. If you want to play it multiplayer, then maybe that's what you should actually be playing.
I'm curious as to why you'd even consider playing an RPG (not an MMO) if you don't particularly like them. You aren't a person interested in a story, you want to run around as a group facing down bad guys.
My suggestion is to go play the games you are actually interested in, instead of playing ones you really aren't just because they're popular. You will be much happier.
Hi
What I personally would like to see is a game that can be played solo, or as a semi MMO with just a couple of other people.
I've played for many years with the same friends in MMOs.
These are people I really do know, that I go to their homes and out to dinner etc.
I would like to play the storyline in a game like Dragon Age Inquisition as a RPG, and invite my friends to play with me, or visa versa.
Now we play and talk on Skype at the same time, as we do in MMOs but it would be great to actually be able to play together, in the game, not as a addon that doesn't really have anything to do with the real game.
Mike
If you shoot a mime, do you have to use a silencer?