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MMORPG.COM News: Editorial: Time for History!
Dana
Member Posts: 2,415
Michael Hampden wants to know when the parade of fantasy games will end and historical MMORPGs will take hold. In a genre seeking new things to talk about, he sees historical MMORPGs as a fertile and untapped resource. What do you think?
;) Theres a little genre of MMO out there thats slowly but surely gathering steam, and theres more potential for innovation in this than in all the Intellectual Properties major developers are clamoring all over themselves for. What genre am I talking about? Historical MMOs.
Think about it, there are countless civilizations and cultures on which to base an MMO, each of them having a wealth of pre-existing legends and mythology to build upon. Not only that, but they also have an incredible amount of archeological and geographical elements to work with. Best of all is the history itself, which is an invaluable foundation on which to create a great storyline. Look at what HBO did with the series Rome for example. HBO took a number of historical facts, developed compelling fiction around them, and the resulting excellence was undeniable. Wouldnt it be great if someone could do that with an MMO? Wouldnt you love an MMO that allowed you to be a part of such rich world of intrigue? |
Read his article here, then click over to our comment thread (below) to let your thoughts be known.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Comments
Nice op-ed.
I agree with you 100%.
-Raenz-
I agree that the Fantasy genre is a bit played out.
Well there are some really good Sci fi MMos out there is still a lot of room for expansion. Battletech/Mechwarrior, Marcoss, Gundam, ect ect. Stargate Worlds and Star Trek: Online will add alot to that genre.
Historical based MMO's are a rare find. WWII:Online is great. I never got into it really hardcore, but a former roomate of mine was really into it. I used to watch him play that while I played DAOC :P
I have been looking forward to Priates of the Burning Sea for sometime now and can't wait to see the finish product on that one. I already have a few friends that are gonna check it out with me.
I was disappointed when Mythic put there Rome based one on hold. Well it was more of a sci fi based, the history of rome has always been a fasinasion of mine. I love History, and when you mix in so good sci fi with it, you can have a really great concept. Maybe that is why I got into Stargate and will likely give Stargate Worlds a try.
I had never Heard of 9 Dragons before I read this, but I will have to look into it now.
With so much great History in this world, I can so so many things that would translate well into an MMO. Developers just need to see it now and we could have some really great games.
I hear what you say and concur.
So what is lacking from the historical games ? Action, excitement... well there isnt magic and goblins are missing. But speak to those that play historical games and they will enthuse about it.
I think a possible way forwards could be from the educational point of view. Imagine schools throughout the world logging on and the children can re-enact parts of history, sure it would have to be levelled correctly, but Roma Victor would be excellent for seeing what a roman did in their daily life! The possibilities are endless!!
I notice that a historical genre is missing, but I know there are some developements along the lines and that is of the 'wild west'. Sure it isnt on the UK curriculum, however what children havent heard of the 'west'... gunslingers and indians... but there is deep historical fact behind that.
Other options then could be Tudor life... what was it like in court, etc ? Vikings - did they really wear helms with horns and weild viscious axes (NO!),
I made a post about a idea I had on these boards. My idea for a MMO based on the Civil War was shot down. Sure the pacing would be different ( slower firing guns ) . The main objection to it was that the audience would be too small to support it.
My other idea was for a MMO based on the Napoleonic wars. One of the main goals would be to have dramatic horseback fighting ability. The shear amount of cool uniforms was also a draw for me. The one drawback to this period is that the fastest mode of transpotation is Horseback or Ship. ( My civil war idea would have fast access to near front lines via Railroads.
I agree with the overuse of the fantasy setting. Hasn't appealed to me for quite some time. Don't know if I'm particulary excited about the Historical genre, but anything different would be a welcome change of pace. I played WW2Online for a little while, and while I enjoyed it, was too much of a FPS for me. Would want something with an RPG base to it over FPS. Think I'd want something more in lines of Sci-Fi or Alternate Reality (Steampunk would be an interesting genre.)
I think Eve-Online is amazing, and it definately fills my Sci-Fi needs to an extent, but I think I enjoy having a humanoid avatar more than a ship and would prefer a Sci-Fi game in the more traditional mmorpg mold (wasn't a big fan of either swg or ao, but that had more to do with controls/features than content/setting.)
-bn
I agree
dont forget Heroes and Gods is also in the work
I hope to see great things from this genre.
Faranthil Tanathalos
EverQuest 1 - Ranger
Star Wars Galaxies - Master Ranger
Everquest2 - Ranger WarhammerOnline - Shadow Warrior
WOW - Hunter
That's right I like bows and arrows.
While I have nothing against history, I read archaeology at university, I feel that it has certain elements that make it undesireable for an MMO.
For a start history was dirty, smelly and unpleaseant. Child mortality was rife and 35 was old age. People in the past held opinions that we would consider alien today, such as the four humours, the role of women in society and a thousadn an one other notions that I would be banned for for even voicing. Any MMO set in a historical age will gloss over these elements for fear of them either becoming a draw for undesirable elements or driving away players.
There's also political considerations; I don't think the Whitehouse would appreciate an unbiased MMO set in the Crusades, 0AD Middle East, or around the 20th century wars in Korea and Vietnam. History is written and rewritten by the victors and as such has to be taken with more than a single grain of salt. There are numerous governments around the world who would not welcome too much digging into the past. Just who's version of the past do you use?
Thus what we would have is an MMO with historical trappings and sanitised for modern sensibilities. In short a fantasy setting without magic.
Perhaps what we really need is to frog march Tolkien and his cohorts out the door and come up with some original fantasy. Perhaps something more Neil Gaimen, Grant Morrison and Alan Moore.
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
-- The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
BLAMO! (and well put) I agree 1000%!
All the fantasy titles tend to be inspired by the Myths of our Human History. 'Bout time it got the focus. And I'm looking forward to AfricaMMO, myself.
Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box. ~ Italian proverb
I was about to say "Personally" I'm not a big fan of historical or Real event MMO's but by the time I finished the article I saw the Pirate of the Burning Sea which seems to me has a great chance to succeed. As for most games in this Sub-Genre I would say are not for me WWII, africa, Rome, etc. But due to PotBS I would have to say if it has the correct elements and can capture a sence of emergence for me. And I'm not about not to play a MMO that seems fun based on that it isn't "Main Stream"
Great article!
I really don't believe the problem MMORPGs are having these days involve setting. They involve innovation. Everything is a cookie cutter process of old concepts that haven't changed much since UO and EQ. We still have yet to see a successful MMORPG where the universe changes with the players, instead of changes for the players. My belief is that a historical MMORPG is going to be even more limited on how you can influence the world, especially if it is required to follow a linear historical construct that cannot be deviated from.
Almost everything I have seen so far from what is coming out in the near future is exactly the same thing as before. I believe that to actually grow the MMORPG market, we really need to think completely outside of the current dynamic and move forward into uncharted territory. I'm currently working on a project I think propels that direction, but it's years away from completion. My only hope is that the industry moves that way on its own, as it is extremely hard to complete with limited funding and no big name support.
My blog:
http://www.littlesarbonn.com
There's much more to a MMORPG than the setting.
Given what's came down the pipe lately, I honestly could not care less whether the game is sci-fi, fantasy, or whatever. Until a MMOG gets the gameplay right, the setting really makes almost no difference to me. Put me in a historical battle, on a pirate ship, or in front of a dragon. If the gameplay sucks, the game sucks. I'm not really a big fan of sci-fi myself, but if I try a sci-fi game and it yanks me into the world and makes me feel like I'm truly a part of it, then I will be playing it. Most companies nowadays use fancy graphics and "immersive" settings to sell games, either to target the masses or to carve out a niche. But the game itself tends to end up buggy, shallow, and uninteresting. Companies are trying to make games that people will buy, and not ones they will play. Or at least it seems what's in the box takes a back seat to what's on the box. That said, I don't see how a historical setting of any kind would be any more or less exciting than any other theme. It is really up to individuals, but the lack of historical games compared to others could be a sign of disinterest, or at least low enough that making such a game would be risky (and MMOGs are risky enough). Perhaps these up-and-coming historical games will improve upon gameplay aspects in addition to their unique setting and not focus entirely on being "different" only in that area. If after a deadly pirate ship battle my hands are sweaty and my knees are shaking, you've got yourself a long-time customer. But if I'm madly clicking two mouse buttons on the cannon fire submenu only to have the next screen update show me underwater and drowning because of the lag, and my warning to the crew was sent to the Beginner's chat channel because I typed /b instead of /g...
Ah well, it's 4:30am and I'm not sure I'm coherent or just ranting so I'll stop now. :P
I noticed the author Michael Hampden took a well deserved poke at general game mechanics.
Will the game have levels? Yes.
What about quests? According to Joe, one-thousand pre-fabricated adventures ready for release or bust.
I dont think its the theme thats the problem, you can take Everquest game mechanics and apply it to any theme you like, and it'll just be another Everquest-clone in my book. Just as the capture the flag game mechanics of planetside and wwiionline make them just quake-clones.
I am totally with you on this. I have read a number of articles on this site so far, and I am enthusiastic about where the game world is headed. I am a student of game and simulation programming, and I am entrenched in the desire to make an MMORGP that breaks the common thread. I have plans for a game that combines aspects of some of the leading games out there, but with untested twists. History is one of the key concepts in the game.
There is also a need for more educational games, as well. What is the point in making a game that has real life information in it if you can't learn from it. If you take SWG, for example, it is a Sci-Fi game based off a Sci-Fi movie. It never happened, and probably never will. But, there are aspects of the Star Wars environment you'll find therre are some ideas that have come, solely inspired from, the movies. If you watch the history channels documentary on Star Wars tech, you'll learn that some of the technology used in the movie, now, really exists.
And I am not confining my opinion to just RPGs. If you were to play something like D-Day, which is based on an actual event, you don't learn anything about WWII. There definately needs to be an education revolution in the gaming industry. After all, children play games, and learn more from those games than they do in American schools. America is on a decline in education. Why can't there be more support for a system that allows the child to play his/ her game, but still learn from it.
In the next 100 or so years, should we still be around, schools will be taught by robots anyway. Why not get a punch on the issue. Start the education process now. VOTE EDUCATION!