Rant on The Mmorpg Genre
World of Warcraft
The mmorpg genre has been dominated mainly by World of Warcraft for years now. So much that many competitors generally will not even try and set the bar anymore, they will simply try and recreate the game in a different style, seeing how well it works. However, many developers and video game designers have it wrong, this is not the right way to go about it. There are many gamers aching to voice their opinions on the state of mmorpg’s, and here is what I would like to see more of in an mmorpg.
Mmorpg’s lack innovation
Now a days, mmorpg’s are using the same recycled features that can be found in just about every other game under the sun. In many other genres, you see developers constantly trying to introduce something new into the mix with every generation. Infinity Ward, with Modern Warfare 2, introduced Death Streaks to benefit players that are less fortunate, as well as redesigned levels to cater to those who like large scale battles. Blizzard is constantly updating World of Warcraft to meet the ever increasing demands of the mmorpg market. What are its competitors doing?
So far, ArenaNet has the best chance at producing a game that will trump World of Warcraft, in my opinion. Guild Wars 2 is introducing a slew of new features that have not been tried in the mmorpg genre yet. They have brought the second-wind feature, where after losing your health points, you will enter a downed state instead of immediately dying, which you will then have a chance to defeat your enemy before your consciousness meter drains. There will also be a plethora of mini-games and activities to make each and every capitol of the game unique in its own way.
What I would like to see
I would like to see more thinking outside of the box. Many developers like to claim that their game will be the one that
Guild Wars 2 Boss
takes out World of Warcraft. Aion, Warhammer Online, Guild Wars, these games have all been claimed to be the one to take out World of Warcraft. They all came short of that glory, sadly. Many of them actually died out after only a year or so, like Aion and Warhammer Online. These games had nothing new to really bring to the table. The issue with taking on World of Warcraft is that it has been on the market for over a decade, so it is difficult to be able to take on something that has so many years of development under its belt.
If one were to try and implement new features instead of trying to directly compete with World of Warcraft, then things might prove to be different. Guild Wars 2, as I mentioned before, is introducing a slew of new features, which will take it out of direct competition with World of Warcraft. This will give it a sort of edge, that will allow players to choose which game they like based on experience rather than on which one executes these exact features better. The less features you share in common, the better competition you may serve. Not to say that they should share no similarities, but these similarities should not be the defining characteristics of the game.
In my opinion, there has been a severe mmorpg drought. The days where I was enticed by upcoming mmorpg’s for months and months are gone, granted that part of that has to do with me growing up. However, this does not mean there is nothing further to look forward to. Games like Vindictus, Dragons Nest and Dungeon Fighters are doing things in a different way. These are all dungeon based games. Dungeon Fighter Online is a 2D side scrolling fighting game that has you go through dungeons (or a series of maps, for those of you unfamiliar with the idea) with other players. This offers a new, although extremely niche based, gaming alternative.
As technology improves, we will hopefully be able to experience more gaming innovations. It is well known that many developers are hoping to implement a creative use of physics within their game. As time goes on, maybe the mmorpg will be as vibrant as it once was.
