Talk:Game ideas: The Real Definition of an MMO

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Eve Online

I must agree with what NecroSen has said, Eve Online does not suffer from most of the problems you mentioned. The only problem i can think of is its decently complex, and takes awhile to have a good grip on most everything. and if you decide to join, you need to find a good group of players which are willing to train you, which, again, can be hard at times.

--PurplePanzer 02:26, 20 November 2006 (GMT)

2 comments

1) I strongly believe not even MMO - RPG's should be modelled after table-top RPG's. The system of upgrading levels and throwing dices comes from the desire to formalize (and randomize) interactions in a tabletop game. The computer has many more ways to accomplish this than simple math, or random numbers. If abstract skill-levels like "looks", "alignment", "dexterity", "cloaking", etc are replaced by REAL skills (building your own model, textures, you will realize a bright red textures does not much good when trying to cloak), people will REALLY be playing roles, rather than throwing dice;

2) While MMO games in other genres are not unthinkable, they might still be unfeasible with current techniques. 32-player shooters are still very sensitive to a dodgy connection. In contrast, because the game play is usually slower, MMORPG's typically require less bandwidth per player. A good MMO flightsim might require very little bandwidth, thanks to the predictable movement of planes.

Interesting

One cannot argue with the success and the people's choice. If we only designed for ourselves, it would be ok to be so strict on the existing genres, but people like fantasy MMOs. Why? Some of the reasons I believe are the following. First, it is nice to imagine being a fantasy hero. D&D, beside being a dice-based combat system, also touches most of the personality types. Paladin (holy defender) and rogue (thief and assassin), for example, allow for a very different roleplaying experienced (and as classes, are usually constructed to be stronger in certain aspects). Second, the fantasy world closely resembles the world we live in. You may say there are dragons and dreamy skies, but beyond that, there are lumbermills, dogs and cats, tailors and the army. There are citizens and criminals as well. It is quite easy to relate to a fantasy world compared to a sci-fi world, which a new player has probably never heard of (except when a game uses widely known sci-fi cliches such as spaceship battles and space mining and maybe teleportation). Third, due to the many generations of MMOs their interface has evolved nicely, and is very intuitive, that is probably one of the reasons for the success of World of Warcraft, it is so accessible (in contrast to EVE for example).

So as a player, I love fantasy MMOs for the reasons above.

However, your post (and the following comments) gave me ideas on how much fun it would be to try and simulate some of the things that are governed by dice in the MMOs. For example, the stealth implementation based on player positioning and using the surroundings instead of a magic button. Using more hard rules, such as FPS rules for hitting/missing instead of chance calculations. Removing the levelling requirement. And most of all, having a really intuitive interface.