Ramblings of a depraved gaming madman or pure genius? You decide.

Why? Well because it's my opinion, damn it!

Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms

Why? Well first off because Turbine completely f**ked up their shot at D&D.

Second, if you are going to do a fantasy game, do it right and go with the definitive classic RPG definition of a fantasy setting. There is so much lore and material to draw on for this, it's not even funny.

Traveller

Geez, it boggles the mind that no one has tried to do this. Traveller is the last word in a comprehensive Sci-Fi setting. Over 30 years of background material exist for Traveller. 

Really the only thing that could hold it back would be an inept dev team that is only able to write "kill 10 rats" type content. Hear that SOE, stay away!

World War III online

Take a fictional country, add in some armies and set them lose. WWII online was an interesting idea but lets face it, its archaic old and so much more can be done with current technology. Imagine something with the CoD4 engine. WWIIO had some great ideas and scope of play that was awesome but something that would do justice to the genre needs to be made. IMHO, the FPS simulator "ArmA" or the tank simulator "Steelbeast Pro" best exemplify this.

Western online

An untapped wealth of gaming. There is so much you can do with this setting, its not funny. Bounties, tavern fights, wagon trains, building towns, robbing banks, robbing stage coaches, forming posses to run down the bandits, cattle rustling, searching for gold, gun fights....on and on...

edit

Steamboats, gambling....omg, does it end?

Day of the Dead online

We need another fantasy MMO like I need a hole in my head. Zombies and the entire Zombie sub genre are about as different as you can get. The end of the modern world by being eaten by the undead.

I watched an interview with George Romero once and he said that the movies are not about the Zombies at all, they are about how stupid humans react and how we cling to our old ways and selfishness in times of dire crisis. You can replace the zombies with any disaster....that's what his stories are really about.

What better place to demonstrate that then in the ultimate "how people behave simulator" online games? Of course many of the things most MMO's would require would need to be deliberately left out to simulate the isolation and feelings of hopelessness that this genre inspires like...general global chat channels, local only, no towns...undead would need to over run anything that players start to congragate at, no LFG, isolation is the key here. Overwhelming odds at every turn. Very limited resources. Open FFA PvP. 

Survival would be its own reward.

Just some thoughts on a Sunday morning....

The MMORPG frontier is still wide open to explore. Lets hope that in the future someone with a tiny bit of imagination takes up some of these challenges.

I'm reading alot of stuff lately about whats good and bad. Generally I am highly critical of new MMORPG's but that doesn't mean I'm not looking forward to some games myself.

Here are my 3 games that IMHO feel will work out.

WARHAMMER

Why? well of course I'm a big fan of the overpriced table top. Although I haven't actually played it since the late 1980's I still enjoy the world they created and that inspired the Warcraft series.

I also really enjoy PvP. Nothing has disappointed me more in the last 4 years then the endless parade of pointless PvE grinders that have entered the market. Now cudos to DDO in regards to content because the content in that game is actually pretty good, I really enjoyed the dungeons( to bad they left out the rest of the world) but unfortunately most games have gone with the old and tired "kill 10 rats" then "raid" endgame. Its a pretty sad state of affairs in MMO's. IMHO PvE needs to be strong, indepth, have impact and be compelling, so far in the last 4 years it has been anything but. What does that have to do with WAR? well nothing, just a little rambling. (its good for the soul)

Star Trek

Why is that? Crypic is making it and well, they make very good games. City of X is probably one of the better MMO games out there. The Star Trek universe is so fleshed out its not even funny. There is a damn book out there that teaches you how to speak Klingon for Pete's sake!

I know I almost always say that IP's and MMO's don't mix but in this case I make exception.

Details are still sketchy but we know that there will be full customization, starships and planets to explore. STO could provide a great PvE experience if done right. If it ends up being some trash like "beam down to the planets surface and collect 10 space rat tails" I am so gonna kick myself for having any faith in an IP.

I'll give Cyptic the benefit of the doubt.

Fallen Earth (baby!!!!)

My underdog pick. Whats there not to like? Road Warrior-ish style world but with mutants, Zombies and things with big nasty teeth. It has an indepth faction system and PvP with impact. Vehicles and vehicle combat and lots of bizzarre looking PvE, FPS style combat, skills and crafting based items & economy.

I'm just hoping that this small name company can pull it off. I'm cheering them on.

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Some other things that look interesting but I simply will not have time for if these other games launch.

Could be Guild Wars done right for an MMOer. Not that GW is bad but its not made for MMORPG players, its made for FPS minded players who like capture the flag.

GW2 looks like they are going to build on what they have done with GW and bring the world to life rather then just instanced and town lobbies.

Earthrise

Looks interesting although its similar to Fallen Earth. If that game falls through and ends up garbage this will be my backup. Full PvP, player impact on the world, no classes and many other things  MMO players are looking for.

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Last but not least

Something to watch

Now I hate SOE. They have this incredible talent for making sh*t quality games. I wouldn't pre-order a game made / published by them if you put a gun to my head. (ok, well maybe I would in that case) In fact I wouldn't pay retail for anything they make, I'll ebay before I do that. I got Vanguard for 7.99.

Anyway, The Agency looks cool. Yeah its a bunch of maps / Guild Wars style play but its got style, I mean who doesn't like the whole spy thing? I will be keeping an eye on this one.

I'm not holding my breath, SOE will f**kit up.