Fantasy MMO’s have spread across the industry like wildfire, this is due heavily to WoW’s influence and people wanting to jump on the WoW bandwagon.

My question is this, what genera of MMO would you like to see in the future? Granted this is fairly vague and there is a lot more to an MMO the its genera.

Non-Fantasy – Something based off of real events

Fantasy (Sci-Fi) – Futuristic in every sense

Fantasy (Medieval) – Castles, Swords, Magic

Fantasy (Post Apocalyptic) – A world in turmoil or a world that has recovered from this catastrophic event.

Fantasy (Pre-Apocalyptic) – The end is coming and the goal is to save the planet

Fantasy (For the love of… Give me something new!) – No more of this cookie cutter *&^$, give me something new!

Other (Specify) – A new genera

I do not believe it has anything to do with WoW.  Take a look at the history of MUDs and you will notices that fantasy themes were the most represented theme.

The Fantasy Genre has been beat to &%$#. PotBS tried to tap into a new area but lets talk about stuff we havent seen before. Vampire the Masquerade would make a great MMO. As would something that deals with the Gothic genre...that area hasnt exactly been explored a whole lot. Maybe a dark, foggy London street in the 1700's. Vampires, Warewolves, Undead hunters.....Come on Dev's Think about something other then some guy with a large sword trying to kill a goblin. I write stories so i know how easily or hard new ideas come, but how many times can i kill that damn Goblin?

Ok, is there a successful way to break the fantasy mold?

Western/frontier.

Middle Ages, not fantasy.

Cops and Robbers/Mob.

Originally posted by Violentsin

Ok, is there a successful way to break the fantasy mold?

Stop supporting companies that produce them. SOE / Turbine / Sigil etc.

They only exist because people buy them.

Originally posted by roaland

 Vampires, Warewolves, Undead hunters.....Come on Dev's Think about something other then some guy with a large sword trying to kill a goblin. I write stories so i know how easily or hard new ideas come, but how many times can i kill that damn Goblin?

-And-

"Ok, is there a successful way to break the fantasy mold?"

Funcom is making a Modern / semi near future MMO and shooting for the 25 old and up crowed. Its called The Secret World, and leading it up is none other than Ragnar Tornquis.

Seems they are going to be trying a lot of new ideas with this one and worth checking out.

Quick blurb from the reveal post by funcom.

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Funcom reveals ‘The Secret World’

A modern day online world of action, horror and intriguing conspiracies awaits
New action-packed MMO set to release on both Xbox 360 and PC

Durham, USA – May 11th, 2007 – From the creators of ‘Age of Conan’, ‘Anarchy Online’, ‘The Longest Journey’ and 'Dreamfall' comes a brave new massively multiplayer online role–playing game for the PC and Xbox 360. Taking place on our earth, in our times, ‘The Secret World’ (TSW) is inspired by history and mythology, modern conspiracy theories and ancient mysteries.

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Check out the forums at: http://www.darkdemonscrygaia.com/index.php

Thanks for the Link Korvix...great forum..deffinately one game to keep an eye on. Huzzah for HPLovecraft influence

I'd love to see something based on stone age man.

I think it could open up some amazing ideas like tribal wars, developing your tribes belief system which would grant certain "buffs", incorporate agriculture/fishing and fire starting.

Originally posted by roaland

The Fantasy Genre has been beat to &%$#. PotBS tried to tap into a new area but lets talk about stuff we havent seen before. Vampire the Masquerade would make a great MMO. As would something that deals with the Gothic genre...that area hasnt exactly been explored a whole lot. Maybe a dark, foggy London street in the 1700's. Vampires, Warewolves, Undead hunters.....Come on Dev's Think about something other then some guy with a large sword trying to kill a goblin. I write stories so i know how easily or hard new ideas come, but how many times can i kill that damn Goblin?

You're in luck.  White Wolf merged with CCP, and they are currently working together to create a World of Darkness MMO.

Originally posted by rikilii

Western/frontier.

Middle Ages, not fantasy.

Cops and Robbers/Mob.

 

 

The fantasy style is so popular and familiar which is why 90% of MMOs are based upon it.

Id like to see stuff like a 2008 motorcity online,something with competitive racing on a grand scale rather than simply grinding on mobs. Drift city but in a massive world.

What's truly wrong with Fantasy MMO's? Is it the fact that there is no real substance to the game?  According to the poll they've just been done to death. This is a small poll number, but it's still says something.

The problem is not the fantasy setting. The problem is that each and every medieval fantasy game seems to be a clone of each other. Its all the same. I bet that the next sci-fi MMO will also have some sort of half naked females with pointy ears with an alizee or shakira dance. Not that I wouldn't like that, its just an example for the Wowification going on.

So: For the love of... please create something NEW no matter the setting. Thank you.

Post Apocalyptic Fantasy game. Fallout 1 and 2 environment with elves, orcs, gnomes and more running around. A combination of magic and technology.

I was thinking of something similar it would be a mix of goth, flight combat, fantasy, and sci-fi. This would be the structure

- Goth (Factions)
    - Wearwolves
    - Vampires
    - Slayers
    - Neutrals

- Fantasy (Classes & Races)

- Sci-Fi
    - Invasions
    - GM Events

- Flight Combat
    - Something similar to SpaceCowboy/EVE

So the player would select what class and race they want then select a faction (refer to Goth), then the Sci-Fi and Flight Combat would just be icing on the cake.

• Cyberpunk (with a VR subworld)
• SteamPunk
• White Wolf (world of Darkness): Vampire, Werewolf, and mage
• Spy, Thief, Assassin :  True espionage and not just some FPS bs.
• Fantasy:  where some people play the way they do now, and others play as RTS dungeon masters.