Next-gen is a pure hype term. Its meaningless.

The evolution of anything is done with these things called *hindsight* and *Perspective* ..

Take for example the Aircraft. Did they concider it a *next-gen* mode of transport? I bet the wright bro's were not hopping about yelling about the *next gen of personal transport*. Extreem example but thats the way it is. Next gen is determined with hindsight / perspective, it was'ent until YEARS after that Aircraft reached a decent potential as *transport* that people could look back and say the Wright bro's did something *next gen* (As far as personal transport systems go ... dont flame me saying blar blar they flew yada yada .. i am talking specifically in the field of personal transport!! Sure they flew .. but at the time no one envisaged what that would mean to humanity as a whole - Perspective/ hindsight) .. so any game proporting to be *next gen* is BS hype.

It could be argued that MuDs were the 1st gen of MMORPG, the 2d games the 2nd gen (UO / M59) and the current round of games from EQ1-now are all third Gen (3d games). That would be a vast over-simplification tho. That looks at only 1 single aspect of the game .. GFX. Others could argue that MuDS and upto EQ1 were 1st gen b/c they had a heavy text based input (Typing in quest keys in EQ .. fun times) .. and that all the current games are 2nd Gen (since you just clicky on dialog options) This is where the *perspective* aspect comes into play. Different people will view things differently and will assign different *value systems* to things.

In all honesty all we have seen in the MMORPG industry is *refinement* Sometimes its been good .. sometimes its been bad .. but nothing amazingly ground-breaking has occured since the inception of the very first MUDS. Sure games got more stable (refinement) better looking (refinement) some more complex (refinement!) ... but nothing i could honestly say would deserve the broad generalization of *next gen*

Wait for the neural interface MMORPG ... that will be truly next gen .. assuming that dont balls it up with lag server crashes and 1000's of plat farmers :p

Net-gen MMO = 2 Generations old Single player game.

Here's what I'm thinking for Next Gen

A truly massive world.  Today we have big worlds and they are relatively massive compared to what has come before.  But i'm talking on a scale unlike anything that has been done.  A small RL continent to the tune of 2,000 x 2,000 square miles, a little bigger than Australia and Oceania combined.

Sure you can travel from one side of the world to the other... but it'll cost ya.  7 -10 days travel in game from one town or settlement to the next- make it really mean something, but the journey is truly perilous.  You don't have to travel, there's plenty of locally available content. Sure you can level from 1 to 70 in relative locality, or you could level traveling around the world. I'm talking truly epic in scale adventure that includes Player generated "zones."

Speaking of player generated zones.  That's a true Next Gen concept that has been attempted but sorely implemented.   Allow the world to grow based on best in class player generated zones and content.  There is enough of a player base that it would become obvious through natural gameplay what zones qualify as 'best'.

Dynamic changing world with high-level NPC and World artificial intelligence.  What started as an NPC/Player controlled city could be overrun by an NPC/player faction- it would dynamically shift hands and create a power struggle between the game itself and the playerbase.

That's a start.  I'm gonna love that world...

<blockquote><i>Originally posted by jasco20</i>
<br><b><p>So what's with all the hub-bub about "NEXT-GEN" mmorpgs?</p>
<p>What does a "NEXT-GEN" mmorpg look and play like that makes it so "Next-Gen?"</p>
<p>How is it different than what's being played  today?</p>
<p>What do I have to look forward to?  I don't get it....</p>
<p>Somebody tell me... or does anyone have any idea at all????</p></b></blockquote>
<br>

Next Genration is a rough description. It can mean all of the following, or some of the following:

1. A game that takes full advantage of brand newly available technology. Generally technology soo new, that it's groundbreaking, and revolutionary......
.... now most of the time this means the game engine and graphics. But it can also mean the "tightness" of the game aka the algorythims (sp!), database, background stuff.

Example: EQ and AC are next gen compared to UO. EQ and AC had newly available 3-D technology when they came out.

Example: WoW. The game plays soo tight it truly is amazing. See early SWG with that annoying anti-tightness showing whenever players sat down in a chair - all you cSWG vets know what I'm talking about...

2a. A game that has either 1 major new game feature/game mechanic soo incredible that no other game has.

2b. A game that has many new game features that no other game has.

2c. Or... possibly... a game that takes game features/game mechanics other games have, but does them far better, far superior. (Kind of how the movie "Pulp Fiction" was a rip off of an early 1980's movie called "The Enforcer" <<Possibly a very young Joe Peschi's first movie?>>. Both movies show the ending first, then backtrack. Pulp Fiction did a better job though... even though The Enforcer is still a nice movie. Yep, the movie that put Quintin Tarantino, on the A-List, and Travolta back on the A-List... was a complete rip off LOL!)

Examples:
- DAoC with it's PvP features when it first came out.
- AO with just about every single feature in it, when it first came out.
- Yes, WoW with everything in it... taken from AO, EQ, Diablo 2... among others.

3. A game that comes out during the time period, or era, of other next gen games.
Example:
Original Runescape, aka cRunescape, BARP, and Astonia are considered of the same gen as EQ.

==============

Generally, right now we are up to the 4th Generation mmorpgs:

Gen 1: M59, UO

Gen 2: EQ, AC, RS, Astonia

Gen 3: DAoC, AO

Gen 4: cSWG, EQ2, WoW

In truth, there is no in the stone definition of what is a "generation". Though every single person is in agreement UO is of the first gen.
It's just like there is no definition of what an Elf is. (See Santa's Elves, Keebler Elves, vs Tolkien's Elves, EQ's Elves, vs WoW's Elves. The movie "Elf" even made fun of the discrepency.... in the end when the humanoid size Elf visits the traditional gnome sized Elf and sits on his lap.)
It all comes down to what the current masses of gamers, and game DEVs, accept is an Elf... accept is a generation.

Originally posted by demarc01

Next-gen is a pure hype term. Its meaningless.

The evolution of anything is done with these things called *hindsight* and *Perspective* ..

Take for example the Aircraft. Did they concider it a *next-gen* mode of transport? I bet the wright bro's were not hopping about yelling about the *next gen of personal transport*. Extreem example but thats the way it is. Next gen is determined with hindsight / perspective, it was'ent until YEARS after that Aircraft reached a decent potential as *transport* that people could look back and say the Wright bro's did something *next gen* (As far as personal transport systems go ... dont flame me saying blar blar they flew yada yada .. i am talking specifically in the field of personal transport!! Sure they flew .. but at the time no one envisaged what that would mean to humanity as a whole - Perspective/ hindsight) .. so any game proporting to be *next gen* is BS hype.

It could be argued that MuDs were the 1st gen of MMORPG, the 2d games the 2nd gen (UO / M59) and the current round of games from EQ1-now are all third Gen (3d games). That would be a vast over-simplification tho. That looks at only 1 single aspect of the game .. GFX. Others could argue that MuDS and upto EQ1 were 1st gen b/c they had a heavy text based input (Typing in quest keys in EQ .. fun times) .. and that all the current games are 2nd Gen (since you just clicky on dialog options) This is where the *perspective* aspect comes into play. Different people will view things differently and will assign different *value systems* to things.

In all honesty all we have seen in the MMORPG industry is *refinement* Sometimes its been good .. sometimes its been bad .. but nothing amazingly ground-breaking has occured since the inception of the very first MUDS. Sure games got more stable (refinement) better looking (refinement) some more complex (refinement!) ... but nothing i could honestly say would deserve the broad generalization of *next gen*

Wait for the neural interface MMORPG ... that will be truly next gen .. assuming that dont balls it up with lag server crashes and 1000's of plat farmers :p

You sir are a god at hitting the nail upon the head.

This post is current gen.

and

This Post Is Next Gen

Same text, just slightly different with flashy graphics.

Something that moves away from the current system completely,and comes up with a new concept entirely.

It would be massively multiplayer online,but not necessarily a fantasy/sci fi game where your avatar hits things with a spell/sword/arrow.

Maybe something like Travian combined with puzzle quest style combat and character building,with EVE and PotBS economy system on top of a huge world map which can be explored at will in real time strategy style.Decent graphics,but a refreshing and unusual style.

Devs would probably see it as pushing the tech boundaries and making crysis online. Or vanguard xD

Originally posted by demarc01

Wait for the neural interface MMORPG ... that will be truly next gen .. assuming that dont balls it up with lag server crashes and 1000's of plat farmers :p

Neural interface MMORPG... yeah, boy, now that's what I'm talking about!  Bring it on, I'm soooo jacked-in!