seriously, would it KILL someone to attempt to make another top-down, UO style MMO? It works for RTS, Dungeon Romper RPGs, and even Xbox Arcade shooters. IMHO, it's one of the more interesting ways to play games. /rant

Salem

I think for the most part the majority of game designers believe that unless a game is graphically superior to everything else out there that it's just not going to be able to compete in the market. Sadly gameplay often takes a back seat in the process. :/

I have to admit that I've gotten spoiled by mountains having height and oceans having depth. 

But Diablo3 (yeah, yeah, not an MMO) shows that this is not an automatic non-starter - you can definitely still sell an isomorphic game.

Going iso/2.5d makes for a much harder sell to both investors and for the target audience. I mean, if an MMO announced they were using Unreal 2.5, it would immediately be torn apart by MMO gamers. If an MMO doesn't have cutting edge 3D graphics, it's either said to look 'cartoony' or 'like WOW'. Mainstream MMO gamers look for any excuse to point their finger and say fail, and the devs know it. An isometric MMO would probably come from either the East, where it's still popular to a degree, or from an indie dev. 

I think it would be good for Indie developers. I would imagine that it would be much cheaper creating a Iso view MMO like Path of exile than a fully realized 3d game.

If someone could make the combat as fluid as Diablo 3 with more class variety and pvp mechanic that is more than just arena battles I would be down.

Originally posted by doomspectre

seriously, would it KILL someone to attempt to make another top-down, UO style MMO? It works for RTS, Dungeon Romper RPGs, and even Xbox Arcade shooters. IMHO, it's one of the more interesting ways to play games. /rant

Hey don't forget MOBAs. It seems like an isometric view is best used for games where situational awareness is more important than personal connection to your avatar...which does sort of explain why it's not as popular for MMOs.

Realm of the Mad God also uses it, which just reinforces my point even more. God help you if you get attached to your character in that game.

I wouldn't mind seeing a D3 and Torchlight 2 style mmo.  Maybe developers could focus on game play a bit more.

I tried a few others. The view actually made me more interested in the game. One I thought was kind of cool and may try again in the future was Wakfu. I like the different approach to both playing and interaction. I'd love to see a bigger name come out with an isometric view for their game. I'll keep trying the ones that do come out in the meantime though :)

Does The Sims count as isometric? (Not familiar with newer interations, have they gone full 3d?)  If so, then I'd offer that there is nothing about isometric per se that disallows attachment to character.

Originally posted by doomspectre

seriously, would it KILL someone to attempt to make another top-down, UO style MMO? It works for RTS, Dungeon Romper RPGs, and even Xbox Arcade shooters. IMHO, it's one of the more interesting ways to play games. /rant

Top-down .. yes .. look at Marvel Heroes. Diablo 3 is another example. It is not a MMO but close enough in play style to many modern MMO.

UO style .. no. That has been tried and pretty much failed to resonate with the market.