The Free Zone: And Now for Something Completely Different
Variety or the lack thereof is the topic of this week's column from Richard Aihoshi.
Column By Richard Aihoshi on November 09, 2009
In case you don't know, today's column heading is the title of a movie made up of skits from the famed British TV series, Monty Python, which stood out from other comedic properties of its time because it simply wasn't like them. Instead, it was quirky and highly unconventional, which meant it wasn't everyone's cup of tea. However, for those who found it appealing, it was exceptionally enjoyable, not just mildly entertaining. As a result, if you became a fan, you tended to remain one for a long time, even until the present day, which is more than three decades later.
In the context of MMOGs, I can't help but wish we'd see more Monty Pythons. After all, how often do we see games that differ to a similar degree? There are certainly some out there. As it happens, they tend to be in the free to play sector, which flies directly in the faces of those who like to say it includes nothing but clones. But that's a bit of a digression. My real point is that I want more choices that are unusual.
From a thematic standpoint, although I certainly have nothing against fantasy, it does seem over-weighted. Sure, we have plenty of variations, but when we strip things down to the basics, a fireball is a fireball is a fireball. What I'd far prefer to see is developer undertake much more exploration into other genres. And I don't just mean science fiction; even though there are still many popular properties that could potentially be adapted into compelling virtual worlds, I'm primarily referring to other possible categories.
A huge one that comes to mind immediately is history. It's not difficult to find titles based on the Three Kingdoms period in China. Actually, there are quite a few more in the market there than just the imports we see here. We can easily understand that this is so because we know they're created by companies primarily aiming at the enormous domestic audience. What's more difficult to explain is why all the similarly rich possibilities from other regions and cultures remain barely touched upon if not completely ignored.
In this respect, let's look beyond the two that may be the most obvious, ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, since there are some games built on these themes - just not as many as Three Kingdoms. For instance, right here in North America, we have the wild west and the native civilizations. Within either or both together, it's pretty easy to come up with concepts that could be turned into MMOGs. This can also be said about the American Revolution and the Civil War.
The industrial revolution era is a geographically broader western option. Shifting our gaze back toward the Far East, is it difficult to envision a game set in feudal Japan? In addition, if we look toward other parts of the globe, the possibilities seem almost endless - tribal Africa, the Persian Empire, the Mayans, the Aztecs, the Stone Age, the Napoleonic period... Indeed, we could probably find fertile ground by picking any distinctive society or major conflict. In the latter area, World War II is a highly under-utilized a time and theme, especially when I consider the wealth of literature, movies, television and yes, non-MMO games associated with it.
Actually, when I think about these media, they immediately yield various other concepts that are popular in them. One example is vampires and their bitter, centuries-long blood feud with the lycans. Another is the world of secret agents and espionage, a third the realm of police and crime fighters in general. All of these and more must have substantially greater potential than developers have realized so far.
And what about music and dance? It strikes me that both are easily popular enough to support many more MMOGs than just the relatively small number currently available. As well, my gut tells me it has to be possible to come up with some kind of play mechanic other than tapping keys in time to tunes. Admittedly, I have nothing concrete to suggest, but then, I've never claimed to possess a sufficient level of imagination to be a game designer.
The last major area I'll mention is one I've brought up before, sports. I'm convinced there's a huge potential market that can be tapped far more than we've seen. The possibilities include more than just playing soccer, basketball, football, baseball, etc., but also building and managing teams. If we think a bit outside the box, how about a game where we can focus our characters to specialize in one or cross-train them so they're not quite as good at a larger number? I do know of one project in this vein, so I'm not claiming credit for coming up with it.
Any other thoughts on MMOGs you'd like to see that would be different?
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He is the former Editor of RPG Vault and his column, focusing on free to play MMOs, appears on MMORPG.com every Monday.
Yay for Monty Python references!
How about a Knights Who Say NI! (nee? Knee? NII?) game or
A game about reincarnation and becoming a bodhisatva. How cool is that?
You've regained me as a reader Richard, excellent article
I'd kill people to play on a proper Mecha based MMO
This or a cyberpunk mmo.
This or a cyberpunk mmo.
Cyberpunk MMO -> Cyberpunk -> Neil Stephenson -> Snow Crash -> Metaverse -> Second Life
Cyberpunk MMO -> ... -> Second Life
But yea, I agree. A good Mecha or Cyberpunk MMO would be nice.
With regards to why we don't see similar "historical" MMOs in other markets, I think it has a LOT to do with culture. Most of the Scandinavians I meet know less about their own mythology than they do about Native Americans.
Funny, you mention tons of historic areas/eras, but skip ancient Egypt. And there is one game that at least starts in a kind of ancient Egypt: A Tale In The Desert. And it isn't like any other MMO (I know) either.
Not to say it's a great MMO, but it is certainly something different and I honestly prefer a small playerbase over being just a number.
I've typically seen a lot of people don't like historical games as opposed to wild new settings. Why? They're much more foreign and generally exciting.
What's the point in making a Civil War? The Union won, you can't change that. Sure, the game can, but it still wouldn't feel right. A Roman empire MMO? Sounds cool, considering the amount of land the Romans conquered, but in the end, they get conquered themselves 500 AD, so there really is no point. So why are WW2 FPS and RTS games so popular? The history is familiar (it was only 60 odd years ago) and the gameplay is fast-paced and fun. Sci-fi and fantasy games offer people a doorway into a whole other world and life, where the story is uncertain and changing. You can't change history, only alter it severely which I find as a history buff to be disrespectful in it's own right.
Remember that one game, Fall of Liberty for the 360? Churchill is killed in his taxi accident, and Hitler attacks New York City. How is that honoring all those brave men and women (and somtimes children on the homefront) who helped the war effort? It's making a complete mockery over real historical events.
To recap:
Historical MMOs? No. Why?
- No uncertainty, you can get a better understanding of the world through Wikipedia for crying out loud
Altered history? Again, no. Why?
- Takes away from the original historical events
- Disrespects the people who actually lived during such events
Then why do people make historical movies, such as the [fictional] Gladiator, or Kingdom of Heaven? In these, you watch a story about whether historical or fictional characters living through a very real time period. [usually *cough* Life of Brian, still funny though] They pay tribute to the original historical events. I don't want to be a Gaul player PvPing in Rome, killing hordes of Roman soldiers to level up and gain loot to better my character. If I were playing a Gaul in a game, I'd want to play a Gaul to better grasp the -actual- sacking of Rome.
Many MMOs are also loot-driven, PvP-driven, or a combination of the two. A true army for instance in say, the American Revolution, would be trained and equipped with the same gear (depending on their role in the army). There was no "lvl3 Captain with +1 Strength rifle." There was just the Captain, his superious, and his inferiors, all trained to act in accordance with their rank. You also wouldn't be able to coordinate proper battles; anyone who disagrees with me, try organizing a few hundred players all in different parts of the world, different pings, ages andcomputer hardware, to form them into a proper line battle. Good luck.
To quote Morpheus: "No, what happened, happened, and couldn't of have happened any other way."
Nice ideas.
One issue:
Dance MMOs are hard because there are only two possible classes of characters. The kid from the right and the kid from the wrong side of the tracks. See for example.....i was going to name some examples but actually ANY dance movie.
Some other ideas:
Two areas of the supernatural, somewhat religiously based, I'd love to see - ghosts and dieties/demons.
Many religions share some common traits as to demi-gods/demons whether they are called angels, loas, 'gods/goddesses' (in many religions gods have like powers to angels in judeo-christian-islamic tradition. Some ideas for game setup - Ability to influence the world to some extent, shapeshifting, possession.
Ghosts - Either playing as the still living or as the ghosts.
Yes the MMO fantisy catagory has been way outraded with the fantisy. I am tired of each and every game that comes along that wants to be the wow killer.
Maybee an MMO for race car driving, or how about one for being a mafia type from the 30's. Something interesting.
Or we could even make an MMO fantisy football type of thing.
I agree with the dance MMO thing. Why make an MMO when people can just play Dance Dance Revolution? Although the article, he did state he didn't have a wild imagination. For the deity idea, that sounds interesting. Of course you wouldn't name any of the characters off current day deities, but that idea of mythical/godly war is neat. Minotaur vs. Hercules/Pegasus anyone?
What about "historically inspired alternate universe"? A steampunk game would be awesome. Or game based on the premise that some pivotal historic event (such as the Civil War) went the other way. What would life be like today if the South had successfully seceded from the Union? Could be interesting to imagine.
some good brain food here, and a Wild Wild West (with Will smith doing voice work) could be very fun...
The thing with MMOs i've noticed is:
a: either your one of a million so nothing you do matters
b: what you do matters, but it feels like a single player game, forcing you to ignore all the other pople who matter (cause they did the same thing you did to save the world but at a different time, but in lore it was at the same time)
If there was a dance MMO, it wouldn't be considered an MMO as today's standards are concerned - BUT, I feel that a lot of the current MMO genre will be short lived as social networking pushes forward. MMOs that cater to the casual player will eventually meld into social networking. Sooo, that being said, I could see a dance MMO coming out, not in 10 years from now... but 5. Why? Project Natal for the Xbox 360. It will be a big thing and combined with the Xbox Live service, I could definately see a virtual world being applied to the Dance, Dance revolution concept. Hrm .. a whole new concept to being served in "dance off" pvp arenas. But, unlike current brain dead MMOs, it will actually require player skill - rather than epeen grinding (pun intended).
As for historical MMOs, I can see this being VERY touchy. For example, the amount of crap a game company would be put through in the United States, including multiple law suits, if someone tried to create an MMO that included Native Americans. The wild west could also stir up some trouble as most of it was ruled by corporate greed and government corruption. Finally, a civil war MMO would be a no-no simply because it wouldn't be a re-enactment (unless it was handled like WW2 Online is currently). There are many people in the south that still wave the confederate flag and the sad thing is that most people think of it as the war that ended slavery. The war had nothing to do with slavery - liberation was a bi-product and not the cause. Historical MMOs referencing a period within the past 200 years could cause a lot of bad PR for an upcoming MMO these days.
I want to see a wild west sandbox MMO.
The problem with historical games is...we already know how the story ends, in a civil war game if you roll southern you'll inevitably lose, if you roll Nazi you'll end up getting jesus stomped, if you roll traditionalist in feudal japan you'll eventually lose to westernization.
Which is why you start from an Alternate History premise where some pivotal event was flopped and so now the outcome is completely unknowable.
What if D-Day had been unsuccessful? What if the South had won at Gettysburg? What if Washington never made it across the Delaware?
Take any of these pivotal moments, flip them around, start the game from 3 months later in the aftermath and see where things go.
Why does every game have to decide what genre or universe it should belong to. It's always about putting stuff into genres, I would love if developers tried creating something instead of limiting themselves to fictional boundaries set by game critics.
This or a cyberpunk mmo.
A fusion of those would be totally awesome
Instead of worrying about variety in mmos, can we actually have a good mmo first ? I mean if it wasn't for WoW's success and popularity would anyone care about mmos ? No because the large majority of them are horrendous. Give me quality instead of quantity please!
We are no longer the Knights who say Ni... We are now the Knights who say "Ekke Ekke Ekke Ekke Ptang Zoo Boing Zow Zing"
A game based on the movie Time Bandits would be fun. Remember the final scene in the Castle of Ultimate Darkness?
I'd be up for a SciFi/Horror saaaay something along the lines of Dead Space, but a Monty Python based MMO would be hilarious and extremely fun
.
Yeah, you picked a good one this time Mr. Aihoshi.!
One category that could stand out is Mythology...(not fantasy)... but the psychological and social morees that human culture is based in all cultural regions.. I mean every region has their representation of Diana, ,Poisidon, Herculese, Dyonysius, Set, Ra, Khem, Jupiter, Hermes, Maat, , Ruchirah, Krishna, and the list goes on.... and you get the point.
Mmorpg gaming is in a lagrge part based off of the the psychologial keys that make us WANT TO PLAY..aka..DESIRE. Freud and Jung wrote detailed descriptions of these keys in their volumes of literature.
For example a game based on the goddess "Ceres" would be one that focuses on crafting, production, and nuturing,vs the more popular fighting, controlling, and conquering.
A game based on Krishna would be one based on how many in game love-relationships a character could engender.
A game based on Hermes would be one that specialized in natural magic and how nature itself can be controled.
So on and so forth. Oh yes, there is so much more that could be done in the conceptualization of mmorpgs.
Great post...1 bump for you!!!
I believe Dana Massey did a column on the idea of a "comedy MMO" in his "Why not?" article a while back.
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As for variety... I would just like different things to do, rather than "screw high fantasy, it's been around forever!" Frankly, I enjoy the whole ridiculous elves, dwarves, trolls, etc. etc.
Hell, in WoW, I wish I could play as a third faction, or a fourth faction, with races like the Harpies and Naga as Neutral and Hostile, respectively. Centaur, Ogres, Silithid, Daemons, Imps, those Robots from Tempest Keep, ELEMENTALS, BEASTS - playing Orcs from the Searing Blade/Burning Blade/Shadow Council. Then there's Humans, Knolls, Goblins and such from Buccaneer Bay Pirates...
I mean, from that end alone, WoW has plenty of potential Expansion there, and due to it's fantastic game engine (which I love, and don't think anyone's made as stable a client since) I would probably end up sticking around for a while.
Minigames would be a half-decent addition to any existing game - doesn't Runes of Magic do that with their crafting and things?
Anyway, meh, I like high fantasy, but I could go a steampunk or mecha game - mecha would be nice if they made character creation somewhat modular - Imaging adding various parts onto your Mech and seeing them in-game as you add them on. If you have a rocket launcher attached to your right shoulder, they're going to see it. If you have a small radar attachment on your headpiece, if someone's looking close enough, they should see it. There's a lot of room for improvement with the current look of "equipping" something...
Yet, to truly start from the point on which you left off would be to firstly BALANCE the mmo genres and have a good equalization on the current mmorpg concepts.
EX. more steampunk, more historical, more space flight, more f2p sims, more sports, and more driving .....more.....
Answer to why there isnt games based on things you mentioned: they are way too restricting. Fantasy/SciFi is limitless and with little variations they can seem as totally different games.
Ancient Greece. I would like game built on it, still it would have to be fantasy as it would be built on myths.
Roman Empire? Game about what? Killing barbarians and conquering the world till you get destroyed? Good idea for single player but I think it was already done in some manners..
Middle ages? Dragons and Witches and Knights and Maidens? Dont think that would be enough.
WWII? FPS.. Dont see where to fit in MMO.
It may be that I lack imagination...
Games built on facts would be boring as it would remind reality too much and there isnt much variation or it would become FANTASY.
So in the end it is FANTASY. But yeah they could take some aspects from myths/past and create MMOG about it, but dont wish it would look like anything like Real past.
Sports, dancing, steampunk (in my eyes dark SciFi), mythical (Fantasy). Go for it..
FPS-Zombie MMO
Now that would be amazing. Gathering up 3 of you best friends and head-out into the darkness.
Although I would Enjoy Headsets if there was a game like this.
An RPG is about making your own decision, hence in the perfect mmo the story would changed based on player's actions
I believe Dana Massey did a column on the idea of a "comedy MMO" in his "Why not?" article a while back.
---
As for variety... I would just like different things to do, rather than "screw high fantasy, it's been around forever!" Frankly, I enjoy the whole ridiculous elves, dwarves, trolls, etc. etc.
Hell, in WoW, I wish I could play as a third faction, or a fourth faction, with races like the Harpies and Naga as Neutral and Hostile, respectively. Centaur, Ogres, Silithid, Daemons, Imps, those Robots from Tempest Keep, ELEMENTALS, BEASTS - playing Orcs from the Searing Blade/Burning Blade/Shadow Council. Then there's Humans, Knolls, Goblins and such from Buccaneer Bay Pirates...
I mean, from that end alone, WoW has plenty of potential Expansion there, and due to it's fantastic game engine (which I love, and don't think anyone's made as stable a client since) I would probably end up sticking around for a while.
Minigames would be a half-decent addition to any existing game - doesn't Runes of Magic do that with their crafting and things?
Anyway, meh, I like high fantasy, but I could go a steampunk or mecha game - mecha would be nice if they made character creation somewhat modular - Imaging adding various parts onto your Mech and seeing them in-game as you add them on. If you have a rocket launcher attached to your right shoulder, they're going to see it. If you have a small radar attachment on your headpiece, if someone's looking close enough, they should see it. There's a lot of room for improvement with the current look of "equipping" something...
Dana covered pretty much all of these in his "Why Not" series along with the "Top 5 or 10" series they were doing then. The only thing he didn't really have was the obligatory shot at people who don't like F2Ps (for whatever reason, like it'll ever be good enough for the article author) that Aihoshi brands his writings with.
Wait a second.... 'fantasy' football (pun intended)! Woah. Apply that to MMOs. Talk about a cross-breed of genres. Play as a pro footballer, move up through the draft, training camp, 2nd string, starting, bowls... factions being teams. And all the action console dudes could come hang with us 'nerdy' MMO guys.
I'm about 85% sarcasm. But I'm thinking outside the box! Saving my most productive post of the night for last! Night eastern seaboard.
Cyberpunk (with excellent crafting system) : Neocron 2
Madmax style mmo : Fallen Earth
Sci-Fi mmo with mech' : Anarchy Online (...ok the mech' is only good for tank in PvE group until yu use it for PvP)
I NEVER paid for fantasy mmo and each time i crafted and met a mature community with a different gameplay. You notice Anarchy Online has a very old battle system... it suxx.
I quite like the idea of a Stone Age MMO. But there's a potential problem here:
Do we make a game that's as historically accurate as possible? If we do, there wouldn't be any mounts or armours and a very limited choice of classes and weapons. In other words, something so boring, nobody would want to play it...
Or do we ignore history and concentrate on pure fun? In this case, gamers would have a whale of a time - pink Triceratops mounts, flying Pterodactyl mounts, sabretooth tiger pets, badass spirit-summoning shamans... The possibilities are endless. Except it wouldn't be a proper Historical MMO. It would be just another Fantasy title. And a "family-friendly" one at that.
The number of MMO genres out there is limited for a reason. MMO's are about unrestricted freedom. Only Sci-fi and Fantasy are flexible enough to allow that.
Dana covered pretty much all of these in his "Why Not" series along with the "Top 5 or 10" series they were doing then. The only thing he didn't really have was the obligatory shot at people who don't like F2Ps (for whatever reason, like it'll ever be good enough for the article author) that Aihoshi brands his writings with.
Bingo. I find that element of Aioshi's articles irritating... He can't seem to simply write about F2P MMOs without having to hype them up, or make snarky remarks about those who don't enjoy them. That is, when he's not spinning or making otherwise blanket generalizations in defense of them.
Like, from this article:
"In the context of MMOGs, I can't help but wish we'd see more Monty Pythons. After all, how often do we see games that differ to a similar degree? There are certainly some out there. As it happens, they tend to be in the free to play sector, which flies directly in the faces of those who like to say it includes nothing but clones. But that's a bit of a digression. My real point is that I want more choices that are unusual."
I think he forgot the "My MMOs are better than yours! Neener neener!"... or maybe he left that out deliberately because he didn't want to look too blatantly biased... Oh wait, too late for that. And "digression" my ass. Just another example of Aihoshi's arrogance coming through... what he's conveying is "I just had to get a personal jab in at those who don't agree with me about how amazing F2P MMOs are... and now I can get back to the point of the article, which is, in part of course, to glorify F2P MMOs as much as I possibly can".
We get it... You like F2P MMOs. You wish the entire genre were nothing but F2P MMOs. You want a F2P MMO to adopt you as its child so you can be a proper F2P MMO yourself when you grow up. You absolutely *love* F2P MMOs more than anything else in the whole entire world.
We get it. No, really. We do.
And, incidentally, I see plenty of unique MMOs coming from the P2P sector... not that you'd notice from inside that bubble you proudly keep yourself in. Conversely, I acknowledge that there are some MMOs in the F2P market that are well-made MMOs overall and I would probably play if they were P2P.
I don't choose to not play F2P because I feel they're "all derivative and inferior". I don't play them because I don't like idea of cash shops, or spending real money on anything other than a flat subscription which allows me and everyone else to play and acquire everything else in the game... by playing the game. Others have stated this same sentiment, as well... many times, in many threads, for many games.
Can you please post something that's purely informational and stop pushing your F2P agenda down our throats in every damn article? At least try?
Thanks.
I disagree. MMOs are a form of Game. Games aren't fun because you can do whatever you want, they're fun because they have challenges. As long as the MMO provides enough diverse challenges it can be very restricted and still fun to play.
By asking "what about mounts?" "what about armor?" you're making the assumption that all MMOs are essentially the same game with the same mechanics and the only variation is the setting/backstory/artwork. If all MMOs are just different skins of the same game, that doesn't sound very unrestricted to me. If they're all forced to implement the same game mechanics then it doesn't sound very flexible either. I think you should reconsider your definition of MMOs.
Dana covered pretty much all of these in his "Why Not" series along with the "Top 5 or 10" series they were doing then. The only thing he didn't really have was the obligatory shot at people who don't like F2Ps (for whatever reason, like it'll ever be good enough for the article author) that Aihoshi brands his writings with.
Bingo. I find that element of Aioshi's articles irritating... He can't seem to simply write about F2P MMOs without having to hype them up, or make snarky remarks about those who don't enjoy them. That is, when he's not spinning or making otherwise blanket generalizations in defense of them.
Like, from this article:
"In the context of MMOGs, I can't help but wish we'd see more Monty Pythons. After all, how often do we see games that differ to a similar degree? There are certainly some out there. As it happens, they tend to be in the free to play sector, which flies directly in the faces of those who like to say it includes nothing but clones. But that's a bit of a digression. My real point is that I want more choices that are unusual."
I think he forgot the "My MMOs are better than yours! Neener neener!"... or maybe he left that out deliberately because he didn't want to look too blatantly biased... Oh wait, too late for that. And "digression" my ass. Just another example of Aihoshi's arrogance coming through... what he's conveying is "I just had to get a personal jab in at those who don't agree with me about how amazing F2P MMOs are... and now I can get back to the point of the article, which is, in part of course, to glorify F2P MMOs as much as I possibly can".
We get it... You like F2P MMOs. You wish the entire genre were nothing but F2P MMOs. You want a F2P MMO to adopt you as its child so you can be a proper F2P MMO yourself when you grow up. You absolutely *love* F2P MMOs more than anything else in the whole entire world.
We get it. No, really. We do.
And, incidentally, I see plenty of unique MMOs coming from the P2P sector... not that you'd notice from inside that bubble you proudly keep yourself in. Conversely, I acknowledge that there are some MMOs in the F2P market that are well-made MMOs overall and I would probably play if they were P2P.
I don't choose to not play F2P because I feel they're "all derivative and inferior". I don't play them because I don't like idea of cash shops, or spending real money on anything other than a flat subscription which allows me and everyone else to play and acquire everything else in the game... by playing the game. Others have stated this same sentiment, as well... many times, in many threads, for many games.
Can you please post something that's purely informational and stop pushing your F2P agenda down our throats in every damn article? At least try?
Thanks.
You never cease to amuse and entertain me WSI... The entire focus of the COLUMN is that of F2P games... Thus they picked someone who is a *strong* advocate of F2P games... Given that reality, and your demonstrated lack of interest in his articles, why do you continue to inflict it on yourself time after time? We get the fact that you don't like him, or his writing style, No really, We do...
But neither he nor his style are likely to change. The column will remain focused on various aspects of F2P games, just as it has from the start. Of course he is "biased" thats a given going in. But at least some of what you mention is more projection, than reality. You might want to keep that in mind.
Thanks.
People who hear Monty Python and think immediately and only of The Holy Grail should be slapped firmly in the genitals with a large mackerel.
You never cease to amuse and entertain me WSI... The entire focus of the COLUMN is that of F2P games... Thus they picked someone who is a *strong* advocate of F2P games... Given that reality, and your demonstrated lack of interest in his articles, why do you continue to inflict it on yourself time after time? We get the fact that you don't like him, or his writing style, No really, We do...
Cute, and your effort to be clever hasn't gone unnoticed... However, it rings disingenuous. Unfortunately, the "humor" you find in my post is the result of your selective reading, and not of anything I said. But hey... whatever floats your boat.
I don't take issue with his articles.. I find them interesting overall, which is why I read them. I don't take issue with his "writing style", either.
What I'm taking issue with - and I thought I made it pretty clear in my post - is him pushing his pro-RMT agenda down people's throats in every single article he writes; in particualr, the snarky, passive-aggressive remarks and pot-shots he makes to that end toward those who don't share his point-of-view, such as the one I colored orange and bold-faced. He's a featured contributing writer - not a "typical forum poster". I'd think he would be held to a higher standard. But hey... I could be wrong.
Is it too much to ask for the guy to make his point without the snarky remarks toward those who disagree, and thinly-veiled spin about F2P MMOs such as he's had in previous articles? Perhaps to you it is... but to me, they don't serve his point and don't strengthen his given argument.
If he came into the threads and debated or discussed his point-of-view, or defended his statements, like Jon or Dana or others do with their articles... then perhaps it'd be a bit different. But, from what I've seen - though I might have missed some - he doesn't. Aihoshi, from what I've seen, remains aloof of discussion. Thus, his snarky remarks seem like "hit and run" pot-shots... cheap jabs he takes from the safety of his writing chair and never has to answer for when called on it. He assumes no accountability for his comments. Now, am I "demanding" that he start discussing his posts? Nope... I'm merely making an observation and offering my opinion of it.
You can disagree all you want.... That's what makes forums like these great... we don't have to agree with each other.
But neither he nor his style are likely to change. The column will remain focused on various aspects of F2P games, just as it has from the start. Of course he is "biased" thats a given going in. But at least some of what you mention is more projection, than reality. You might want to keep that in mind.
Keep your psychoanalysis to yourself, please. I'm not "projecting". Again, you're disingenuously cherry-picking at my post and ignoring the key thing I was addressing.
Again, the man can be for F2P all he wants and speak highly of the benefits of it. I do the same with games or other things I'm interested in... except I do it without making snarky remarks at people who don't agree with me and I don't try to shove it down their throat. It's called "respecting differing opinions". In article after article Aihoshi writes, I see him spinning, generalizing and making unnecessarily snarky comments that do nothing to serve the article... and that's what I take issue with.
Thanks.
You're welcome.
Because of real or perceived racial tension - Civil War/War Between the States, Wild West, and the Mexican-American War will probably not be subjects from any of todays publishers - too risky. I also expect that from the media treatment of the subject of "War on Terror" based video games that we won't see any games that allow you to fight from the Militant Islam point of view (roadside bombs, suicide bombers, car bombs, airline bombs, airplanes as bombs, etc.).
There is quite a bit of room in fantasy for uniqueness, though. For example, every fantasy based game today treats every attack as a non-event that puts numbers over your opponant(s) head(s). I have yet to see physics play any real part in any fantasy MMO. If my 8 foot tall, 300 pound Minotaur warrior winds up an attack and solidly connects a 100 pound warhammer with a 50 pound Gnome, the Gnome should be plastered against the back wall of the dungeon with blood coming out of every orifice. "FORE!" The same 8 foot tall minotaur should have real difficulty fighting in a tight dungeon crawl.
To your a fireball is a fireball point ... If I throw a fireball into a small room - everyone in the room, including me and my group mates if we're stupid enough to be in there, should be blown to tiny bits and thrown into the walls of the room with any flammable bits of armor in flame. There should be consequences to your groupmates if you choose to use AOE attacks. Shot selection should be a critical part of ranged attacks. You can't go around shooting your groupmates in the back.
The warrior shouldn't just be a damage sponge that the healer hides in the back and refills. Make weapon based combat more realistic. Make the warrior have to physically keep the mobs from getting to the squishies - not with a "taunt", but with an actual whack to the unprotected backside that really hurts or by putting his physical body in between the mob and the pajama wearers.
Let the cleric do some whacking. In most fantasy games, he's got plate armor and a big honking mace. Make them useful for more than just a fashion statement.
I think a MMO based loosely on that old Dinosaurs TV show would be awesome.
-w
I think an MMO based on Civilization would be cool. It could be done in a way where the focus of the game is not on the individual, but on the progress of the civilization to which the players belong. In the beginning, each civilization would start out with the same technologies, but with their specific flavor.
Perhaps there would be five or seven different civilizations to which players could choose to be a part of. There shouldn't be an even number of civilizations to choose from because the civilization vs civilization wars would have the potential to turn into 1 vs 1. Uneven numbers means there will be no stalemates numerically. Balancing the civilizations would be difficult, but if each civilization is different enough, it might balance itself out. One way to help this out is to have civilizations that aren't so well known in mainstream, or have all of them very well known.
Combat would be an essential part of the game. Players could conquer the lands of the other civilizations for the glory of their nation. Conquering lands would allow the conquerors to have access to resources they didn't have before, thus allowing their civilization to grow. Large battles could be fought over lands and cities.
When fighting in a battle, players will be in charge of a small squadron of their men, maybe 4 or so NPCs. Their soldiers will be armed and fight in the same way as the player. Outside of battles, players will be traveling with other players. As players advance, they will need to spend some time training their soldiers for when they go to war. Untrained soldiers will not fight as well as trained soldiers.
Crafting, harvesting and research and development would be a huge part of the game. Players that want to craft can help the NPC's of their civilization build their cities and all of the buildings that make them up. Players will be able to create buildings on their own out in the unprotecte world, but it will not be protected by the rest of their civilization unless they establish a trade route and allow the rulers of their civilization to tax the goods sold in their cities.
To increase the civilization's technological levels, players must help the NPC's of their civilization with the research and development. The ways they are helped could range from doing quests, harvesting needed materials or stealing technologies from other civilizations by breaking into their cities and taking a scientist hostage.
Basically, this could be an MMO where players actually have the ability to alter the course of the world in which they play. Maybe even to the point where a civilization can be taken over and assimilated into another. The players that belong to the assimilated civilization would now be a part of their conquerors. If they wanted, they could try to redevelop their civilization off in the outskirts of the world, but they'd have to rebuild everything from scratch and have to worry about being destroyed by another civilization.
I think plenty more ideas could be added to this, but I my lunch break is over and I have to go back to crunching numbers.
What about a game where the weapons are microphones or guitars. Bit like brütal legend, but then not with the heavy metal theme, more of a pop/hip-hop theme. Easiest way to see it is an elf singing someone's face off. Ofcourse me being a metal fan I would love to play a kiss-like character, and scream someone's face off. Melting like wax and all that. And ofcourse the last stand guitar attack, being smashing it in the enemy. Lost a guitar, but who cares. You just smashed someone to death with it!
Please no. The thought of a Hana Montana super-move in some MMO makes me shudder.