This week, Garrett Fuller returns with his Outside the Box column discussing the use of end game content in MMORGPs.
What makes a good MMO? That question is on the minds of every developer, player, marketing person, and business analyst in the industry today. We have our main model right now as World of Warcraft. We have our historical pillars with Ultima Online, EverQuest, and Dark Age of Camelot. We have our history with Meridian 59 and MUDs. So after years of this industry finally coming into its own, what makes a good MMO? I want to try to present ideas for discussion in this week's column. The main point of continuing MMO game play, in my opinion, is the end game.
Players can level up all they want, heck you can have unlimited leveling in your game and some players will go for infinity. The concept of leveling goes back to RPGs in their earliest form. Remember your first copy of the Players Handbook for Dungeons & Dragons? Remember looking at the high levels and wondering how long it would take your character to get there? Some philosophers will say it is the journey that counts not the goal. Well, in MMOs players try to achieve both goals and good times. This is still done through leveling or advancement in some form. The question is when do you put a stop to leveling, and what do you do from there?
Read the whole column here.
