The problem as I see it with Massively Multiplayer Online Games, especially MMORPGs, is that they're just too damn Massively Multiplayer. In a smaller game with a handful of people, each person has the opportunity to be valuable, important, and unique. But in an MMORPG with tens of thousands of other people, you're a nothing. Nothing you can do will be unique or special, and no matter what class you are or role you fulfill, there will always be scores more who are doing the same thing, and probably do it better.
Furthermore, I don't really think that a player contributes to the feel of a gameworld as a real world. You won't find a player character going about the mundane tasks of everyday life in the gameworld; rather, everyone's out "heroing".
My proposal is this: Take the Massive out of the equation. I'm talking smaller game worlds, of maybe 100 or so players each, spread out among a game world maybe half the size of WoW. More NPCs, more fleshed-out worlds. Apply the same standards of world design that you would to a single-player RPG.
With fewer players in each game world, I think there's greater opportunity for personal achievement. I also believe that this will allow each player to worry less about being competitive, and create more realistic, believable gameworlds.
|
Zeno's blog
Follow
RSS
Contact
I could play on such a server for hours and hours and not see the time fly, so it really felt like a small-scale MMORPG.
There's an ugly side to consider though: the DRAMA!
Imagine how much drama arises during PvP events when everybody on the server knows each other... quickly the feelings of the player take over the personality of their character, and things get ugly fast. Being a game master on a Persistent World means you are accused of favoritism and must solve drama on a daily basis... eventually you get more people who quit than people who join and your server shuts down...
I guess all good things come to an end, but I won't forget my days on Neverwinter Nights persistent worlds soon!
wrcraft does an alright job with that, with regards having a solid system by wich materials make thing that are sellable. But Ultimately, there's very little reason to try to play the game as the merchant/diplomat/pacifist.
Vanguard had somegood things going on, with regards to ideas about creating living spaces and communities around not-questing. But the overall execution lacked polish and pop.
Its ultimately a very intersting question in virtual urban planning. How do you get people to exist between their home (the save point Major City X) and work (The fields and dungeons)?
Kinda like CoD or Team Fortress. Sure, a Medic or Sniper are nice to have, but you don't really need them to play to an end goal.