What is an MMO?

[Cancrizans]

I was going to post this as a response to a comment in another thread, but decided to make a separate post because I think it is important to a discussion of what MMOs are and where they are heading.

 

I know this thread will get a lot of "things change blah blah companies exist to make money blah blah" stock responses, but I mostly wonder if anyone thinks we will ever see a return to more classic MMO communities and ideas:

 

Well, I am not trying to sound mean-spirited or anything here, but this is such a common theme in MMOs these days: people who prefer FPS mechanics and are forcing their preferences on the MMO genre.

 

MMOs are NOT meant to be FPS style action combat oriented games. There is a LOT more to them than combat and content updates. Unfortunately they have become popular among people who really have no idea what an MMO is, and came to the genre via WoW with no idea of the background or history of these games.

 

Now they want them redesigned as little more than persistent worlds for FPSers and other forms of content hungry "competitive" gamers to hang out in while they are waiting to queue up for x activity. This is really a sad thing.

 

MMOs are about a lot more than beating content and achieving a PvP rank. The communities that built and supported the growth of MMOs cared a lot more about community and social activities, exploration, RP, and simply immersing yourself in a deep and fascinating "other world".

 

I think it is really unfortunate that MMO developers have largely ignored and thrown out the communities that made these games popular and allowed them to stand where they are today in order to cater to those with no interest in 90% of what MMO developers spend their time working on, all in order to make some extra $$$.

 

One of these days some independant game developer will actually remember that they felt making "games for gamers" was something worth more than a larger paycheck when one of these companies like EA or Activision comes around offering them a huge check for the soul of their company. Unfortunately to this point not a one of them have proven that their passion was anything more than a ticket to the "top".

[Marlaine]

In its purest form (to me) a mmo is a long-term perpetual game where you develop a character, dwell in a virtual world, and compete in treasure hunting, pvp, and economy.

 

"Official" sites would have you believe that a mmo needs an open world that can congregate X amount of players in one place, but that's not important in my eyes. It is the development of your character and presence in the world that matters, whether it is open or instanced.

 

MMOs can generally be anything. Any subject, themepark or sandbox, quest-based or skill-based, pve or pvp, raid or player economy, top-down, 3d or first person, or anything in between.

 

That's why I like my definition the best. It defines the essence of what a mmo is without weighing it down with specific mechanics.

Edited March 29, 2012 by Marlaine

[Programma]

i totally agree with the OP . I played FFXI then bought WOW but didnt like it or the way it was going but tbh it was far more of an MMO than SWTOR. The community in SWTOR is non exsistent really and when ppl strive for some community it ends up feeling desperate and painful .

[Trineda]

Greetings!

 

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