An MMO (mostly mmorpg) Evalutation, that is- "My 2 Bits on MMO's thus far." - part 1
It's no surprise that someone that loves rpg's would turn in time to also like mmo's. Notice I used the word "like" instead of love, since to be honest with ourselves we all know that mmo's are not really doing a good job to encapsulate the true essence of rpg's, and they never have thus far.
After taking the time to experience them, begining the journey with first tastes from SWG (Star Wars Galaxies) a small while before WoW came out, I find myself putting together a collection of ideas and thoughts, likes and dislikes, on the mmo industry. Mostly dislikes so far but thankfully the last year has seen a small change in this bringing finally a taste of bliss in liking as well. Not nearly enough to justify such a long wait (of almost 10 years) of looking into mmo's to find the recipe that works, or perhaps simply the recipe I liked.
I am in many ways now wasted on the thought of mmo's for they have not delivered to the genre in the way that they should have all this time. Of course this is just my opinion, but isn't everything on gaming based on personal taste and opinion? Having that said, I am now at the point that even if I see something I like, it is dwindled down into a small flicker rather than a flare or flame the way it would have been had I not been involved with the mmo genre for so long.
I had much greater expectations back in the day and indeed I find no reason to hide the fact that I also had many ideas for how the genre should and could have been developed, as well as the directions it should have worked towards achieving. Almost 10 years later and FINALLY these ideas are coming to life! Some I admit came to being during these years, but they where the smaller and at times less important changes I felt should always be a part of mmo's. Even so, some of those ideas have still to be developed or made even today. Not to mention that today, personally, my expectations and ideas on the direction of mmorpg's... correction, my expectations and ideas on the state they should already be IN, are much larger and even more in number.
Goes without saying that at this moment I am not amazed neither pleased with the quality of the genre. At least not enough to be able to say "I will invest my time of entertainment, enjoyment, thus a big chunk of time from my life, to a single mmorpg." I still have to find the mmo that will make me say such a thing, and I think I will never find it lest I set out to make it myself by the looks of things...
The genre is developing so slow that it seems to die out a little bit more, time and time again, in my heart with each and every new game released in the genre. Gaming is all about innovation and entertainment, and seemingly mmo's struggle with both elements. Playing it safe it seems or even aiming towards silly milestones and technological concepts that seem to create more barriers and problems rather than solve them.
The failure of mmo's being able to deliver brings them back so much, especially when all other games in all other genres keep moving forward and improving. That is of course in such cases where developers are actually serious about innovation or improvement and are not in the "milking a franchise" business or the money making business alone. Seemingly the pattern followed by mmo games so far, especially the successful ones.
I will even indulge with spending some extra time to prove this is true by picking on just a few genres which will include FPS, RTS, Action, Racing and RPG's.
FPS: First Person Shooter games are perhaps among the biggest and clearest genres where innovation and improvement is present. The most visible improvement is graphics:
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| From left to right Doom 3 and Far Cry... 2 screenshots of each from 10 years ago |
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| Today (actually yesterday now), from respective developers: Crysis 2 and Rage |
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| More shots showcasing the megatextures of Rage |
It is pretty obvious I think from the shots seen that there is an huge improvement in graphics even though both current games also suffer from being console ports. I didn't bother to show shots from Epic Games simply to make the shots a little less crowded.
On this subject the most common argument is usually "good graphics don't make a game good, the gameplay is all that matters..." To those people I say go read a book. The whole idea and concept for games was and always will be graphics. That is the whole idea of the medium used. Gameplay is also important and here comes the second part to my answer, "a first person shooter is about that, shooting in first person. What makes the gameplay fun is fluent action, smooth and enjoyable shooting, and experiencing all this with great visuals. Story is also important, but let's be honest nobody plays online matches in player vs player form for the story! The gameplay is not the story, it is the actual way the game is played, thus enjoyed."
To continue my point, FPS games have come a long way with continuous improvements not only in graphics, but also in physics and controls for more fluent action and better more varied animations (including such innovative ideas seen Rainbow Six Vegas where third person cameras are used in certain scenarios and maneuvers). Stories have continued to progress too, and although they where never the defining characteristic of this genre they have indeed become an important part.
RTS: Real Time Strategy, or perhaps even turn based strategy as well, all have improved with again better graphics, larger depth to unit capabilities, in many cases larger unit capacities, physics and better stories, animations and more. The Total War franchise is a good example of such improvement, as are games like Supreme Commander 2 which had a new flavour to strategy used and how one could develop it during each match played. New ideas, new forms, new graphics... In every way they have improved. Adding also in the years that passed titles that brought innovation to micromanagement as well (if my memory serves me right and that is the name for it) with Company of Heroes and later Dawn of War 2 following the same steps. Arguably these are called RPS titles (role playing strategy). Whichever way they are named, they are all strategy games.
Action Games: Graphics, physics, gameplay (acrobatic maneuvering and combat systems are an endless number on count) and stories too.
Racing: Again graphics, and of course physics and gameplay. Simulation racers have also improved so much that it is almost crazy nowadays with all the things calculated in each game. From wind-forces to weight distributions to damages to tire heat and ware and so on.
RPG's: Graphics and content size along with again physics and controls. Enough said. All other improvements in rpg's include the same improvements made in the previously stated genres. Physics and controls have also attempted to make rpg's even more real time and action-packed just like action/adventure games, hence, more fun. Every bit counts.
The Role Playing Game genre is the genre where story is as important as everything else more than any other genre, in some cases more important. However it does not substitute for low end graphics.
Again, the defining characteristic of gaming is graphics for it is always important to make the visuals pleasing for the eye. Otherwise even old classics such as Morrowind would not get graphical overhauls and mods if it was not important.
It is important, the excuse "graphics are not important" came around to existence only when a large number of people didn't want to admit that the games they involved themselves so much with where, to put it into a simple phrase, not only far from treats for the eye, but just plain old crap. And that was me being polite! Loving a game does not justify a phrase such as "graphics are not important". We are entitled to love whatever we want to love, but being honest about it is a desirable trait that few have. I respect people that have the honesty to tell me "yeah, it sucks and sure, the graphics kind of leave me asking for more, but I really enjoy the game and love playing it." We all have outdated titles that we love and still play, and even they reach the point where we simply can't stand them any more.
I think it is obvious that I am referring to WoW fans mostly, and if it wasn't now it is. Such excuses have come from their end, because they simply cannot admit truth. Funnily enough many of which end up leaving the franchise after so long thanks to reasons I myself have been arguing all these years. It just baffles me why it took them almost 10 years to end up seeing things the same way as me. That to me is, being as honest as I can be, an huge waste of money. WoW isn't exactly free, and I fail to see all this time where all that money actually went.
Back to the whole talk of mmo's today.
It may seem as though I side tracked on irrelevant things, however it is important to set some foundations on the matter to create an even clearer picture later on with what mmo's should have been doing all this time and what they actually ended up doing instead.
Rest assured a lot of good has come from this journey and I myself have enjoyed the usual mmo here and there and it is not all in vain. It just does not reach my expectations or needs and wants of what an mmo should actually be today, and that is the reason I remain on liking mmorpg's and not loving them. All that aside, I have plenty of positive feedback on mmo's as well, and not just negative. And now that the initial bashing on the genre is out of me, I think I can continue to give my two bits on mmo games referring to likes and dislikes from the titles I either actually liked or enjoyed most in the genre.
That doesn't mean that the bashing is completely over, it just means that it's time to give the positives on it all as well and reach a verdict as to where mmo's stand today in the gaming world in terms of quality, not popularity. We all know popularity is not entirely the best measure of things now don't we... A large fanbase does not make something good, it makes it popular. There is a difference between the two, and I am so far referring to quality, not popularity, and will continue to do so in the next addition and continuation to this article.
I think I set the stage to allow myself now
to get into the more specifics
of mmo's, and will soon do just that.
So for now, all I can add to the first part
of this article is a simple to be continued.
hence, To Be Continued...
