Thursday, July 29th, 2010
MMORPGs: What Would It Take To Tempt You?
I’ve never played World of Warcraft. If I’m honest, I didn’t even know what it was until long after everyone else was a level 55 arch mage. But I’m curious as to what it would take to convince YOU to upload yourself to a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)
This is pure speculation, but I think the online gaming world would be a different shape had the sequels to The Matrix (somehow) lived up to all their hype and The Matrix Online would have been the perfect opportunity to bring new audiences into Neo’s medium. Regardless, The Matrix Online still went ahead, expanding the story-world for the die-hards and the sci-curious, But it could have been bigger.
But are potential audiences just waiting for their favourite franchise to expand into the internet? As the launch of the DC Universe Online draws close, I’m finding myself deeply considering coughing up and crossing the line into online gaming. What’s tempted me? Not just that you can create your own character to then be mentored by the DC Hero or Villain of your choice, but the stories have also been written by some of DC’s top writers and features voice talent from the DCU cartoons (Mark Hamill as the Joker included).
Sounds a lot like Batman: Arkham Asylum really. So if you played and enjoyed Arkham Asylum, why won’t you be signing up for DC Universe Online? Seriously.
‘cos as cool as that video looks (from my POV, anyway), these MMORPGs seem different, don’t they.
In learning about writing for games, I was taught that describing your game as a list of adjectives is a good way to describe the experience (ie - run, shoot, duck, fly, hide, find etc) Is what’s keeping you offline that they aren’t developing the MMORPG with the right adjectives to suit you? If so, what’s missing? Is it a genre thing? Is the fact that the main examples I’ve mentioned feature flying around and probably thumping people what kept you positively unintrigued? (but there are others)
MMORPGs seem to have it all - serial storytelling, stand-alone missions, social networking and an independent gaming experience. So why are they still a niche thing? What’s keeping you offline?
July 29th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Ganalot! » Blog Archive » NooBTooB Ep 87 – Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core, Ninja Gaiden said:
[...] Nigh Journal » MMORPGs: What Would It Take To Tempt You? [...]
July 29th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
Ganalot! » Blog Archive » NooBTooB Ep 172 – Noobs’ Choice 2009! said:
[...] Nigh Journal » MMORPGs: What Would It Take To Tempt You? [...]
July 30th, 2010 at 12:53 am
David Wigfield said:
I’ll be honest, what’s keeping me offline from MMORPGs is the fact that I know myself too well when it comes to gaming. They would consume my life. Any other hobbies I have would end. No more blogging, very little reading, etc.
I was bad enough when I lived in the UK and just had a PS2. Massive online games would just be to much. I already watched that video you embedded above and know that I want to play that DC Universe game for ten-hour sessions every day. For me, it’s not that the MMORPG games haven’t gotten good enough yet, it’s that they’ve always been too good, too big, too immersive. Or, at least, that’s how they appear (I haven’t played a single one yet).
It’s all a matter of discipline, my son.
July 30th, 2010 at 11:36 am
john said:
Entirely agree. I guess we’re just frightened of commitment. Those who get the most out of it will be the ones who put the most in so it’s tricky to be ‘causal’ about it.
Even when we were obsessing about every detail of 100 Bullets (a highly layered and nuanced crime thriller comic book series for anyone who hasn’t heard of it) at least that was only one issue a month!
Cheers, Dave.
August 4th, 2010 at 12:01 am
Rhodeuk said:
Some interesting points here although I don’t think that WoW is particularly niche in the gaming world as it has a huge following. One of the biggest of any game. I think it’s ecause it’s got a very appealing setting, relatively simple controls and a core mechanic that means that inexperienced players can level up quicker. Having played it briefly I was left cold because I didn’t engage with any of the characters and the mission design in the early stages was boring and repetitive. I also couldn’t really find anyone to join in the game with online and that also made it feel very empty.
I play EVE online sporadically, which is an Elite like space MMORPG that appeals to me more because of the sense of freedom, the setting and the it was more social from the get go. It also feels a little more like your actions can lead to more unscripted events with other players.
I’m looking forward to seeing what The Old Republic has to offer as they’ve placed more emphasis on scripted events and hey I like the star wars universe.
I think the main problem with the Matrix online, and this is just a guess as I didn’t play it, but the main appeal of a game would be to play the big set pieces. I can’t help feeling that these would be underwelming due to the technology constraints. The two offline games were quite fun but not a patch on the films.
Anyway I’m tired and rambling now… games like any media appeal to different people, some will always have wide appeal like Wii Sports but scripted games run into the danger of hitting a niche. I don’t have high hopes of DC Universe because of gameplay balancing issues it can’t fail to disappoint fans.
Remember that with any game, gameplay is king not story! Just look at the scores for Mario Galaxy on Meta critic.
August 5th, 2010 at 10:09 am
john said:
Hey Rhodeuk, cheers for the post - didn’t mean to imply that WoW was niche within the *gaming* world… but at the world at large.
I definitely agree that different media will apply to different audiences but was more wondering what sort of factors would cause crossover appeal. For example, as you say, of course gameplay is more important than story, but would the story WORLD of something like Star Wars/Star Trek/DCU lure audiences onto a new platform?
Using DCU Online as an example (again), sure if people are logging onto swoop around as in Arkham Asylum (or just run amok like with Batman Lego) then they might not find what they want. But is that more a criticism of RPGs?
August 8th, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Rhodeuk said:
Having an established IP always helps with selling a game just look at the number of rushed out licensed games for movies. Arkham asylum was a surprise success and not because the story particularly appealed to a wide audience but that it was such a fun game to play. SW, ST and LOTR have all got MMORPG’s out but they’ve never done as well as WoW. is it because WoW hit that key cultural window like SW did in 77?
RPG’s for me can draw you into a world like no other, the mechanics of the gameplay can cripple that however. MAss Effect 1 was a real bore of a game, the mechanics were crap and the story was sluggish. For some reason I tried the second and it was improved vastly, one of the best games of the year in my mind. The story was fairly flimsy but the gameplay was solid. It mixed up styles of gameplay I enjoyed, character development, combat, exploration. Now would I play it if it was an MMORPG, probably not all the way through. they take too damn long. I would have years ago but now I need games I can pick up for an hour then put down having felt like I’ve achieved something. The new star wars game Old Republic I might try for 10 days when the free trial comes out, but that will be it.
Anyway back to Sherlock!