TwoCredits

Talk about it more over here and maybe I'll give you my opinion ;-)

Massively multiplayer games are all the rage these days, with World of Warcraft leading the way as more and more companies try to strike gold with a hit title in the space. To publishers, MMORPGs represent the foolproof solution to copyright protection. Imagine being able to sell millions of copies of a game which cannot be pirated, and then continue to earn monthly revenue simply by maintaining the servers. It is no wonder that game developers are falling over themselves to make the next big MMORPG smash hit and capture even a small fraction of the revenue Blizzard is pulling in.

MMOs are hardly a recent phenomenon. They in fact have been around for decades. It has only been in the last five years or so however that they have gone mainstream, and this is largely due the fact that everyone has moved over to broadband internet connections. It also has a lot to do with huge improvements to graphics - and by huge improvement I mean the fact that MMOs now actually have graphics.

Before Warcraft was even a franchise, people were happily playing on MUDs, or Multi-User Dungeons which have been around the late 70s. MUDs follow the exact same principle that games like World of Warcraft do in that many users are collaborating together to fulfill some objective. In fact, some people refer to modern day MMOs as “graphical MUDs.”

Now I am sure the grand majority of MMO gamers out there will most likely scoff at the idea of playing a text-based MMO, but those who had the pleasure of doing so will certainly agree that graphics are a non-essential part of the genre. After all, how can any graphics compete with our imaginations? (Unless of course, your imagination has been destroyed by tv and the internet, like mine has). The same analogy applies to books versus movies.

When there are no graphics the emphasis is focused squarely on game-play. Let me provide an example. I used to play a MUD called Gemstone which at the time was being hosted on AOL. Yeah, that was back when they charged by the minute, which was extremely dangerous when combined with an addictive MMO. I luckily found a way around this but I had friends who had huge god damn bills to explain to their parents.

MMO RP G

The Gemstone experience was worlds apart from WoW and other modern MMORPGs. I’ve often heard of World of Warcraft referred to as “The Geek’s Golf”, where people can get together to discuss real world things while slaying fiends in a fantasy world. This is all fine and dandy, but call me crazy; when I think of an MMORPG, I take the RP part literally. I know that most people aren’t crazy about role-playing, and whenever I evangelize about this I get the typical response: “I’m not going to run around talking like a 14th century fop.” But I doubt many people would put up with NPC’s in Oblivion talking about the results of the last night’s basketball match (or maybe some would, I just do not know these days).

In Gemstone, role-playing was not only encouraged, it was rewarded. GMs could at any time be watching from the shadows and award experience boosts for a certain period of time to encourage clever or unique role playing. Knowing this, I would often put great effort into building my character’s personality. For instance, as a dwarf warrior I would often frequent pubs and knock back spirits while grumbling about this or that. And because emoting was just as legitimate as any of the predefined actions, you could be quite clever in how you played your character.

Whenever the server experienced any lag, the community would refer to it as bad weather within the game. Real life dramas played out every day, and I’m not talking about the bitch-fests that occur daily in guilds throughout the World of Warcraft about who should get the next epic that drops.

Redefining Death

A large part of the drama stemmed from the fact that the penalty for death in Gemstone was handled much differently than in WoW. If you died, you had to rely on someone to drag you back to town to get resurrected. If you were out in the middle of nowhere, you might be out of luck. And if you hadn’t purchased a deed by giving offerings of gems to the gods, death would be permanent.

It sounds a bit harsh, I know, and I realize this would never go over with the general population on your typical modern MMO. I understand that people put a lot of time and effort into building their characters, and that permanent death could quite possibly increase the suicide rate in this country. But I can tell you from experience that when permanent death looms overhead, you feel the sweat bead up when you go on dangerous missions.. not to mention when you engage in PVP.

Death in World of Warcraft results in little more than a slap on the wrist, and in some scenarios death is actually useful as a strategy, such as when you need to collect an item in a particularly dangerous zone; simply die over and over, inching your way toward the goal until you finally grab the item. I am sorry, but it all seems a little ridiculous to me. When I see a level 60 in the distance, I want my blood to run cold. I want to feel as though I truly accomplished something at the end of a quest. But above all, I want to lose myself in the game, a virtual impossibility given the sheer volume of inane Chuck Norris jokes bandied about on WoW.

Beyond harsher death penalties, Gemstone allowed for a much richer battle system. You could aim at specific body parts when swinging your weapon, with the occasional blood lust fulfilling chance you may lop off a limb or two. Likewise, if your arm was the one getting hacked off, your opponent could pick up your weapon and use it against you. These types of features just aren’t possible in a graphical game, at least not yet.

You could say my Gemstone experience has given me a heavy bias. It is unreasonable to ask for the features I am asking for in a graphical MUD, and the cold hard truth of it is we probably won’t be seeing them any time soon. The success that Blizzard has had with WoW is the due largely to the fact that they dumbed the experience down for the masses. In doing so, they got rid of the frustrations involved with difficult game play, but at the expense of a richer experience.

It’s a Small World After All

MMORPG worlds are growing increasingly larger, taking many hours to fully traverse on foot. This is as it should be; before you is a vast unexplored land where you must fend for yourself and prepare well for your journey. I can imagine planning a journey days in advance, gathering the essential items needed for survival, recruiting mates to assist me in my journey, setting checkpoints, getting lost along the way, and discovering new adventures at every turn. Making the journey from one major town to another should be a significant task on its own.

Despite the effort put into creating such a vast world, Blizzard and other MMORPG developers add transcontinental travel to the equation, making an otherwise grueling and dangerous journey a safe, reliable, and quick one that would make Southwest Airlines jealous. If you measure a world’s size in terms of time traveled, Azeroth starts to feel downright tiny. I imagine Frodo would have appreciated a quick Eagle ride to Mount Doom, but it wouldn’t have made for a very epic tale.

These may be unpopular gripes, but I simply cannot get sucked into an MMORPG these days despite how hard I try. If anyone knows of one that meets has some or all of the features I’m begging for, please mention it in the comments. If you agree with my sentiments, digg this story and perhaps a developer out there will take notice (har har). If you have your own gripes or suggestions on how to improve MMORPGs today, please share them as well. Alas, for the time being I must remain patient and keep my fingers crossed.

There. Happy?

I dooon't think that's what he meant...

But as for MMO's, all I can say is "never again". A couple of my friends are trying to get me into WoW, but I wouldn't do it for a million dollars. I'm just waiting for the first MMO rehab center, or Role Player's Anonymous.

I'd say the biggest problem with MMORPGs is the fact that they're damnably addicting, and have no end whatsoever. Once you reach the upper levels, you have to invest more and more of your time to get newer "goodies." World of Warcraft was better about this than say, EverQuest, but it was still pretty bad.

I've played some MUDs in the past, and they suffer from the same issues.

Oh, and uh.. when Scrivs said "talk about it more here", I don't think he meant for you to paste your entire blog entry.

Uhm... I didn't read all of that, but I was addicted to WoW for a long time. It's a dirty habit. I played with a bunch of people I know in real life, so that was fun. Buut, I had to quit. WoW was making school suffer.

Well what exactly did he mean by it then? I'm perfectly happy posting my entire blog posts here in order to get people's feedback, but I don't need to be reprimanded for linking to my blog.

So your problem with modern MMORPGs is that they're modern?

This reads more like "WoW plays differently to some RPGs I've played. The MMORPG is dying!"

I'm afraid that is a horribly weak argument. Just go play a MUD if you don't like it. There are still huge communities of people playing them (and making them).

And no, Scrivs definitely did not mean paste your entire entry here. Give a link, pull out some of your main points, invite discussion, is what he meant.

but I don't need to be reprimanded for linking to my blog

Definitely wasn't scolding. The point is, like Rich said, that this isn't del.icio.us — the notes need meat in them to explain their purpose and provoke discussion.

That being said, I wouldn't say graphics are non-essential. Books and movies, to use your own analogy, are two different mediums — each of which has it's own unique benefits. Having enthusiastically played MUD's in my younger years, I'm inclined to stating that they are "better", but it's still a matter of opinion and preference.

Let me remind you also, with regards to your chapter on death, that text-based MUD genres were (and are) dominated by hack'n'slash types — where death is merely a slap on the wrist just as it is in WoW. Enforced roleplaying MUDs that focus on gameplay are a minority.

Stegg: Everyone else understood what I meant. I have no problem with linking to blogs, but if you want a discussion to happen here we have to know what the basis of your points are. It's tough to just say "I wrote something here, discuss". Wasn't trying to be smart or offend.

Stegg: 1) What level is your character(s) in WoW? 2) Do you have Burning Crusades?

Death in WoW is expensive at higher levels. Burning Crusades is extremely challenging and has more diverse options to suit everyone, not a specific type of player like Gemstone. Burning Crusade is definitely not "dumbed down" since it has been duly noted that most people aren't skilled enough to see a lot of the content in BC. It's definitely challenging going through those dungeons and you can't help but feel satisfaction.

I can't remember the name of the RPG game where death had higher consequences but I do remember the effect. No one pushed their limits because dying was a PIA. Everyone did what they knew they could accomplish. In WoW, sure death does is expensive but the barrier doesn't stop someone from trying to solo an elite, try new dungeons, etc. And the new dungeons - yeah...the unskilled die very quickly.

It seems like you are talking about the 2004 WoW, not the 2007 WoW (which is dependent on the expansion and that could be a valid argument in itself).

I've just started a new Warlock and I'll be levelling that thing to get out and see TBC. I got bored and deleted all my other characters and cancelled my account just before January, so it's odd going back.

In WoW actually one of the things I like is the way it's accessible and the less steep learning curve. This makes it better to explore far more things and build up your character, even try others. I came also from a 'true' roleplay background - to be honest I am not sure if comparing MUD or rpg to WoW is not an apple and oranges comparism. I've done live action role play also - want the true experience then do something like that away from your computer screen.

MUD are still something I remember fondly but WoW has so many facets to it that it wins all the time and I no longer do MUD games. There is something to be said for remembering the 'older' times with fondness but you should also give the new ones their full try before dismissing them as charlatans. Also, you can't compare them on the same gauge - modern rpg is just not the same and I'd suggest it's a far more complex beast now.

As for your call about death being 'expensive' / 'inexpensive', again it depends on the games everytime. WoW seems inexpensive but get higher and it's not.

These are all excellent points. I guess I have been tainted by the MUDs of old because I seriously can't get into wow.

I got to level 56 in WoW and just couldn't stay interested. I knew that once I hit 60 I would have to invest a hell of a lot of time (meaning an hour a day or more) into end game content, raiding, guild stuff, etc.. i just remember being able to have a much richer experience in gemstone without that level of time commitment.

I guess the biggest issue with death in wow was the fact that it didn't really bother me, and thus, I was very careless about avoiding it. It is never expensive, even for high level characters, because when you're a high level character you're making more money anyways.

I just want a game where you actually fear going out into the wild, and you get that shot of adrenaline when you look death straight in the face, whether it be by a creep or another player.

Does anyone agree with me about my comment on flight paths? With flight paths and the slap on the wrist for dying, I would compare WoW to the next version of Diablo 2 more than anything.. it's simply a staging point for these quests and missions, and it's a very casual and passive experience.

As for me posting my link and nothing else, I'll try not to do that in the future but it takes time to summarize the argument and I felt a quick link to the full article would make more sense than giving a synopsis. I didn't mean to be defensive.

I understand completely what you're saying, and it all makes sense, but the problem is: it appears to me that you're looking at MMO's in a completely linear, close-ended fashion. That is to say, I read this and felt like you were expecting something better simply because you have yet to see the other side of the coin.

@Stegg: there is another reason why death has to be a bit easier than most games. The way Blizzard has the game set up with talents to individualize your toon. The cost to respec can be extremely expensive particularly as one levels up, but there is another problem: Blizzard's inability to balance the different classes.

For example, warriors keep getting nerfed because of Blizzard's inability to predict how the new equipment (or other game changes) will effect warriors. The players end up doing too much damage, which causes people to die unnecessarily because the warriors are overpowered until a patch, which could take months and mean many deaths per person. Blizzard would have to get on the ball and get things the right time if death were more permanent.

I get where you are coming from though. Star Wars Galaxies and Asheron's Call were role-play was more relevant. I'm just starting to get into the lore of WoW but I have no desire to role-play. Amazing, Asherson's Call is still around.

Stegg said:

I got to level 56 in WoW and just couldn't stay interested. I knew that once I hit 60 I would have to invest a hell of a lot of time (meaning an hour a day or more) into end game content, raiding, guild stuff, etc.. i just remember being able to have a much richer experience in gemstone without that level of time commitment.

I got to level 60 in World of Warcraft, was part of one of the strongest and oldest clans on my sever, and heavily explored end-game content. And after all that, my gametime from Achaea was more then that of WoW.

MU*'s are about a rich, engaging RPG experience and there are graphical MMO's that try to achieve that level. But leaving a MUD you've been engaged in and picking up WoW with those complaints is like eating an orange and saying it doesn't taste like those apples you're used to. They're both fruit, but they have different tastes entirely.

For Reference: My combined WoW gametime is near 60 days of playtime. My combined Achaea gametime is about 90 days of playtime. I've also been clean of World of Warcraft for 17 months.

For Reference: My combined WoW gametime is near 60 days of playtime. My combined Achaea gametime is about 90 days of playtime. I've also been clean of World of Warcraft for 17 months.

I'm getting close to 60 hours from all my alts (including estimating deleted ones) but I am still subscribed (over 2 years). I don't let it overpower my life. I listened to a podcast yesterday where a guy's alt (banker) had 60 hours!

Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens in the MMO space in the future here. I just don't understand why WoW couldn't make a server where death is more permanent or harsh, and where flight paths are super expensive, and role-playing is rewarded. How hard would it be to dedicate one freaking server to that. Sigh.

Although someone commented on my blog and mentioned that the Conan MMO that's coming out will be more what I'm looking for.. I will have to check it out.