why MMORPGs?

Rpg and strategy players are maybe more inclined to start programming than action freaks. (just an idea)

The bad thing is that MMORPGs are the hardest sort of game to program! (well, that's my opinion at least)


[edited by - misterX on May 31, 2003 9:28:46 AM]

easy. they offer u the fantasy of changing identity and give you a sense of belonging. not that i play them or anything. no time and no bandwith.

...................................................

Yep, Kuladus has most of the appeal summarized quite well. It''s also a way to bring safe combat to human relations. I.E. if someone pisses you off, you can try to pk them. Not a whole lot of MMORPGs have good PVP systems though.

It''s also a way to show off. If you spend hours and hours in a traditional rpg getting all chars to lvl 99, who are you going to brag to? But if you max out your stats in an mmorpg you can get attention from people who want to join forces with you.

A lot of people do play these games, but then again, a lot of people stay away like the dickens. The main unattraction is that usually these games are pay-per-month, and that concept is more unappealing than buying upfront and never paying again.

I also agree that RPG players are more inclined to start programming. I''ve seen people who''ve played fighting games who start drawing fantasy fighting game characters but never do anything with em and eventually forget about it.

For me, its because MMORPGs offer something very unique: An entire fictional world populated by real people.

When I''m playing a game like Morrowind, for instance, which is rather like a single player incarnation of a MMORPG, everything feels so dead. I can still enjoy the game, but I know that no matter what I do, ultimately the game is just that, a game. When I shut off my computer, the game is gone, and all the characters in it have blinked out of existence. I have ultimately wasted my time on temporary entertainment.

When I play a MMORPG, everything I do potentially has a real impact on someone else. If I''m a jerk, someone out there is going to remember that I''m a jerk, and it could come back to haunt me later. If I''m kind, people are going to remember me that way, and my reputation in the game will grow. I can help other people learn about the game, I can form meaningful friendships, I can aspire to official or unofficial positions of leadership, I can be an example of some kind to someone else. I can influence opinions within the game world, I can be influenced by the opinions of others. And all of those things have some kind of effect on players that lasts once they leave the game, regardless of how subtle or extreme.

None of the experiences are offered by single player games or non-persistent game worlds. And as a designer, I''m especially interested in developing my own unique worlds in this category -- worlds in which people can participate en masse, exploring what I''ve created, and enjoying the potentially meaningful tapestry of experiences that I''ve woven for them.

****************************************

Brian Lacy
ForeverDream Studios

Comments? Questions? Curious?
brian@foreverdreamstudios.com

"I create. Therefore I am."

in eigth grade, there was a group
of kids who would sit around
and talk about Runscape, RO,
or Graal all the time.
It was pathetic and i had
fun laughing at them. =P
-
But seriously,ALOT of
people play them,and almost
all of them wants to
make an MMORPG b/c when they find
one worth playing it ends up
becoming so popular you have to
pay for it...which explains why
the above paragraph says they talked
more than one game, they were
always switching and it made them
whiny about the MMORPG''s becoming
a pay service.
-
And imagine, if you made a 1 player
offline game, would you like to play it
all the time? (you would know EVERYTHING
about it, so it wouldnt be any fun)
but If you made an Online Game with "seemingly"
endless players that never ends or just
seems to never end, would you like to
play that? (you''d know EVERYTHING and
could figure out how to cast
level 1 million lightning on an
unexpecting newbie, killing
them instantly!!)
-Just a thought-

Personally, I don''t much like MMORPGs. They seem to be more work than fun and I don''t feel the same depth of involvment that you people describe. Everquest is too much like Morrowind to me. At their core, they are very much the same experience to me. I don''t really feel like I''m interacting with people. The world in EQ is just as dead as the world in MW.

Perhaps I lack imagination or maybe I put too much importance on competition, because fighting against people in Fighting games and RTSs feels a lot more ''alive'' to me.