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Duppin · 09-30-2006, 10:20 PM

A baseball MMO would be really strange and probably not that much fun.

I think the market for non-fantasy games in the MMO market is wildly underestimated. 93.5% percent of the MMOG subscribers play fantasy MMOs because that's where the best made games currently are. The fantasy theme probably helps to a certainly extent, but people will go where the good games are.

Look at (to pull an example from RTSes) Starcraft. It's one of the most popular games ever, and it's not based in a fantasy world. People like it because it's a well-made game.

Pretty much every non-fantasy MMO game so far has either been a deeply flawed game, or designed to appeal to a certain very specific niche.

Games I'd put in the former category:
-Anarchy Online (turned out to be better later on but had an abysmal launch)
-Earth and Beyond (had an abysmal launch AND never ended up being a good game)
-Neocron (see above)

Games I'd put in the latter category:
-EvE Online (designed for hardcore PvPers and/or people who want a sandbox-style world with no real established objectives)
-Planetside (MMOFPS/squad combat in an MMO setting)

Frankly (and this isn't a dig at you specifically, more the game publishers in general) I think we keep getting all of these high fantasy games because it's relatively "safe". I'd like to see someone who is well-funded and who wants to push the envelope really do something innovative.

There isn't much left to innovate in high fantasy. As an example, let's compare WoW classes with their EQ "equivalents":

-Warrior: Warrior
-Rogue: Rogue
-Druid: Druid (this is a bit specious because the playstyles do differ somewhat)
-Shaman: Shaman (see above)
-Warlock: basically a Necromancer with some additional toys
-Mage: Wizard
-Hunter: Ranger
-Priest: Cleric
-Paladin: Paladin

Yes, you can tear the above bit apart somewhat because the classes do play differently. I acknowledge this. My point is more about there only being so many different archetypes for fantasy classes, and stylistic differences are all that are left to do.

edit: I apparently fell in love with the word "genre".

09-30-2006, 10:20 PM	#255 (permalink)
Duppin Registered User Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 4,714	A baseball MMO would be really strange and probably not that much fun. I think the market for non-fantasy games in the MMO market is wildly underestimated. 93.5% percent of the MMOG subscribers play fantasy MMOs because that's where the best made games currently are. The fantasy theme probably helps to a certainly extent, but people will go where the good games are. Look at (to pull an example from RTSes) Starcraft. It's one of the most popular games ever, and it's not based in a fantasy world. People like it because it's a well-made game. Pretty much every non-fantasy MMO game so far has either been a deeply flawed game, or designed to appeal to a certain very specific niche. Games I'd put in the former category: -Anarchy Online (turned out to be better later on but had an abysmal launch) -Earth and Beyond (had an abysmal launch AND never ended up being a good game) -Neocron (see above) Games I'd put in the latter category: -EvE Online (designed for hardcore PvPers and/or people who want a sandbox-style world with no real established objectives) -Planetside (MMOFPS/squad combat in an MMO setting) Frankly (and this isn't a dig at you specifically, more the game publishers in general) I think we keep getting all of these high fantasy games because it's relatively "safe". I'd like to see someone who is well-funded and who wants to push the envelope really do something innovative. There isn't much left to innovate in high fantasy. As an example, let's compare WoW classes with their EQ "equivalents": -Warrior: Warrior -Rogue: Rogue -Druid: Druid (this is a bit specious because the playstyles do differ somewhat) -Shaman: Shaman (see above) -Warlock: basically a Necromancer with some additional toys -Mage: Wizard -Hunter: Ranger -Priest: Cleric -Paladin: Paladin Yes, you can tear the above bit apart somewhat because the classes do play differently. I acknowledge this. My point is more about there only being so many different archetypes for fantasy classes, and stylistic differences are all that are left to do. edit: I apparently fell in love with the word "genre". Last edited by Duppin; 09-30-2006 at 10:25 PM..