Many see the MMO genre as one of the most important pillars for the future of gaming. The idea of being able to have a constant flow of revenue from a single product is too enticing for Publishers to ignore. The problem was only exacerbated with the incredible success of World of Warcraft. WoW began as an excellent MMO from an acclaim developer but soon ballooned into a massive culture keystone and mainstay for most people.
WoW's success has been a double edge sword though, even though it brought renewed growth to the genre, it also caused an effect that happens whenever a game achieves major success. Like Halo and Call of Duty, the next batch and even generation of MMORPG's have almost all been clones of WoW to some degree. Some stick to emulating the fantasy world and keeping the same gameplay mechanics while others have attempted to bring the magic formula of WoW to other universes. Titles like City of Heroes and its spiritual successor Champions Online pulled the genre in another direction with its heavy customization and more event based gameplay. The problem is that most developers still focus on only one type of MMO and that's the RPG. Regardless of how different City of Heroes and Champions Online look they are pretty much the same title, you're a single character roaming a world looking for quests and dungeons to conquer, the goal being to level up and reach the large-scale content like raids and Player Versus Player content.
I would tell him it's all his fault but.... look at that guy! Before WoW's success the MMO genre was looking like it was going to expand into other subgenres, instead MMORPGs became the defacto genre and the other subgenres were all but forgotten. That's the purpose of this editorial, to look at the other subgenres and figure out why they were left in the dust.
Easily the most confusing of all the forgotten sub genres is the MMOFPS. With the massive success and the nearly unending appetite of the consumer populace for FPS titles you would think that the market would be over saturated with MMO counterparts. However we have not had a major title since Sony Online released PlanetSlide in 2003. More recently you could make the argument that MAG for the playstation 3 or Global Agenda are MMOFPS, but I would categorize those as being more of super sized battlefield games. Where are the titles like PlanetSlide that allow you to rank up upon successful completion of missions or won matches against other players. Planetscape did it right by having three warring factions fighting to control a whole world, players were able to unlock weapons and vehicles by fighting for territory and completing quests/missions.
Titles like Modern Warfare 2 mix together such heavy elements of the RPG genre with their levelling system that it doesn't seem like such a stretch for someone to take it one step further. What is even odder is that MMOFPSs that were in development like Huxley have all but fallen off the map. Some people would argue that lag is the major factor holding back the genre, but as PlanetSide and every Battlefield game has proven, you can have large numbers and still enjoy little to no lag.
Another subgenre that has never really been explored to any real extent and one that I personally would love to see is the MMORTS. Very few companies have attempted to make a title that even generally fits into this category and with good reason. Figuring out how to allow hundreds of players to envelop a world, develop their own nations, then fight with each other, and have it last for a long period of time is tough. The only real attempts we have seen are the likes of CityXL, which was more of an MMO style SimCity. One title that has all but vanished that held real promise was one from Stardock Studios called Society. They had figured out the key to doing a title right. They would tile the whole world, allow only a few dozen players and once a player has taken 75% of the map, reset the whole thing and let them do it again. But sadly the last time there was any news on the title they were informing the public that it was being placed way, way back on the backburner.
I could go on and on and list a dozen more subgenres that could be amazing in an MMO form, but I think the point has been made. Publishers and developers have seen what Everquest, Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft have done and they want to do one just like it. The concerning aspect of the entire problem is that the genre is looking like its teetering on the verge of falling out like so many other genres that never move beyond the initial idea. We have only ever had a handful of games that have tried entirely new ideas, The Sims Online and Eve Online being such examples. What we are seeing is for the most part every MMO is contempt with sticking to the MMORPG in the fanasy world.
Its all too likely that the MMO genre will face a painful falling out with gamers as new ideas are swept aside as a result of publishers trying to get some of World of Warcraft's pie. The major issue is that developers need publishers, big publishers to even attempt an MMO as the cost to create the title can be tenfold of what it costs to create and market a "AAA" title. Most publishers are not willing to put forth a quarter of a billion dollars on an untested idea.
There are glimmers of hope though. The free to play, pay for extra model has proven to be an area where developers can test different ideas albeit on a much smaller scale. The MMO made by one man, Love, also looks to try new ideas by allowing players to play with the world as they see fit. The goal is that it creates an environment for people to try and co-exist in that is completely procedurally created. On the major title side there are new titles in development that could help to create more diversity. The one with the biggest chance for success is Real Time Worlds "GTA MMO" titled APB. The premise is simple, it's a massive game of cop and robbers that allows the player to customize their look, weapons, and ride. If the title proves to be a hit we may at least see publishers move into the more action based MMO which could lead to even more original ideas. The important thing is that APB is at least a step in the right direction and it's a large enough title that its success will have an effect on the overall future of the genre.
Are these Badass Cops the only hope for the MMO genre? What is important to take away from this is that the MMO genre is in trouble even if it doesn't look like it is. The lack of creativity and risk has all but stagnated the genre leaving it open to become stale in the players eyes. It happened to fighting games for a time, it's all but happened to the music genre, so what's to stop the MMO space from becoming the latest victim?
