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Inspired by a post I read a few days back on how rubbish Internet gaming is I wanted to let you in on the brilliant potential of MMORPGs. At the moment they are quite good, a novelty maybe more than anything, in the future I think they will represent the pinnacle of computer gaming.
My experiences of MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) are rather limited. In fact, my experiences of Internet gaming are pretty limited too. Sure, I’ve played Half Life and its mods, but always found the majority of players to be Dante Hicks (my Cockney rhyming profanity filter is in full action). Their cries of “U nubie SCUm, DIE at the hands of supr haXor hAlFlIfE-PiMp-RoXoR-|< ][ || G” grew tiresome so I moved on to something a little more laid back – chess. On-line chess, what a dream. Pitting your wits against maybe a Mathematician from Belgium, a Nuclear Physicist in Toronto, or maybe a Taxi Driver from Newcastle. In a certain mood that’s all that’s needed to keep me happy. However, man cannot live by bread alone, sometimes you want a little more glitz and razzmatazz. Enter Asheron’s Call.
Asheron’s Call is still my one and only MMORPG experience (unless you count Phantasy Star On-Line as one, which I don’t). It had been recommended to me by a few of the boys in newsgroup I frequent and in the past we’d played together in a Half-Life clan. With their advice I created my in-game character, consisting picking a number of stats and a trade as well as your physical appearance. These stats then decide on your character’s skills, will he be a physical battler or a wizard? Will a crossbow or sword be favoured and such. As you play you earn experience points and can raise these skills further and earn money to buy more equipment – all the standard RPG elements of levelling up and learning new skills that you’ve seen in Final Fantasy and the like.
So what makes this game different from the aforementioned Final Fantasy? Well, you’re online, all the time. With my piddling 56k modem I was able to be a member of a lag free world containing literally thousands upon thousands of players and at time quite literally jaw dropping scenery. I pledged allegiance to one of my friends who was an experienced player and he took me under his wing. I’ve never met the guy yet I really feel as if I spent hours in his company. He gave me equipment to aid my progression and took me on hunting tours to help my player become stronger. In return for this he earns experience points of his own based on my progression. Other than that, there are also moments that can only be described as Random Acts of Kindness. Numerous times I’ve been on the brink of loosing my last energy when a passer by has decided to cast a healing spell on me, or take out the beastie troubling me. Not only that, I’ve been given riches beyond my lowly character wildest dreams from experienced players I’ve never met before (either in-game or otherwise) who no longer had any need for the particular piece of equipment/cash. All this is made ten times better as I know a real person has decided to do that for me, not some computer generated algorithm. Community is encouraged throughout the game, in fact there are tasks even the greatest player can’t achieve alone. I’ve been in troops of 50 players on a dragon-hunting mission. Without this group the task would never be possible so to progress in the game you need to forge relationships. The computer controls all enemies so it is definitely a them-versus-us situation, and that’s sort of the key to why MMORPGs are so good.
I can’t stress enough that MMORPG is community gaming. Imagine playing Zelda, but every other character in the game is someone else sitting at home playing just like you. To progress you needed to help each other and there are so many tasks to accomplish that there is never the risk of falling over each another. Not only that, but if it took your fancy you could walk into one of the town’s bars and just have a chat to other gamers about gaming matters your “real life” friends don’t appreciate/care about. You could have a pint with someone on the other side of the world, and then go hunting together. “Wait”, you say, “if the big attraction is community why don’t I just go out with my friends, you sad Internet geek”. Can you live in a fantasy world, be it in space, medieval Europe or a fantastical world of magic and demons? Could you use your experience to take command of a troop of other players and go for the Holy Grail? All that limits the genre is computing power and imagination. Whole living, breathing environments could be realized where you could go anywhere and do anything. A freedom beyond current gaming where everything you do has a consequence on thousands of other real life players. Maybe it still all sounds rather “nerdy” when put like that, but there are times when we’re all home alone gaming – why not share and enhance the experience with a vast community of people like you?
Okay then, there are limits to MMORPGs now, number one being bandwidth. You simply cannot create a true on-line world within the limits of a 56k modem. What has been achieved is amazing and the lag problems are nothing compared to what you’d see in a typical game of Counter Strike (due to the nature of the games) but there are still problems. The server you’re on depends on what game area you’re in – so if you have lots of people are in one area lag kicks in. There are also the problems of two hour cut offs etc that occurs in any form of on-line activity at present. Sooner or later Broadband Britain will become a reality and these problems will be wiped out. Accessibility will also rise as more and more people get on-line and become frequent with on-line gaming and that increases the community and brings in new types of games players and developers. Console MMORPGs would make plug and play possible for this genre and then it can really hit mass market.
Console MMORPGs are begging to filter through now, though there are mere pretenders. Phantasy Star Online is a good game, but it is not a proper MMORPG. Sure, you can stand around the lobby area and chat to a few other gamers but when it comes to playing the game proper you’re limited to three companions. Even then the tasks aren’t really wholeheartedly designed for multiplay, as they have to be used to the one-player game to. What we need is a developer with guts to release a proper MMORPG on a console. One designed just for online multiplayer action and where a monthly fee is charged so the game can be constantly updated. Who knows who will do this or when – maybe Final Fantasy X or the next Zelda title. Microsoft expect to have the follow up to Asheron’s Call on the X-Box, so it’ll probably be a race to see if anyone can get there before them. Once consoles start hosting good MMORPGs we’ll see a greater diversity not only in the titles but the players. Console players in general are a more varied bunch due to the cheaper costs and the fact that there is less stigmatism attached to being a console owner than their PC counterparts. These new breed of players will hopefully help to lead the MMOPRG genre away from its traditional Dungeons and Dragons/Games Workshop inspired and slightly wiffy present into a glittering diverse and fresh future.
There is a huge potential spin off from the MMORPG genre that could revolutionize Internet shopping – huge virtual shopping centres. You decide to take a break from the in game beastie bashing and tootle off down the local shopping district. You have a look around and pick a few things, pay for them via credit card and your friendly Postman turns up with them a few days later. Merely a cosmetic change on what’s done now, but it’d still be rather cool! Visit the cinema and have the film piped straight to your TV via that fat broadband connection? Maybe I’m being silly now.
The games developers could continually update these environments so there would always be something new to see or do. Of course, you’d have to pay a monthly membership fee for this, but that’s only fair really! They maintain the servers, fix bugs, monitor the game for cheating and provide new content – worth your cash methinks! Potentially if the game provides diverse enough experiences you may never need another “new” game.
I’m genuinely excited about the prospect of future MMORPGs. There’s one in development based on the Star Wars Galaxy that looks promising, but I’d say we’re at least 20 years away from the sort of all encompassing titles I’m imagining. Oh well, it’ll be something to do in my retirement!
So, MMORPGs, the Future of Gaming or a wild pipedream? What other fantastical ideas do you have for a real-time gaming environment consisting of millions of players?
My experiences of MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) are rather limited. In fact, my experiences of Internet gaming are pretty limited too. Sure, I’ve played Half Life and its mods, but always found the majority of players to be Dante Hicks (my Cockney rhyming profanity filter is in full action). Their cries of “U nubie SCUm, DIE at the hands of supr haXor hAlFlIfE-PiMp-RoXoR-|< ][ || G” grew tiresome so I moved on to something a little more laid back – chess. On-line chess, what a dream. Pitting your wits against maybe a Mathematician from Belgium, a Nuclear Physicist in Toronto, or maybe a Taxi Driver from Newcastle. In a certain mood that’s all that’s needed to keep me happy. However, man cannot live by bread alone, sometimes you want a little more glitz and razzmatazz. Enter Asheron’s Call.
Asheron’s Call is still my one and only MMORPG experience (unless you count Phantasy Star On-Line as one, which I don’t). It had been recommended to me by a few of the boys in newsgroup I frequent and in the past we’d played together in a Half-Life clan. With their advice I created my in-game character, consisting picking a number of stats and a trade as well as your physical appearance. These stats then decide on your character’s skills, will he be a physical battler or a wizard? Will a crossbow or sword be favoured and such. As you play you earn experience points and can raise these skills further and earn money to buy more equipment – all the standard RPG elements of levelling up and learning new skills that you’ve seen in Final Fantasy and the like.
So what makes this game different from the aforementioned Final Fantasy? Well, you’re online, all the time. With my piddling 56k modem I was able to be a member of a lag free world containing literally thousands upon thousands of players and at time quite literally jaw dropping scenery. I pledged allegiance to one of my friends who was an experienced player and he took me under his wing. I’ve never met the guy yet I really feel as if I spent hours in his company. He gave me equipment to aid my progression and took me on hunting tours to help my player become stronger. In return for this he earns experience points of his own based on my progression. Other than that, there are also moments that can only be described as Random Acts of Kindness. Numerous times I’ve been on the brink of loosing my last energy when a passer by has decided to cast a healing spell on me, or take out the beastie troubling me. Not only that, I’ve been given riches beyond my lowly character wildest dreams from experienced players I’ve never met before (either in-game or otherwise) who no longer had any need for the particular piece of equipment/cash. All this is made ten times better as I know a real person has decided to do that for me, not some computer generated algorithm. Community is encouraged throughout the game, in fact there are tasks even the greatest player can’t achieve alone. I’ve been in troops of 50 players on a dragon-hunting mission. Without this group the task would never be possible so to progress in the game you need to forge relationships. The computer controls all enemies so it is definitely a them-versus-us situation, and that’s sort of the key to why MMORPGs are so good.
I can’t stress enough that MMORPG is community gaming. Imagine playing Zelda, but every other character in the game is someone else sitting at home playing just like you. To progress you needed to help each other and there are so many tasks to accomplish that there is never the risk of falling over each another. Not only that, but if it took your fancy you could walk into one of the town’s bars and just have a chat to other gamers about gaming matters your “real life” friends don’t appreciate/care about. You could have a pint with someone on the other side of the world, and then go hunting together. “Wait”, you say, “if the big attraction is community why don’t I just go out with my friends, you sad Internet geek”. Can you live in a fantasy world, be it in space, medieval Europe or a fantastical world of magic and demons? Could you use your experience to take command of a troop of other players and go for the Holy Grail? All that limits the genre is computing power and imagination. Whole living, breathing environments could be realized where you could go anywhere and do anything. A freedom beyond current gaming where everything you do has a consequence on thousands of other real life players. Maybe it still all sounds rather “nerdy” when put like that, but there are times when we’re all home alone gaming – why not share and enhance the experience with a vast community of people like you?
Okay then, there are limits to MMORPGs now, number one being bandwidth. You simply cannot create a true on-line world within the limits of a 56k modem. What has been achieved is amazing and the lag problems are nothing compared to what you’d see in a typical game of Counter Strike (due to the nature of the games) but there are still problems. The server you’re on depends on what game area you’re in – so if you have lots of people are in one area lag kicks in. There are also the problems of two hour cut offs etc that occurs in any form of on-line activity at present. Sooner or later Broadband Britain will become a reality and these problems will be wiped out. Accessibility will also rise as more and more people get on-line and become frequent with on-line gaming and that increases the community and brings in new types of games players and developers. Console MMORPGs would make plug and play possible for this genre and then it can really hit mass market.
Console MMORPGs are begging to filter through now, though there are mere pretenders. Phantasy Star Online is a good game, but it is not a proper MMORPG. Sure, you can stand around the lobby area and chat to a few other gamers but when it comes to playing the game proper you’re limited to three companions. Even then the tasks aren’t really wholeheartedly designed for multiplay, as they have to be used to the one-player game to. What we need is a developer with guts to release a proper MMORPG on a console. One designed just for online multiplayer action and where a monthly fee is charged so the game can be constantly updated. Who knows who will do this or when – maybe Final Fantasy X or the next Zelda title. Microsoft expect to have the follow up to Asheron’s Call on the X-Box, so it’ll probably be a race to see if anyone can get there before them. Once consoles start hosting good MMORPGs we’ll see a greater diversity not only in the titles but the players. Console players in general are a more varied bunch due to the cheaper costs and the fact that there is less stigmatism attached to being a console owner than their PC counterparts. These new breed of players will hopefully help to lead the MMOPRG genre away from its traditional Dungeons and Dragons/Games Workshop inspired and slightly wiffy present into a glittering diverse and fresh future.
There is a huge potential spin off from the MMORPG genre that could revolutionize Internet shopping – huge virtual shopping centres. You decide to take a break from the in game beastie bashing and tootle off down the local shopping district. You have a look around and pick a few things, pay for them via credit card and your friendly Postman turns up with them a few days later. Merely a cosmetic change on what’s done now, but it’d still be rather cool! Visit the cinema and have the film piped straight to your TV via that fat broadband connection? Maybe I’m being silly now.
The games developers could continually update these environments so there would always be something new to see or do. Of course, you’d have to pay a monthly membership fee for this, but that’s only fair really! They maintain the servers, fix bugs, monitor the game for cheating and provide new content – worth your cash methinks! Potentially if the game provides diverse enough experiences you may never need another “new” game.
I’m genuinely excited about the prospect of future MMORPGs. There’s one in development based on the Star Wars Galaxy that looks promising, but I’d say we’re at least 20 years away from the sort of all encompassing titles I’m imagining. Oh well, it’ll be something to do in my retirement!
So, MMORPGs, the Future of Gaming or a wild pipedream? What other fantastical ideas do you have for a real-time gaming environment consisting of millions of players?
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Kameo: Elements of Power looks good, you should choose that (if you've seen any video clips, you'll know what I mean. http://cube.ign.com/games.html, click on preview.)
Thanks for the nice words, think I'll add a second title to the GameCube collection - claimed Luigi’s Mansion for an earlier win, maybe Rouge Squadron 2 this time, not sure.
This was well worthy of a win. A very good topic and long too!
Well done Gonzo......you won! What you going to choose?
(;o|
(;o|
Dringo wrote:
> you can order a free CD despite postage and packaging and in PC
> Gameplay it is on the cover in september!
you can buy it for 5 euros (about £3.10) off the site, and it is cool
> you can order a free CD despite postage and packaging and in PC
> Gameplay it is on the cover in september!
you can buy it for 5 euros (about £3.10) off the site, and it is cool
you can order a free CD despite postage and packaging and in PC Gameplay it is on the cover in september!
I've only heard bad things about Legend of Mir -
> other than it being free...
* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *
I was going to try it out....until I realised it was a 210.8 meg download.
(;o|
> other than it being free...
* ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** *
I was going to try it out....until I realised it was a 210.8 meg download.
(;o|
I picked up AC for a tenner in a on line retailers clear out sale, and with the game you get a months free play. I think its $15 a month - but as it comes straight off my credit card I'm not 100% sure! That's ANOTHER thing I have to remember to change when I get my new card issued (wallet stolen, had to cancel everything).
I've only heard bad things about Legend of Mir - other than it being free...
I've only heard bad things about Legend of Mir - other than it being free...
Good post mate. So in fact that I've decided I want to get into MMORPG's.
Does anyone know of any free ones?
I don't really want to spend out £30 for EverQuest or AC or whatever, and then pay £15 a month in case I don't like them.
Thanks.
Does anyone know of any free ones?
I don't really want to spend out £30 for EverQuest or AC or whatever, and then pay £15 a month in case I don't like them.
Thanks.
Has anyone here payed Legend of Mir? If so is it any good?
(;o|
(;o|
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