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Are Fantasy mmo's Becoming Old?
Razeekster
Member UncommonPosts: 2,591
Don't get me wrong I love me some dragon's, but they all seem to be the same thing.
'You're the hero of a world infested with the evil overlord Magorth, who killed the king and the whole royal family, letting out loose a thosand years of war. Magorth summoned thousands of demons and the people trembled as he rode on his dragon Gorgath, wasting the land in hellish fires. Finally, a brave knight defeated Magorth and sealed him in the demons worlds.... A thousand years later Magorth has escaped his imprisonment and seeks vengance on the world that exiled him to the demon world. You alone, hero, are the only hope for a dying world. Fight to save us. Fight for glory. Fight for peace. Fight for mankind.'
Keeping in mind I just made up everything above, either,
1)Means I'm a really great writer!
2)The fantasy mmorpg theme has been used so much that people can just guess how the 'newest and most awesomest mmorpg' is going to turn out to be like.
I think I'll pick option two (if you say option one though, I'd be flattered).
Nothing really new is happening, and it's as if developers of mmorpg's are afraid of trying anything new and have sadly become stagnant.
It's become so bad for me that I actually find myself ashamed as I type into Google 'mmorpgs with flying mounts,' because otherwise I won't play them.
The reason being is because if I'm going to to play an mmorpg that has the same theme as 100's of other mmorpgs out there, why not play it flying on a kickass mount?
Yes, my shame knows no bounds.
Smile
Comments
Yes.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
yes, so is the mmorpg
NO
swords , magic , dragon never get old :P
nope fantasy isn't getting old just the games.
Well I get the feeling that mmorpg componies have magical 'copy-paste' devices that copy mmorpgs and then paste them into their own software so they can make them look a bit different.
Then they go into their 'newly created' game and tweak the names of npc's and races and class skills.
They obviously add elves as a race because gosh-be-darn every mmorpg has elves and it just wouldn't be the same.
They are sneaky about it though by giving these elf like races different names even though you know they are elves.
They go through their 'awesome' and 'new' mmorpg and tweak it to the point where they can call it 'original', and then they unleash onto the world to line thier pockets with money!
Smile
Far too many Fantasy backgrounds are written with little depth and consistancy. If it's a dumb story, or a poorly thought out setting, I know I am much less inclined to invest in the game/book/movie. Sadly, most games don't put enough consideration into the writing of the set and setting.
Also, everyone and their uncle thinks they are a good writer. So every programmer, marketeer, gofer, etc, in the business feels free to write up their 'masterpiece'. Since this problem exists even at the pro level, it is sure to happen in the companies that make games.
If you continually run in to re-used old tropes, without proper world building, it's going to suffer. As will many of us.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
Oh god, I remember when Forsaken World was going on and eveyrone thought it was going to be this new awesome game, and it just turned out to be exaclty the same as every other fantasy mmorpg out there.
I can only hope GW2 revitalizes this genre.
Smile
Sorta.
High fantasy is sort of like sweets, in that it'll rot your teeth in a hurry.
I'm still a myth / fantasy preferred player. But even the amount of "magic" flavor they've added to typically low-fantasy settings like Lord of the Rings and Conan in their respective MMOs is a bit much at time.
Give me a true sword and sorcery pulp setting or something along the lines of Game of Thrones and I'd be a happy little pointy earred gnome.
On a side note I am (obviously) looking forward to The Secret World because it's a different kind of fantasy setting.
AND I'M SURE THESE BOARDS, like the many other I've been around, probably has seen more than one major cry for the Shadowrun IP to find a way into the MMORPG market. It's cyberpunk fantasy, and it's awesome.
I used to play MMOs like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
There are just too many fantasy mmos out there. If they would only stop mass producing mmos like it is candy then we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Is fantasy mmo getting old? No. It's like saying fantasy books are getting old. The technology is getting old, but a story genre will never get old.
You spelled imprisonment wrong. No million dollar contract for you!
Seriously, yes, it's getting old. 10,000 times yes. I never liked the fantasy mmo genre that much to start with anyway. Sci-fi has always been less tolerant of cliches than fantasy in all the creative forms. That's my biased opinion, but I have been reading sci-fi and fantasy for close to thirty years (written some utterly horrible and completely unsellable novels and short stories in both genres, too), so it's not a completely uninformed opinion.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
I like it that Guild Wars really works hard on their history and world building. They take archetypes (animal men, the little people, the plant people) and spin them up quite differently. Hope it works out well, as well.
If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.
I'm also looking forward to The Secret World for the reason that it looks like a fresh new take on fantasy.
I think though it crosses more into the horror genre.
Also I did see news and videos on Shadorun and it did, indeed look awesome.
Smile
Fantasy is still the most popular mmorpg genre.
Designers are getting too lazy and greedy, though...
"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted.
Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."
Hans Margolius
Yes, Guild Wars was a very fun, and very well made game.
The problem with it is though Guild Wars is very different from many mmos as it feels like a single player rpg a lot of the times.
I liked it while I played it, but I'm really looking forward to Guild Wars 2 for the the open game world experience.
The lore and history though of Guild Wars will forever remain one of my favorites.
Smile
Thanks for the catch, I fixed it, and I'm the opposite.
In that I never really quite liked sci-fi games.
They are okay, but I don't enjoy flying space crafts and I could never ever get into Star Trek (sorry fan boys).
Smile
Not a Trekkie either, actually. And while I do enjoy a good flying space craft yarn, sci-fi encompasses a lot more than that. Some of the best sci-fi I've read never left Earth.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
I am guilty of telling a fib.
I do enjoy some sci-fi because I have always loved Star Wars.
Smile
Setting is not the problem, mechanics are.
I don't think fantasy games will ever get old. It's the same, like saying action type movies becoming old.
I blame the mmo creators for being unimaginative, narrowminded, short time money grabbers. The fantasy mmos can rise and shine once again, we only need imaginative, creative, passionate people handling the mmo makers wheel, and they should also have lots of funding
For me it is a combination of the two. To be fair though if there were as many sci-fi MMO's as there are fantasy I would be tired of sci-fi. It is not a hatred of Fantasy that makes me want something different.
@Razeekster: I think the simple answer to your question lies in the fact that your original post didn't say much at all about the setting, but story told around the setting. So are fantasy stories in MMOGs becoming old? Yeah, they really are.
I don't think the setting/theme will ever die.
Sarcasm is not a crime!
No, they're NOT getting old. What's going on is that companies are reusing the SAME formulai for fantasy games so much that people are getting tired of them. Being "Over Used" is FAR different than becoming Old.
The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.
What makes me sad is when I find an mmorpg that has a beautiful world to explore but fails with its storytelling and with everything else.
What I am seeing is too much focus on the environment and not enough focus on the substance and longevity of many mmorpgs.
Smile
Fantasy will always be a reasonably popular genre for those who don't overindulge in it.
But really as far as themes go, it's not even all that popular. It just happens to be at a relatively solid intersection between MMORPG mechanics and the settings gamers are used to, so you see quite a few MMORPGs made about it.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver