Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Put the swords down dammit!
Naos
Member Posts: 379
I have always wondered why so many MMORPGs are set in a fantasy world with full of Elves, Monsters, Spells and the like 
where Combat is no more than sword play.
Do you think that this is due to the success of Everquest that they try to emulate it? Or a lack of imagination in the industry? Or something else?
Also if you could make a universe of you own would you aim no higher than D&D?
Comments
You do have a point. We need cannons, guns, uzi's shot guns and crap like that.
MMORPG's . . .some do have bow and arrows . . .
-In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08-
|
RISING DRAGOON ~AION US ONLINE LEGION for Elyos
No, it has nothing at all to do with EverQuest's success. Fantasy roleplaying has been around for decades and just happens to be the predominant setting of roleplaying games. There were other settings for roleplaying games even in tabletop gaming, it just wasnt as popular as the high fantasy games. So, no, they arent copying EverQuest's success, because EQ was copying a multitude of games that came years before it.
-In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08-
|
RISING DRAGOON ~AION US ONLINE LEGION for Elyos
I can remember the fun of D&D and AD&D although its a long time ago now
*why is it always the little words I forget.... Soz
Qoute: "I neva *ucked anybody over in my life, who didn't have it comin' to 'im, you got that? All I have in this world is my balls, and my word, and I don't break 'em for no one, jou understand?" Tony Montana
Qoute: "I neva *ucked anybody over in my life, who didn't have it comin' to 'im, you got that? All I have in this world is my balls, and my word, and I don't break 'em for no one, jou understand?" Tony Montana
Its lack of courage of the devs to try something new and not clone a successful genre.
There are a few non-fantasy mmorpgs out there, but they don't get the publicity and hype like EQ2 and WoW.
Look at
Star Wars Galaxies
EVE-Online
Necocron
World War II Online
in development:
Pirates of the Burning Sea
Roma Victor
---------------------------------------------
Costy
Stosstrupp Gold
a german speaking World War II Online allied squad
110th Infantry Regiment
2 DINA, III Corps, ArFr, AHC
-----------------------------------
Life is too short to play bad games.
SWG - was/is a disaster imo (how not to do a MMOG and anger the playerbase in 3 easy steps)
its without a peer
no depth
EVE-Online - been playing since beta
Necrocron - seemed kinda pants
WW2 online - I guess I played RTCW far to much and it has no depth
Pirates of the Burning Sea - Cant see it working or me playing
Roma Victor - Looks like 99% of whats around atm (and pants)
and CoH (wtf?)
The Matrix online looks interesting..... but I agree its Its lack of courage of the devs to try something new although Im sure its more the moneymen than the Devs that are holding things back.
it's not that mmorpgs hadn't "bothered" or hadn't "come up" with a mmorpg genre other than fantasy.
It's that fantasy will sell more and others and the general public enjoys fantasy over other genres. As the other poster had mentioned, pen and paper RPGs...I used to play pen and paper RPGs from 8th grade to the end of college.
We played everything from Robotech, to World War 2 type games, to modern role playing games of anywhere from fighting games to others
We played Sci-FI role playing on pen and paper we played horror we played neo-classical idustrial revolution time period games (Jack the Ripper and Call of Cthulu), we played historical and futuristic role playing games of horror, sci-fi, or cyber-punk genres. We even played Role playing games based on cars (Cars Wars)
We played EVERY genre you can think of except RPG porn.
But the main thing....we always went back to Fantasy role playing (whether it was DnD, Gurps, AD&D or whatever)...and we liked it. Out of all the games we had (and collectively we had enough to fill a school library with ease), we had more money invested in fantasy-type role playing games than any other.
People just love fantasy way more than others. Why? I have absolutely no idea why...but I do know they do.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
Qoute: "I neva *ucked anybody over in my life, who didn't have it comin' to 'im, you got that? All I have in this world is my balls, and my word, and I don't break 'em for no one, jou understand?" Tony Montana
Qoute: "I neva *ucked anybody over in my life, who didn't have it comin' to 'im, you got that? All I have in this world is my balls, and my word, and I don't break 'em for no one, jou understand?" Tony Montana
WW2 online - I guess I played RTCW far to much and it has no depth
Speaking of WW2 online, does it have a free trial where you don't have to pay anything after you finish it and you don't have to start up a subscription, only getting the first month free? Basically, can you just play it free for a period of time with no form of payment or "promised" payment? I played Planetside and I thought that game was decent so I wanted to try out WW2O.
Sky and Beyond: Developer
www.skyandbeyond.tk
"Put your foot where your mouth is." - Wisdom from my grandfather
"Paper or plastic? ... because I'm afraid I'll have to suffocate you unless you put this bag on your head..." - Ethnitrek
AC1: Wierding from Harvestgain
I myself prefer the good old Magic and steel to other genres. It's a classic and is easy to mold your own creative universe into whatever history you want it to have. Plus it's the best way to explain why higher level weapons hurt more (I shot you in the head why arn't you dead? psh lvl one gun should have nothing to do with it!). Well there are good arguments for both sides and I just prefer the good ol' Fantasy genre. Boy will those peopel who dream of living in the medival times be dissapointed when they learn it was not much more then dirt, plagues, and corruption, and not knights in shining armour
Battletech
And I would never play another game again. MMORPG. Both as human and in Mech. The universe and history is awesome, and extremly detailed. The classes and characters are perfect, the mechs a HUGE bonus, for heavy combat, and sidearms in town for light combat.
It would be like SWG... but fun, and really really good.
A man can dream...
Only game I wait for right now: Imperator.
Go Mythic!
"This is not a game to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force"
Well, IMO every different type is welcome. But here is a try of an explanation...
Killing a monster with high tech can be viewed by many players as less valiant and glorious then defeating it melee or with limited ressources. It is a matter of point of views. The Dark Ages have something special on our mind that no other era have, the religion been ruling over ''comon sense''. A higher purpose. The ideal of Chivalry, yes a jedi is noble and all, it will never be the equal of the noble knight riding a horse to save the lady in distress no matter what, even if the jedi actions would outmatch the knight, in the mind of the peoples it wont.
Personnally I love the Dark Age, althought some Renaissance breakthrought could be welcome, as long as they remain secondary.
Could a Renaissance MMORPG work fine? Most certainly, it have everything you need...but it dont work on the mind of the peoples as well, well documented, religion althought dominant is not as important(at least in the minds of the players). See, if instead of the wizards you have the rifleman, the players feel they lose something major right away.
Ancient greeks? Well, EQ is closer to ancients times then to renaissance, the setting of EQ is pretty similar to that of early Dark Ages after the fall of Rome, with Qeynos arguably been the Byzantine Empire(or the westerns power of Christianity)...
Just an opinion, all styles are welcome, but the peoples in general, they strive for a magical dark age...and when you try to sell a product, you put the flavors peoples like.
Renaissance could be like sweet and sour while futurist could be like suicide mexican hot spices...Dark Age is the BBQ sauce!
- "EQ2 or WoW? I wont touch it! Not even with a stick!''
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
You forgot to mention Anarchy Online 3 years old now and still has a solid following due to all of it's unique characteristics that allow you to really range your toons. (Although most people run the most common paths, based either on the success of others or availability
)
Also theres that Cell shaded one in production, sci-fi suture based, can;t remeber the name but looks very interesting
i would much rather have a nice sword and shield (mace,dagger, etc whatever you choose) and some nice spells at my disposal than the sci-fi crap, it just does not perk my interest in the slightest.
EDIT: and like anofalye said, even when i played games like jedi knight 2 i didnt use anything but my lightsaber, it was just the skill that took to use it and the feeling you got from it. anyone can pick up a gun and shoot you, a weapon like a sword (i took fencing lessons) takes much more skill to use, i guess its just a personal preference.
www.ryzom.com
Take that you damn fantasy!
And why the hell is it that the French have build up enough courage for that?
________________________________
Give a man some fire, and he will be warm for the day.
Set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.
-Clothes and Armor Tradeskiller
Papa Smurf Can I Lick Your A$$
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
fan·ta·sy
n. pl. fan·ta·sies
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I do agree with you. The companies are not using enough imagination. Companies want something that sells, so they can grab their paycheck and move down to Florida for the summer. When looking for something to use, all eyes are basically on games of Everquest. One of the older, popular MMO's.
But i don't think fantasy is the problem. Fantasy is a vast and mysterious subject, and companies only scratch the surface of it. They are too afraid of taking a risk, getting outside of the boundaries. Instead, they stick to castles and elves, which are being overused now.
Sci-Fi is also a HUGE genre to sink your teeth into. If there was as much Sci-Fi MMO's as there were Fantasy, i'm sure it would recieve much more interest.
Well Outpost has ak47s and m16s grenades Rocket launchers and instead of armor and all that stuff u got differt kinds of military uniforms. This game just came out Sept. 1st. Its awsome and way different from all those fantasy mmos try it out!
Let me see......
People seem to have more of an interest with the Fantasy set of mmorpgs......I mean in them you have...
Swords
armor
staffs
wands
shield
all of that cool stuff.....and if the game has alot of variety...and a good customization system......then no char looks the same..and you can make your character look so awesome........and theres alot of types of quests....side-quest...stories......missions..what ever......so you have alot to do...and then you have different artisian skills which can give you even more to do.....
Then yo ugo into a game with guns......and its all about who have the better gun or better reflex and reaction.....and its always the same....I mean.....most chars look the same and all.........
don;t get me wrong I love shooters....counter strike and battle field are my 2 favorites.....but I would rather havew like......WoW...or EQ....because there are alot of people...and alot of different things to do.......
now if you go ingto a space game....its all about the ships....or how good you can get some sort of mineral...or can you kill this aqud of evil ships here..and it gets dull.......sorta like free lancer.....that was a good game...but it got dull.....
alwell...this is my input to this thread,,,,regardless if you like it or not....it is here.....
---------------------------------------------
"Everyones life has a beginning and an end, No one can change that."-Hiko
"If you wish to taste the ground, then feel free to attack."-Kenshin Himura
---------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------
WoW
-Rhalon 85 B.E. rogue
-Rhalon 81 UD Mage
-Doneski 85 Orc death knight
"Everyones life has a beginning and an end, No one can change that."-Hiko
"If you wish to taste the ground, then feel free to attack."-Kenshin Himura
---------------------------------------------
Then you go into a game with swords.....and its all about who has the better sword or axe (notice, no reflexes needed).......and its always the same......I mean......most chars look the same and all (where are you getting this from? just cause its a FPS dowesn't mean everyone looks the same, 1 word and a number for you, Lineage 2, theres about 2/3 of the human race that look the same)........