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MMO subcategories: A new trend?
soldyne
Member Posts: 7
I posted this idea in the Cities XL forum because people are very passionate about what constitutes an MMO and more specifically an MMORPG.
My suggestion there was to begin creating a new set of subcategories for MMO games. it is becoming very apparent that the MMO genre is expanding and evolving beyond the mainstream fantasy RPG model. so I would like to see if this website and its contributors would like to start a new trend and begin coining some new terms related to MMO games.
I put this under site suggestion because I think it would help people more if the site itself began organizing games into these new categories. of course it will take a lot discussion to determine what are good categories and how best to define them, but, is that not exactly what forums like this are for? of course, if this topic should go somewhere else, feel free to move it.
MMO - any game with an online element where a player can interact with a large number of other players in real time (100+ is a good limiter for the massive definition).
Subcatagories:
MMORPG: any MMO where the intent is for the player to play a single avatar which can increase in personal power (through equipment, level, skills, etc) and progress through a story line (missions, quests, etc).
MMOFPS: any MMO where the intent is for the player to attack and kill other players. player avatar progression is not the main focus and is done mainly through temporary power ups. missions or quests are non-existent or rare.
MMORTS: any MMO where the player controls an army or a number of individual units and there is no personal avatar (or the avatar is some kind of general or leader for the army). the army is not made up of other player avatars.
MMOSIM: any MMO where the player is controlling and building a simulation of some kind. the intent of the game is to build and create while trading with others for mutual growth and expansion. Destruction and battles are non-existent and would be in opposition to the main purpose of the game.
so, if we do this, we can see that CitiesXL should be a MMOSIM. by all means add to the list and expand on the definitions. give examples too. we have an opportunity here to start a new trend. lets create, not destroy.
I am not suggesting that MMORPG.com change its name. You can call the site whatever you want because it is just a title and not a category heading. And it is still a fitting title since MMORPGs are the main grouping by far for all MMOs.
Comments
This thread is oddly ironic
You'll see soon.
I hope I did not offend anyone (or anything) and I hope I did not step on any toes with the suggestion. I just came up with it yesterday because of the Cities XL thread.
You forget webgames, ... there are 100.000 players in a OGame server (is perfectly posible for 100.000 players to attack your planet at once).
I think MMORPG self-limit to RPG games, since MMORTS games are "moslty" ignored. Only a few ones are accepted (maybe breaking somewhat his own rules?). But I could be wrong, and I am sure the rules to accept a game here in mmorpg are written somewhere and are very clear.
Probably are rules designed to stop the site to getting "cheapened" by a million halfassed mmo's.
I think the irony comes from what this website's name is what the manager means lol
well the discussion in the other thread was concerned about the definition of RPG as much as MMO. Cities XL is obviously not the standard RPG that everyone thinks of (FFXI, Runescape, EQ, WOW, Ultima, etc). it is based on a city building simulation game and so should not be called a MMORPG.
however the counter to that argument is that in any game anywhere you must take a "role" in order to play it. in Cities XL you take on the role of a mayor and thus it is, in the looser sense of the word, an RPG. even Super Mario Bros. is an RPG because you play the role of a plumber.
of course there were also concerns that Cities XL was not Massive enough, or that it was not persistant. so I thought it would be a good idea for the community to start agreeing on some general definitions. For example how does one define "Massive"? 100 players, 1000 players, 1million players *puts pinky finger to mouth and acts Evil*.
really my goal with this idea is to try and foster a sense of cooperation and agreement instead of continuing an argument that will not go anywhere. One of the fudamental differences between debate and argument is the ability to agree to a common set of definitions, and that is really my point here, to try and set up a common set of definitions when talking about MMORPGs.
also, his post implied that something is comming. perhaps they are thinking of changing the name of the site or perhaps they have already started discussing new categories. oh well, time will tell.