The Rise of Originality In MMOs 118
Karen Hertzberg writes "Over the last half decade, gamers have been forced to wander through familiar worlds and universes. Studios have been licensing IPs left and right, grabbing everything from the Wheel of Time to Star Trek. Originality seemed to be a lost art, and although these worlds were fun to adventure in, many didn't hold the same sort of magical spell that original titles like EverQuest or Dark Age of Camelot once enjoyed. But change is coming. Blizzard Entertainment revealed that their next MMO would be an original IP, and this year's E3 lineup featured more brand new games than titles derived from existing worlds. So, why the sudden shift? To answer that question, Ten Ton Hammer's Cody 'Micajah' Bye sent a number of questions to original IP development teams across the world."
Well, there has been original IP (Score:5, Insightful)
but if you use an artificially short time span you wouldn't see it. I guess that makes the story easier.
In the realm of MMORPG you could claim EQ was original IP when it came out, so was Asheron's Call (very different from any MMORPG then and since - if anything it had many features that need to exist in newer MMORPGS).
Still I can summarize the need for original IP.
Expectations are set to high especially if the IP is well known. Witness LOTRO. They are literally handcuffed by the novels and every feature is measured by rabid fans against whatever they deem as cannon. For Blizzard to create a new IP means that we don't have to worry about Starcraft being crammed into a MMORPG and will see good RTS games on it. Diablo too will not be hammered into some form alien from what made it so fun to play.
The reason to not use original IP. Because it can provide consistency and take care a lot of the work needed to give a world life. Many things can be glossed over relying on the player to know the history from the original IP. Why does mob X do that? Well if you had read the novels, seen the movie, etc, you would inherently know. A few patches in and some NPC might be wise enough. Plus it justifies what otherwise might be considered stupid abilities or traits on npcs/mobs/pcs that exist.
As for other companies, oh well, lets hope someone can figure out the right combination to at least get their original IP seen. The problem with many is they promise the moon and deliver a steaming piile.
Since when does 'original' IP = originality? (Score:2, Insightful)
Coming up with your own Tolkien/D&D-derived IP to wrap around your generic DikuMUD clone doesn't strike me as being any more original than licensing somebody else's (probably more cohesive and interesting) IP.
As for the question, if it's even a legitimate one, of why a game like EverQuest had more fantasy verisimilitude than WoW, it's because EQ was willing to sacrifice casual-friendly, "gamey" aspects for the sake of creating a fantasy world simulator. Blizzard, OTOH, never wants you to forget that WoW has an accessible minigame around every corner. You already know which approach wins the mass market following.
Original IP? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Original? (Score:3, Insightful)
For example, the Volsunga saga and the Poetic Edda served as inspiration to both Tolkien and Wagner. [wikipedia.org]
Re:meh. (Score:5, Insightful)
Today's MMOs are like riding the subway. One path, the people riding along probably smell, are inconsiderate, and they all looks the same.
That statement applies to most video games not just MMOs. However, unlike most games, subscription MMOs are heavily reliant on the number of players. A subscription-based MMO with too few players probably won't survive for long. So the developers have to find a balance between accessibility and challenge.
Make your game less challenging and you'll annoy the dedicated players. Make your game less accessible, however, and you risk driving off a majority of your subscription base. While I want a challenging MMO as much as the next guy, I want one that will survive.
With regards to your comments on "breaking camp", I remember well those days in the Northern Desert of Ro. I also remember the early days in Upper Blackrock Spire where crowd control was absolutely essential. While I do miss those days a bit, I also remember waiting an hour just to find a group to kill the same couple of camps over and over and over. I also remember ten-man UBRS runs taking more than two hours just to have the boss drop a chest piece for a class not even in the group. Those are not the days I want to relive. Heck, I don't even have time in my life to play games that work like that anymore.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
literature snobbitry about how everything is just a rewrite of everything else is fairly irrelevant.
we don't CARE that it's the same old story being told in a different arrangement. we care about the arrangement.
Re:meh. (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean.. Yahtzee with a story behind it only works for so long before you have to change something other than just the story.
Yeah, it's not like it could be the basis for a genre of gaming that's been around for 30 years or anything. Snobby dismissals aside, it's a formula that works and has been immensely popular, and will continue to be.
Re:Original IP... How about hardcore PvP? (not DF. (Score:1, Insightful)
You see it as Counter-Strike... We see it as an opportunity to play in a world where our actions actually matter, instead of doing the same quest a thousand times for a worthless NPC arbitrarily given the title of King, who will then forget about what we did and tell the next person to walk up to him that he needs 10 Rabbit Tails to fix his mojo shortage.
The thing is, EastCoastSurfer, your loot comment (and your post entirely) is stuck in the mindset of a PvE player. You're assuming that top gear is grabbed mainly from monsters... whereas a PvPer sees full loot and quick endgame content as an opportunity to strengthen the in-game economy by making crafters and resource control integral (thusly encouraging more inter-guild conflict and making the world more exciting).
There's no reason why WoW (or most other PvE MMOs) couldn't be played on a NWN-style 64 person server. Other than no longer having a large pool of people to trade from, you lose nothing. Private WoW servers would dominate if they could somehow get past the rampant bugs, incompatibilities, and the low technical skill level of many WoW players... Although, then they would get shut down faster than BnetD and Glider.
A PvP MMO, on the otherhand, needs that persistent world with thousands of players. Things like guild cities, sieges, player accountability, alliances and politics are irrelevant when you're playing Counter-Strike; but completely relevant when doing a PvP MMO such as Shadowbane, Darkfall or old-school UO. In a game where your actions actually change the world, persistence is everything.