Is there any room to build?

[Sylar]

At this point, I feel like MMO's have reached a level where basically everything has been done. I found myself contemplating, from a developer standpoint, where there could be room for creativity and uniqueness. I couldn't think of anything that wasn't already being done by a top-level MMO

So my question is, do you think there is any room for a new MMO to come out that will pull a significant audience?

 

[JoshSucksAtGames]

Modern MMOs fail, because they aren't interesting worlds. Most MMOs have all used a similar format. If you look at the unique ones though (WoW, Eve, Guild Wars) they are successful, because they created a unique world and story that people wanted to thrive in. Today, devs seem to c/p shit from the OG MMOs I just mentioned. There is definitely room for more MMOS. There just needs to be one with an interesting world, interesting story, and a few unique mechanics. No, fantasy Wow-redo bullshit.

 

[Sylar]

Exactly. The question is, what would these mechanics be? I personally cannot fathom anything that hasn't already been done

 

[JoshSucksAtGames]

Exactly. The question is, what would these mechanics be? I personally cannot fathom anything that hasn't already been done

While most things have been done, I'm sure somebody will come up with a unique mechanic at some point. Whether that be a new type of travel system or something. Even with all mechanics being used up, an interesting mix of them with a good story will still result in a success. At the end of the day, most MMOs today suck because they don't have a good story.

 

[deltachi2012]

While most things have been done, I'm sure somebody will come up with a unique mechanic at some point. Whether that be a new type of travel system or something. Even with all mechanics being used up, an interesting mix of them with a good story will still result in a success. At the end of the day, most MMOs today suck because they don't have a good story.

Exactly MMOs need to be something users can involve their selves with, whether it be a connection with a character, or the desire to learn about an in depth storyline, it doesn't matter just needs to be unique. If you just come up with another Hack and slash melee MMO with a flat story line, you might retain a few dedicated users, but nothing that can be considered "massive".

 

[RivaCom]

I think there is tons of room, just little room for error. For example , two big name MMOs. SWTOR and ESO. Both great games as single player games, huge story. However Bioware and Beth, both did the wrong thing. Instead of making a pure MMO game, they focused 90% of the time on the story, voice overs, cut scenes. What happened? Players played the game through once and was instantly bored. Because there was no content outside the story. This resulted in both games quickly going F2P.

That being said there are two huge areas of interest that MMO's could build off of.

1. Hardcore MMO players. No I don't mean Hardcore Raiding. I mean Hardcore Rules. Let's go back to the MMO roots and forget how WoW introduced easy mode. Games like EQ, M59, UO, Daoc, SWG all had great gameplay, and was difficult to play or master. Not to mention the endless content which encourage player interaction, something that lacks greatly in most MMO's now. MMO's are supposed to be massive but have catered to casual players way too much. Currently Pantheon(from the creator of EQ) is trying to achieve this (http://patheonrotf.com)
2. A true PvP/Territory MMO. Shadowbane was a great game, and Darkfall Online almost had it down. But we need a Great Kingdom based MMO with a conquer system that works. Perm Death, and everything included.

 

[Sylar]

1. A true PvP/Territory MMO. Shadowbane was a great game, and Darkfall Online almost had it down. But we need a Great Kingdom based MMO with a conquer system that works. Perm Death, and everything included.

Oooh I really like the idea of this. I love PvP and this sounds like it could draw a huge crowd if implemented properly. The only thing is, what happens when you start to wane on users? Or when you start out with almost no users? Seems like there could be some issues there

 

[RivaCom]

Oooh I really like the idea of this. I love PvP and this sounds like it could draw a huge crowd if implemented properly. The only thing is, what happens when you start to wane on users? Or when you start out with almost no users? Seems like there could be some issues there

I don't think usually this is too much of a user as there seems to be a user base always, even it's not the largest. When Darkfall Online hit beta, there was thousands of players ready to play, alliances were formed, enemies were targeted. And on release game was packed with queue times and players eager to conquer the land.

The other possibility is filling in missing players with AI.

 

[Sylar]

True true. Yeah AI could definitely be a possibility there. So does a game like that have any PvE or is it all straight PvP?

 

[RivaCom]

There usually is some sorts of PvE, but not like games like WoW. In Darkfall, it was mainly to find weapons. There would be a hill giant in area X, possibly armor/weapon drop. But you would need a armor to follow incase another guild/alliance decided to surprise ambush you on the way there.

 

[Sylar]

Sounds really cool. Hope to see something like this released in the near future