Editorial Damien Foletto Loves the MMO in RPG

[Sol Invictus]

Tags: Damien Foletto

Brace yourselves with yet another RPG developer who has been embraced by the curse of the MMORPG vampire: Damien "Puuk" Foletto. Be ready for thrills and spills as Damien brings you through the wild ride of his very long, very verbose article on Winterwind: "<a href="http://www.winterwind-productions.com/gaming_industry/foletto.html">An MMORPG Affair by Damien Foletto</a>". Here is a minute snippet to excite your tastes, and tickle your fury:
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<blockquote> While single player CRPG's will always remain my favorite genre of video game, I also very much enjoy MMORPG's. There, I said it - and I do not regret that I said it! I like, and am a fan of, MMORPG's! I like being able to group up with friends and adventure in a vast, danger filled persistent online world. I like having the option of going it solo, knowing that at any time I could find like-minded players and group up if I get lonely. I like the variety of bad guys, the (often times thinly veiled) story lines, and fumbling upon that one item that makes my character stand out in the crowd. There are many things that I like about MMORPG's, however, there are also many things that I would like to see MMORPG's do, or change, in the future, and then I might love MMORPG's.
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Right now, MMORPG's are like having a new, potentially worthwhile girlfriend - you think to yourself, "this could be the one," and eagerly wait to see what the coming months will bring. Ultimately, though, the fire dissipates after a few months, you're bored doing the same old thing over and over again, and you're ready to move on. Then another candidate comes along showing great potential, and the same, wonderful feelings of anticipation resurface. The cycle starts anew. </blockquote>
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Mental note: <b>Just say no to drugs.</b>
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[plin]

It was a good read and I agreed with most everything he said.

 

[Rayt]

MMOG's possibilities are numerous, but most if not all intentions get destroyed by fucktards playing the game. Which is, I think, why most people here hate the concept of a mmorpg version of Fallout.

 

[Sol Invictus]

There is, however, one startlingly obvious point which he forgot to make: MMORPGs will continue to suck and be nothing but a powergamer's playground so long as they continue to remain script-based rather than AI-based.

I await the day when AI in games will be smart enough to simulate a real, living environment, and correspond to your actions and to the actions of every player in the realm.

A game with a real economy, real laws, real politics, and real evolution. That is my ideal game.

 

[Volourn]

Sure. Great to have an ideal; but without the journey one will never reach the idea or at the very lest have no hope to. bottom line is they should continue to make 'em until they get them right.

 

[Sol Invictus]

And until they get it right I don't want to have any part of it.

 

[Volourn]

No one asked you (or me) to be. You stress too much over it, and I strees too much over you stressing over it. We're even in that regard. :evil:

 

[Shevek]

I am confused - Exitium, you have expressed enjoyment of MMOs in the recent past, havent you?

Anyways, from my perspective, MMOs have very little potential in their current incarnation. I just don't see how a world populated with 2,000 heros stuck on a treadmill is suppose to really engage the player much. Sure, its fun for a bit but after you master the game/group mechanics theres very little to keep you coming back. The devs just pump the games full of more and more loot and monsters ultimately smearing a small playerbase over an increasingly large world and sticking them with a mudflated economy. Attempts to mess with the economic model (as seen in SWG), seem pretty bleh to me as the carrot on the virtual stick (ie, the loot) was trivialized and players were forced to realize the genre was lacking.

 

[JJ86]

WHAT THE HELL IS A LINEAGE 2?

 

[Avin]

i used to play ultima online and, except for the retarded asshole players, it was a very nice experience.

it would be different if players weren't 15yr looters. really.