Is the Current Generation of MMO’s underwhelming? I’ve noticed a few things recently that have not surprised me yet left me curious. Current Gen MMO’s aren’t all that innovative. One feels much like another with similar mechanics and game play styles. The only real variances have been in art, sound, and in some cases presentation. Even many of the ideas are ripped out of older generation or other style of gaming playbooks. I’m not kidding either, look at games like Neverwinter . While it’s not a bad game, it’s not a very “Complete” game in a sense. With the Foundry carried over from titles like Star Trek Online much of the available content is player created. Other games such as Darkfall and it’s remastering as Darkfall: Unholy Wars tried to fill a niche that Ultima Online abandoned when Open World PvP became optional with the Trammel/Felucca split when UO: Renaissance released. Other titles coming up in the near future such as Firefall which is in Open Beta borrow heavily from Table Top gaming, in this case namely Rifts and Shadowrun.
Now I don’t want this to turn into a case of “Simpson’s Did It!”, but where is the real creativity at anymore? I haven’t felt supercharged over a real original concept in along time. Star Wars: The Old Republic tried with it’s story driven basis, but left much of the MMO feeling like just an RPG, and don’t get me wrong it’s probably my favorite of the current Gen MMO’s, but instead of finding ways other than the tried and true Dungeons and Raids renamed as Flashpoints and Operations, nothing really new came from the game. Honestly the last time a game actually introduced something that I found creative, and beneficial was when I dabbled into Atlantica Online, a few years ago and was introduced to their “Mentor” system which encouraged veteran players to assist new comers long term by rewarding both as the junior member gained levels.
The majority of new titles don’t even peak my interests anymore, I feel like I’ve seen it all before in one form or another, while the graphics and sound may be pleasing the “OH WOW!” factor is completely missing. I simply have this craving for something really new. I’m wondering if in the future hardware such as the Oculus Rift will be a game changer, I definitely want to purchase a pair of those if they gain support from numerous gaming studios. If they do the first few MMO’s to fully support this new tech will have the potential to be amazing. Until then the journey continues as I search for a game with an “It!” factor.