A Call For New Worlds: Part I

Wednesday, Aug. 4 2004 | Author: Scrivs

Do you love MMORPGs? Ever think there can be improved significantly? Well the people at Ars thought so to and even did a writeup on the different things that could be improved for future MMORPGs.

The pinnacle of this immersion, where we can transform ourselves into someone wholly different, and interact with people foreign to (or sometimes eerily similar to) those we know in our daily lives, is undoubtedly the growing genre of massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMORPGs). It is this genre that has tried so steadfastly to produce worlds filled with more than just scripted characters and linear gameplay. MMORPGs try to break free from the mold that static, single-player games have perpetuated. Now more than ever, they are trying desperately to set themselves apart from traditional gaming, where flexibility and community are more important than simply winning.

Yet even with innovation and change on the horizon, there are many key elements that are still missing in the latest breed of MMORPGs, elements that could refine and perfect the virtual worlds of tomorrow. It is the attempt of this missive to discuss exactly these factors: what changes could be implemented into MMORPGs to make them more immersive, more realistic, more open-ended, and in short, better?

I was one of the first people online for Everquest back in 1999. That was my freshmen year in college. I missed about 2 weeks of class. I didn’t touch a MMORPG for another 4 years for fear of that crazy addiction.