Ty ArthurSkewering Sacred Cows Part I - The MMORPG
June 4th 2008 02:50
This is the going to be the first in a series of "Skewering the Sacred Cows" segments where I bring up games and genres that get hype but don't actually deserve it. Don't be offended if I bring up a game you like, though! I'm not going to tell you what you can and can't enjoy, to each his own. I will simply be explaining the reasons why these games aren't my cup of tea.
My first target is an entire subset of games - the MMORPG. For those who aren't in the know, MMORPG stands for Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game, and it is a genre championed by such giants as World of Warcraft, Everquest, Lineage 2, and a new slew of games based on popular series such as Lord of the Rings and Warhammer.
Theoretically, the MMORPG combines the best elements of the standard fantasy role playing game with the connecting power of the internet, allowing thousands of people to assume a role as a wizard or warrior off to seek adventure and treasure. What could be better than this? The MMORPG seems like it should be even better than standard pen and paper role playing games because it provides the ability to play just about any type of character imaginable but moves beyond imagining and talking about the character and what he or she is doing into actually having a physical representation of the person and their world.
The problem is that the MMORPG needs to drop the "RPG" from its title. Oh sure, there are the trappings of role playing and the presence of the standard features that would give a PC or console game the "RPG" branding. Characters have stats like Strength and Mana, they acquire experience points and gain in power as they rise in level, and they buy weapons and cast spells. The lack of role playing occurs both because of the unreachable scope promised (but not delivered on!) by the games themselves, and also because of the mindset of the players.
The main allure of the MMORPG is the ability to take part in a massive living world that changes as you change. Your actions and the actions of your companions can actually have an impact on the world around you. This allure is unfounded, as none of the current MMORPGs effectively implement this ability. The MMORPG is designed around the concepts of "Quest" and "Farming", neither of which is conducive to change. The standard session of playing a MMORPG consists of going to an NPC, having him tell you to go kill X number of creatures or retrieve X number of a certain item, then bring it back. Repeat. Repeat again. Repeat yet again. Keep repeating. No, you are not done repeating yet. It doesn't matter how many times you talk to the same NPC and do the same quest - that person will still be saying the same thing, offering the same quest, tomorrow and every day after that until the end of time. If you kill 9,999,999 orcs, and return 9,999,999 orc ears to the guard at the entrance to the town who is collecting orc ears, he will never mention that maybe you've wiped out the entire orc nation and it's time to move on to something else. There will never be less orcs in the world. No one will ever commend you for eradicating the orc menace. No one will accuse you of genocide and take you to trial. There are NO consequences for your actions in a MMORPG. It might as well just be a standard one track open to finish console RPG because it offers nothing different.
The secondary selling point of the MMORPG is meeting new people and traveling with them. Some MMORPGs are better at this than others, but of all the ones I've played there is a complete and total lack of actual role playing. No one will act like their character. The lawful good Paladin will cheerfully slaughter orcs alongside the chaotic evil Necromancer. Your companions will look at you funny if you talk in character or use Ye Old English, but then proceed to use phrases like "LOL" and "OMFG!” Think about that. A noble high elf adorned in expensive robes carrying his ancestral sword and on a quest to save his people comes up to you says "LOL OMFG! DO U WAN 2 GROUP?" Nothing kills MMORPGs like the people who play them.
As a parting gripe, it also annoys me that in Lineage 2 you can fall off of ledges and die from massive damage, but you can't jump. That's right, you can fall of the bridge, but you can't attempt to jump from the bridge to the ledge. What were the developers thinking?
Off of games real quick before we end - the new Opeth album "Watershed" came out today. If you consider yourself a fan of either progressive metal or death metal get to your nearest CD store straight away and part with 16 bucks!
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