"Action" MMOs are all the rage this year, and we'll look at a few MMOs that tend closer to the twitchier side of the RPG-FPS spectrum. Why have MMORPGss that adopt FPS elements (with the exception of that amalgam of all things gaming, World of Warcraft) not fared as well as FPS games that adopt RPG elements (Fallout 3, for example). And what will it take to make a successful MMO shooter? Loading... may have the beginnings of an answer.
Our Tales Runner "Dress for Success" giveaway continues, featuring over $20k in prizes, and we have a number of Ten Ton Hammer exclusives, articles, and guides to start your long weekend off right in Loading... FPS Killed the MMO Star!
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When you say warcraft isn't action based, it is VERY much so. It's almost FPS, (aiming spells, shooting guns, etc). They attract more people because the FPS-MMO games attract a larger crowd of different gamers...
I'm always wondering if it's a case of developers wanting to tap into the FPS market, or if it's a case of there really being no alternative but to go to more FPS style game play given the settings of the games, weapons used, etc?
This is a good topic. And while I should be working, I wanted to take a min to throw my 2 cents worth of perspective onto the pile. I personally have strong ties to both genres (FPS and MMO). I can remember the fascination and joy of serial connecting two PCs together and blowing up my friends in Doom and later the Quake 1 days on the 10 base T network at work after hours (RTS was awesome fun in these days too with Warcraft 2 and Starcraft). And conversely I remember the early days of EQ 1 all the way to the current MMOs that I play (I have several on rotation). And while I play MMOs far more than FPS games I have really enjoyed hopping on Call of Duty and jumping into the mayhem from time to time. With that background here are my thoughts on this topic…
I think one major point was missed. Really I think this is why, in general, PvP in MMOs have never fully hit the utopia mark developers have been looking for either. In SWGs latest Spy update, their forums are up in arms with how PvP is ruined, etc. and I started thinking… has any MMO hit a point in PvP where there wasn't a forum camp crying about how xy&z update has destroyed PvP or how PvP is all jacked up, etc.? The difference between MMOs and FPS games maybe the answer to this issue as well.
This difference and missed point is that the fundamental difference between the two genres is character development. The premise of an FPS PvP match is everyone is on equal footing and any difference beyond that equal footing is very temporary, i.e. a gun that was picked up that the opposing player will also pick up in a few seconds, or a power up that will wear off that the opposing player will have a chance to nab as well. There are more and more character differences in FPS games that I have noticed (Call of Duty for example), but they are really not earth shattering differences and can be easily overcome by skill and persistence.
On the flip side, MMOs are ALL about character progression. Starting with garbage gear and no money and no skills and building your way up to uber status is what the genre is founded upon. Yes, story is a part of that, but the key element that facilitates that story telling is your character progression. This has a very big disadvantage to setting up PvP scenarios where no one likes to run around as the inferior fodder of others with the knowledge that no matter how good they get at the game they will never be able to beat the other player because their character is level 10 and they are up against level 50 characters, or their gear is the equivalent of level 10 going against the equivalent gear of level 50, etc.
I would like to see a hybrid of the genres and perhaps it will happen (I have my fingers crossed for The Agency) but I think it is this fundamental difference in the genres that cause the difficulties.
And don’t get me wrong, I think PvP in MMOs is the only true end game experience, but for me personally, I don’t even think PvP until I reach end game of the MMO for the very reason I wrote about.
Last edited by Zan; 02-13-2009 at 01:16 PM.
Reason: Typo
When you say warcraft isn't action based, it is VERY much so. It's almost FPS, (aiming spells, shooting guns, etc). They attract more people because the FPS-MMO games attract a larger crowd of different gamers...
Sorry, but I think you are completely off. There is no aiming, there is no twitch skill, there is barely any movement in PvE, and PvP is almost all about LoS, which isn't exactly that hard in terms of twitch skill.
Personally I think we are seeing more 'action' mmos (I haven't seen any that really were actiony tbh) as it is somethign WoW DOESN'T do, and thus might have a solid niche to grow in. There are no really big players that are honest to god action MMOs.
There is only one real action MMO that I know of and that is PS (ignoring the few on the horizon that might come out as action MMOs, DCO, DFO, erc), and even there twitch skill isn't all that necessary (things are slow, you can lock on with many weapons, etc). However they got the even playing field correct. Some one with 6 certs vs some one with max certs both have a 100% viable place on the same battlefield. Sure, if the 6 cert guy runs into some one in a BFR, he is toast, but hell, any one not in a BFR (or a tank convoy) is toast when they run into a BFR. However that 6 cert guy CAN be part of a tank convoy that takes down a BFR.
Honestly, being the FPS gamer I am I WANT there to be an FPSMMO ala PS, just with out the suck. However that isn't likely to stop me from playing traditional MMOs either.
Side note:
The Agency != an Action MMO as it is no more an MMO than Diablo/HG:L/GW/etc.
Global Agenda is looking awesome! That's the kind of gameplay I imagine when I think of the Unreal Engine 3.
As far as the FPS vs. MMO thing goes, I really only see one thing that's kept the two from successfully merging up until now - consequence.
Typical multiplayer shooter players are simply too used to hitting a respawner a few seconds after they die, the only real consequence suffered being a 1 under the "deaths" column on the scoreboard at the end of the match. Leaderboards are still important to their competitive nature, but otherwise shooters are all about the "here and now"
MMOs, on the other hand, live entirely in the realm of "cause and effect". There's hardly a thing you can do in game that doesn't effect the progression of your character. It's a completely different mentality that drives success once you get down to the nitty gritty of character progression, territory control or factional warfare.
To me, the bridge between the two realms is the RTS genre. It offers elements of both, but exists in a separate space all its own. So if you want to bring FPS into an MMO, you'll likely make a better transition if you add in some RTS elements. Call it what you will, but from what I've seen Hi-Rez understands that part of my backwards, cybornetic thinking, which is why Global Agenda is looking so solid to me at this point.
As far as the FPS vs. MMO thing goes, I really only see one thing that's kept the two from successfully merging up until now - consequence.
I really don't see that as much of an issue.. depending on how deep into the 'RPG' a dev wants to go after the 'MMO' part.
WAR and WoW are godo examples of this. WoW players suffer no loss if they die in open world PvP and BGs. No armour damage, in fact it's only Hunters who have to fork over money for ammo, and that's going too in the next patch. Pretty much the same with WAR.
WoW's arena, though, is much more similar to the 'xp' gains in multiplayer FPSs than such as Call of Duty 4 and the Battlefield series. IN CoD4 you get XP for killing another player and capping objectives and even being part of a winning team. So while any player after a length of time could be the top rank, it's much quicker to get there when taking part and actually being decent than just turning up and hoping your team wins (a la, Alterac Valley circa one year ago).
Battlefield 21 42 took it a step further through allowing a player to alter their soldier, but in irrevserable ways. While in BF2 and CoD4 and unlocked weapon was available to you whenever you logged in, in BF2142 going down one path would effectively stop you from getting all the good stuff from other soldier kits, forcing someone to play on mulitple soliders to get all the weapons. Not exactly rocket science, but that's the reason why 2142 was my favourite of the BF games.
Anyway, back to the Loading article - I'm thinking the reason why the new age of Sci Fi MMOs are going shooter.action is the prevaliance if ranged combat. Taking things more slowly and up close is fine in a fantasy MMO when an axe to the head was an acceptable end to most arguments, but in sci fi games I really want to take cover and blow stuff up with my over-compensating blaster cannon!
Loading... FPS Killed the MMO Star
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