Massively Multiplayer Madness And The Death of Innovation

Being a gamer, I have played a lot of games and as such, I know what I am looking for in a game. Now, while attempting to find a good MMO to play, I usually find that quality is placed out of the window and dropped like a sack of rotten potatos.

Whenever you play an massively multiplayer game, there are always common elements which detract from the game, such as slow leveling pace, few customization options, limited character development, poor character control, massive grinding, limited classes, and the list goes on.

Why is it that many game developers ignore these ever so obvious game stoppers? I understand that every person is different and wants different things out of a game, but it really does not feel like there is a game out there for me when I run into these "problems".

A few games which I felt like took a step in the right direction are...

Ragnarok Online - This game is one of my favorite MMOs due to the vast customization available to your character, like the ability to modify stat points, job points and a wide variety of jobs that allows for many different character design combinations. Every character provides a different experience. 

World of Warcraft - The vast and unique world made this game a fun place to play in. Having the two sides (Horde and Alliance) battle each other made real enemies out of real players, whose only crime was in rolling a character on the opposite side. Receiving constant updates, varied skills and unique equipment are but a few of the elements that made this game fun.

Final Fantasy XI - The job system in the game allows you to constantly mix your playstyle around, and giving you the opportunity to choose a sub job made it worthwhile to level up more than one class. The Kingdom System was a  passive way of bringing together people. One of the most unique things about FFXI was the auto-translate function, as it was a way to pick a phrase out of a list of words that will be translated in the players language.

Shin Megami Tensei Imagine : Megaten - This is a new MMO that arguably has potential to be a good game, provided that it undergoes proper development. The way the game is set up is similar to Dungeon Siege, in which you gain skill expertise by using your skills to attain better spells and attacks. Likewise, the demon system is a very interesting idea, which plays out like a more mature-themed game of Pokémon.

EVE Online -  The ability to train skills even while you are offline and being able to buy time cards for in-game money was innovative when it was first made available, and has proven to be very successful.


Of all the games that I have pointed out, only Megaten was released in the past year. My question is this: What happened to innovation?

Editor's note: This article was heavily edited by Sol Invictus.