How would YOU innovate in the MMO genre?

[ro9ue]

I'm curious what dedicated MMO-Champions would do if given the opportunity to head the development of a next-gen MMO. What do you think this genre needs? Why?

For me:

• Horizontal progression system. No levels, no numerical power increases. However, you can unlock more "options" and customization.

• Heavy, heavy focus on the outdoor world and objects to interact with.

• Reversal of the WoW formula. Small group = easiest content, Large group = hardest content. I wrote about this in much more detail here.

[Cæli]

I feel that everything has already been done and what remains is the pure near endless creations like music/architectures...

I would certainly try to re create the real world up to the very detail as of today in a virtual world and you can do whatever you like, learning, earning money, exploring, understanding how the world works, with VR support (or simple 3rd person), that kind of things.

[Snes]

I'd make a Final Fantasy Tactics MMO (and keep it grid-based). Instead of focusing on one character, you build up your team and take over PvE & player-held locations (towns, cathedrals, castles, dungeons, etc).

[Tijuana]

I'm curious what dedicated MMO-Champions would do if given the opportunity to head the development of a next-gen MMO. What do you think this genre needs? Why?

For me:

• Horizontal progression system. No levels, no numerical power increases. However, you can unlock more "options" and customization.

• Heavy, heavy focus on the outdoor world and objects to interact with.

• Reversal of the WoW formula. Small group = easiest content, Large group = hardest content. I wrote about this in much more detail here.

Sadly, I don't think there will be any next gen MMOs. I think the genre is both dying, and reached it's maximum potential.

[Space Troll]

Player generated content.

We are always short of content and more games like City of Heroes/Villains and Neverwinter player generated instances would bring more life into the genre, assuming we were given great tools. I know people hate DLC, but large content packs of them would be fine instead.

[Jensxo]

I'd stop rewarding mediocrity for one.

[lawow74]

-I'd like to see a short vertical progression curve with a long horizontal one. Only at the very start do you have a power-up gap. After that it's all about options and customization. I'd favor a system where you can mix and match all sorts of abilities to make the class you feel like playing, when you feel like playing it.

-Player run game servers. Don't like the way the game rules are? Change them. Make your own server. With blackjack. And hookers.

-Player generated content. Extend the shelf life of the game beyond just what the dev team comes up with. Make your own creations to share with everyone.

[melodramocracy]

I'm not sure much of it would be considered innovation per se, quite a bit would be borrowing / modifying from older MMO's and other RPG's I'll try to keep it brief:

-1 character per account. Yes, that's it. You can be whatever you like, any combination of things you like... but to learn a different specialization requires you to sort of 'forget' what you currently know, and start over from square 1.

-crafting would be far more significant than it is in most MMO's, as would guilds. Craftsmen would need to work together to build, maintain and repair all manner of weaponry, vehicles, boats, dwellings, etc.

-being a 'master' of both combat and a trade wouldn't be possible. You have to decide which you want to truly excel at.

-playable world would be quite a bit larger than most conventional worlds (think AC size).

-PvP would be a fairly significant part of the game. Players wouldn't necessarily lose items on death, but their towns and local economies can certainly be impeded by attacks.

-leveling would be more about accessing new areas and expanding on abilities than it would be about raw power or damage ability. Why yes, a few level 1's working together absolutely would be able to kill a player much higher in level than them.

-dungeons would certainly be a thing, varying from short cave explorations to explorations that might take several days of playtime to get through. Raids too would be varied, from shorter excursions to much longer ones.

-things have weight to them. All the things.

-characters will find that all stats are useful to them in some manner or another.

-teamwork is key.. for example, catapults need to be pulled by mounted players working together to steer it correctly, etc. Boats need to be sailed by players who are trained to do so. Artisans might need to be escorted to dangerous areas (or through raids and dungeons) so they can harvest valuables that combatants cannot.

/yes, I know you'd hate it.

[Poppincaps]

Main content being 5 man dungeons with the occasional 10 man raid. I feel smaller groups harbors a stronger community. In a 25 man setting it's easy for some players to fade into the background. The stronger the connection players have with each other, the more willing they will be to stick around during content droughts.

In addition to the dungeons and raids, there'd be frequent world events which the entire server can take place in. Think Gates of AQ event but more epic and involved. Overall heavier focus on storytelling though quests (think SWTOR) so that these events feel epic not only in scale but also in the reasons for why you are fighting in them.

Also, class quests and challenging solo content (ala Brawler's guild but probably blown out to dungeon size). There'd be 2 factions with their own storylines, but also race questlines that go beyond the starting zones of WoW. This would create opportunities for decision making and choosing whether to be loyal to your faction or loyal to your race.

PVP would be focused around massive battles featuring 40 v 40 or more players. 1 smaller WSG style BG as well. Also world PVP battlegrounds like Wintergrasp. In the larger BGs the teams would be split into squads (so you could play with friends) of 5 with objectives spawning based on the tide of the battle and the position of your squad. Buff given when near 2 or more members of your squad.

A game like this ^^ would be incredibly hard to build and maintain though. Hence why MMOs are a dying breed.

[Halicia]

I'd make a Final Fantasy Tactics MMO (and keep it grid-based).

I've played them. While I enjoy them in singleplayer, the fights are just too !@#$ing long and work contrary to standard MMO design.

For me, I'd like to see a return to 'grindy' oldschool MMOs, but set against the backdrop of a truly dynamic environment where what players do actually matters.

A step up to VR would be great, but without a corresponding step up in the gameplay tech, it would be the same as any other existing game..... IN SMELLOVISION!

tldr; give me Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

[Kikazz]

I'm curious what dedicated MMO-Champions would do if given the opportunity to head the development of a next-gen MMO. What do you think this genre needs? Why?

For me:

• Horizontal progression system. No levels, no numerical power increases. However, you can unlock more "options" and customization.

• Heavy, heavy focus on the outdoor world and objects to interact with.

• Reversal of the WoW formula. Small group = easiest content, Large group = hardest content. I wrote about this in much more detail here.

my answer would be Player Generated Content, Housed on a Ptr Server.
Then people could play that on the Ptr Server, if blizzard liked it and was liked by the community it could be implemented.

Things like:

Mini Dungeons
New Zones (that didnt clash with the current theme)
Puzzles
Mini Games


It could Breath new life into the game and allow people to still enjoy doing things in the Genre.

[Halicia]

It could Breath new life into the game and allow people to still enjoy doing things in the Genre.

in regards to WoW, I think Blizzard should have implemented some form of Starcraft Arcade into WoW ages ago.

Even just some form of replaying 'your favorite quests from the past" would be cool.

But that's hardly reinvigorating to the genre as a whole.

I do think translating the experience to phones/devices in some manner would be important in the longterm viability of nextgen MMOs.

[Kikazz]

in regards to WoW, I think Blizzard should have implemented some form of Starcraft Arcade into WoW ages ago.

Even just some form of replaying 'your favorite quests from the past" would be cool.

But that's hardly reinvigorating to the genre as a whole.

I do think translating the experience to phones/devices in some manner would be important in the longterm viability of nextgen MMOs.

people have stated previoulsy that that wouldnt mind Wow going to console, i reckon it could easily look at FFIV, it has and works well.

i just think player generated content like there was in Warcraft 3, and Starcraft 1/2 would breath some life into the game, i wouldnt mind and endless dungeon that had no end in wow.

kind of like the endless dungeon in Twilight Princes, at the end of each lvl you got a chest it was a solo dungeon, and it started out with things like ruppes, and when you got like 150 lvls in it dropped things like pots and stuff.

i quite like the idea of the new Mythic + Dungeons.

but i think player generated content would be nice for Wow, and allow the devs to focus on other things if players were able to create content for each other.
as long as it was blizzard who sorted the reward structure and gold gain etc... and not the creator.

[lawow74]

I'm not sure much of it would be considered innovation per se, quite a bit would be borrowing / modifying from older MMO's and other RPG's I'll try to keep it brief:

I'd say right now, this sort of thing just isn't feasible. The MMO genre needs time to 'slim down' first. As it evolves into different forms, I think there will be room for a more old-school game of this type available in years to come, when the nostalgia factor is heightened and market saturation isn't so much of a thing. I think once WoW stops being a living game, you'll see it become possible.

[Slaughty8]

I'd stop rewarding mediocrity for one.

And you would end like WildStar, which rewared only hardcore nolifers, while typical casual player with normal life hadn't had time for the endgame and it's gates, grind, difficulty etc, which means you are losing a huge amount of players. If you go "no reward for the casual/medicore players" you just instantly lose soo much potential players, that you have to go niche or you bankrupt.

MMO aimed at huge playerbase must be casual friendly, at least to the extent of current WoW or Guild Wars 2. Otherwise it will die like WildStar.

Honestly? For now there are 2 ways:
1. Go Niche - go niche, stable playerbase for the game they wanted, you can go hardcore mode here too
2. Go Big - go big, huge playerbase of which +80% are casuals playing from time to time when they have some free time, you have to cater to casuals and hardcore players like wow/guild wars 2/eso etc. Probably theme-park mmo.

The problem with 2 is we have very popular theme-park games already
- WoW
- Guild Wars 2
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- Star Wars: The Old Republic

so for the next a few years we won't see "go big" games. You can play the ones we have. I completely ignore thousands Korean mmos, for obvious reasons.

Upcoming mmo's are niche ones:
- Albion Online
- Crowfall
- Camelot Unchained
- Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
- Revival
- Chronicles of Elyria
and many more

3rd way - VR MMO's are probably for the games like No Man's sky/Entropia Universe. We may see such VR MMO's in 5-10 years, probably. The problem is the framerate, which would go to hell with many visible players around you, VR must be framerate stable, otherwise you feel bad/puke/have dizziness etc., it's one of the problems of the VR, fps must be above 60fps all the time.
Very massive online VR games with dozens visible people should come in 10 to 20 years.

If quantum computer's become mainstream and for home/gamers, VR will explode, as quantum computers should be +100 times faster.

[Deleted]

I'd stop rewarding mediocrity for one.

So you'd take the "massively" out of "massively multiplayer" and make it just a multiplayer, then?

[Blueobelisk]

Make some aspect of the game available on mobile to keep people hooked when they're away from their computer.

[Deleted]

Make some aspect of the game available on mobile to keep people hooked when they're away from their computer.

Mobile garrisons yay.

I wouldn't mind an MMO having web browser interactivity. Neverwinter had the professions in a web browser I believe. Diablo had the auction house, and so on. Integrating the game itself with an extensive web browser "client" would be cool. Mobile shit not so much, because forcing people to own a smartphone is lame. As far as phones go, I'll stick to dumb one with a prepaid.

[Kazgrel]

- Level-less, or at least a leveling system that isn't just increasing an arbitrary number. The system I can think of that allowed for some of the greatest innovation was the original Star Wars Galaxies. I loved the basic premise of that leveling system.

- Less reliance on stats on gear: GW2 does a reasonable job of this, where different classes and build use different stats, but there's no escalating power creep a la vertical progression games like WoW and FF14.

- Seamless (as possible) world environment: This is an area where WoW trumps most other recent MMOs I've played, including Guild Wars 2 and FF14. A wide open world to where only entire continents are separated by loading screens...or if it's an MMO of galactic scale, have each entire planet be it's own instance.

- Crafting that matters: FF14 elements combined with, perhaps, the resource harvesters/farms a la SWG. But even without that, FF14's crafting, coupled with some UI adjustments, could work well. The Wildstar element of having to make certain items in order to unlock the next tier of items may or may not be something to consider, also. Some folks may not like the mini-game vibe from FF14 crafting, though, but I find it far more interesting than the "insert mats-push button-receive item" approach that WoW and even GW2 have. One thing from GW2 crafting, though, that I liked: Players could craft best in slot gear.

- Character customization is key: Wardrobe system akin to GW2, along with that game's dye system. Toss in Wildstar's glamour/transmog slot for each item, where no matter what helmet you have equipped, you always have the appearance of whatever is in the glamour/transmog slot. The mat could be akin to glamour prisms from FF14, but you only have one from each crafting profession instead of 5 different grades of the same thing (which also use the same mats in that game...ok, off topic rant there). Mix this with an actual character builder to the degree of what Black Desert has...hell I might never get logged into the actual game, heh.

I realize I don't have anything particularly innovative listed here, since it's all coming from various games I've played before to some extents. There's a lot of really good ideas (imo) scattered about all sorts of games. Being able to string them together into one game could be something impressive.

[Katchii]

A mixture of FFXI and XIV (11 and 14), WoW, Secret World, Elder Scrolls and Blade & Soul (or similarly design action/ tab target combat)

Characters can be any class and have multiple character progression paths with several long term goals to achieve like in FFXI and XIV, have several amazing, well designed and interesting dungeons and raids like in FFXIV and WoW, brilliant integration of the world into quest design and lore with outside of the box quest objectives like in The Secret World, Elder Scrolls level of story telling, quest progression, character development and a somewhat action combat system like Blade and Soul, that's still tab target but is very action-y and IMO just feels really good. Black Desert combat system would be great as well with the different combos and such....so long as the AI was good.

Theme doesn't so much matter so long as it's not rainbows and butterflys. I've enjoyed WoW, Secret World, Age of Conan (art style does not hold up well though), Star Wars, Wildstar, Elder Scrolls, TERA, etc... and the only one I don't prefer is Elder Scrolls online as the colors just seem...subdued in comparison to the others.

High amount of character customization, with a very fleshed out and easy to use wardrobe system.