2d top down like UO - would you still play such a game today?

[Deleted]

What made UO stand out to me wasn't its top down view but rather its freedom to do as you wish, something that many (all) theme park MMOs completely fail to do on any level. If an aspect of UO was to be emulated it should be the freedom and choice that it gave to the player.

This so much, the real beauty of UO was:
Can I be a merchant? Yes
Can I be an artisan? Yes
A warrior? Yes
An assasin? Yes
A bounty hunter?! Of course son.


Can I be whateverthefuckIwant? Yes, yes you could

As for the OT, I don't know, I like 2D graphic but I'm not sure I would play an MMO with those

[Frumious Bandersnatch]

Nope.

I won't even play "isometric" games. Not only are they annoying and disorienting, they scream "lazy designers" to me.

[Jaojin]

Graphics help with immersion. So if you develop a game without 3D graphics then you will need to immerse the player elsewhere. Also it would be a good idea to appeal to audiences with good imagination, as it is easier for those people to overlook the graphics for good gameplay.

It's just icing to me, and sometimes, I prefer my cake without icing.

[Deleted]

I rather not play games I can "make myself", unless I would play it on some device that doesn't have much power (phones, pads, laptop etc..).
But I do think there could be a market for it. People don't "demand" as much graphical performance these days it seems, I mean look at games at steam that have looks for nothing but more players you could imagine, bindings of isac for example.
I don't know if this market has always been stable, I don't know if these games have always been big sellers on steam. However it seems that as a dev of some kind you can get away with budget graphics and perhaps more effort put into game logic. It could be the expand of laptops and pads, many people don't get this big stationary computers same way as in the past. Portability is sweet, playing in bed or on sofa is nice, but then you also cut down in performance you can get... usually, unless people get lord alienware laptops or similar. Anyway, you know what I mean.

[Deleted]

Unsure if nostalgia, but if a game could give me back my UO days of excitement to log in, definitely.

[Deleted]

Yes, but as an MMO no. I play old games all the time <3

[Deleted]

Absolutely. I think the 2d isometric style in a way is more convincing. Instead of saying that you are there in this fantasy world, which 3d games often seems to postulate, 2d isometric games feels more like you control a avatar. Hard to explain, but games like Baldurs gate 1-2 have given me a more intense fantasy feel than any of the big 3d mmo`s.
My dream mmo would be a post apocalyptic MMO running on a engine similar to Diablo 3`s. I think the Unreal engine would be a great place to start (check out Xcom Enemy Unknown). Physiques is a must - Ragdoll is the thing which makes Diablo 3`s combat far better than its competitors. Nothing better than making a bomb in a coffe pot out of salvaged scrap, throw it into a bunch of zombies and se arms, legs and bodies fly in all directions.

[Fencers]

being a developer by myself I would like to know if you would play a 2d top down morpg today or has everything to be 3d today?

Yes. I don't think the game perspective is much of an issue if the gameplay is well suited to it. Look at the success of Magika, Pah of Exile, Divinity Original Sin or Marvel Heroes which use similar perspective as 2D top down.

Are you used to play on PC or would mobiles like tablets do it as well?

Well, both personally. But I think it would be a wise idea to develop for both platforms if possible and/or suitable.

So you think there is still interest in such a kind of a game?

There is interest for virtually any game genre or gameplay style possible. Simply a matter of marketing and finding the product's niche.

[Clockwork Pinkie]

No. I want to explore the world, and the sky. I want to be in the world, I don't want to be the camera man.

[Rukh]

For an MMO? Sure if it had fun interesting features. I'd also play with instanced zoned worlds!

[draykorinee]

No. I want to explore the world, and the sky. I want to be in the world, I don't want to be the camera man.

And yet UO was all about exploration and finding things, only game similar is GW2, but that is all forced within a small zone after small zone and you're basically told where to go, no game outside of UO has captured the sense of total freedom of wandering the land.

[Deleted]

And yet UO was all about exploration and finding things, only game similar is GW2, but that is all forced within a small zone after small zone, no game outside of UO has captured the sense of total freedom of wandering the land.

and having complete freedom in character building, no classes or XP

[draykorinee]

and having complete freedom in character building, no classes or XP

Yup, that too.

[Wilian]

Depends from execution. There's nothing that would stop 2d game from becoming excellent MMO if done right.

[Korgoth]

I dont play games without a sky, card games being the exception.

[draykorinee]

I dont play games without a sky, card games being the exception.

Action RPGS? Some Strategy RTS? Boxing/wrestling games? Ice hockey games?

[Korgoth]

Action RPGS? Some Strategy RTS? Boxing/wrestling games? Ice hockey games?

Nope, nope, nope, and nope. Its not 2001 anymore. Tried playing Diablo 3, but after so many years of WOW, Skyrim, Oblivion, and Dragon Age and The Witcher, its just such a completely inferior style of RPG.

I like being able to walk around a world, not just stare into a map and spam M1.

[draykorinee]

Dota games? Had no idea that sky was so important to modern gaming when the biggest game of the modern era doesn't have it.

[Deleted]

Well, there's Albion Online (currently in developement ...)

Looks a bit like UO 2.0 with corpse-looting, no-quest sandboxish gameplay, no classes, player housing and player-driven economy and politics ...

Downside: It's crossplatform with android/iOS tablets ... so it's going to be quite simplistic (at least the control scheme) ... and it's F2P with a secondary currency for (more or less) important stuff like housing costs, repair bills and so on - and they're selling "Founder Packs" with special perks.