How would YOU innovate in the MMO genre?

[nekobaka]

It was medium WoW now is easy.

I would say Blizzard over the years shifted to catering to a bottom minority in attempts to bring in fresh blood while ignoring the core casual playerbase. So far Legion is shaping up to bring back focus on the average player which has been heavily neglected in the past.

Gameplay doesnt have to be climbing a brick wall hard. The gameplay however should to be engaging and it doesnt have to be challenging to make it so.

[ComputerNerd]

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.

The problem with player-generated and random or procedural content is the rewards.
In my opinion unless there can be some artificial vetting of player-generated content, then it would have to be lacking any functional rewards at the very least if not any rewards.

I do think horizontal progression has potential, but the problem then is the player addiction to power.
It was that exact reason that prevented horizontal progression being developed in another game, because players wanted to feel "OP" in the content, in that they wanted their work to show in blowing stuff up faster.

I would say Blizzard over the years shifted to catering to a bottom minority in attempts to bring in fresh blood while ignoring the core casual playerbase. So far Legion is shaping up to bring back focus on the average player which has been heavily neglected in the past.

Gameplay doesnt have to be climbing a brick wall hard. The gameplay however should to be engaging and it doesnt have to be challenging to make it so.

No.
It was simply not catering to only the experienced.
The experienced were going through content which was not aimed at them, and therefore they complained about it being too easy.
Plus the fact that there cannot be a continued raising of the top bar.
Because that top bar if it caters to a long-term experience of content as it was relevant, then the numbers with that will dwindle.
That top bar has to be achievable by anyone, whether you started playing 10 years ago or 6 months ago.

If that top bar is no longer challenging enough, then it is time for you to find a new game.
One where you do not have that experience.

[Afrospinach]

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.

Until suddenly VR came along!

Then everything was new again :O

The problem with player-generated and random or procedural content is the rewards.

No the problem with player created content is the players. Dick pic hiroglyphs are only so funny. TBH players also ruin non player created content.

[ComputerNerd]

Until suddenly VR came along!

Then everything was new again :O



No the problem with player created content is the players. Dick pic hiroglyphs are only so funny. TBH players also ruin non player created content.

There is that aspect too.
But depending on the tools provided, perhaps more functional than aesthetic control could have prevented or minimised those sort of scenario's.
Sort of more players dictating the behaviour of an encounter.

[Afrospinach]

There is that aspect too.
But depending on the tools provided, perhaps more functional than aesthetic control could have prevented or minimised those sort of scenario's.
Sort of more players dictating the behaviour of an encounter.

Well truth be told I have had a lot of fun on various counterstrike servers over the years. I am not sure to what extent they can mod the game but there have been some really fun maps and modes. The real problem is when the bar is too low.

[Nathreim]

I would say Blizzard over the years shifted to catering to a bottom minority in attempts to bring in fresh blood while ignoring the core casual playerbase. So far Legion is shaping up to bring back focus on the average player which has been heavily neglected in the past.

Gameplay doesnt have to be climbing a brick wall hard. The gameplay however should to be engaging and it doesnt have to be challenging to make it so.

Agreed I think MoP was probably the perfect compromise. Plenty of fun content for all with varying levels of difficulty.

[Slirith]

I'd like them to go back to being MMORPGs instead of MMOTPs(massively multiplayer online theme parks)

[Low Hanging Fruit]

I get the feeling VR and AR are going to be big in this department in the future.

[Simulacrum]

Agreed I think MoP was probably the perfect compromise. Plenty of fun content for all with varying levels of difficulty.

If anything was the "perfect compromise" it was WotLK, with its radical class rebalancing and the complete redesign of tanking and small-group content into a more easily digestible form.

Not that it matters, in any case. WoW had the most subs and was the most engaging during the periods when it compromised the least. If anything, the compromises aren't really "compromises" so much as they are straight-up downgrades.

[Lotus Victoria]

Making an online game where the players create their own roleplay content with their own rules, like a big sandbox. Something like Second Life, but more "gamey" and less "lets buy stuff".