- MMO: Massively Multiplayer Online…
- MMOG: Massively Multiplayer Online
Game
- MMOPW: Massively Multiplayer Online
Persistent World
- MMORPG: Massively Multiplayer
Role-playing Game
This past year saw the both release of more new MMOs and good expansions
for MMOs, yet on balance the year seemed a bit disappointing, and here’s
why:
First, too many games, like City of Heroes, Dragon Empires, Lineage II,
Uru: Beyond Myst, and others have slid into 2004.
Second, even though we got some hotly-anticipated MMOs like Star Wars Galaxies
and PlanetSide, they suffered from some notable feature-trim. Imagine having
to hoof it through the deserts of Tatooine instead of riding in a Speeder
– oh the humanity, oh the wookiedom of it all!
In short, while we got some interesting new MMOs, including the first big
hit since Dark Age of Camelot in Star Wars Galaxies, we haven’t quite
gotten what we expected in 2003. Let’s take a look at what’s
out and what’s still to come in 2003.
The
2003 games already out
Star Wars Galaxies
The biggest game to release in 2003 (and the most successful one since EverQuest)
was Star Wars Galaxies (Gamespy
review). Not long after release Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) issued
a press release claiming 275,000 subscriptions. That’s a lot of Imperials
and Rebels running around. I’ve also heard that retention rates are
very good for this game.
One of the hallmarks of the game are the non-combat roles players can assume.
Dancers can spend time dancing in cantinas and and medics can spend time
in hospitals healing other players to advance their characters, for example.
You can still run around and kill stuff – you just don’t have
to.
There are big changes planned for this year, including player cities. Players
have already been able to make cities, of sorts, but now player structures
that are located together will entail extra advantages, including citizenship
and voting privileges – that’s right, politics is coming to
SWG. Can bribes be far behind? Citizens will also be paying taxes.
Also, creature mounts are coming! It’s about time. You’ll be
able to ride dewbanks, kaadus, and banthas, and several other kinds of mounts.
It looks like SWG will keep getting better and better.
EverQuest
EverQuest players have been treated well this year. With two new expansions,
the Legacy of Ykesha and The Lost Dungeons of Norrath, EQ players got lots
of new content and some great new additions to the game.
The Legacy of Ykesha was introduced in February and added five new zones
and a new playable race, the Frogloks, as well as many interface enhancements,
including an NPC conversation log, a Story Window for updates to in-game
lore, better looking-for-group tools, better guild management tools, access
to zone maps, and more. Legacy also added better bonuses for grouping, armor
dyeing, charms, and rideable lizard mounts.
The Lost Dungeons of Norrath was released last month in September and is
an even more impressive expansion. In some ways, it vaults a five year old
game to the head of the pack again in terms of features offered. Lost Dungeons
introduces “instancing”, a term for creating private adventure
spaces on the fly for groups of players. These instanced adventures are
timed and include a specific goal, such as rescue an NPC, assassinate a
named character, collect a number of items, etc.
I took a level 30 druid through an undead adventure and had a blast. We
had 30 minutes to battle our way through hordes of undead and kill a named
character. The dungeon was quite large, included several dead-ends, and
even included a couple of NPCs who joined our group and helped. We finished
in the nick of time, got some nice magic loot as our reward, and my character
made nearly half a level in XP. Great stuff for EQ fans.
PlanetSide
PlanetSide (Gamespy
review) is arguably one of the best MMOs released so far this year,
yet the subscription numbers, rumored to be in the 50,000-60,000 range,
are probably a bit disappointing to SOE. It looks like the market for a
fee-based shooter, even one as well-done as Planetside, isn’t that
large.
It’s amazing how much the game changed between then and what was released
– We talked to SOE’s Dave Georgeson about this earlier this
year and he said that when he came onto the project, the design document
was huge and simply had to be pared down. At one time the game was going
to have housing (apartments) and maybe even some PvE content (fighting NPCs),
mission generators, and more.
PlanetSide is an impressive game. No game has handled large numbers of players
and large battles better than PlanetSide. What it sets out to do, it does
very well. When I played, I never failed to be impressed by the sheer coolness
of seeing huge, coordinated attacks – it’s a game that really
does make you feel like you’ve dropped into the middle of war.
Players seem to like it too, but with one big caveat – many don’t
want to pay the monthly fee when they can get a similar experience with
games like Battlefield 1942 for free.
SOE has announced an expansion for later this year, Core Combat. This expansion
will add new weaspons, new vehicles, and six caverns to the game, each with
an energy device to capture that will give a bonus to the side that controls
it. The caverns will add more of an urban warfare feel to the game as well.
If you’re interested, you can download a free seven-day trial account
at the official PlanetSide
site.
Ultima Online: Age of Shadows
It only seems like it’s been around forever. Ultima Online released
an expansion back in February of this year, Age of Shadows.
Age of Shadows introduced some important changes, including a new magic
resistance system (that met with some resistance from veteran players who
didn’t like the applecart being tipped over, so to speak). Special
weapon attacks were also introduced, as well as a new area to explore, Malas.
This new landmass introduced new creatures and a new, expansive dungeon.
The game also added two new character types, the venerable paladin and necromancer
templates. What fantasy game is complete without them? Customizable housing
and crafted magic items were also introduced with Age of Shadows.
Ultima Online is the game that wouldn’t die. It’s still going
strong with 200,000+ subscribers, despite being nearly six years old. All
hail Britannia!
Anarchy Online Shadowlands
The early word on this expansion, just released in the last few weeks, is
very positive. Anarchy Online (Gamespy
review) is making a nice, albeit protracted, recovery from a poor launch
in 2001.
Anarchy Online Shadowlands |
With the release of this expansion, Shadowlands doubles the size of Anarchy
Online. It also includes a floating cloud city named Jobe, which serves
as a launching pad for entry into the new zones, which include two themed
factions, the Redeemed and the Unredeemed. You can reach level 220 now thanks
to the expansion, the game sounds have been enhanced, a couple of new professions
have been added, the paladin-like Keeper and the vampiric Shade. The game’s
graphics still hold up quite well.
You can download a free trial version of Anarchy Online at Funcom’s
official site. This doesn’t include the new Shadowlands expansion,
however.
A Tale in the Desert
Do you want the most unique MMO experience of the year? Then try A
Tale in the Desert. This is a game where players cooperate (and compete)
to build a society in Ancient Egypt. Players become mentors to new players,
conduct research and learn new skills, and build a city and society out
of the raw materials found in the land. Players even have the ability to
create laws that govern the land. Maybe the most striking feature of Tale
is that there is no combat! That’s like platinum blondes in Hollywood
without big breasts. Inconceivable!
Tale is built around the Seven Disciplines of Man: Architecture, Leadership,
Conflict, Arts, Warship, The Human Body and Thought. You have to pass tests
to advance. These tests include quests that you will need the help of other
players to pass.
The game’s been out for months now and the players I’ve talked
to find it strangely compelling.
Endless Ages
Endless Ages
is something of a miracle when it comes to MMOs. Imagine a game that plays
like a shooter but still has leveling and character advancement like a traditional
MMO. Then add crafting, housing, the ability to set up a shop to sell
Endless Ages - Tree of Life 8 |
your items, rideable mounts, rideable vehicles, guilds, quests, jetpacks
for flying, a 40-mile long dungeon for high level players, and a PvP and
non-PvP server, and you have Endless Ages. Oh, and the miracle part? This
game, which works without any noticeable glitches, was created by only four
people. In an age of mega-budgets and huge staffs behind these MMOs, that’s
walking on the water.
Endless Ages is coming out with an expansion in the next few weeks that
will, in the words of youthful developers, make the game “about 400
times better”. We’ll have to wait and see about that claim,
but the expansion will add new character models for the playable races,
a “huge upgrade to the graphics engine”, a new quest system,
a new unified town, and a many new animations.
The game at times is just plain weird – some of the creatures you
battle look like they crawled from the pages of a Dr. Seuss book. The game
doesn’t have a familiar fantasy or science-fiction setting to latch
onto. Still, this is a solid game and one you may want to try if you’re
looking for something different.
EVE Online
EVE Online is a beautiful-looking
game filled with the vastness – and boredom – of space. There
are over 5000 systems to explore, but traveling to and fro takes a lot of
time and not much always happens, according to player accounts. The game
sure is pretty though.
The game has you piloting a ship through space, but it’s a mouse-driven
and not a twitch game. Select a destination by clicking on it, and you don’t
have to worry about accelerating or braking. Combat is very much like EverQuest,
too – click on a target and click on attack and then watch.
Players can trade goods between systems, mine asteroids, and even clean
up space garbage, among other activities. The money made can be used to
upgrade ships with weapons and equipment, or spent on training their character
in various skills.
Advanced players can continue to be merchants, or choose instead to be smugglers,
pirates, bounty hunters, and more.
The game seems to have a small following in Europe, but it certainly hasn’t
hit the big-time in terms of subscribers.
Rubies
of Eventide and Meridian 59
They Walk and They Walk Again! Rubies of Eventide had been in development
for what seems like decades (about six years). I kept seeing
Meridian 59 |
Rubies every year at GenCon. It was the game that was never finished, but
would never go away. M59 was dead and buried, but was resurrected in 2002.
M59 might be a bit hard on the eyes, but that’s changing later this
year. It’s getting a new rendering engine that will add light-sourcing
and some othe r upgrades. I saw it in action at this year’s GenCon
and while it certainly doesn’t compete with new games, it greatly
enhances the old look. M59 features the kind of close-knit community that
only smaller games foster. They are adding new content, but the basic gameplay
will remain unchanged. If you want to check out M59, here’s the official
site.
Rubies of Eventide shocked the heck out of me – it’s using the
Lithtech Jupiter engine and really looks sweet. This is another small game
where the players have a big impact on the ongoing development, so if you
jump in your two cents worth adds up to more than two cents. Rubies features
a ton of classes and skills too. It certainly looks interesting. Here’s
the official site
if you want to check it out.
EverQuest Online
Adventures (PS2)
If you’re a console fan, you may have tried the PS2 version EverQuest
Online Adventures. It’s received generally good reviews (Gamespy
review), but perhaps hasn’t performed up to expectations in terms
of subscriptions. There’s obviously a significant hurdle for players
to overcome in getting their PS2s online. They have to buy the kit, they
have to figure out how to install it, and if they want to chat without being
frustrated, buy a keyboard. Plus, when Adventures shipped earlier this year,
Sony’s marketing support for the online adapter kit was lukewarm.
Now there’s a version of the PS2 being bundled with the adapter for
$199 and EA is supporting online play with its sports games. Online play
for the PS2 looks to get much bigger, and that will only help Adventures
grow.
EverQuest |
Best guesses now have the number of EQ Adventure subscribers pegged at about
50,000. (The only official statement we have from SOE is that the number
of subscribers for all their games – EverQuest, Planetside, and EverQuest
Adventures, is over 500,000. EQ is estimated to make up well over 400,000
of that number.)
What will also help the game is the new expansion due to ship this year,
Frontiers.
This expansion will include a new playable race, the Ogre, a new class,
the Alchemist, new areas, including a new continent, three new cities, and
new zones, updated graphics, new items, and a new level cap at level 60.
You will also find new quests and new NPCs to interact with.
The 2003 games yet to come
Dark
Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis
Dark Age of Camelot was an amazing effort from Mythic. Not only did they
build this game fast, they did it on the cheap compared to other games,
yet it never really showed other than in the spareness of high-end content.
Using existing mythos, like the Arthurian legends, was a stroke of brilliance
on their part. They’re canny about these online games, these Mythic
folk, and the upcoming expansion for Dark Age of Camelot looks to reaffirm
that.
Trials of Atlantis is in beta right now and will add underwater areas, enhanced
graphics, an alternate advancement system called Master Levels, a new player
race for each realm, and a more customizable user interface. The backstory
is that the Atlanteans, realizing they were doomed, decided to pass on the
legacy of their greatness, but only to those who could pass the challenges
the Atlanteans set up – that is, the…Trials of Atlantis!
Even before the expansion, Mythic released a huge patch that included player
housing and player-controlled vendors, a significant enhancement to the
game that players got for free. Mythic has been good to their players this
year.
Beyond that, Mythic is planning revamping the Realm vs. Realm combat system,
though the timetable for delivering that still isn’t clear.
Horizons: Empire of Istaria
Horizons from Artifact Entertainment is one of the last big releases of
a new MMO in 2003. I saw the game at both E3 and GenCon, and it’s
looking good.
The two things that jump out about the game are the detailed crafting system,
which Artifact claims will be “a crafter’s dream” and
the ability to play as a dragon. That’s right, have fun toasting the
knights in shining armor!
Horizons will not feature any PvP initially, though the developers do plan
on adding it at some point, probably through dedicated PvP servers. Player
avatars will be highly customizable – that’s fast becoming standard
in the new crop of MMOs under development – and you can play as a
Dragon, Human, Elf, Dwarf, Fiend, Saris, Sslik, Gnome, or Half-Giant.
Players will be able to own homes, perform landscaping, build machines,
and band together to build communities and community resources, such as
bridges. Playable classes include warrior, scouts, healers, and wizards,
and players may further specialize within those classes. Artifact has talked
about adding “talents” at some point, which will add even more
detailed character development
Shadowbane:
The Rise of Chaos
Shadowbane (Gamespy’s
review) launched in March of 2003. The game had a troubling launch for
many, including registration problems. Shadowbane also suffered from performance
issues, especially during siege events, a centerpiece of the game, where
the lag at times turned the game into a photo album for some players. Despite
these problems, which certainly justified lowered review scores, the game
was a triumph in some ways. It let players do something they hadn’t
been able to do in a major MMO release – build cities, wage war, and
reduce cities to rubble.
For the first time, players had more at stake than simply advancing characters.
Players had a guild city to enrich and protect, and the difference that
made in the gameplay was profound. Now guilds banded together to form nations,
and nations made treaties with other nations, or declared war, and on some
servers bloodthirsty players made Sherman’s march through Atlanta
look like a Sunday drive in the country.
Now Wolfpack is working on an expansion due for release later this year,
Shadowbane: The Rise of Chaos. Players will get a new playable race, the
Nephilim half-demons, over 30 new adventure areas, two new classes to play
(Doomsayer and Sentinel), and two new Disciplines, the Darksworn and the
Conjurer. The graphics engine is being improved and an extra character slot
is being added.
Shadowbane, due to its PvP focus, will never be as popular as other games,
but the game has settled down, many problems have been fixed, and it looks
like it will hang around and fill a niche in MMO scene for quite some time
to come.
Final Fantasy XI
This online console game is coming to the PC in North America in October.
The game already has 250,000 subscribers in Japan, so it’s poised
to be a major force in the North American market.
Final Fantasy XI takes place in the world of Vana'diel. Players can create
a character from several different classes and travel about using boats,
airships, and chocobos (you know, those big yellow birds in the Final Fantasy
world). You can choose among five playable races (Hume, Tarutaru, Elvaan,
Mithra, and Galka – some look normal and some have that crazy anime
look going). Classes include red mages, black mages, thieves, warriors,
bards, and more.
The game’s unique hook is that there are three nations competing for
neutral lands, and players pick a nation to fight for. Neutral lands are
claimed not by fighting other players but by vanquishing the monsters. Stats
are kept by the game, and at the end of each week lands change hands based
on how well the monster-killing went.
The game does have the benefit of having been tested for a year in the live
marketplace in Japan, so a lot of the kinks should have been worked out.
Conclusion
After Ultima Online hit it big and EverQuest hit it even bigger, publishers
went a little ga-ga and looked at the MMO market as a big money-crop to
be harvested. Hey, they seemed to say, if we have half a million people
paying monthly fees to play these nerd-attack games where you pretend you’re
an elf or a wizard, think how much we can rake in if we put out other kinds
of online games! Take any kind of single-player game and blow it up to a
massive size and put in some net code and the yokels will come in droves.
This past year has proven the folly of this thinking. We’ve seen the
first cancellation of an MMO (Motor City Online) and only Star Wars Galaxies
has been a blazing success. Games like Asheron’s Call 2 struggled
out of the gate and The Sims Online has been a major disappointment for
EA. There’s no doubt that the market is growing, but the growth isn’t
at the rapid pace that publishers one expected and the games are starting
to bump elbows.
Next year will be a watershed year for MMOs, with major releases like EverQuest
2, Worlds of Warcraft, Dragon Empires, Mythica, and others all competing
for market space with the current MMOs. There just don’t seem to be
enough players for all of these to garner big numbers. We’re going
to see some of these MMO publishers doubled-over in pain.
The good side of this is that competition should prove good to us players,
the consumers of these games. These games are getting better. Let’s
hope enough prove profitable to the publishers that we will see them developed
further. We still want to kill orcs, but please, let’s see some new
creative ways of doing it.
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