Woah, wait... three factions?! That's so fresh!
Now, don't get me wrong, TSW is a decent game, and it did at least attempt to do something new with the tired old skill trees. But still, come on, you have to bite your tongue pretty damn hard if you want to pretend that it's not a WoW-clone at heart. The core gameplay is lifted directly from the first page of "MMO 101: So You Want to Craft War in the World?", and so is the user interface. It looks like WoW. It feels like WoW. It acts like WoW. Granted, it's the WoW that Cthulhu would play, but it's still pretty much WoW, minus the financial support and craftsmanship of Activision/Blizzard, and that's not a good position to be in if you want to take on the WoW that has the financial support and craftsmanship of Activision/Blizzard.
So is that it? Is that the reason MMOs that aren't WoW are dying like a bunch of flies repeatedly banging their heads against a closed window? That they're trying to fight WoW on the terms set up by Blizzard? Yes and no. The way I see it, there are two main reasons they're all failing. First of all we have the absurd notion that MMO makers carry with them, the one that makes them think that they either have to surpass WoW in popularity or pack it up and go home. But then we have the second reason, and this is the one I think is truly important: failure to identify and target the right player base.
Because when you think about it, assigning MMOs it's own genre is erroneous at best, and financially irresponsible at worst. MMO is a blanket term, an umbrella under which any number of player types can gather. So when a developer says "let's go after the MMO crowd", that developer has already made a huge mistake. It's like trying to make a blockbuster by targeting the type of people who enjoy movies; you're gonna have to be more specific than that if you ever want that mansion made entirely out of cocaine to become a reality. What developers should be saying, is "let's go after the --- player base, they don't have an MMO that caters to their genre of choice". That's what so many MMO makers have failed to grasp: that the reason WoW is so popular is not because that's the kind of MMO everyone wants to play, but rather that it caters to players who enjoy the Blizzard brand of gameplay, and that that player base is huge! But it makes no sense to go after that particular group of players. Blizzard have decades of experience making those types of games. They have that shit locked down. To once again use movies as an analogy, you might as well attempt to overthrow the Marvel Cinematic Universe by creating your own Barvel Cinematic Universe populated with characters like The Bulk, Alloy Man and Mhor. Sure, that method might be putting food on the table for Asylum Films, but any game developer aspiring for more than licking up the scraps that fell off of Blizzard's table would be better served by catering to another player base.
"Marvel wont know what hit them!"
Now, try to think of an MMO, apart from WoW, that really managed to carve out it's own piece of the market. Chances are that you thought of EVE Online (if you didn't, fuck off, you're ruining my example), and there's a reason for that. EVE is in no way in direct competition with the largest, most successful MMO developer in the world, because EVE is catering to a completely different player base. When CCP developed EVE Online, they were clever enough to realise that spread sheet players, armchair generals and people who enjoy being dicks would also be interested in the prospect of a persistent online world with a player driven market. In fact, the only time that they've been in trouble, is when they attempted to shift focus towards microtransactions and FPS-driven hubs. As soon as they abandoned that notion (or at least made sure it was no longer a priority) and went back to fine tuning the systems they already had in place, their players (mostly) forgave them.
CCP also managed to realise that Blizzard pretty much owned the casual market for MMOs. There's nothing to be found for the casual player in EVE, it's probably the least forgiving MMO out there, and it doesn't apologize for that. EVE is famous for some of the largest scams ever pulled off in gaming, and the only times bans were handed out was when the scammers sold their winnings for real currency. At no point did CCP go in to say "Hey! You can't do that to another player!", instead they almost applauded the cleverness required to pull it off. Basically, they reward players for figuring out how to game the system without hacking it, and for figuring out how to stay safe without bitching about your stolen cargo to the support crew. If you allowed another player to reach a position where they could rob your Fortune 500 company blind using nothing but the systems provided by CCP, you only have yourself to blame and CCP will let you know that. And yes, this is most likely very off-putting for a lot of players, but that's the point: CCP was never after those players to begin with, they wanted the players that would relish at the prospect of such a cut-throat world, because those players would certainly NOT be playing World of Warcraft.
This is what it looks like when $300,000 are blown to pieces, and no, that was not a typo.
Another thing CCP did differently than all the dead WoW clones, was to use a completely different set of rules and a unique user interface. They didn't settle for minor tweaks to the established way of doing things, instead they opted for a system that had absolutely nothing to do with the way you play WoW. Now, many developers have claimed to do this, but it's almost always bullshit. Basically, if having played World of Warcraft means that you'll be able to hit the ground running, then the MMO is not that different, no matter how much the developers try to claim otherwise. But having played WoW will grant you no bonuses in EVE. The way skills are gained is unique. The way your avatar is presented is unique. The way you use your items is completely different. EVE and WoW are about as similar as Hearts of Iron and Sonic the Hedgehog, and yet they are both MMOs with their own loyal fan base. That, if nothing else, should prove to you just how much of a blanket term MMOs are.
Now, you don't have to go the route of EVE, and make a completely unique MMO. Some games have had success by simply putting focus on the one aspect of their experience that isn't exactly like WoW. Wildstar is reaping the rewards of a solid implementation of Player Housing, and so is Lord of the Rings Online. The Secret World managed to get some attention due to a fresh take on skill trees, and both Guildwars 2 and Warhammer Online have/had a stellar system in place for all out warfare. But the drawback of all those games are that apart from that one new, cool thing, they are all essentially still WoW with new skins, and the inherent danger of that is perfectly explained using Warhammer Online as an example:
In short, if your game is too similar to WoW, there is absolutely nothing stopping Blizzard from incorporating your changes into their own gameplay, and then it's most likely game over. Many players are not aware of this, but a metric shit-ton of features that are now considered WoW-territory: Public quests, the lore book, RvR lakes and lots of other stuff, were directly lifted from Warhammer Online, and there was nothing Mythic could do about it. What, were they going to sue? Had they done that, Blizzard would simply countersue them for all the other stuff that WO clearly lifted from WoW. So basically, WO went from being a WoW-clone that offered a few unique systems, to a WoW-clone that featured exactly zero differences from the much more successful WoW, and as you might have noticed, the link i included for Warhammer Online will take you to a website saying thank you and goodbye. Sure, it doesn't have to mean the end for your MMO, but it's a risky move. You're basically hoping that Blizzard wont consider your tweaks good enough to steal, or that your player base will stay with you out of loyalty, which is certainly possible, but nothing you can count on. For example, I do believe that The Secret World has a loyal enough player base to stay in business, were it not for the fact that it's developer is ruined. And that sort of brings me to the finest example of a non-WoW MMO that ever existed, and also the saddest possible tale of a game gone wrong. Because one of the reasons that the TSW player base is so loyal, is the fact that the game has become a home away from home for role players. And I don't mean role players as in "players who enjoy RPGs", but rather players who enjoy playing an actual role. Lovecraftian horror and role players have always shared a common bond, and for this reason alone TSW managed to build a decently sized player base of role players. But once you remove the setting and the lore, there's nothing in TSW that actually caters to role players. At least not more so than there is in WoW. In fact, almost no MMOs offer actual gameplay mechanics to facilitate hardcore roleplaying. But you know which MMO that did?
STAR WARS FUCKING GALAXIES!
That game was such a paradise for role players, I still get tears in my eyes whenever I think about it. Before the dreaded NGE, possibly the worst implemented and least asked for game change ever made, SWG had a unique focus on roleplaying that no other game (MMO or otherwise) has managed to trump since. Every single part of the gameplay seemed designed specifically to make it easier for players to take on an actual role and staying in character as much as possible. Whispers were actual whispers, meaning that if you were close enough, you could still here what was being said. Yelling was not a way to spam the entire server with your nonsense, it was a way to make your voice heard for greater distances. Chat was written out in prose, and you could pick and change moods at a whim. So typing "What are we going to do now? /sad We're screwed..." would, to other players be seen as "'What are we going to do now?' Johnny Panzer says. 'We're screwed...' he laments in a sad voice" and that was frickin' AWESOME!
Emotes were abundant and fully animated, and you could create choreographed dance routines, play in a band and just be an entertainer in general. Crafting was complex and intricate, and you could set up shop and run an actual business within the game. And I'm not talking about selling your crafted items by use of an auction house, I mean you could put up a store, decorate it, advertise it and greet customers in person, because the game featured player housing. And not only did the game feature player housing, but also a complex system for city management, including an entire skill tree dedicated to the running of communities. Towns had mayors, political scheming and council meetings.
Skills were fluid, and you could change skill trees at any time to grind something else. This led many players to grind for a new skill tree in preparation for a specific roleplaying event, only to abandon it again once the happening was over, to try something new. There were plenty of Jack of All Trades, and it was a perfectly viable way to play the game. You could be in a group with a hundred different players, and they would all have completely different sets of skills at their disposal, because the combinations were almost endless. It may not have been what many players wanted, but there is no doubt in my mind that the game would still be around today, had Sony not decided to abandon the most loyal players in favor of the players that were clearly more interested in raids and PvP.
The NGE was so poorly implemented that plenty of players thought it was some sort of joke when it went live, and it completely gutted the core gameplay that was enjoyed by the players who spent the majority of their free time inside the game. It was a desperate move, made in haste to counter something that did not actually need to be countered. Sony was loosing subscriptions to WoW, and instead of doubling down on the good things they had, they threw massive game changes together in a matter of weeks, and somehow thought that that would be able to compete with what Blizzard had spent the better part of a decade on developing. It backfired, as was to be expected, and at that point Sony chose to try to limit the damage by openly mocking the players, calling them spoiled, stupid and annoying. It was a travesty, and the game never recovered. Sony made it clear that for no logical reason they were more interested in obtaining a small part of the WoW player base than they were in keeping the players that used to enjoy their game, and the players listened. They listened, said "fuck you right back, Sony" and then they left.
One of the saddest moments I have encountered that was directly related to gaming, was when I decided to reactivate one of my accounts a few weeks before the game servers were shut down. The feeling of seeing my character spawn once again was overwhelming. I had spent so many hours, days and weeks living as this wacky smuggler, and I suddenly realised how much I missed him. I went for a stroll, passing the now abandoned town that I used to live in. It was almost barren, much like the server. Some of the buildings were still there, but most were not. I started to make my way towards where I had settled my last home, just before the NGE came stumbling in like a drunken uncle, and on the way I passed a grove where I used to sit together with another player and just role play my heart out. It was still exactly the same, but now I was alone. When I reached my home, it was still there, owing either to the huge deposit of upkeep money I had stored in it or the upkeep free nature of the house (it was a special edition house, and I really can't remember the details), and I took one last tour of the house. Walking from one room to the next, stopping every so often to look at the trophies I had collected over the years, remembering the roleplaying events that led to them. I did consider taking screen shots, but in the end I decided that I would rather let my brain remember it all in perfect HD. One look at the screens I took made it obvious that reality did not make my memories justice, and so I deleted them all.
On my way down the mountain where my house was located, I ran in to the first player I had seen since I logged on, and it turned out to be a player I used to know. She was travelling by speeder, had spotted me and recognised me (because avatar customization was THAT good) and when she yelled out my name i turned around. It turned out she never left the game, and we had a short chat about the good old times. Ironically, this was probably the longest chat I ever had out of character in SWG, it just seemed pointless to stick with the gimmick now that the servers were about to be closed down forever. After that, we said our goodbyes, gave each other an emote-hug and then I logged out for the last time.
So what's my point? Well, except for general ramblings, I guess it's this: Stop pretending like MMOs are a genre in and of themselves, because they're not. An MMO is simply a different way to play the type of games that you already enjoy, so why the hell is it so damn hard to make one that caters to role players? Huh? HUH?! Give me back my Star Wars Galaxies, you dumb bastards!
Until then, this is Johnny Panzer, signing out.
In loving memory of Vent Gala. Smuggler, Friend, Idiot.
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