Tasteful, Understated Nerdrage: Un-Ruining the MMO

Infinitron Dragon suggested that I might find something interesting about this video, and indeed he was correct:

It’s not terribly long, but you might want to grab a coffee and settle in as it plays even so. The vlogger makes some excellent arguments (I think) about the state of modern MMOs and the sorry lack of sandbox RPGs in the market today. If one wants to get nitpicky, it could be argued that Ultima Online should have been included on the list of current sandbox MMOs, alongside EVE Online, since UO is still in existence today and still being played by…well, by a player base. But then again, Ultima Online’s player base and influence in the market have waned considerably over the last few years, so it’s easy to see why he chose to put it in the “historical” bucket alongside the now-offline Star Wars: Galaxies.

I suppose a mention of ArcheAge would have been worthwhile, as well, since that is reported to be a sandbox-style MMO, and will now see a North American release thanks to Trion Worlds.

3 Responses

  1. AvatarAcid says:

    Well… Overall I believe he does have some points. However I believe he should have spent much more time describing the start of MMO and what makes a great MMO especially around the area of UO.

    I also have an issue with describing most of these games as Sandbox, especially EVE where you can just log in and purchase your sandcastle. I do not like wallet warrior games. If I am going to spend time playing something I want to be on equal footing with every other player and have no advantages other than the skills I bring with me.

  2. Sanctimonia says:

    I haven’t played Eve Online, but I approve of that video (which is long). Write basic stuff designed to combine and simulate more advanced stuff, and start players with full rights and freedoms.

  3. Sanctimonia says:

    When the playerbase gets depressed and the economy hits the dumps this is the reaction from emergent behavior:

    http://youtu.be/t_3VZDb7pj4

    I just wish the scream sound effects were mixed and chosen a little bit better. Still a symphony of screams.