Someone should re-make WoW/The Sims, with the Mac OS interface, aimed at 5 year olds looking for ‘fun’ mail delivery grinding. Then it should be called ‘next gen’, because the future of MMOs is to make everything ‘optional’, even if ‘fun’ is not an option.
“The first MMO that does not require combat to level up.” EVE clearly does not exist, and neither does UO, and no doubt other examples. Why even throw something so blatently wrong out like that in a official video?
Honestly, THIS is the future of MMO gaming? Originally this was a list of things we have already seen in MMOs out today or 10 years ago, but as that was getting long, so lets try this. What was shown that was NEW to the MMO scene? What is so amazingly ‘next gen’ here, aside from the fact that they managed to release a video that is both inaccurate and incredibly boring? (hint: don’t release a preview video that shows nothing but running around in an area everyone will associate with a starting area for WoW just to reach the ‘optional’ star collecting grind)
Hardcore Casual 
Now that looks like a game that was designed by focus groups/committees. It doesn’t look like a game that was designed by people who love MMOs.
I like the idea of the character page which is like facebook, where you can get emails and poke other people though.
That is an awesome post, nice work. Love the title.
Sorry, but both EVE and UO have level ups! There are still lots of invisible design barriers in these games that can be unlocked only grinding skill levels in several specialties. In a sense, they are still the same “you have to pay for several months or your game experience will be severily limited”. You can have the game grinding for you (EVE), but you will still have to wait (and pay) for months (years if you want to be able to do EVERYTHING) before doing something or being able to access everything the game has to offer.
The point of Free Realms is that such barriers don’t exist anymore, since the game is a social-oriented MMOG, where combat is completely optional and just like Puzzle Pirates, it’s a more skill based/casual based game.
And about the future… just live with it: the future is far from hardcore MMOGs. If you look closely the majority of the teenagers are playing the youtube/myspace/facebook mmogs, so at least expect the classic MMOG experience to become a niche market.
I didn’t sit through the whole video, even on a second try, so let me know if anyone answers those questions.
Guys, I suspect none of us are the target demographic for this one :)
The actual quote from the video is:
“This is the first MMO where you can actually level up independently, without playing combat, just by exploring the world.”
This quote comes in the context of the narrator pointing out that you can explore the entire world without being forced into combat by hostile NPCs. To my knowledge, this is in fact unique (EvE and UO accounted for).
This whole ‘hardcore MMOs’ being a niche is laughable too. What do you think all the tweens will want to play once they grow out of the facebook/myspace phase? At 25, do you really think they will still be logging on to update their mood/profile daily, using cutsey emotes and cool-kid animations? As with saturday morning cartoons, you eventually grow out of them and move on (at least, most of us do…)
Club Penguin and the like have an audience, one that will eventually outgrow their product, and look to more serious games with depth. To think that everyone will want to play online dress up forever is a bit silly.
Compared to the market for games that children and their parents can play together, I do think the hardcore market will ultimately be shown to be pretty niche. Case in point: Wii vs. PS3 and 360. The future has spoken, and it said it doesn’t give a crap about us.
Also consider that if the younger tween audience now is exposed to the “new” generation of Free Realms, LEGO, etc. when they get older why on earth would they be inclined to “go retro” for one of those “big, clunky, old-school MMO’s” that our generation likes? We like them because that’s what we cut our teeth on. The new kids aren’t.
Well they won’t go back to WoW, but they will outgrown the kiddie games and go play WoW2 or WAR2. Same thing happened with people who like me played UO, and then moved on to AC, DAoC, WoW, and now WAR.
No different than people who played Mario on the NES now playing Mario Galaxy on the Wii. The heart of the game stays similar, but evolution runs it’s course.
My point is that stuff like this caters to the kids, but eventually the kids need something to play when they grow up, and they certainly won’t be looking to play 3D dress up.
Very well put, Syncaine.
The game looks actually really fun for your casual players… just not something I’d ever spend a whole lot of time on.
I’d rather see more talk about The Agency. Isn’t it due out before year’s end?
I don’t think its Next Gen by any stretch of the imagination. Running around delivering mail (Lotro), exploring ever area in the game for rewards (Lotro), Mining and blacksmithing (WoW, EQ,EQ2, Lotro, etc)…Warrior, Wizard (all the above) So you have different ways to level your character up (Warhammer), big deal.
I’m not seeing anything new. Sure if you have kids and want to introduce them to an MMO style game so they can play with you when they are older, this might be a way to get them involved. The graphics looked a lot like a variant of Elf Bowling to me. I’m not saying it won’t be fun for the kids, but to say its even next gen is kind of on the crazy coo coo side of things.
It might very well be next-gen but I can honestly say the graphics design leaves me cold and not the least bit interested in it. I’m sure others have felt the same way with WoW despite it being a pretty good game. But I suspect I’m really not its target audience. Just my two cents.