Action apples and RPG oranges

I’ve been rewriting this post twice today, trying to not to sound like a raging monkey but rather a sensible person. It’s not been easy. If you want the angry version you can check out BioBreak.

First things first. I’d like you first to read this post over at Undead Labs by Richard Foge.

Pretty bold statements in there isn’t it? To paraphrase what was said it boils down to this.

Current MMOs offering are early drafts of the greatness that these games can become. They need to become more like the games of old where action and impact unto the world is immediate and felt. More action, less math.

To me tough it sounded like this

The current MMOrpgs are antiquated designs. They need to become actionMMOs wich are clearly superior in design.

Notice how I bolded some parts?

Apples and Oranges

This is what it really boils down to. RPGs and Action games have been around forever and both are a successful genre. They each have their distinct styles and some players prefer one over the other. It’s fine that way too. That’s why we have different styles of games  in the first place.

Most current MMOs are based on the RPG model of design. Lots of emphasis placed on character building and story elements. The natural evolution of RPGs is not and will never be to  become action games so what Mr. Foge proposes simply makes no sense. The next big MMO might very well be an actionMMO but that doesn’t make it a better genre than a RPG. Simply means that more people like action over RPG. It’s apple and oranges and I’m at a lost for words on how a designer can make such a basic mistake.

Heck, it’s a bit scary he’s a developer in the first place.

MMO means massively multiplayer online. It’s not a genre by itself. Both action and RPGs can have MMOs added to them and it’s my hope we’ll see other genre try the MMO approach. But please! Don’t mix the genres up.

About these ads