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I found a post by Tynan Sylvester that raise some old ideas, that I have. I want to talk about current MMO designs and why it not fun :)

Denis Protsenko, Blogger

March 5, 2009

2 Min Read

I found a post (http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TynanSylvester/20090223/557/Mutual_Storytellers.php) that raise some old ideas, that I have. I want to talk about current MMO designs and why it not fun :)

I think, that main problem of MMO games that they have hard rules and they guide players like trains on rails. If we play in some popular MMO, what we find? Nice visuals - yes. Huge world - yes. Cool quests - hm... yes. But, hell, they all have the same problem - synthetic rules. 

Try to set a question - what I can do in this game? And what answer? Kill mobs, to obtain levels, cool stuff for... kill new mobs! %) Oh, I forgot - we can go on "war". If we in guild we can kill some other guys from other guild. In special place, guide by special pvp rules.

You think it`s fun? I think not. If I run MMO game (that massive and multiplayer - a “key” words) I don`t want to play with AI, I want to play with other players! But today MMOs have designs that separate players from interaction.

We play "cooperative", but we in parallel lines all time. And this rule makes game world gray. Yes, we need mobs and NPCs to help players, we need pre-designed quests, but also we need more freedom in player actions. 

Maybe, we need to get experience of real life? We have fantastic freedom, because we have only rules that we build - not the system (system only have basic rules of objects interaction).

Every man make little action but in a whole we build world story, we influence on future, we make this world, at last. Maybe, we need to focus on building a system that gives players more ways to interact with other player, not with AI.

A world, where players can judge, who "good" and who "bad" (not the global game rule). A world when player not a "warrior" or "mage" that 24/7 kill mobs, but when he can influence on whole world situation. 

Or, maybe today MMOs ok and all happy? ) 

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