Planting a Seed? - Is an MMOG centered on social interaction viable?

Seed, a dev-described "non-combat, roleplay centric MMORPG" announced its imminent closure at the end of September. More than just a lamentable end to Danish developer Runestone's dream, the event has sparked questions about the viability of an MMOG apart from the WoW model, and specificly whether or not a non-combat "cooporative puzzle" style MMOG is viable. Ethec attempts to answer that question in this week's editorial.

"The more I think about the Seed closure, the more I realize how big an endeavor a truly original game is. Not only must a pioneering developer have compelling new ideas, the development team must think very carefully about the learning curve - how best to expose players to your new ideas so that a critical mass of players eventually catches on and tells all their friends about this cool new game with feature "x" that will (assuredly) redefine the genre."

Keep reading to learn more. Do you agree with Ethec? Let us know in the forums right here at Ten Ton Hammer.