Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Everyone has their ideas of what the next big MMOG needs to include in order to be a truly great game. In the last couple of years, many companies have tried to create the new standard, but almost all have failed. What must game developers do to lift their games out of the cesspool of mediocrity and into the spa of greatness?

I have put together a list of the top 10 improvements and changes I feel have to be addressed in order for an MMOG to become the gold standard in online games.

10. Guild Tools
Coming in at number 10 on the list is guild tools. Every MMOG has them to some extent, so you would think that after all this time developers would finally get this right. Guilds are the lifeblood of MMOGs, so creating tools to keep guilds happy should be a high priority for any development team. However, in most MMOGs, the guild tools are woefully inadequate. If a new game wants to draw a guild away from their current MMOG, they need to entice them with all the tools they need to run their guild effectively.

DDO Randomize Traps Please

To start with, the idea that you should have to wait until a certain level to form a guild, or forcing guilds to slowly unlock their guild options, is archaic and has to go. You want me to take my uber guild that has played together for years and wipe everything we use away just so we can start over? How does this make sense? If you want me to convince everyone to switch to your game, you have to provide more tools, not less, than the ones I have now. Tools like calendars, vaults, guild auctions, wearable guild cloaks, and guild halls to display the many great deeds of the guild should be available at level 1 and for free. Don't give me new problems for my guild; we have enough of those as it is. Instead, provide solutions that will give me a reason to switch to your game.

9. Random Traps & Ambushes
One of the coolest moments I have ever experienced in an MMOG was while playing Dungeons & Dragons Online. I was in the beta and the group I was with was completing a new dungeon for the first time. We entered a room and had to pick up a vase that was on the far wall. When we picked it up the floor then fell out from under our feet! We dropped to the lower level where 10 Hell Hounds were waiting to ambush us. We panicked and starting screaming, trying to get some order back to the group. It was great! After the fight, every one of us said that this was the coolest thing we had ever seen in an MMOG.

Fast-forward 2 months, and I was with another group doing the same quest. I couldn't wait to see how everyone would react to the trap. We entered the room, and 3 different players told everyone about the trap’s location and where to stand to avoid it. When the trap went off, no one fell into the pit, and we sat up high and killed the Hell Hounds from a distance. While this was much more effective, it wasn't fun. This could be easily avoided if traps and ambushes were randomly placed.

8. New Mission Types
Missions should be about strategically matching the right player to the right task, letting everyone get to be a hero by allowing them to play to their strengths and weaknesses, and then inviting them to join back up for the big battle royal at the end. In movies, books, and comics, heroes split up, take out different objectives that they are suited to, all while still working as part of a team. Is it too much to ask for missions that don't involve moving as a big huddled ball of players, slowly sweeping a map? I mean, it's an MMOG... why do we always have to be within 5 feet of each other? Why can't we put that "Massive" part to use? Lets see some missions where players have to split up, moving to different places while taking care of different goals in the same zone.