by Karen Hertzberg on Jun 09, 2006
The Evolution of Genres in MMOs
By Mercurie
I hope I might be forgiven for departing from the topic of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes this week, but I thought I would discuss the various genres of MMORPGs that exist, and even suggest a few genres that might make for good MMORPGs. While MMORPGs have been around for several years now, it seems to me that for the most of that time, the majority of these games have fallen into the fantasy genre. This has changed in the past few years, as we see more and more games focusing on other genres.
Indeed, science fiction has proven somewhat popular in MMORPGs. One need look no further than Star Wars Galaxies for an example of this genre. The game is set in the Star Wars universe, in the time between Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The game does differ from the movies, in that while the Jedi are pretty much extinct by the time of The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars Galaxies allows for, literally, hundreds of Jedi. There are other differences as well, which have been an ongoing source of controversy ever since the game was launched.
When it comes to science fiction games, I am guessing the most famous besides Star Wars: Galaxies may well be Anarchy Online. The game is set, for the most part, on the planet Rubi-Ka, where the rebellious worker class, the Clans, are facing off against their corporate rulers, Omni-Tek. EVE Online is another science fiction based MMORPG. The concept of the game is difficult to describe in a few words, but it is basically set in the far future and deals with colonies of Earth.
Of course, many gamers grew up reading comic books, so it would be expected for there to be games based on comic books. City of Heroes is set in Paragon City, where players can create their own superheroes to battle supervillains. City of Villains can be best described as the “evil twin” of City of Heroes. The player plays a supervillain instead of a superhero!
Given the popularity of MMORPGs, it is probably not surprising that a few games actually have a historical setting: World War II Online is set in the European theatre of the Second World War. A Tale in the Desert is set in ancient Egypt. Pirates of the Burning Sea, which seems to have been in beta forever (has it been released yet?), is set in the 18th century Caribbean. Players can play a pirate, an adventurer (sort of a cross between a privateer and a merchant), or a naval officer. Disney is supposed to come out with Pirates of the Caribbean Online sometime in 2007. Like the movies, it will roughly be based in the historical Golden Age of Piracy (although I don’t think that there were any undead pirates running around the Caribbean even then…).
This is only a short run-down of some of the genres of MMORPGs which currently exist. There are also online worlds based on animated cartoons (Disney’s Toontown Online), martial arts movies (The Empire of Martial Heroes, a Korean made game), and a few other genres. Of course, while new genres of MMORPGs have emerged, the industry is still largely dominated by fantasy-oriented games, with science fiction-oriented games coming in a close second. Given the number of games emerging in various other genres, however, I am not sure that this will be true ten years from now. That having been said, what genres would I like to see?
Well, off the top of my head, I can think of a few. One genre I have yet to see in MMORPGs is the Western. I think the Old West would be an interesting milieu for a MMORPG and one with fairly good possibilities. Think of it, gamers could play gunslingers, cowboys, ranchers, and various other archetypes of the Wild West. Such a game would also have an advantage, in that its setting would be one that is familiar to most people. Players would not have to familiarize themselves with the world, as it is already one they know from hundreds of movies and TV shows!
Another genre I would like to see done as an MMORPG is that of spy drama. The computer game No One Lives Forever, not to mention the various James Bond games, have been popular. Now just think if one could play such games with other gamers in a persistent, 3-D world. Of course, if I were to develop such a game, I think I would set it in the Sixties, when American and British television was filled with spy shows and the Bond movies were at their height.
Of course, with at least two pirate-oriented MMORPGs coming out, I think there could be room for the more generic swashbucklers as well. Indeed, a game set in the time of Cardinal Richlieu’s France (the setting for The Three Musketeers novels) would seem interesting to me. After all, I am sure that there are a lot of guys out there who have always wanted to save a fair damsel in distress by swinging from a chandelier. For that matter, there are probably a lot of women who have wanted to rescue a handsome fellow in distress by swinging from a chandelier… It is a genre that offers non-stop excitement, which would seem to be exactly what one would want in a MMORPG.
At any rate, I suspect that at some point, maybe in the not so distant future, some company will come out with games based in these genres. It seems to me that the past few years MMORPGs have been expanding into other genres beyond fantasy and science fiction. And some have even seen some success: just look at City of Heroes.
In fact, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes could actually jumpstart this expansion into other genres. While Vanguard is a fantasy game, it is a fantasy game that is very different from other fantasy games. As something fairly original, if it is successful it might spur companies to create more than just EverQuest knockoffs. In other words, it might spur companies to expand into genres that have not yet been covered by MMORPGs.
Regardless, I look forward to being able to swing from chandeliers in a 17th century French chateau or face down another gunfighter on the streets of Deadwood…