Yes, I totally just did use two different song references in one title, but that's not what this is about. Since the dawn of time (about 1992), the MMOG has been synonymous with “highlight-to-fight”. As loyal followers of the genre, we MMOG fanatics have seen many a different approach to the worlds we play and live in, but almost always we interact with said worlds in the same way. We pull our targets sheepishly away from their blissfully ignorant comrades, whittle away at their HP with abilities triggered by the mere press of button, and then venture onto the next fiendish foe that, until we enter a certain invisible radius, is blissfully unaware of us.




This is the way of the sword (or blaster) in just about every MMORPG to date. It works well enough, but some developers and fans alike see the need to shake things up, and that’s just what we are witnessing with the batch of games on the horizon and a few that have already broken ground. The tried and true combat mechanics are being tested, reshaped, and reinvigorated by new takes on the fundamental interaction players have with a virtual world.




I do not think that anyone who is reading this article needs a history lesson on where MMOGs come from, but for a quick overview here is a basic evolutionary path. Dungeons & Dragons gave birth to the MUD, which gave birth to the MMOG, and about sixteen years later here we are awaiting Age of Conan. That’s about it. Sure we could go on meandering around the annals of gaming history, but truth be told the game worlds we are living in today are very much the same as the worlds we inhabited first with paper and then simple text on a CRT monitor.




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So isn’t it about time we saw some changes added to the mix? I think it’s kind of obvious that developers have gotten just about all they can out of the standard combat system we’re used to. Thinking back on it, the first evidence of bold new territory being explored on the combat side of things was Turbine’s decision to use a more action-oriented system in Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. But the game was not the biggest success in the market, and we are lucky that its mediocre reception hasn’t dissuaded other game-makers from branching out and trying new things.




The most recent example of this feat of daring came in the form of Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa. Now, put aside the odd decision to attach Lord Brittish’s name to the front of the title (as if anyone outside of a very hardcore audience knows who the man is) and you have a game that really does try to mix things up in the genre. The purest example of which is its combat system which very cleverly masks traditional dice rolling with aspects of a first-person shooter. Whether or not the deed was a success may be up for debate, but no one can say Destination Games, like Turbine, didn’t try.




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Looking ahead, despite a few moderately successful ventures into the unknown, it seems that combat systems of MMOGs to come will still be trying to shed the old skin in favor of some new get-up. The Chronicles of Spellborn aims to mix a revolving skill-deck with FPS controls in order to put a twitchier emphasis on the traditional fantasy theme, along with the many other different things Spellborn Ltd aims to deliver. Champions Online from Cryptic Studios will be offering a more Marvel: Ultimate Alliance sort of experience when it lands on the Xbox 360 and PC next spring, with the idea being that you can’t have a superhero MMOG with traditional combat anymore. Jack Emmert and crew believe its time to move on from CoH, and in 2009 we’ll find out if they’re right. Sony’s The Agency will be a true FPS experience, built upon an MMORPG-modeled world.




But each of these games has a cloudy release date at best. Whereas Age of Conan will finally be hitting shelves on May 20th of this year and will be bringing with it a vibrant re-imagining of MMOG combat. Conical damage, multi-directional swings, combos, siege warfare, destructible cities, mounted-combat… and no more highlight-to-fight system in sight. Am I right? Sorry, I couldn't resist.




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I for one am enthused beyond belief that we are moving on in the genre. Maybe it’s because I grew up playing action games on consoles before I really migrated to PCs and MMOGs, but I’ve always found the turn-based/hotkey set-up to be somewhat on the mundane side of things. I was able to overlook the gameplay shortcomings of my favorite genre though, because the rest of the games I spent so much time in were rock-solid. MMOGs are deep, vibrant, living worlds. But there’s always been one area that seemed lacking, and yet it’s the one aspect of the game you spend inordinate amounts of time with.




Will the coming wave of more action-oriented games spell the end of tradition? Will the visceral soon outweigh the steady-paced? Something tells me that with millions still living in Azeroth, and with the hype-machine rolling strong for Warhammer Online that tradition will be just fine. Instead, I foresee a more diverse stable of games to choose from. We’ll be able to travel out into the woods, like some curly-haired little damsel, sit at each table, eat from each bowl of porridge, and in the end we’ll all find something that suits us just right.




Does this kind of porridge sound tasty to you? Let us know on the forums over here!