MMORPG/MMO games you anticipated, only for it to be canceled or disappointing?

Browsing recently through various articles about MMORPG's past and present left me wondering: which MMORPG or other MMO-type games have you followed the development of, only for the project to later be canceled or for the final product to be a big disappointment?

The MMORPG that I was looking forward to above all was VR1's proposed Lost Continents, the only pulp-era themed MMORPG I'm aware of that was/is being developed. Besides being a big fan of Indiana Jones style pulp-era fiction and such, it was in interviews and previews for this game where I first heard of the proposed introduction of instancing (they were calling it "private zones" then), an element that's taken for granted in today's MMORPG's and other MMO-type games.

Unfortunately, the game never saw the light of store shelves. Months into its development, it was at first "suspended indefinitely", then finally officially canceled.


-G

I haven't looked forward to any MMOs really. *Maybe* SG Worlds, but that hasn't come out yet and so I haven't yet had the chance to be disappointed.

I had friends who raved about Tabula Rasa and LotRO, but wasn't really captivated by either of those when I tried them. I'm not really into FPSes, which TR really does resemble (well, to an extent), and LotRO just looked weird.

Brad

I had high hopes for Tabula Rasa, and while it wasn't, er... "bad", it certainly didn't capture my interest enough to keep going. I figured I'd return once they "finished" it, but now it=dead. (Ends feb28th, free until then if anyone cares.)

I also anticipated Guild Wars 2, but talk has sort of faded, so I'm not sure of it's status what with NCSoft's canceling of several things.

Honestly, all MMORPG's are disappointing now. There's zero innovation. So, lemme get this straight: I'm supposed to get all excited about playing in some new MMO with its cool gimmick that's supposed to make it unique from everything else. So, I buy the game, agonize over making good choices as I build a character, log in, and promptly go wandering the landscape engaging in pointless, repetitive melee with an environment stocked with infinitely-respawning mobs. Just pick a mob, run up to it and start hacking. If you'd rather fight a live player, go to the PvP zone and it's much the same, just with weaker consequences and faster rezzing.

Forget whether or not that's a role-playing game--that's just a poor excuse for a game, period. And the setting really is rarely invoked in anything more than a superficial way. Fantasy, sci-fi, pulp, or superheroes, it's basically six or a half-dozen. The big gimmick that hooked me into playing means zero.

Does the massive-multiplayer element really add anything? It seems that the games are so massive that it's rare for anybody to take notice of anybody else. It's that kind of big-city isolation, where you're isolated even when you're in a crowd. What a waste.

I wonder why MMO's play it so safe. Why are there never any big dramatic cutscenes, for instance? Why is it so easy to go through a quest/mission without really having any idea what it was about?

Felon said:

promptly go wandering the landscape engaging in pointless, repetitive melee with an environment stocked with infinitely-respawning mobs.

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Like in the other thread, I'd point out that a lot of games are like that really. Sure they generally have tighter plots, but a lot of times it's as easy to ignore as anything. Oblivion was a great game IMO, but could easily be described as a central quest chain of most MMO's.

Does the massive-multiplayer element really add anything? It seems that the games are so massive that it's rare for anybody to take notice of anybody else. It's that kind of big-city isolation, where you're isolated even when you're in a crowd. What a waste.

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One of the most fun things in Tabula Rasa was that the bases were occasionally attacked. The aliens would take the base and all the NPC's would hop a drop ship out. You could defend the base, or retake the base (in which case the NPC's dropped back in via ship).

It was fun being part of a wave of soldiers retaking a base from the aliens.

(TR also took the effort to have most mobs "spawn" in a more believable manner. A boar wouldn't simply fade into sight, he'd wander out of a bush. The aliens would arrive via ship or be phased back in with a teleportation circle.)

I wonder why MMO's play it so safe. Why are there never any big dramatic cutscenes, for instance? Why is it so easy to go through a quest/mission without really having any idea what it was about?

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Wrath of the Lich King actually has a cutscene in one quest line, it's not up to the quality of the preview/intro cutscene, but it was nicely done. Just the one though.

The other "innovation" with Wrath is "phasing". It adds a semi-permenance to some areas in Northrend. When you attack and achieve the objectives to clear this one field of battle, it is then "replaced" with a cleared field and new objectives. You retake a hill and defend it, and it's replaced with a tower and a new flightpoint. You're still in the same Zone, but with Phasing, you see your "version" of it.

The disadvantage is of course that you can't interact with other PC's in a different zone, but I do like the small changes.

(Same way on some quests, once you saved the treants from the evil spirits, they became neutral spawns to you rather than hostile, a little touch but nice for a sense of "change".)

Vocenoctum said:

Wrath of the Lich King actually has a cutscene in one quest line, it's not up to the quality of the preview/intro cutscene, but it was nicely done. Just the one though.

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FFXI's big quests are full of cutscenes. Even though I haven't played it in years, I still think it had the best story line of any MMo I have ever played.



What disappointed me? Age of Conan. I followed this game practically from announcement. The final product was, as I have posted in another thread here, 'WoW with boobs'. Major disappointment.

Vocenoctum said:

Like in the other thread, I'd point out that a lot of games are like that really. Sure they generally have tighter plots, but a lot of times it's as easy to ignore as anything. Oblivion was a great game IMO, but could easily be described as a central quest chain of most MMO's.

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A lot of games are like that, true. But a lot of games offer maybe 20 hours of gameplay before you shelf them or return them to Blockbusters. It seems thant an MMO ought to offer something to keep you coming back for months and years.

What I loved about Oblivion quests was that there was a lot of variety. Thief quests, for instance, could be completed without ever drawing a blade. Give me some quests like that, where I have to make decisions and solve problems rather than just slice my way down a chain of enemies, and I'll give MMO"s a second look. But as far as I can tell, MMO's have largely dropped the notion of characters having anything other than combat skils/powers.

There was also a lot to explore and discover in Oblivion. Contrast that to the latest crop of MMO's, where they try to make sure that all content is easily accessible (e.g. Warhammer's Tome of Knowledge).

I still remember all the hoopla in WoW that there would be mini-games, where you could go into a bar, for instance, and play cards with other players. It'd be nice to see some kind of casual play elements like that in a MMO. The original idea behind a lot of them was to make the player feel immersed in a persistent world, but I think that goal has kind of fallen away.

Age of Conan for the win.

I bought two copies of the game. I installed one. (The other is still sitting in the shrink.)

It promised much - and delivered pretty much nothing.

Ick, MMOs. They have vexed me from the very beginning. I think the only MMO I ever 'liked' was when I tried a free 10 day trial of EVE Online.
If they 'restarted' EVE I would join in a heart beat, but from what I understand as it is now, player run Companies (aka Guilds) pretty much dominate the game and new players have a difficult time 'fitting in'.

During debates with my close friends, some of whom are big WoW-heads, over the same topic we are having now, I've expressed the same feeling, almost verbatim as what Felon said above.

Felon said:

I wonder why MMO's play it so safe. Why are there never any big dramatic cutscenes, for instance? Why is it so easy to go through a quest/mission without really having any idea what it was about?

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WoW was actually pretty innovative from previous games, but now it is the "default" game that others are judged by and try to emulate.

LotRO felt like WoW in Middle-Earth to me, but I liked the implementation and feel better, so I dig the game.

Many MMOs play it safe for the same reason Hollywood plays it safe with most movies, and why large game companies (okay WotC) also play it safe with their major properties . . . innovation is risky! Innovate well and you raise the bar and become the industry leader, innovate poorly and you destroy your once-loved property. Keep it safe and enjoy a more stable source of income and profit.

DDO (Dungeons & Dragons Online) had a lot of innovative features that were praised by critics and many players (one of which being the nonstandard D&D setting of Eberron) . . . but over time the game has morphed to be more like WoW in order to keep a survivable subscriber base. While DDOs innovations were pretty cool, the game overall was "fun" and "okay" but not "GREAT" or "OMG WOW THIS IS SO COOL!!!" and so the game never enjoyed the success it could have.