Many players are waiting for new AAA MMORPGs, but the outlook for 2019 is thin. We asked you what bothers you about the genre right now and are naming the four most common answers.
MMORPGs are complex and offer many exciting adventures that are experienced socially in groups. However, not many online role-playing games are currently being released. You told us in a survey about some things that you are not happy with in the genre right now.
4. Modern MMORPGs are too easy
- Number of votes: 359
When you think back to the beginnings of the genre in the 1990s, MMORPGs have changed significantly. In the past, you had to search for quest NPCs and could not complete most missions alone.
Today, this is different. The market has opened up to a broader audience. After all, online role-playing games thrive on having as many players as possible. However, to appeal to such a large mass, the games had to become more accessible.
Today, NPCs are marked with exclamation marks. Quest markers or even glowing paths indicate where to go, and even alone, many enemies and quests pose no problem. Many veterans among you simply miss the challenge.
Often, only the fight against world bosses or group events remains, which increase the difficulty level. That is often too little.
- Mein-MMO reader Steed writes: “Lately, no MMORPG has really engaged me. PvE-wise, games are tailored mainly for solo gameplay. Then the “ease” becomes a disease of MMORPGs. By the time players reach max level, almost nothing is expected of them.”
3. No new major releases
- Number of votes: 516
The situation surrounding MMORPGs looks a bit bleak right now. There have been no announcements of western AAA online role-playing games for a long time. You miss the next “World of Warcraft,” and even Everquest Next has been canceled.
The market is divided among some established MMORPGs. Although updates and expansions are constantly released, they often offer only more of the same. In the survey, many of you expressed a desire for new worlds to explore, just the next big MMORPG.
However, when new MMORPGs are released, they are mostly Asia-grinders that all play very similarly.
- Jyux explains: “Somehow, nothing substantial comes anymore. The real MMORPGS are extinct, and the “MMO-Lite” games are in power.”
- Mein-MMO reader Luriup writes: “[…] Very, very little new content is being released,
and then with content I have already seen elsewhere. Publishers lack the courage to start something big.”
2. There are no innovations in the genre
- Number of votes: 815
It is not that no MMORPGs are being released. But they offer too few innovations. The genre seems to be stagnating. If you look at other genres, they are evolving. Today, no one would want to play a FIFA from the year 2000.
Even role-playing games have evolved and offer more intense and cinematic experiences. According to our survey, you believe that the MMORPG market currently lacks major new games that would truly advance the genre and initiate an evolution.
An evolution that brings changes that make online role-playing games modern and interesting, but that remain true to the roots of the genre. According to you, MMORPGs need to remain MMORPGs, but they must become significantly more modern.
- Damin explains: “I’ve been eagerly waiting for new impulses and an AAA MMORPG with a subscription model for years. Preferably with an evolving sci-fi, steampunk, cyberpunk, or vampire setting. But I’m slowly losing hope. All developers are heading in the same direction based solely on the setting […].”
- Chris Brunner believes: “For me, there is no innovation. Every MMORPG feels the same and hardly tries to distinguish itself from the wider mass. Every combat system looks eerily similar to 20 other MMORPGs. The stories are almost always built the same way. Quest design and gameplay mechanics are often copied 1:1 from the WoW template.”
1. Too much Free2Play has ruined the genre
- Number of votes: 992
Free2Play has established itself in the market because the broad masses like to try something for free and remain if they like it. The barrier to entry for subscription games deters many. Most do not want to commit to a game long-term through a subscription. This is partly due to changes in gaming habits over the years.
However, Free2Play has a Pay2Win aftertaste for you. Often, item shops offer things that simplify the gaming experience and allow players to progress faster. Those who want to be among the best players on a server often feel “forced” to spend more money.
Among you, the opinion prevails that Free2Play games focus on microtransactions, leaving the actual game behind.
- Varoz says: “I canceled WoW months ago, and I don’t touch F2P anymore. No matter how good it is, they always end up being P2W and are built around the shop.”
- DarokPhoenix writes: “In Free2Play titles, the factor of “money is time” is also implemented. Who doesn’t want to be faster than others? Who doesn’t want to look better than others? No matter how you spin it, you feel forced.”
