The AI “ChatGPT” is currently on everyone’s lips. The artificial intelligence answers the burning questions of humanity. Our author Schuhmann took the opportunity to ask the AI about the best MMO to play right now. However, the answer is disappointing.
What does the AI say is the best MMO to play right now?
This was the answer given to me by the AI “ChatGPT”:
It depends on personal preferences and the play style of the individual. There are many MMOs suitable for different types of players. Some of the currently most popular MMOs are:
- World of Warcraft: This game has a long history and a very large player base. It offers a wide range of content, including quests, raids, dungeons, and PvP battles.
- Final Fantasy XIV: This game has a strong story and a large world to explore. It also offers a variety of activities such as quests, dungeons, raids, and more.
- Elder Scrolls Online: This game offers a huge open world to explore. It also has a strong story and a variety of activities such as quests, dungeons, raids, and more.
- Guild Wars 2: This game offers an open world and an active community. It also has a strong story and a variety of activities such as quests, dungeons, raids, and more.
There are many other great MMOs to try, depending on what kind of player you are and what kind of content you are looking for.
What does “MMO” mean in 2023 – the big problem
What is the issue with the answer? The answer shows a problem: The term “MMO” is difficult and contentious in practice. The AI uses the term “MMO” synonymously with “MMORPG”, whereas MMORPG is actually just a subcategory of MMOs.
The difficulty with the term MMO comes from WoW, which marked a turning point in the genre in 2005:
- Until 2005, people in MMOs usually played in the same instance, in a shared world, so they could run with 400 people to a dragon in one area and kill it.
- With WoW, instances came into play: Only a maximum of 40 people could run to the dragon in a large group.
In the classic definition, MMOs still refer to games like those before 2005, where thousands of players operate on the same server. Such games have proven to be a huge problem, as so many players in one place heavily burden the servers, create significant balancing issues, and cannot be transported to consoles.
Thus, these games have practically become extinct, but there are exceptions:
- EVE Online is still one such game and continually writes fantastic stories. Here, the performance issues are solved by slowing down the action extremely when many players gather in one spot.
- Chronicles of Elyria was supposed to be such a game, but it failed miserably.
- Star Citizen has already raised over 500 million US dollars with the promise of creating such a game,
How does the AI understand the term MMO? The AI uses “MMO” synonymously with “MMORPG” and lists 4 of the currently most popular MMORPGs as an answer.
This reflects a general, prevailing view of MMOs: For many players, the term MMO has shrunk to MMORPG today.
It is associated with character development, a persistent world, and things like raids, dungeons, and quests. However, all these elements actually belong more to the “RPG” aspect of an MMORPG and not to the MMO aspect.
Thus, there can also be shooter, action, or strategy games as MMOs; it does not always have to be a role-playing game (RPG).
MMO no longer means the same as it did in 2005
This is the challenge with the term “MMO”: You can understand MMO in two ways:
- As it was before 2005, when it meant “massive world with thousands of players”, which includes only a few games like EVE Online or Planetside.
- Or you see MMO as an extended term, simply describing whether you can play a game alone or with several people. In the sense of “Singleplayer – Multiplayer – MMO”. MMO then means “I can connect with an extremely large number of players, even if we do not play on the same server, but in different instances”.
If you define the term “MMO” this broadly, you can include almost all popular games-as-a-service games like Fortnite, Destiny 2, or even Hearthstone and FIFA, although that would already be a sacrilege for purists.
However, if you define the term narrowly, there have been no MMOs for many years. Thus, the Wikipedia entry on “MMO shooters” already ends in 2016 with failed attempts to develop “massive shooters” like Dust 514 or Firefall.
Later loot shooters with MMO elements like Destiny, The Division, or Anthem are not listed on Wikipedia as MMO shooters. The most popular game of recent years, Fortnite, is certainly not. Since ChatGPT apparently draws from such rather conservative sources, the AI reflects this conservative view on the term.
What is the other problem with the answer? With all due love, all 4 MMORPGs that ChatGPT describes sound almost identical: Yes, all games have quests, raids, and dungeons – and a “strong story” and a “large world”.
When it comes to such truly existential questions, like the best MMO, even the powerful AI ChatGPT seems to hit a wall.
What is ChatGPT? Everything you need to know about the AI from OpenAI
