Ok. Stated simply.... "Whats the biggest problem with MMORPGs to date?" put another way - "What undiscovered pain exists that a developer could fix to make their game stand out?" Is it ending the level treadmill? Would a simple skill-per use system answer this? Is it the lack of interactivity in the world/environments? Would adding single-player mystery game elements be enough to fix this? Assuming a NON-fantasy, non-tolkein MMO...what "silver bullet" would make a game stand out more than just mere evolutionary movement forward?

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Original post by Vanquish "Whats the biggest problem with MMORPGs to date?"

The monthly fees.

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Original post by DrEvil Quote: Original post by Vanquish "Whats the biggest problem with MMORPGs to date?" The monthly fees.

Yes!! i agree!!

The repetitivity, the "grind" as it were. Most games focus on fighting and gaining levels and don't focus enough on interactivity or skill of any kind.

They're too repetitive and lack any plot.

So if a game...


was much more interactive
had unique gameplay elements
followed a storyline / let players as a whole follow a story arc
and of course had a low monthly fee

then it would be closer to the holy grail?

What else...keep going.

Lack of meaningful interaction.

While there are plenty of games that allow players to interact with the game world, in generally all of those cases the interaction is controlled to ensure that the change is not severe or does not interfere with other players.

In other words, I want to blow up a tavern.

The time-sink; most games you can play for a little while or be interuppted and it's not that big of a deal. Playing a MMORPG requires too much continuous time to do anything.

All of what has been said is good material, the problem is not all opinions are going to agree. I dont think there can nor will there ever be a "holy grail" as you put it.

Otherwise here are a few (more) of my opinions on the matter:

*Time, the time sink as stated is definitely a big thing for me
*Money, again, already mentioned
*The ability to play alone without much penalty in productivity
*More variety- of monsters, of people, of things to do, no more changing color scheme and calling it a different monster

All just my humble opinions of course. So are you asking because you want to make the "Holy Grail?" Well you are off to a good start, you are listening.

Don't you realize the time sink is the big selling point of a MMORPG. From a company standpoint, the more time a person invests in a game, the more time they are going to continue investing. This is where the whole monthly fees comes into play. If we can make the players feel that they have to continue and stopping would make it a waste of time then we can get more money from our product.

Every MMORPG I've seen to date has been using this concept. Asheron's Call, Everquest, etc. etc.