Massive Multiplayer Online games have really changed and evolved through the years. They have taken gaming in general to a whole new level, adding creative new aspects to the way we play and to get us involved in the game. They have added classes to give a specific role in the environment, which lets you twist and turn your game experience and choose your own online fate. We can see an example of this in almost every MMO out there: most allow you to choose between good and evil, the bad vs. the good dichotomy that lets you choose between defending the brotherhood and keeping the peace or bringing havoc and destruction to all those who lie in your way. They also have an infinite amount of missions to accomplish that vary in difficulty, which leaves you feeling like the work could never be done. But in recent days, many developers have been raising the bar and adding aspects like changing your character’s allegiance, depending on how he or she completes the certain assignments. If you’re a good guy and you want to become a bad one, just start doing bad things, and soon enough you become one. Along with changes like this, it makes us wonder what will the future of the MMOs be and what will the developers bring to the table to make us even more entangled in these virtual worlds? Continue reading past the break.
Imagine having a world where every decision made on the server has a lasting effect. Imagine having world events like an attack on a certain city and, if you do not stop the attack, the evil doers or even the opposite faction take over that area. Every week there would be a worldwide event having a lasting effect no matter how big or little the event was. It is a lot of work for the company to keep up with but this could be what the future holds for us.
Another aspect that could be added is having a group of leaders on the server. On top of having the responsibility to organize the masses to take care of these events the leaders would also have to make decisions on who are going to assist them in world-changing decisions. There can also be more responsibility added depending on what MMO it is. The way we choose this person can even include the whole server with a voting process.
Some games have already added this but I have never really seen it in an MMO: having your own property. In this “home” of yours, you can decorate it and have anything you have either bought or won from the world. If you want to show off your “palace” to other online friends, you can invite them over and have a party. Though this is not a very important part of the game, players would spend hours fixing their properties up.
Will there ever be a time where we would have lasting world events, virtual worldwide leaders, and have our own in-game homes? Only the future will tell.