Side Scrolling MMORPGs 4TW

Why is it that just about every side scrolling MMORPG has been very successful? For a long while MapleStory from Nexon was the only side scrolling MMORPG on the block – at least until Ndoors decided to embrace the sub genre with their WonderKing game. Ndoors is probably best known for the turn based MMORPG Atlantica Online, and that’s it. I think a few months after Ndoors released WonderKing, Nexon actually bought the entire company. I think it’s because Nexon saw WonderKing as a thread to MapleStory’s dominance. It’s safe to say that after Runescape from Jagex, MapleStory is the most profitable and most popular free to play MMORPG on the market. WonderKing isn’t nearly as big of a success as MapleStory has been, but the game definitely carved out its own slice of the 2D MMORPG market.

WonderKing isn’t the only new side scrolling MMORPG to release chasing after MapleStory’s success. Fists of Fu from OutSpark is a 2D action MMORPG that’s trying to mix MapleStory and Dragon Saga style gameplay. Whether it’ll be successful or not remains unknown – as the game launched into open beta recently. I doubt it’ll be as successful as Outspark’s flagship anime MMORPG Fiesta Online. For those that didn’t know Fiesta Online is by far the most successful game OutSpark has. I think Secret of the Solstice (The Ragnarok Online clone they have) is their second most popular, but Fiesta is leaps and bounds ahead of Secret of the Solstice. They pretty much abandoned their other MMORPGs – Project Powder and Wind Slayer. They for sure abandoned Dance Groove Online and Blackshot. Hopefully these two games launch through another publisher.

Aside from the growth of side scrolling MMORPGs, games like Forsaken World from Perfect World Entertainment and War of Angels from Neowiz have attracted quite a bit of attention. Many Perfect World, Battle of the Immortals and Jade Dynasty fans have been flocking to try Forsaken World. Too bad the game is still in phase 1 closed beta, with full release being severla years in the future. Suba Games has been pushing Mission Against Terror quite hard lately. I just wish they’d get around to releasing Priston Tale 2 sometime soon, as that game has been on hiatus forever. The worst thing about it is that it’s already released in Europe through Gamerkraft, who also publishes FreeJack. I’m also waiting for Netmarble to release Koongya Adventure in the U.S. Instead of releasing it, they recently launched Uncharted Waters Online instead. It’s not a terrible game, but it’s too much like Voyage Century for my taste. On the positive side, Uncharted Waters Online is one of the only Japanese MMORPGs out there. Yeah, it’s developed in Japan. I think Lucent Heart (Beanfun) and Dynasty Warriors Online (Aeria Games) are some of the only other Japanese MMORPGs.

Anyway, I’m getting side tracked here. I think it’s clear that side scrolling MMORPGs are incredibly popular. I suspect that both WonderKing and Fists of Fu will prove to be a success in the near future.

They Should Make a Harvest Moon MMO

How awesome would a Harvest Moon MMORPG be? Forget games like Farmville and Farm Town or any other Facebook game. I’m talking about a fully fledged farming MMO with some depth. I’ve always been a fan of the series since I played my first Harvest Moon game on the Super Nintendo. My favorite of the series has to be Friends of Mineral town for the gamebody advance though. I’ve played that game for ages.

There’s definitely a market out there for a farming MMO. Why? Just look at Farmville and, Farm Town and other cheap farming games on facebook! There are so many of them and they’re all REALLY popular. So if so many people are playing these bad farming games, I’m sure many would play a real farming MMORPG. Don’t give me the argument that farmville is a casual game, as most of the people I know who play it, spend HOURs a day on it – not 5 minutes here and there. I read somewhere that Zynga was making over hundred million a year from FarmVille alone. With a market that big, I’m surprised there are no actual client based farming games yet.

What I find really crazy is that there are SO many fantasy MMORPGs, Racing MMOs, Sports MMOs, Sci fi MMORPGs, Turn Based MMORPGs and such, but there are no farming games. Heck, there’s even a golfing MMO called Pangya, but no farming game. I think everyone should send emails to the developers over at Victor Interactive Software and ask for a Harvest Moon themed game. I mean, they keep releasing new games for 360, DS and PS3 but nothing online. Why? I’d gladly pay a monthly subscription to play a game like this.

I’d also really like to see a pokemon MMO. I think Nintendo is crazy for not releasing one. There’s a Digimon MMO called Digimon Battle which is by WeMade Entertainment – and it’s surprisingly popular. I’m serious if an 8 year old Digimon MMO can be successful, a Pokemon MMO could be huge. Perhaps even bigger than World of Warcraft or MapleStory! I know for a fact, MILLIONS of people would play. Nintendo wouldn’t have to do anything that creative either. Just use the same exact graphics as the Pokemon DS games, and make the world persistent, and bam you have an awesome Pokemon MMORPG. People like Pets in MMORPGs, so a Pokemon MMO would work really well.

What do you guys think? Wouldn’t a real client-based farming MMO be awesome?

Anime MMORPG Graphics

Is it just me or do anime MMORPGs just look nicer than realistic 3D MMORPGs. I’ve never been a fan of anime, but I find MMORPGs that have sleek anime graphics to be visually satisfying. Games like Cloud Nine (Netgame) and S4 League (Alaplaya) for example look really awesome. The graphics aren’t at all realistic, but the art style is gorgeous. Not all anime MMORPGs look nice though. MMOs like Grand Chase from Ntreev and Fly For Fun from gPotato don’t look nearly as awesome. I guess its because the graphics in these games are a bit more jagged and low quality. No fault of the publishers of course, as both of these games are quite old now. I can safely say though I prefer Cloud Nine style anime graphics over Runes of Magic style Western cartoony graphics. I don’t think Cloud Nine is a better game than Runes of Magic, but I like the art style much better.

One interesting thing about this issue is that realistic 3D MMORPGs like Karos Online from NHN and Last Chaos from Aeria Games will age much faster. In 5 years these games will look terrible in comparison to the new 3D games, while anime inspired MMORPGs like S4 League will still look good. Obviously newer games will always look better, but my argument is that anime inspired games age better as its much harder to improve anime style graphics than realistic 3D graphics. Here’s some interesting proof. MapleStory which is a 7 year old game now still looks good visually while an older 3D game like Rappelz is beginning to show its age.

Anyone else with me on this? I find it weird that I think this way because I don’t really like anime, but I love anime graphics and characters. Unfortunately there aren’t enough good anime inspired MMORPGs out there. All the best MMORPGs are 3D and more realistic. Think Dungeons and Dragons Online and Allods Online.

One MMORPG Server

Every MMORPG should combine all of their servers into one big server. This would instantly make every free to play game better as the one combined server would have more players. More players means more interaction. I’m tired of running around dead MMORPGs with only a handful of people ever online in each server. Games with low playerbases like Asda Story, Cabal Online and Cloud Nine would all benefit from this. Even games with higher playerbases would benefit as more players on a single server would enhance the overall experience of any game. There would obviously be some hardware concerns, as having all those players on one server would be difficult. The obvious solution would be to divide players into different channels. The only games that do this are MapleStory and WonderKing.

Just think of all the possibilities if every MMO did this. ALL players could interact with each other. Each game could have an auction house that included buyers and sellers from every channel. Finding people to group with would be easier. PvP would be more intense. Overall, MMOs would feel more MASSIVE, which is what they’re supposed to be. Just think about it. How much more fun would Battle of the Immortals, World of Kung Fu or even Secret of the Solstice be if they only had one server? Players would be divided into numerous channels to avoid lag. Overall, MMORPG players would be able to interact more as everyone would be on the same one server.

As an MMORPG gamer I absolutely hate seeing an empty game. No matter how great a game is, no matter how great the graphics are or gameplay, it means nothing if an MMORPG has no playerbase. The most popular MMORPGs remain popular because they already have a large playerbase. Large playerbases just make games more fun.

Anyone here agree with me? Post your thoughts below!

Action MMORPGs Are The Best

Out of all the free to play MMORPGs out there, my favorite kind of game is an action oriented MMORPG. It’s not that I dislike traditional fantasy MMORPGs like Dragon Oath or Esteria Mythos, but rather I enjoy playing action MMORPGs more. I guess it’s because simply left clicking my opponent and waiting for the battle to end can get boring. I like it when a game keeps me on my toes and has be fully engaged. A few of my favorite action MMORPGs are Dragonica Online, GhostX and Dungeon Fighter Online. Dragonica online is actually one of the few MMORPGs I still play regularly. It's a side scrolling MMORPG well worth checking out.

That new Diablo 2 type game – Battle of the Immortals is also quite fun. I actually find it quite fascinating that there are so many World of Warcraft clones, but so few Diablo clones. Diablo 2, in my opinion, is easily one of the best video games ever. I’ve spent countless hours on that game and have ‘went back’ to it more times than I’d care to admit. As is though, there really aren’t too many Diablo 2 clones. The best one I can think of off the top of my head is Battle of the Immortals, so if you’re looking for something like Diablo, definitely give that game a try.

Another reason why action MMORPGs are fun is that they’re more interactive. I never get ‘bored’ or ’sleepy’, as i’m constantly pushing buttons. Action games also tend to be more skill oriented, which I find interesting. Point and click style MMOs like Secret of the Solstice are fun, but there’s no real skill involved. Just having to move around and attack manually adds a layer of skill to the game.

So, what are YOUR favorite action MMORPGs? Do you like the genre? or do you like point and click more? Post your comments below!

Global MMORPGs Are The Best

The most ridiculous thing for an MMORPG to do is to place IP bans in place. There is absolutely no reason for a game publisher to restrict access to their game for some users. It only aggravates players and cuts down on potential revenue for publishers. Just yesterday – gPotato banned ALL European IP addresses from accessing their newest game – Aika. I’m pretty sure Europeans can still play Fly For Fun, Upshift StrikeRacer, Luna Online and gPotato’s other games, but not Aika. The worst part of all of this, is that there were no IP Bans last month. That means, many European players have already committed hundreds of hours into their characters, only to have the game taken away from them. That’s just plain wrong.

As a gamer in North America, the IP Bans don’t really affect me, at least in the Aika example, but it sucks that so many people won’t be able to play Aika anymore because of this IP Ban. As a gamer, I want the game I’m playing to have a healthy playerbase – as MMORPGs need big communities to thrive. I’m sure most gamers will agree with me here, empty games tend to suck. Another reason I’m no fan of IP blocks is because I’d love to play a few European Fantasy MMORPGs like Priston Tale 2 and Y’s Online, but I can’t due IP Blocks. One thing I did notice is that browser games don’t tend to be IP blocked. Only client based games do – which is interesting.

So what’s the solution? Simple. Global MMORPGs. Games that have their doors open to every country. I know Netmarble – the guys behind Mini Fighter Online, Prius Online and Koongya Adventure, has all of their games available worldwide. I also believe that Nexon offers their games all over the world, meaning anyone anywhere can play MapleStory, Mabinogi, Dungeon Fighter Online and Combat Arms. I feel that not only will Nexon make more money by offering their games worldwide, they’ll also appease their players. After all, the more the merrier right?

Anime MMORPGs Look Great

I don’t know about you guys, but for some reason I really like MMORPGs with anime inspired graphics. I’m not wapanese or anything, but I find brightly themed games to be easier on the eyes. Heck, I don’t even watch anime, but I still like the visuals in anime MMORPGs. Games like Cloud Nine and Lunia look absolutely gorgeous. Sure, these games don’t look nearly as ‘impressive’ as 3D MMORPGs with realistic graphics (ie.. Atlantica Online and Karos Online), but they’re just overall more pleasant to look at. Don’t get me wrong, both Atlantica Online and Karos Online are top notch games, but I just prefer the visuals in Cloud Nine over any 3D other 3D game.

If you look at all the MMORPGs out there, the most successful ones seem to be either ‘western cartoony’ or anime inspired. Games that try to have realistic graphics (ie.. Age of Conan and EverQuest 2) aren’t doing so hot. To be fair though, there are boatloads of free to play games with anime inspired graphics that are also doing rather poorly, but my point is some of the most successful games have brightly themed cartoony graphics. A few examples off the top of my head are MapleStory, Runes of Magic, Allods Online and even World of Warcraft. MapleStory is easily one of the most successful free to play MMORPGs on the entire market. Its a very simple 2D MMORPG with side scrolling gameplay.

One reason why ‘cartoony’ games tend to do well is that they age better than realistic games. EverQuest for example looked great when it was originally released back in ~2000, but the game looks terrible today. MapleStory on the other hand, looked fine when it was released in 2003 and still looks fine even today. Since release the game’s graphics haven’t changed one bit. Heck, they don’t need to change because ‘cartoony’ graphics, especially 2D graphics don’t seem to age as fast as realistic 3D MMORPGs.

What do you guys think? Which do you prefer Anime / Cartoony graphics or realistic 3D graphics?

MapleStory Got a Lot Better

I originally started played Nexon’s flagship MMORPG ‘MapleStory’ back in 2006 and played it for a good two months and quit after reaching level 40. Just last week I decided to re-download the game and give it another try. Naturally, I created a new character to try out one of the game’s many new classes. I decided to play as one of the new Cygnus Knight classes, more specifically the ‘Thunder Breaker’ class. All I can say is wow! Leveling up in MapleStory got A LOT easier. It only took me an hour to reach level 10 and I made it to level 30 in 4 days of casual playing! Back when I played the game in 2006 getting to level 30 took me over a month!

So what changed since I last played MapleStory? Well…. a lot did. Nexon has always been ‘well known’ for keeping their games up to date with content updates and patches. Nexon’s other titles – Mabinogi, Combat Arms and Dungeon Fighter Online have also enjoyed consistent updates. The last few ‘major’ updates to MapleStory ‘Cygnus Knights’ and ‘Aran’ really expanded the game though. The Cygnus Knights expansion added some 5 new classes to the game, each with multiple job advancements, as well as countless new ‘maps’ and quests. The Aran update was much smaller, but still added a good deal of content to the game. What really sped up the game’s experience gain since I last played was the countless new quests added to the game. The best part of these new quests were that many of them were ‘chain’ quests, so there was always something to do. To this point, I never had to ‘grind’ to gain experience as I would always have at least one active quest at any given time.

Anyway, I guess the point of this post is to point out that Nexon’s MapleStory is an awesome game that changed a lot since release. It’s not nearly as ‘grindy’ as it was when I first played. If you haven’t played it yet, definitely check it out. It’s a lot better than all the MapleStory clones out there (ie. WonderKing / LaTale / Wind Slayer).