Where are all the Turn Based MMORPGs?

Turn based RPGs on the Playstation 2 were big business. Single player RPGs like Tales of Vesperia and Final Fantasy 13 on the Xbox 360 were fairly big games too. As an avid MMORPG gamer, I’m a bit disappointed that there are so few turn based MMORPGs available. I’ve looked for quite a while and I’ve only found a handful of decent ones. I think Atlantica Online from Ndoors is probably the best one. The game has great 3D visuals and a ton of playable characters. Like Sword 2 from GamersFirst, you can also control 3+ characters at once, which gives the game some unique dynamics. The only other remotely popular turn based MMORPG is Wonderland Online from IGG. It’s a 2D MMORPG with awful graphics. I actually like the 2D graphics in WonderKing and Grand Chase, but the visuals in Wonderland Online are bleh at best. Graphics are important, but its not a deal breaker for me. After all, one of the best MMORPGs if you ask me is Ragnarok Online from Gravity Interactive, and it doesn’t have very good graphics, especially compared to newer games like Iris Online from gPotato.

If you’ve never played either Atlantica Online or Wonderland Online do yourself a favor and play Atlantica Online. Of if you want to lower your exceptions before playing either, try Myth War 2 Online or Zodiac Online. Those are both pretty low tier turn based MMORPGs. WeMade Entertainment has Digimon Battle – which is also a pretty bad game. The only reason Digimon Battle is bad is its a really old MMORPG. The game is like 6+ years old. But if you were to only play ONE turn based MMORPG definitely make it Atlantica Online. I think Ndoors did a phenomenal job with it the game. It has some 10+ playable classes, top notch 3D graphics and a huge game world. I can’t imagine why there aren’t more games like it. Ndoors has proven that turn based MMORPGs can be successful – so why are so many game developers still releasing very generic 3D anime MMORPGs? Iris Online for example from gPotato is a really sleek game, but it brings nothing new to the table. The same thing applies to Zentia from ChangYou. It’s a fairly solid title, but it brings nothing new to the table either. I had a chance to play Loong: The Power of the Dragon from Gamigo the other day and I was really surprised by the game’s visuals. Too bad even though the gameplay is fluid, there aren’t really any special gameplay mechanics which would make the game unique.

One thing I can’t quite figure out is why game developers keep churning out MMOFPS games. Ijji just released Genesis A.D last week on Nov 8 and plans on releasing their World War 2 themed Karma: Operation Barbarossa later in the year. I think aside from fantasy MMORPGs the second most popular genre is MMOFPS games. Sci-fi MMORPGs are probably less popular than turn based MMORPGs, as the only sci-fi MMORPGs I can think of are RF Online and Megaten. That’s it.

Anyway guys, I know I got super side tracked with this one, but I’d like to see more turn based MMOs out there. More specifically, more games like Atlantica.

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.

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!