Comments on: MMOs, Story, Immersion and Definition

By: rowan

rowan — Sun, 09 May 2010 15:43:39 +0000

OK late to the game, but here’s my take. As Tipa implied in her first comment, “MMO” is generally the shortened form of the funky, long acronym MMORPG. I suppose an MMO could possibly not be an an RPG, just as an RPG doesn’t have to and MMO. But a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game is in a completely different class than a browser-based social game like Mafia Wars or online Poker.

The reason I play MMORPGs like WoW, STO, and AoC, is the lore and the immersion factor. There is no lore in poker, nor in Farmville as far as I know. The Hero’s Journey comes from the RP aspect of the class. I can have a hero’s journey playing KOTOR or maybe even GTA, but it is not a “brave new world with such people in it” that the MMO aspect brings.

So should Massively discuss Farmville and other flash-based browser games? I suppose, if they develop the expertise to do so. But to say they are the same sort of game as LOTRO or EVE, would be a mistake.

By: Blue Kae

Blue Kae — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:41:42 +0000

Lore is a huge part of immersion for me, it’s why I play Lord of the Rings and not Age of Conan. I do agree that immersion is largely up to the player, after all you can lead a horse to water….

By: Callan S.

Callan S. — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 05:44:24 +0000

“For immersion to exist, I suspect the player has to WANT to be immersed”

I would say it takes two to tango. Which mostly agrees with your position.

But most players are pretty lazy tango’ers, then they blame the game for lack of immersion…

By: Tipa

Tipa — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:28:34 +0000

I didn’t really have enough to say about any one thing to fill a blog post, so I just talked about everything on my mind in this one, interspersed with pictures of the games I’m playing. Kind of a potpourri.

As far as lore for the games that seem most popular, it appears to be, ‘welcome to our vampire-themed cash shop’, or whatever. A game, Crown of Empire or something, I don’t remember, recommended to me by the Editor of Massively.com turned out to be some emo-themed ‘vampires and true blood are so sexy and squeeeee!” thing. I mean, huh? I didn’t play the game because I couldn’t even make it through the HOME PAGE.

By: Longasc

Longasc — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:03:16 +0000

You are mixing MMO, immersion and facebook related topics a bit in this blog entry. The casual social games are completely different caliber than “MMO worlds”. They have a lore, though the ideal to create a virtual world has more and more been driven back by game elements where the bare bones of the mechanics shine through, hurting immersion somewhat.

By: Longasc

Longasc — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:00:40 +0000

I have little love for facebook games where you suddenly get ninja invites by your cousin to attend to his virtual pigs cows whatever by clicking them… awesome games. :>

By: Mycroft

Mycroft — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:57:54 +0000

As for immersion, I have a strong preference for RP servers. While my expectations of appropriate RP behavior are modest, I find that any additional naming policy restrictions are welcome. For me, inappropriate names over avatars decreases my potential for immersion during a gaming session, and left unchecked the naming decisions some players make are too sad for words.

I also appreciate Wizard101′s approach of restrictive naming, plus I enjoy seeing the names players have chosen for their Wizard101 avatars.

By: Tipa

Tipa — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 13:07:41 +0000

Would your definition also include online poker? I think the RPG part of MMORPG sets the bar a little higher than simply being popular and online.

By: ModemMisuser

ModemMisuser — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:43:12 +0000

Interesting.

I always use the literal definition. “Massively Multiplayer” – meaning lots of players; as opposed to smaller online stuff like 8-player Counterstrike and the like. And then… Online.

As long as something meets that definition – “a lot of people playing the same game together, online” – then it can be rightfully called an MMO by the technical definition.

Though, in order for me to WANT TO PLAY IT, it pretty much has to meet the criteria you listed. ;)