More Variation in MMORPG Character Creation and Development Please
Why do so many Free MMORPGs have such piss poor character customization? My expectations for character customization have never been too high, but I constantly find myself having to lower my expectations every time I download a new free MMO. The last game I played was called ‘Chaos Online’ and the only form of character customization was the ability to select a character portrait which had absolutely no effect on my avatar’s actual graphical appearance in the game. So what does this mean? Well it means that I and every other ‘Warrior’ in ‘Chaos Online’ look identical. I don’t know about you, but seeing doppelgangers of myself isn’t my idea of an MMORPG. On top of that, players have no control over their characters gender, which is absurd. I mean, how much extra coding would it take to allow a player to pick their own dang gender?
To be fair, Chaos Online isn’t the only game that has terrible character customization. Games like WYD Global and Redstone also have lousy character creation options. I don’t expect free MMORPGs to have ‘Perfect World‘ like customization where players can create a truly unique character, but it would be nice to be able to change a few physical attributes, hair style, hair type and gender. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but the option to personalize a character really adds a lot to the game, at least in my opinion.
Aside from actual character appearance, a lot of MMORPGs don’t feel as open ended enough with character development. I’d say about 90% of free MMORPGs have such limited character development options that practically all ‘warriors’ are built the same in terms of skills and stats just as all ‘mages’ are built in the same way. I guess the only way to fix this issue would be to have a larger variety of skills and fewer skill points, that way players would have to only select the skills that they ‘really want’ and the large variety of skills would ensure that no two players are built the same exact way.
So Many Side Scrolling MMORPGs
Like the dancing / rhythm genre, another industry that pretty much exploded in popularity is the ’2D Side scrolling MMORPG’ genre. If you’ve played a lot of free MMORPGs, the first game that pops into your head when you hear the ’2D Side scrolling’ is probably Maplestory. Maplestory is actually one of the most successful free MMORPGs out there, as it currently has over 80 million players worldwide, EIGHTY MILLION! Just so you have something to compare that with, World of Warcraft only has 11 million subscribers. This isn’t exactly a fair comparison though, as each of World of Warcraft’s 11 million subscribers pay to play the game and Maplestory’s 80 million players are counted by looking at how many game accounts exist, which also counts inactive accounts. Maplestory’s success has led to a lot of copycats though.
With the current trend I expect every major MMORPG publisher to have their own 2D Side-scrolling MMORPG within the next year or so. Nexon has their Maplestory, Outspark has Wind Slayer, OG Planet has LaTale and Ghost Online and lastly Aeria Games has Pi Story. Although there are only 4 Maplestory like ’2D Side Scrolling MMORPGs’ today there are a lot in development. I’m actually surprised it took this long for similar games to get released, as for a long while Maplestory was the only 2D side scrolling MMORPG.
So what’s next? Hopefully MMORPG and MMO publishers start releasing new and unique games rather than copying each other. Sure 1 or 2 other ’2d side scrolling’ games are great, because it gives the gamer a choice, but when there are 4,5,6,7 or even 8 ‘similar titles’ it gets a bit absurd. I’d like developers to commit their energy and passion to creating totally new games, but with the current trend, I don’t think that’s going to happen.
What’s with all these Rhythm MMOs?
Every since the explosive popularity of rhythm games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band it seems like more and more MMO game publishers are releasing dancing / rhythm games. I’m sure that in a couple more years every single major MMO publisher will have their very own dancing MMO. Heck, Nexon has Audition Online, Acclaim has Dance Online already and SnailGame, a rather unknown MMO publisher, has 5Street. It seems like the ‘Dancing / Rhythm’ MMO industry is growing as more and more publishers are working on similar titles.
I’m actually not quite sure what all the hype about all of these dancing games is, as they’re all almost identical to each other. If you’ve played Audition Online there really is no point in playing 5Street or Dance Online as the core gameplay is almost identical. To be fair though, 5Street has an interesting social aspect to it, but the actual dancing portion of the game is still identical to its competitors. One rather new rhythm game that I personally like a lot of called Osu! And it’s a bit different because it’s totally different from its competitors. It’s actually just a remake of ‘Elite Beat Agents’ (A Nintendo DS Game) for the pc, but it’s incredibly fun.
It’s always nice to see new free MMOs, but seriously, does every publisher need to have their own Dancing MMO? Heck, none of these dancing MMOs are really popular anyway, so why are there new ones still coming out? It doesn’t make sense! Publishers, please start licensing new and unique games! I’m tired of playing the same types of games over and over again!
MMOs and MMORPGs that I’ve played the most
I’ve played a lot of free MMORPG games and I thought I’d compile a quick list of the ones I played the most. These aren’t necessarily my favorite games, as there are certainly better games out there. This is just off the top of my head, but the top 5 free MMORPGs / Free MMOs that I’ve played the most are:
Come on. Who hasn’t played Ragnarok Online? The game actually recently became ‘free to play’, but I got into Ragnarok way before it was officially ‘free’, back when you had to either pay to play it or play on a private server. I of course, being the cheap person that I am, opted to play on a private server. I liked the game so much I actually hosted my own private server for a few months, which was actually a lot of fun. If you haven’t played Ragnarok Online yet, you’re missing out. The publisher launched an official free to play server, so do check it out.
2. MapleStory
I really can’t count how many hours I’ve spent playing this 2D Grind fest, probably because such a large number doesn’t even exist! Back when I was hooked on Maplestory, I used to play it every single day for a good 5 hours at the very minimum. The game does have an incredible amount of grind but its simplicity and uniqueness really keeps you hooked. With games like Windslayer and LaTale out now, MapleStory isn’t so unqiue anymore, but it’s still a fun game if you’re willing to look past its childish graphics.
GunZ: The Duel is one of those few games I keep quitting and going back to. Since it’s an MMO, you can have fun the moment you launch the game. No grinding or doing repetitive tasks, just outright fun from the get go. It’s hard to find someone that doesn’t like this particular MMO, as there’s nothing quite like a shooter with swords and matrix like psychics.
4. Gunbound
Gunbound is another MMO that I’ve played for countless hours. Just about anyone that’s big on free games has had to have played this tactical shooter at least once. The thing that kept me coming back to Gunbound was the fact that the game was so easy to get into and really required no time commitment. Whenever I had 20 minutes or so to kill, I would usually fill that vacancy with a few quick matches of Gunbound.
5. Combat Arms
Combat Arms is another great free MMOFPS that I’ve played probably a bit more than I should have. The game is an incredibly polished shooter with a lot of variety. It’s certainly not the best shooter, but it’s one that I’ve played in and out for a long time. If you haven’t played Combat arms yet, you’re missing out. It’s made by the same folks that made MapleStory and Mabinogi.
You can find a lot of free MMORPGs / Reviews on MMOHut. Check out their Free MMORPG Games List
