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The past
I freely admit I have a soft spot for text-based RPG/MMO/MMORPG for a different number of reasons;
I have tried and played quite a variety of those MMORPG: from good old K.O.L. via some recipe based games as well as experimental ones (e.g. metroplexity) or blatant offensive ones (e.g. forumwarz) to quite a few LoGDs and adaptations (Improbable Island still being my favorite one in that list). I've played pure text-based, 2D, 2.5D and some weird attempts at 3D.
The present
While I do admire most of the text-based RPGs and prefer them when it comes to originality of content and context, I tend to classify them as web-RPG 1.0 (with all respect for the ingenuity of the framework and its programming!). Strangely enough all of them have their own unique qualities, some do have PVP, others have original housing, others have ingenious combination or recipe systems, but none has all the good stuff combined. Those games tend to have small but extremely loyal players as long as they are being regularly served new content and bug fixes.
I consider browser-based MMO's with flash and 2.5D/3D as web-RPG 1.5. They tend to bring an additional visual element to to the games. I'm not talking about short flash-adventure games, but games in the style of Shadow Tales. I've seen about 5 or 6 free-to-play (aka F2P) in that genre, and I'm curious to see if and how most of them will survive.
The future?
Games such as WoW (World of Warcraft) and RuneScape tend to make most of the innovative stuff in the RPG-world. Those games are backed by solid financial interests from game companies, and have their users pay for the more interesting options. The IMHO negative aspect is that they are client-based games: you can't play them anywhere on any computer.
That used to be the case until I found Earth Eternal: an F2P open-beta 3D browser game with some amazing stuff (that is amazing for browser games). In short: it's a full big 3D world with lots of options and customization possibilities, 22 different races (unfortunately the racial unique differences doesn't make much difference (yet?) in game-play style) and 4 (classic) classes (knight, rogue, mage, druid). In short you'd it is kind of a WoW alike adventure questing game in a browser. And you're right to think so. It has unfortunately no PVP. And it is still in beta - followers are waiting for the unopened dwelling system to go live. And strictly speaking: it's not a pure 100% based browser game: it requires you to install their own SparcMedia plugin to play the game.
But still: I have a vague intuition that EE will be the first web-RPG 2.0 game to make its way into the world. And that in a few years time we'll see even more thrilling competition in this area.
Does this mean that web-RPG 1.0 and 1.5 are doomed and meant to starve quietly? Not really, but I really do think that 1.0 games especially will have to break some new boundaries and innovations on the content front in order to keep attracting new crowds of interested players.
I freely admit I have a soft spot for text-based RPG/MMO/MMORPG for a different number of reasons;
- you don't need a separate client to download and install
- Because it is a browser game, you can play it almost anywhere on almost any computer
- Most of them are free
- Most of them are written & maintained by sympathetic developers & sympathizers.
- They differentiate themselves from client-based MMOs by their innovative and creative content.
- They try to upkeep the old art of inventive adventuring, and throw in enough surprises to keep in interesting.
- Most of them are non-commercial
- If they accept financial sponsoring, the advantages you get from sponsoring won't give you (overly) big advantages compared to non-paying players.
- Text adventures do invoke a sense of nostalgia, bringing fond memories to the good ol' times when I was first eaten by a grue!
- Some games allow alts, which is not always a good thing!
- They tend to have the best balancing in any type of games
I have tried and played quite a variety of those MMORPG: from good old K.O.L. via some recipe based games as well as experimental ones (e.g. metroplexity) or blatant offensive ones (e.g. forumwarz) to quite a few LoGDs and adaptations (Improbable Island still being my favorite one in that list). I've played pure text-based, 2D, 2.5D and some weird attempts at 3D.
The present
While I do admire most of the text-based RPGs and prefer them when it comes to originality of content and context, I tend to classify them as web-RPG 1.0 (with all respect for the ingenuity of the framework and its programming!). Strangely enough all of them have their own unique qualities, some do have PVP, others have original housing, others have ingenious combination or recipe systems, but none has all the good stuff combined. Those games tend to have small but extremely loyal players as long as they are being regularly served new content and bug fixes.
I consider browser-based MMO's with flash and 2.5D/3D as web-RPG 1.5. They tend to bring an additional visual element to to the games. I'm not talking about short flash-adventure games, but games in the style of Shadow Tales. I've seen about 5 or 6 free-to-play (aka F2P) in that genre, and I'm curious to see if and how most of them will survive.
The future?
Games such as WoW (World of Warcraft) and RuneScape tend to make most of the innovative stuff in the RPG-world. Those games are backed by solid financial interests from game companies, and have their users pay for the more interesting options. The IMHO negative aspect is that they are client-based games: you can't play them anywhere on any computer.
That used to be the case until I found Earth Eternal: an F2P open-beta 3D browser game with some amazing stuff (that is amazing for browser games). In short: it's a full big 3D world with lots of options and customization possibilities, 22 different races (unfortunately the racial unique differences doesn't make much difference (yet?) in game-play style) and 4 (classic) classes (knight, rogue, mage, druid). In short you'd it is kind of a WoW alike adventure questing game in a browser. And you're right to think so. It has unfortunately no PVP. And it is still in beta - followers are waiting for the unopened dwelling system to go live. And strictly speaking: it's not a pure 100% based browser game: it requires you to install their own SparcMedia plugin to play the game.
But still: I have a vague intuition that EE will be the first web-RPG 2.0 game to make its way into the world. And that in a few years time we'll see even more thrilling competition in this area.
Does this mean that web-RPG 1.0 and 1.5 are doomed and meant to starve quietly? Not really, but I really do think that 1.0 games especially will have to break some new boundaries and innovations on the content front in order to keep attracting new crowds of interested players.
03/2010 - MM