Multiplayer Sub-Genres I’d Like to Like (But Can’t Yet)

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i wish i may i wish i might perhaps ill play these games awright, MMO, mmorpg, multiplayer, multiplayer strategy, new genre, pvp, pvp mmo, pvp mmorpg, sandbox, sandbox mmo, sandbox mmorpg, strategy, strategy game, survival, survival sandbox

A couple of years ago or so, I kind of made a promise to myself that I would investigate more sandbox MMORPGs in an effort to appreciate just what the hell it was made them perceptibly better than themepark MMORPGs. After some time achieving a bit of this by way of the Choose My Adventure column, I can kind of say that there are sandbox games that I genuinely enjoy even if I pretty much grew up in this genre with themeparks (I don’t think EQOA or FFXI count as “true” sandboxes here).

So with that idea in mind, it has me thinking… maybe there are other MMO and multiplayer sub-genres that I can dig in to? So that’s today’s topic: What other kinds of game types could I try to dive in to and find enjoyment in?

Early Access Games That Aren’t Trash

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craftopia, early access, fps, hardspace shipbreaker, multiplayer, online gaming, online multiplayer, sandbox, steam early access, survival sandbox

With all of the itchy, uncomfortable, and downright exploitative ways game dev studios are trying to monetize their game, it’s easy to pass off anything other than “gold product” as nothing more than a scam. And for the most part, you’re right. Even I can admit that crowdfunding a game is a whole lot riskier and possibly more scam-adjacent than not, when previously I had foolishly hoped that it would open up a lot more doors and ideas.

One of the most recent and proliferous forms of “alternative” game monetization schemes is the early access launch, which asks folks to buy an incomplete game, provide feedback, and watch it evolve into a fully-launched product. It’s, at the brass tacks level (and grossly oversimplified), spending money to be a tester instead of letting professionals do that and get paid for it. However, as vile as that sounds, there are a few games that I’ve come across that actually are worth the buy-in cost in my opinion, and so I wanted to take a moment to highlight them with today’s post.

The Thrival Sandbox or How I Learned to Love the Grind

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elite dangerous, MMO, mmos, multiplayer, multiplayer gaming, no man's sky, sandbox, sandbox mmo, survival, survival sandbox, survival sandbox mmo

I’ve made no attempts to hide my distaste for survival sandbox MMOs and games. They’re one of the laziest forms of game design and I still hold to that opinion for the most part. That said, I have slowly begun to find a few exceptions to the rule that have endeared me to at least a couple of aspects to the sub-genre and, perhaps in some small way, helped me to build a bit of empathy and appreciation for those who love these kinds of games.

A Pirate’s Life for Some

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beta test, closed beta test, MMO, multiplayer, online multiplayer, pve, pvp, pvpve, sandbox, sandbox gaming, sandbox mmo, sea of thieves, stress test, test

Over the past couple of weekends, Sea of Thieves has been running some stress tests. Granted, these are specifically meant to push the walls of their server capacity and are less about refining game systems or even adding new game systems entirely. With that said, my time in-game and in the forums has shown me that Rare Ltd. have a lot to do and a number of unanswered questions related to player griefing and its form of PvP.

Or what I’m referring to as “Ferry of the Damned Syndrome”.

Wolfy’s Most Anticipated Games of 2018

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2018, 2018 games, console, games, games of 2018, gaming, list, listicle, MMO, mmorpg, most anticipated, most anticipated games, multiplayer, pc, sandbox, single player

This is pretty much expected behavior for people who like to write about video games, I figure. So to further extend assumptions, I will now openly admit that I’m writing this in the hopes that I get all the free stuff from the games I mention.

In fact just writing that lead-in brought me about $35.

But seriously, though, whatever you feel about 2017 in terms of real-life things, it has been a great year for games and next year is looking pretty solid as well. So I wanted to wiggle excitedly in the direction of upcoming titles that I have no basis for anticipation for other than marketing speak and second-hand experience. Because piss off I like being excited.

Stop Survival, Start Life

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design, game design, games, MMO, mmorpg, open world, sandbox, sandbox mmo, sandbox mmorpg, survivail, survival sandbox, survival sandbox mmo, survival sandbox mmorpg, world, world building

The MMO genre is in a pretty fascinating place right now, and that’s an opinion I still maintain to this day regardless of what I write beyond this lead-up. That said, I’m beginning to see something of a bothersome trend in the form of the survival sandbox MMO, and I’m not really a big fan.

Allow me to elaborate on why survival sandboxes aren’t just boring and lazy, but they’re missing the point of the MMO genre and further making things more disjointed.

“No sir, I don’t like it.”

Crucial, Complete Crafting

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artcraft, crafter, crafting, crowfall, MMO, mmo crafting, mmorpg, mmorpg crafting, pve, pvp, sandbox

For the past couple of days, I’ve been granting a lot of my attention to Crowfall, the in-development “throne war MMO” by ArtCraft. It’s one of the two open sandbox PvP MMOs that have me actually anxious to play despite being an assumed gankbox hellscape, and most of that excitement is spawned from the way Crowfall approaches crafting.

Yes, I’m getting excited by a UI element. If that bores you, I can’t help that.

The Sunday Bundle – Jan 29 2017

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ark: survival evolved, camelot unchained, final fantasy xiv, game news, gaming news, MMO, mmo gaming, mmo news, mmorpg, news, revelation online, sandbox, the sunday bundle, wildstar

As the news editor for MMOGames, I see a bunch of stories crawl across my feeds, and there are a few of these I have thoughts on or that strike my fancy enough that I’d like to expand upon them. That’s what this segment is all about; The Sunday Bundle.

This week’s world news has been…difficult, to say the least. If you’ve been following current events and my personal Twitter, I apologize for not exactly using the latter to help folks escape from the former. It’s my fervent hope that this week’s edition of the Sunday Bundle will offer a bit of a breather from the maelstrom outside.

Let’s talk videogames, shall we?

Wolfy’s Dream MMORPG

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dream game, dream mmo, factions, game design, MMO, mmorpg, rvr, sandbox

So a little while ago, the Newbie Blogger Initiative Discord chat – specifically the talented and likely far prettier than me Faeldray – offered a writing prompt about what would be our dream game. Any genre, any type, money no object. Pure, self-indulgent awesomeness.

If you know anything about me and chicken wings, self-indulgence is my thing.

With my head rolling about the question for a few days now, I think I can commit my ideal MMORPG to digital paper. To later be ruthlessly torn asunder by the reality of logistics. But please, wait until the end of the post before getting out your hacksaws, and let a guy dream for just a moment.

The Landmark Chronicle – A Mission Statement

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anger, building, cancellation, daybreak, delay, eqn, everquest next, hate, landmark, sandbox, sandvox

So that whole EverQuest Next thing.

Yeap, it sucks. Put a huge hit on confidence of the MMO genre and absolutely affirmed that MMO design and MMO business are so divergent from each other that they might as well be on separate planets. Of course, it also gave people a LOT of reasons to start snarling at The Big Companies for Crushing Dreams and Making Things Awful.

More directly, though, it put Landmark squarely in to the crosshairs of a huge load of bile. And I think that’s kind of unfair.

People always hate on the pretty ones…