Are MMO's becomming to formulaic?

[Attee]

It seems that the majority of MMO's out there, or are being developed, seem to revolve around the same genre. Usually Elves, magic, dragons, or all of the above. There's nothing wrong with that genre but I feel likes its been done to death and starting to get old. I would love to see MMO's start to branch out into other generes, like Science Fiction for example. Thoughts... opinions?

[Rickety]

There have been several sci-fi MMORPG's Anarchy Online and Eve to name a few. There is a Star Trek one in development as well as a Warhammer one I think. and Auto Assault is on its way. Yes, the majority are indeed in a fantasy setting but they are not ALL fantasy settings

For what it's worth I don't mind the fantasy setting so long as the gameplay/storyline is interesting. I'm very much looking forward to D&D Online ...

[Mormi]

Pirates of the Burning Seas is set in the 1700's Carribean so that something different to go back in history then forwards.

While based on a historical period the devs have stated that they are not sticking exactly to fact

[Ijs]

Elves, dwarves, and the fantasy genre as a whole still seem to draw the largest crowds. They had an informal survey on mmorpg.com a few months ago that offered choices between sci-fi, fantasy, western/historical, etc... and traditional fantasy appealed to more than 50%.

Bottom line, money talks.

Who has the money to throw at something that's going to take 3-4 years to develop, AND is going to be labelled 'niche' before it even gets out the door? That's a huge risk for investors.

Games like EVE, Auto Assault, Roma Victor -- if these games are successful (like Eve) -- maybe we'll get more in those genres?

[Zhul]

Don't forget City of Heroes and the upcoming City of Villains for the comic-book genre.

[Hand_of_G0d]

WOW has opened this up with a bit more of the fun side.

Also had a go with "Tails in the Desert 2" which was all crafting / collecting and economy based.

Interesting game - but did feel very like "work" to get any thing done

[PeteG]

It isn't just the setting that's formulaic, it's the gameplay.

City of Heros' gameplay was pretty much the same as the gameplay in WoW and most other MMOs - timed abilities, generic quests, root and AOE for the win, uber bosses, hit/mana points, levelling. I haven't played the Auto Assault beta, but it looks to be the same formula too (correct me if I'm wrong).

There are a few exceptions: A Tale in the Desert, WW2 Online, There, The Sims Online, Planetside and Ultima Online have gameplay that's somewhat different from WoW / EQ. A few in development also look like they'll play differently: Pirates of the Burning Sea, Darkfall Online (though its setting is fantasy), maybe Dark and Light (their FAQ doesn't make the gameplay clear).

[Sente]

Two other games that looks a bit interesting, being non-Fantasy and changing the MMORPG gameplay formula a bit as far as I can tell, are Tabula Rasa and Huxley.
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[Jaun]

Is huxley still in development? I heard it was dead in the water (no link sorry)

Tabula Rasa look very nice, sans the oversexed female, is that still a major selling point?

[Sente]

I have not seen anything about Huxley being dead and Webzen's web pages still say 3Q 2006 for release date.


Sexy females always sell - hormone-filled males is still a major target audience, regardless of actual game content...