by ByteStixIs This the Future of the MMORPG Genre?
I was browsing around earlier today when I saw mention of how the recently released Mobile MMO “A3: Still Alive” just crossed the 2-million player threshold. Kudos to them and the developers of the game for obtaining such numbers, but this poses an issue for us as MMO players.
See, A3: Still Alive is by no means a terrible Mobile MMORPG. It’s pretty average, with an emphasis on auto-play, auto-exploration and auto-combat. And while that might work for Mobile MMOs (it really shouldn’t, but it seems to be the norm,) I don’t believe it will work for PC MMOs. Or, at the very least, I don’t believe it should work for PC MMOs.
After taking a look at the trailer for A3, I realized how beautiful they were making players believe the game was, when the reality of it is that the game itself looks below average, even in terms of it being a mobile game. Yet they’re leading players to believe otherwise, which is in essence selling a lie to their consumers.
Which leads me to the point of this, here, today.. is this what we have to look forward to moving into 2021 – and furthermore – into the future? An existence where we’re presented with absolutely stunning “gameplay trailers,” only to be smacked in the face when proceeding to actually download and try the game out? After seeing that the reality that is the game is so drastically different that it doesn’t look nor feel anything like we were lead to believe it was? Because that’s a pretty crappy future.
Agreed. A3 is the quality of game found on social media sites, like Facebook. Game designers forgot that tough, challenging content brought players of all types to the game. Rising above that content made players really feel a sense of accomplishment. As time progressed, they elected to dumb down the content, thinking to increase subscriptions. They failed to recognize that people need to be challenged. Adversity is necessary. The lack of an ability to triumph over adversity caused subscriptions to drop as veterans sought out other, more challenging venues. Developers seem to have been stuck on stooopid.
Part of me wonders if cheap and cheesy graphics, low quality engines, and some creative advertising is what arose from the ashes of stoopidity and bad decision making. Make a product with minimal investment. Falsely advertise the product. Reap short term rewards. Start over with a new product of equal quality.