MMOs

It used to be I'd spend several consecutive years without a break playing RTSs. Before that, sports games (Madden, NHL, Triple Play -- and later, MVP).

These days (at least, when I've been able to actually play games), MMOs are where it's been for me.

I like the persistence of the world, the continual character growth and customization, playing with friends or without, the steady stream of new content and systems. Nerfs, buffs, PvP, questing, grinding, collecting, achieving, crafting, exploring. It seems like good MMOs never really run out of stuff to do.

My first MMO was Star Wars Galaxies, in 2003, shortly after launch. I was playing RTSs then, mostly Empire Earth, creating huge skirmish maps that would lag my computer out to the point it could hardly function.

Walking around a Best Buy on a break from a grueling holiday season mask making shift, I spotted SWG on a shelf and picked it up on impulse. I'd been eyeing games like Everquest and Ultima Online for a couple years, interested in the possibilities of an online persistent world, but wary of the $15 monthly fee. I'd seen and read about SWG when it first launched in June, and been interested.

The cool thing about being a good mask maker during the Halloween season is that you're filthy rich. Never mind that you're pretty much broke the rest of the year, between paying bills, funding R&D for next year's lineup, and filling reduced numbers of orders while still needing to pay the same amount for materials to keep up stock.

So I had money, and decided to pick up SWG and give it a try. The box said I'd get a month free and that there was no obligation to buy any more if I didn't like it.

I barely made it through the first month. The game was cool, and the potential of the persistent world was definitely very cool. But early SWG had a very steep learning curve. There was also no content in the form of quests. You ran around Theed or Coronet killing a bazillion butterflies and mosquitoes and frogs to increase your pistol skills, hoping one day you'd kill enough of them to be a real Bounty Hunter.

But I made it through, met some friends, and in mid September formed a guild that's still around today, with many of the same usual suspects, Widowmakers. This was the beginning of a long relationship with MMOs, and the beginning of a lot of really long lasting real world friendships, which I think is what MMOs are really about for me anyway.

Over the years I've played a lot of them. I've tried the original Everquest, and played EQ2. On the list is also, D&D Online, Vanguard, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, City of Heroes/Villains, Lord of the Rings Online, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, and more that I'm sure I'm forgetting. I've beta tested for SWG expansions and for D&D Online (both the original beta and the new re-release beta). I've been a community leader and "Galactic Senator" in SWG and spent extensive time on the Test Server, where I've had the opportunity to work together with QA and Developers helping to solve bugs in new systems.

A lot of MMOs are very similar, but each of them offers various different systems that make them unique. The two best are WoW and SWG, by a wide margin, with EQ2 right up there with them. WoW is the perennial favorite. Very easy to get into, very intuitive, and yet as complex as you want to make it as you advance. Its also pretty limited in terms of character customization. This is where SWG comes in. SWG is all about character customization, down to the two or three individual colors on your shoes. SWG also has a very cool and immersive player housing system. You can own a part of the game. You can't do that in WoW. But that's also a drawback for SWG, since player houses are all over the place now, 6 years from launch. You can't walk 5 steps anywhere without running into a house. This is where EQ2 comes in. It has more customization than WoW, but less than SWG; and the player housing is instanced, so you can own your own house, but not clutter the landscape.

Each of these three games has a few things in common: they still look great after all these years, and they're very easy for a newbie to just pick up and play, but complicated enough that a jaded vet can still find complex things to challenge himself with every day. Of the 3, WoW runs the best. I think I could run it on my wristwatch. It also has a really cool achievement system. SWG doesn't run as well as WoW does, but it (and EQ2 as well) has a really cool collections mini-game that's a great way to pass the time on a rainy day.

Another feature common to MMOs, and one which appeals to me as an environment artist, is the vast environment. From endless fields and forests to bustling cities and small villages, there's a lot of scenery to look at. The biggest project of my academic career, in fact (which took up most of my senior year), was creating a hub city for a hypothetical Old West MMO. I called it Silver Rush Online, but that hardly matters. Building such a big and complex city was as much fun, if not more so, than running around in one in a live game.

WoW is unlikely to be unseated any time soon as the MMO champ, simply due to the fact that its so easy to play, so easy to run on any kind of computer, and so addictively simple, but there are a couple on the horizon that I'm really looking forward to: Star Trek Online from Cryptic, and The Old Republic from Bioware. Both games want to try to break the mold a little bit, and both look really impressive so far. Old Republic has a very cinematic look to it, full voiceovers, and looks to rely more on in depth storytelling than "the grind." Story has always been the hallmark of Bioware/Obsidian. If you're a fan of Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, or Mass Effect, you know what Bioware is all about. Star Trek Online has a really neat paradigm with bridge crews and officer "pets," that sort of remind me of the old Baldur's Gate games where you had control over semi-autonomous NPC party members. Plus you get a bunch of really sweet starships and get to explore the entire galaxy.

Still, for me right now, WoW and SWG are the kings of the hill. SWG may be in a bit of a decline, which is a shame due in no small part to bad press (whether deserved or undeserved), but it's a still a terrific game with a lot of really cool systems and endless character customization. If I had a place to live in WoW, a city to call my own and have complete control over, like I do in SWG, I might never have to play another MMO. Its about the only thing lacking from WoW right now, other than character customization.

MMOs can be a lot of fun for a long, long time, and I look forward to the day when I can contribute to the development team of a major MMO as an environment artist. What could be more thrilling than building and decorating an entire world, or an entire galaxy, all your own?