Fantasy Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games. Quite the
mouthful, isn’t it? Due to the staggering amount of these game types in
today’s world, we simply refer to them as MMORPGs now, as there is
little in the way of other branches of the genre. Knowing this, I am
saddened greatly when I think of the wasted potential in the genre –
multiplied tenfold by the sheer influx of the fantasy themed variations.

Shaiya, Last Chaos, Silkroad Online, Lineage 2, World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings Online, Atlantica Online, 2Moons, 4Story, 9Dragons, Runes of Magic, Requiem, Rohan… and the list goes on. All of these games have been categorized as Fantasy MMORPGs
– and all of them are more of less the exact same thing. Sure, they
each of their own standout features, some more easily noticed than
others – but when you break it down, they aren’t really that different
at all.

The process is simple; you begin by creating an alter-ego from a
list of standard archetypes, customize them to your liking, and proceed
through the game by completing quests and killing NPC (non-player
character) monsters to gain in strength. Some of the better developed
games provide more content, such as dungeons and PvP variations to
offer players a better experience, but still, it’s basically the same
thing. Why? Well, my guess would be because they are all fantasy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love fantasy themed games as much as the next
guy, and I think games like World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings
Online mark the dawn of a new era of fantasy gaming – but the countless
clones flooding the field are drawing greatly from the effect, and
drowning the genre as a whole. What we need is some variation in the
genre.

Sci-Fi MMORPGs
would be a great candidate for features like perma-death, and squad
based FPS gaming in an RPG environment. Players would need to form a
crew (guild) in order to fly a space craft to other planets, and would
need different classes to operate the ship.

Racing MMORPGs
(not racing MMOs) could allow players to race against each other for
‘pink slips’ giving the winner their car at the end of the race – but
also building up massive car collections for themselves while
navigating vast life-like cities and fighting for survival in the Tokyo
Underground.

Adventure MMORPGs could see Mario style platform games used in an online MMO environment
crossing RPG strategy with Platform skill and perseverance. This is all
off the top of my head, but I honestly believe that this type of
innovative thinking will be the savior of the genre. We need to work
together and combine our support for such games – let’s get off the
fantasy train for a while and explore a few other scenarios, I reckon
it could be a lot of fun.

Source:

http://mmohut.com/editorials/fantasy-mmorpgs-is-it-time-for-a-change