One of the things I miss about Age of Conan is the Chinese influence in the Rise of the Godslayer expansion. Robert E. Howard’s Khitai was more of an East Asian pastiche than a one-to-one recreation of any particular country, but Age of Conan’s Khitai nonetheless added a great big wall, bamboo forests, and plenty of traditional Chinese sound in Knut Haugen’s orchestral score.  I enjoyed AoC’s base game too, but it trod the overly familiar path that most MMOs take by styling themselves after medieval European cultures with dashes of fantasy thrown in for good measure.
I’d love to see more Asian aesthetic influences in fantasy MMOs, but it’s admittedly a personal preference. What about you, MOP readers? Which cultural influences would you like to see more of in your MMOs?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
