Blogger and MOP reader Serrenity penned a great piece last week discussing the practice of skinning as it pertains to casino games and mobile games too. The idea is that a lot of casino type games are functionally the same: Nobody really needs 300 slot machines, each themed with some different franchise, but the theme is actually what compels people to sit down and start pouring their money down the drain. Mobile games and free-to-play MMOs, Serrenity argues, borrow from this template.
(All of this jibes with my reaction to Diablo Immortal, incidentally, since as I was describing it to my husband, I basically said it looks like one of those garbage clone ARPGs you see on Google Play and skip right by.)
I can think of several examples of MMOs that look, visually, like other games:Â Alganon looked a lot like WoW, Divergence Online looked so much like Star Wars Galaxies, etc. But Serrenity’s talking more about mechanics that are the fundamentally the same while the visuals (or maybe the IPs) change to appeal to a slightly different fanbase. Given that, what would say say is the most egregious example of a reskinned MMO?
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!
