Droid Gamers put out an interesting piece this weekend that to me illuminates how the ongoing conversation about mobile MMOs go south. Author Ash Mayhew is agitating for more MMORPGs on mobile, but specifically “classic MMORPGs” rather than the endless parade of clone RPGs where you just auto-click and auto-attack and auto-loot.
“The fact that developers are looking backwards for inspiration offers mobile a unique position to take advantage of it. Old School RuneScape is currently in the healthiest position of its entire lifespan thanks to mobile, with more players and members than ever before. Imagine what it could do for the likes of WOW, the original Guild Wars, Lineage II, EverQuest, and more. So heed our advice, mobile developers and publishers: we want classic MMORPGs on our phones rather than new online RPGs that play themselves. Just look at how successful Old School RuneScape is for inspiration.”
Most of the time, we say the word “mobile” and every MMO player reading cringes hard, but I suspect it’s not really because we’re opposed to the idea; it’s because we’re thinking of all the crap that gets an MMO label slapped on but doesn’t measure up to what we expect out of the genre. Either we realize that development is a zero-sum game and if it’s coming to mobile it means less attention for PC one way or another (sup Diablo Immortal), or we know it’s going to be some half-assed microtransaction-drenched autoclicker where our actual presence is less important than our credit card.
But hey, we all have phones. And I’d love to see a “real” MMORPG on mobile.
What’s your core problem with mobile MMOs, and is it fixable?
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!
