With Destiny 2 back in the news thanks to its free-to-play relaunch, Stadia platforming, and new expansion, online gamers have once again returned to the eternal question: But is it an MMO?
In fact, one gamer even asked Richard Garriott himself the question. Garriott, of course, created the term “MMORPG” to describe the seminal game of the genre, Ultima Online, though he replied with modesty. “We did coin the term MMORPG, but it’s hard to be the arbiter of what ‘counts’ as an MMO or MMORPG,” Garriott tweeted. “I think MMO would be any persistent really where a community of many thousands or more can simultaneously explore and interact with each other.”
Bungie’s in the middle of trying to make Destiny 2 more of an MMO, of course, with a focus on more social and MMO-like elements. But will it be enough to tip it over? Do you think Destiny 2 is an MMO? What would it need to plant it solidly in our genre?