The Digital Continuum: Fantasy's upcoming vacation

by Kyle Horner Nov 15th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Super-hero, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

Is the MMO fantasy genre finally ready to relax and take its long overdue vacation? It does seem to be the case, as nearly all of the highly anticipated titles in the coming years are exceptionally not high fantasy or even really general fantasy. So while the sun is setting on the age of fantasy, a new dawn appears to be rising elsewhere. With it comes a tidal wave of new genres into the industry, some new and others a bit more familiar. Don't believe or agree with me? Keep reading and maybe you'll change your mind.

I just a few short years we're going to go from a couple worthwhile non-fantasy MMOs to around five or more tapping our shoulders for attention, and they'll very likely deserve it too. Right now I'd only consider City of Heroes and EVE Online to be non-fantasy MMOs that can stack up against some of the best fantasy titles on the market, in terms of their overall experience. However, I've got a lot of hope for projects-in-progress like Champions Online, Jumpgate Evolution, Star Trek Online, DC Universe Online, All Points Bulletin, The Agency and of course Star Wars: The Old Republic. I don't think that last one is coming out within two-to-three years, although I'd love for that to be true.

The only fantasy MMO left standing on the up-and-coming list of highly anticipated titles is Guild Wars 2, which I think will do fine because of its fan base and particularly unique non-subscription business model. But we have for the first time in this industry a looming tidal wave of fresh settings. Well, fresh in comparison to what we've seen for the past ten-plus years. In any case, it's extremely exciting when you stop and fully consider this proposition.

It may seem like I'm trying to joyously dance upon the corpse of the fantasy genre. I'm happy for this changing of the status quo not because I think sci-fi should reign dominate over all upcoming titles, but because it means MMOs could finally really come into their own. It's only a matter of time until we could be looking forward to a truly high-quality steampunk world, or even something so esoteric it can't be fully described without more than two modifiers. Some day we could all be discussing an upcoming "Macabre Medieval-themed Superhero MMORPG" or whatever wild concept gets big backing. Beyond even that, there'll be room for exotic fantasy settings like World of Darkness which has been described as fantasy-meets-gothic-punk on many occasions. This is about a chance for the industry to spread its wings, and for MMO devs to get the chance to go hog-wild with settings and worlds.

So let's welcome the end to high fantasy for a while, it's not as though it'll ever be gone forever. We can all agree the genre is in need of a vacation; of a recharging. The constant barrage of bright, colorful and whimsical worlds that try to sweep us away to a magical fairytale land isn't leaving us, but rather it's changing -- evolving. The bright optimism will remain, but instead we could find it while exploring new worlds and seeking out new life. Developers will certainly continue to try and sweep us into a far-away land, only now it's to a world where spies battle spies and cops chase robbers. I'm ready to be amazed by a barrage of fresher experiences, wilder worlds. And really, aren't most of us by now?

Tags: all-points-bulletin, apb, arenanet, bioware, ccp, champions, champions-online, codemasters, cryptic, cryptic-studios, dc-universe-online, dcuo, ea, electronic-arts, fantasy, featured, gothic, gothic-punk, guild-wars-2, joystiqfeatures, jumpgate-evolution, kotor-mmo, macabre, medieval, modern, netdevil, sci-fi, soe, sony-online-entertainment, star-trek, star-trek-online, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, steampunk, superhero, swtor, the-agency, the-digital-continuum, world-of-darkness

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Evi said on 9:44AM 11-15-2008

"I'm ready to be amazed by a barrage of fresher experiences, wilder worlds. And really, aren't most of us by now?"

Definitely. I love the fantasy genre, but I'm also ready for something new. Let's get some variety in here, people!

Will H said on 10:54AM 11-15-2008

Aion could be described as high fantasy. But it's definitely not the same kind of fantasy as WoW, LotR, or WAR.

I think it also qualifies as highly anticipated. If it does really well in the Korean market, NC Soft will have the capital to continually refine it, a similar advantage Blizzard has built on with WoW.

Conquests.of said on 11:14AM 11-15-2008

I don't wanna see any fantasy or medievale for at least 15 years.

InfamousBrad said on 6:05PM 11-15-2008

"I don't wanna see any fantasy or medievale for at least 15 years."

I Agree With This Comment. Seriously, how many D&D knockoffs do we need? Aren't we way overdue to try something else?

Vulturion said on 12:19PM 11-15-2008

I'd place Aion on the upcoming fantasy game list too, myself, and Stargate on the sci-fi list.

I can see where you are coming from with this article, but really how many of those non-fantasy games you listed are REALLY going head-to-head with / replacing the fantasy behemoths ?

Champions & DC = 4 button console-controller action games.

APB & Agency = first-person shooter.
( Guessing at APB since info a bit vague, but I'd be surprised if the Unreal engine is being used in some other way. )

Jumpgate = piloting shooter.

Star Trek = anyone's guess, at this point.

Having played Stargate I am surprised how much of a MMORPG it is, and expect Star Wars will play similalry - but the rest of them ?

They really have no gameplay connection at all to WoW, WAR, LotR etc. - and presumably not even comparable business models ( surely Champions, DC and The Agency have low-to-zero subscription fees ? ).

I don't see the next generation of FPS and console-actioners support massive numbers of players online constitutes them succeeding the current ( fantasy dominated ) MMOs - even if they do provide more / fresher fun, none of them are even aiming to compete with the depth of what are currently considered MMOs...

Crafting ?
Loot tables ?
Player housing ?
Raids ?

Most of the listed games "stack up against" the fantasy behemoths like Spore stacks up against Civilisation - same platforms, different genres.

Kyle Horner said on 12:54PM 11-15-2008

First off, let me be clear that I'm not talking about "replacing" or "killing" anything. WoW, WAR and LotRO are all going to see expansions and subs over the coming years. But the trend is most definitely going away from fantasy for games in-development.

I don't think you've got a valid argument when you use that sort of reduction. I've played Champions Online and Jumpgate Evolution, both games are very much MMOs in the complexity sense. Just because the combat is shooter-style in Jumpgate Evolution or action-heavy in Champions and DCUO does not mean those games aren't as deep or engaging as their fantasy counterparts.

Also, all of these games are going to have crafting, loot tables and raids of some variant. Player housing to me seems like a fairly overrated feature. It sounds really cool on paper, but only appeals to a minority of players in actual implementation. It's a nice thing to see, but it's also hardly a "must-have" feature.

And the Aion stuff, well we'll see. What does well in the Asian markets hasn't been able to do nearly as well in the NA and EU markets. Aion is supposedly going to be able to break this trend through its design, but we won't know until it's been out for a while. The game is certainly within the fantasy genre, but it's a strange sort of anime-influenced thing that I don't see as typical "High Fantasy" like in LotRO, WoW or even WAR. Plus it's got that whole flying with wings thing happening.