The thing I envy about MMORPGs is that they all have the most awesome settings.

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

I mean look at these famous games:


Dungeons and Dragons Online
Lord of the Rings Online
DC Universe Online
Warhammer Online
Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures
Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR takes place a millenea afterward that it feels like a different setting from KOTOR)
Final Fantasy 11 and 14. (Both having distinct worlds that seperates them from other Final Fantasies)
The Elder Scrolls Online (Where all the lands of Tamriel all traversable)
Star Trek Online
Matrix Online.
And yes World of Warcraft (And I still play this game today)

Who wouldn't want an Offline Story Driven RPG that takes place in any of these universes? Heck same with MMORPGs that take place in Original Settings like Everquest, Guild Wars, etc.

But the problem is they are all MMORPGs, all requiring a constant Online Connection, all requiring a subscription or Free To Play services, and gameplay wise revolve around trying to keep the player playing through grinding (and your mileage may very with that)

Like I feel like there is wasted potential in making these games a single player RPG ala say Skyrim or Final Fantasy 15.

Who wouldn't want to play a proper Single Player RPG of the Matrix Online if it played like Grand Theft Auto and Deus Ex had a baby?

You guys get what I am trying to say here?

 

[sXeth]

Not entirely really.

You want the MMO to be playable offline?

Or you want games on the same scale (which in most of those cases, comes with really really shallow gameplay and questionable presentation since mechanics and polished aesthetics are harsh mistresses to work with at those scales).

Or you want games from those franchises to come out alongside/despite the online variants. Which is about 50/50 hit and miss

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Not entirely really.

You want the MMO to be playable offline?

Or you want games on the same scale (which in most of those cases, comes with really really shallow gameplay and questionable presentation since mechanics and polished aesthetics are harsh mistresses to work with at those scales).

Or you want games from those franchises to come out alongside/despite the online variants. Which is about 50/50 hit and miss

Something akin to the first one, MMORPG playable as an offline single player game, but of course without the negative aspects of MMORPG gameplay. Imagine World of Warcraft, but none of the grindy questing of "Kill X amount of mobs" with much more deeper and engaging story quests and a party system akin to Dragon Age Origins.

 

[sanquin]

He basically wants the setting on an mmorpg in a single player game.

For D&D, that is indeed the case. Though most D&D based games are pretty old now. Like the baldur's gate and neverwinter nights games.

Lord of the rings has some games as well, though they mostly play out in smaller areas of the entire world and are focused more in action combat.

Elder scrolls, the same...ESO 2 I believe, you could go to all of tamriel, but the game is very old. It would be awesome to have such a world with modern graphics. But the game would just be too big.

I'd love a single player rpg in the warcraft universe though. Wish blizzard would make one of those rather than sticking to Warcraft 3, WoW, a card game and arguably overwatch which is set WAY into the future.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Just play Kingdoms of Amalur. Its a single-player MMO and it gets boring within 1 hour.

 

[Saelune]

Wow, I wish there was some sort of massive open-world single player games set in the same world as Elder Scrolls Online...that would be so cool...sooooo coool...

 

[Saelune]

Honestly though, this is why I play tabletop DnD.

 

[Lufia Erim]

The reason why is because these games cost a lot, and i mean A LOT of money to make, and maintain. The subscription / f2p model is the only way to sustain such massive budgets.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

The trouble I always have with MMOs is the experience is always undermined by the niggling knowledge that any story based quests/missions have been completed by 1000+ players before me and would be completed again by 1000+ players after me. When I used to play Star Trek Online I often thought that I'd enjoy the experience more without all the other players running around.

 

[Saelune]

The trouble I always have with MMOs is the experience is always undermined by the niggling knowledge that any story based quests/missions have been completed by 1000+ players before me and would be completed again by 1000+ players after me. When I used to play Star Trek Online I often thought that I'd enjoy the experience more without all the other players running around.

I think MMOs should try to take that into account with its quests. Why MMOs so often rely on a "chosen one" plot is beyond me.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Wow, I wish there was some sort of massive open-world single player games set in the same world as Elder Scrolls Online...that would be so cool...sooooo coool...

No what I mean about that is that Elder Scrolls Online has all the lands of Tamriel to be explored in the same game.

But a better example I can give is Warcraft, I wish there was a big Single Player RPG for it. If not the whole world of Azeroth at least one of the continants like the Eastern Kingdoms.

Or another one, Final Fantasy 11 and 14. There hasn't been a proper Final Fantasy game that takes place in a "Fantasy" world since 9, ever since 7 its been predominantly this Sci Fi take. And I read up on Final Fantasy 11 and 14 lore and watched lets plays and I am sad that these games wasn't a Single Player RPG. Imagine 14 playing like Single Player game like FF15.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

The trouble I always have with MMOs is the experience is always undermined by the niggling knowledge that any story based quests/missions have been completed by 1000+ players before me and would be completed again by 1000+ players after me. When I used to play Star Trek Online I often thought that I'd enjoy the experience more without all the other players running around.

I think MMOs should try to take that into account with its quests. Why MMOs so often rely on a "chosen one" plot is beyond me.

Most egregiously in Age of Conan where, if I recall, they actually refer to you as "The Chosen One."

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

Just play Kingdoms of Amalur. Its a single-player MMO and it gets boring within 1 hour.

It really does. It's like playing a MMO when you lose your connection and you get to run around for a little while before the game sends you back to the login screen.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Hmm...seeing that list induces only one thought loop.
Grind and bear it.
Grind and bear.
Grind and.
Grind.
Grind.
Grind.
Grinnnn.
Grinn.
Grin.
Griii.
Grii.
Griiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiizzzzzzzzzzzz[small]zzzzzzzzzzllllyybeeeeeeaaaaarrrrrrrr....zzzzz[/small]

I mean, ok, they have different palette swaps. But they're mind numbing to a point where I can legitimately feel my deformed, malfunctioning brain desperately trying to wriggle out of my ear-holes in search of sweet, greener pastures. And ESO knows what bullshit its' pulling, it can't fool me its' an elder scrolls experience. Putting mummorpagah grind in a single-player rpg sounds like a terrible idea, to be honest, there's no two way about it

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Just play Kingdoms of Amalur. Its a single-player MMO and it gets boring within 1 hour.

It really does. It's like playing a MMO when you lose your connection and you get to run around for a little while before the game sends you back to the login screen.

Oh man, that's exactly what its like! Entire towns and questing zones completely empty, no chat, no Guild, then 'Connection Lost: Returning to Login Screen'

 

[sXeth]

Not entirely really.

You want the MMO to be playable offline?

Or you want games on the same scale (which in most of those cases, comes with really really shallow gameplay and questionable presentation since mechanics and polished aesthetics are harsh mistresses to work with at those scales).

Or you want games from those franchises to come out alongside/despite the online variants. Which is about 50/50 hit and miss

Something akin to the first one, MMORPG playable as an offline single player game, but of course without the negative aspects of MMORPG gameplay. Imagine World of Warcraft, but none of the grindy questing of "Kill X amount of mobs" with much more deeper and engaging story quests and a party system akin to Dragon Age Origins.

Ah well. I mean, everything on that list except Conan, the Matrix, and Warcraft has had relatively recent offline playable games. Not necessarily Party-Based RPGs (You could technically say that there hasn't been Elder Scrolls since ESO, but it seems doubtful they won't make 6 anyways). RPGs are also still a decently successful genre in the public market, so there's no real reason for them to avoid them.

The main impedance would be if whoever has the license doesn't really do RPGs as a thing. The obvious example would be WB Games, who seem pretty stuck on churning out open world Arkham-clones (see Shadow of Mordor and Mad Max), except for Netherrealm, which specializes in fighters obviously. Or if the publisher has an RPG Ip that would be competing, they're naturally going to avoid diluting their own IP (EA won't make a Star Wars RPG, because its more beneficial to them to have Mass Effect which they fully own as their big space RPG franchise)

 

[Hawki]

I'd love a single player rpg in the warcraft universe though. Wish blizzard would make one of those rather than sticking to Warcraft 3, WoW, a card game and arguably overwatch which is set WAY into the future.

Give me a Warcraft IV then we can talk.

But in seriousness, the chances of Blizzard making a single-player-only game is pretty much non-existent, since the last time they did that was with Blackthorne. Also, Overwatch isn't in the Warcraft universe last I checked. Don't know if 60 years into the future is "way" into the future either.

(EA won't make a Star Wars RPG, because its more beneficial to them to have Mass Effect which they fully own as their big space RPG franchise)

Ya think? Mass Effect is pretty much dead to EA right now. I mean, sure, there's vague mentions of it simply being taken out of rotation, but in EA speak, that's more or less code for being taken to the graveyard.

EA is unlikely to have any interest in singleplayer anything for the near to mid future, Star Wars or otherwise.

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

Imagine World of Warcraft, but none of the grindy questing of "Kill X amount of mobs" with much more deeper and engaging story quests

They already made offline WoW; it was called "Kingdoms of Amalur" and it was so awful the company went bankrupt.

The world of Warcraft existed before "World of Warcraft". WarcraftIII Frozen Throne was/is probably one of, if not the best RTS games ever made. The popularity and success of WCIII is the main reason for WoWs success. It's not an RPG of course, tho it was one of the first RTSs to bring in RPG elements.

Regardless, the setting isn't really that special. While a story set in that world could be fun, a video game would be just as enjoyable in a similar one with different names, providing it's mechanically fun.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Imagine World of Warcraft, but none of the grindy questing of "Kill X amount of mobs" with much more deeper and engaging story quests

They already made offline WoW; it was called "Kingdoms of Amalur" and it was so awful the company went bankrupt.

The world of Warcraft existed before "World of Warcraft". WarcraftIII Frozen Throne was/is probably one of, if not the best RTS games ever made. The popularity and success of WCIII is the main reason for WoWs success. It's not an RPG of course, tho it was one of the first RTSs to bring in RPG elements.

Regardless, the setting isn't really that special. While a story set in that world could be fun, a video game would be just as enjoyable in a similar one with different names, providing it's mechanically fun.

Frozen Throne is up there as one of the best expansion packs to a game ever. Along side Medieval 2 Total War: Kingdoms.

 

[sXeth]

Imagine World of Warcraft, but none of the grindy questing of "Kill X amount of mobs" with much more deeper and engaging story quests

They already made offline WoW; it was called "Kingdoms of Amalur" and it was so awful the company went bankrupt.

The world of Warcraft existed before "World of Warcraft". WarcraftIII Frozen Throne was/is probably one of, if not the best RTS games ever made. The popularity and success of WCIII is the main reason for WoWs success. It's not an RPG of course, tho it was one of the first RTSs to bring in RPG elements.

Regardless, the setting isn't really that special. While a story set in that world could be fun, a video game would be just as enjoyable in a similar one with different names, providing it's mechanically fun.

Lord of the Clans! Oh wait, they cancelled that one. (Also IIRC it was more of an adventure game then an RPG of any kind).


Warcraft has evolved reasonably from its origins as knock-off Warhammer, but yeah, its still pretty basic fantasy pastiche.

Offline-MMO design seems to work for some franchises, granted. Final Fantasy 12 (and 15 from what I've heard) both used it heavily. Monster Hunter isn't terribly dissimilar. Breath of the Wild was full of that sort of filler quest, alongside basing its armor upgrades on it, right down to reusing pallette swaps of monsters. Dragons Dogma was largely of the same cloth too.