The problem is that you will never get as good a single-player experience in a multiplayer game as you would if it was single-player in the first place, and even thinking about single player in these terms is to miss the point. Sure, it’s good to have something to do even if you’re not hanging with a group. But the best stories you get in any MMO are the ones you create for yourself. The world can add context and meaning to them, but they have to emerge organically for them to feel like anything other than just another step on the road to maximum level. (Rock, Paper Shotgun, A Rant: Enough of Single-Player MMOs)
The more often stuff like this is said on high-profile gaming websites, the better. Lately I’ve seen this sentiment mirrored in a lot of different places, forums and Reddits I don’t usually associate with beating on the sandbox drum. Having something like this on Rock, Paper, Shotgun which is read, and widely respected, by developers all over the world is a good, good thing. Go on, read the whole thing and the comments.
The big theme park MMO isn’t viable anymore. Developing them costs a huge amount of money, which all is spent on content that the players will burn through in a heart beat. Unless you got the tools, the talent and the resources to push out eight major updates in a year like Trion did with Rift, you’ll risk hitting the same wall as Bioware have done with SWTOR. And Trion are still having problems with players burning out on their game faster than they can produce new content!
So stop this madness. Just stop it.
