MMORPGs: Stagnet Storytelling Waters

MMORPGs are very fun to play with your friends and a healthy way of escapism into a fantastic world where you can be a bloodthirsty warrior or cunning mage, without ever leaving the comfort of your home. However, I feel MMORPGs in general have slammed into a rut of repetition and I’m wondering about the ultimate future of massive online gaming.

Of course when someone hears MMORPG World of Warcraft automatically comes to mind. I personally love the storytelling and the beautiful world Blizzard created to involve gamers with world events similar to real life.

With the “Cataclysm” expansion coming out soon for WoW, everyone is excited and chatting away about the dramatic changes happening to the world. I am also excited, but I still feel like it’s just a thin cover to keep older players on while immense repetition remains.

Honestly, I forget there is even a story while I’m clicking away through quests without much concern for the outcome. My choices do not matter, I do not need to take quests, the world will do just fine without me completing the dungeon. This is where MMORPGs fail in storytelling, the world ultimately doesn’t change due to player participation.



MMORPGs are becoming stagnated in this lack of flexibility within the world. I think it’s time to change the repetitive quest and create a world where every choice can you change the environment.

Tabletop RPGs consider the player’s choices and by directly engaging players; it makes the story more personal and fun to play. Imagine if your choices on a MMORPG changed the game, it would make the story matter again and engage the player to think wisely.

It would pose new challenges to storytellers, game developers and players, but there is a surplus of creative people up to the challenge of allowing players to shape the game.

I do not believe technology is up to standard to keep up with this immense idea in MMORPGs, but when they can, whomever does it first will blow all other MMORPGs out of the water and bring life back online.



Not everyone will be happy with this new engaging idea, but there could be special servers who just support repetitive quests and flat plots. But, I believe it will re-invent MMORPGs for the better by keeping the player on their toes and playing to see how their choices change the world.