The Game Archaeologist: Why I write

We're going to take a brief detour this week from our normal excavations and six-hour-long lectures to address a fundamental question to The Game Archaeologist series. Namely, why write it? Why give attention to games that are "past their prime," have been canceled, or never got off the launch pad in the first place?

It's no secret that bigger games and newer titles get the lion's share of the attention and love. It's how it is, and not just here at Massively. I love looking forward to the next hot thing like anyone else, and I will gorge on all the juicy infos if given the opportunity. Yet it's a little-known secret that many staffers here at Massively are passionate about the old guard of MMOs, up to and including playing them on a regular basis. Bree won't let pass any opportunity to tout Ultima Online's "did it first!" superiority on every occasion, Eliot and City of Heroes make out on a regular basis, and several writers are in group therapy as I write this because of the impending shutdown of Star Wars Galaxies.

To be an MMO fan is to love the genre as a whole, not just one game. Today I'm going to crack my chest wide open and bare my soul to you as to why I write about older MMOs and why they're still incredibly important to our hobby.

Why I write: People still call these games "home"

Probably the biggest reason that I lobbied my editors to let me start this column was my fervent desire to give more coverage to these MMOs that plenty of people played but that had been out of the PR spotlight for years. I've noticed that there's a particular mentality among some gamers that goes along the lines of "I've moved on to a newer and better game, so you should too." It's as if people see all gamers as a homogenous group that travels in an unbreakable pack, like a school of fish, darting from the latest trend to the next. We sometimes assume everyone is doing what we are, after all, but that isn't the case.

The truth is that plenty of gamers have pulled off the tourism highway to make their home in MMOs, from RIFT all the way back to Ultima Online and beyond. To them, these aren't just dusty relics in a museum but living worlds that are visited and enjoyed on a daily basis. And they should be recognized.

One of my favorite parts of this column is to hear from -- and sometimes interview -- gamers who have a special place in their heart for these games. No matter what obscure or aging title I come up with, there are always, always folks who have not only played it but loved it. It's a good lesson for us to learn: We should avoid being condescending toward other MMOs and those who play them because their enjoyment is just as valid as ours.

Why I write: To preserve the past

I've always been fascinated with history. Yes, I'm one of those dweebs who is often caught watching documentaries while I grind out a couple of levels, and I've been known to stay up way past my bedtime reading historical accounts. For me, knowing where we came from is just as important as figuring out where we are and where we're going.

I'm fearful that as the MMO industry gets further away from its origins, the stories of these "founding fathers" will be forgotten -- or in the case of those new to MMOs or the younger set, never known about at all. The Game Archaeologist isn't just my pet project but a collective one by us as an MMO community to preserve the past and enter our tales into the historical record. In so doing, I hope that the current and next generation of gamers will grow to have a better grasp on what makes MMOs so special.

Plus, in many cases, this column may well be the last time we get together on this site to talk about mothballed titles that can't even be experienced any longer. In a decade, what will the gaming community really know about The Matrix Online or Tabula Rasa?

Why I write: To chart the course of MMO evolution

This isn't just about the past, of course, but about our very real present. Haven't you ever wondered just how all these MMO tropes and features got started? Perhaps you've just accepted it as "the way it is" since you began to game and never given it a second thought.

In such a short time, MMOs have come so far. We've made the jump from 2-D to 3-D, from a niche hobby to a mainstream form of entertainment, from EverQuest 1 to EverQuest Next. In the real world, technology is rushing forward at breakneck speeds, and I feel that it's the same way in online gaming. We may be impatient while waiting for an upcoming game to release and feel that time is standing still, but when viewed through a slightly bigger lens, our genre has been sprinting so fast that it's eclipsed the pace of changes that happen elsewhere in video games.

In short, MMOs have changed, sometimes quite radically. Because of this, it's vital that we track not only how they've changed but where they've changed. When World of Warcraft came out in 2004, it (re)introduced a heavy emphasis on questing as a progression path, which certainly impacted the genre. Public quests, dancing on mailboxes, auction houses, payment models, scaling events, dynamic worlds, crafting systems, PvP -- all of these have evolved (not always for the better) over the past 15 years.

I've always thought that MMO developers who have a limited view of the industry or meager gaming experience in it are handicapped by default. The games of tomorrow could be so much better if devs had a solid grasp of the evolution of the industry and the shrewd insight to go back to earlier titles to see if there are elements there that are worth reviving in an updated format.

Why I write: To expand our horizons

I've never pretended to be an expert in every classic MMO. Heck, I've never even played many of them before my stint at Massively. In the beginning of this column, that was an intimidating factor for me; I feared that people would see through my inexperience and call for my head on a silver platter (do people still do that?). However, I got over that fear quick once I realized that there's no disqualification to express interest in games just because one wasn't there "back in the day."

On the contrary, I've found that writing this column has expanded my MMO horizons considerably. I can't turn back time and get in on several of these games from the start, but I can learn about them now and in some cases even play them. It's encouraged me to stop looking at only the future for the games I want to play and to consider the past as an equally rich pool of potential fun. Despite not looking like 2011-era sleekness, mature MMOs can and often do make up for it with a wealth of content, innovative features, and wonderful communities.

Every time I see a reader comment that he might have to check out this month's game now that we've brought it to his attention, I have to smile. MMO studios and gaming communities get a moment of victory, and all of us are richer for it.

Next month on The Game Archaeologist

You've asked for it. It's one of the most-requested MMOs that we've yet to cover. And it's coming, so prepare yourself! Have a change of underpants at the ready! Just sayin'!

When not clawing his eyes out at the atrocious state of general chat channels, Justin "Syp" Olivetti pulls out his history textbook for a lecture or two on the good ol' days of MMOs in The Game Archaeologist. You can contact him via email at justin@massively.com or through his gaming blog, Bio Break.