Redefining MMOs: The Shooter Invasion page 3

These are interesting times, and I've often felt that this is a great time to be both a gamer and someone who writes about these titles for a living. The games we play are changing in tandem with a perpetually raised bar for the technological limits of an MMO. The graphics are continually improving, servers handle increasing numbers of players embracing massively multiplayer online games, and more genres beyond the realm of fantasy are being explored.

It's exciting to see shooters merge with MMOs and we hope this type of game establishes a foothold in what can be a very competitive industry. When I began this look into the marriage of first-person shooters with massively multiplayer online games, I said there are two questions Massively asks itself about these titles:

"Does this new breed of shooter MMOs represent a significant shift in the industry?"

We certainly think so. Most of us here think this new direction in gaming is interesting and we hope you will too, as we gear up for coverage of this growing sector in the MMO industry.

"Do these games fall under the banner of what we should cover at Massively?"

Absolutely. We could look at some of the established criteria like the litmus test of persistence or we could look to the "massively multiplayer" elements of these games as well — especially when it comes to MAG and its 256-player battles that influence the game world. "Massively multiplayer" and "persistence" are traits that put shooter MMOs squarely in our sights at Massively.

Above all else, we think these games will be fun. Gene splicing our FPS and MMO addictions... what could go wrong?

Still, this doesn't mean that our own views on the integration of shooters and MMOs are set in stone. Over time we'll continue to assess what's relevant to MMO gamers in terms of the titles we cover at Massively and questions will inevitably arise as these games evolve.

We've resolved that these games are worth our time to continue to examine, and we hope it's worth yours as well to read about. The games industry is changing and challenging our notions of what MMOs can be, and Massively aims to change with it as well.

This is our take on the significance of shooters rising to greater prominence in the MMO industry, but we'd like to hear your thoughts as well. Let us know what you think in the comments below, or feel free to write your own "Redefining MMOs" blog post and link us to it in the comments section.