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The Daily Grind: What makes you optimistic?
Being negative about the industry these days seems to be the norm, and it's kind of understandable. APB managed to set a record for being the fastest MMO death ever, Final Fantasy XIV launched to massively mixed opinions, and not everyone is really on board for the coming Cataclysm. It's very easy to look to next year and assume that more promises will be broken, that coming titles won't live up to the hype, and that everything is doom and gloom for the forseeable future. Despite all of that, however, there are reasons to be just a bit more optimistic. There has to be something that inspires you to at least adjust your opinion ever-so-slightly upward, that maybe things won't turn out as bad as your nervousness might indicate. Whether it's an upcoming title, patches or expansions that are handled well, or even just a humble move by developers, what makes you hopeful for the future of MMOs? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of our readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's The Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What's your dream MMO?
Everybody dreams of an MMO that does everything perfectly, at least for them. Ours would be some kind of deep, communal sandbox cyberpunk affair. Something like "Bladerunner the MMO", with lots of emphasis on character customization ala All Points Bulletin and plenty of motivation for socialization. Combat would be of the third-person shooter variant, although with RPG systems coming into play via skill progression. Visually, it should focus on a style that's immediately noticeable -- not necessarily "cartoony" but definitely stylized. The overall palette would be something familiar yet grungy, as if it were right out of a William Gibson or Neal Stephenson book. Of course, this is about your dream MMO and not ours. Something tells us ours probably isn't very high on the popularity scale, anyhow. The dream often demands more than reality can deliver, but assuming your dream title could somehow manifest... what would it be?
