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Shirtless gnome action in Gnoob video from Everquest II
More often than not, advertising MMOs is a fairly serious business, insofar as you're appealing to the dramatic side of players. After all, if most of us knew we were signing up for one quest to slay a dragon and ninety-nine to slay several rats, we might have opted out. But EverQuest II's recent video gives us a taste of something less in the realm of "serious" and more in the realm of "bizarre." We'd give a full disclosure, but the video is just 30 seconds long and safe for work (unless your employer looks at you oddly about shirtless gnomes). Though the video is meant to highlight the game's 14-day trial, it also reminds any gamer of a very important lesson when it comes to an MMO -- namely, bad things happen when you stop paying attention. You'll be able to get at least a chuckle out of the video whether or not you play EverQuest II.
The Daily Grind: What crazy idea should someone try?
If you want to be a cynic, or you just happen to be one anyway, it's easy to complain that MMOs have turned into something of a cookie-cutter genre. So many of the basic expectations that players have are all but carved into stone, and there's a well-understood set of basics, ranging from quests to default control schemes. Of course, there's no shortage of variances between the biggest titles, but there's certainly a general idea in people's heads of what an MMO should look like by default. Of course, any artist knows the best thing for when a genre starts to stagnate: trying something truly absurd, something that breaks down basic assumptions of what should be done. And we're seeing games with systems that do precisely that, like TERA's action-oriented combat with no lock-on or Guild Wars 2 experimenting with environmental gameplay. But those only scratch the surface of all the assumptions about MMOs that could be turned on their ear. What insane idea would you like to see a game put into practice?
