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Some MMO Frontiers Are Still Untamed
In yesterday's post about Ultima Online's tenth birthday, I mentioned that the days of crazy unpoliced online gameplay seemed to be long gone. Modern MMO games, if they feature player-vs-player combat at all, focus it in controlled arenas and manage the experience to keep it from being a free-for-all.But that's not entirely true. GameSpy reader Ben Jacobs was the first to point out to me a brilliant counter-example: the excellent sci-fi MMO Eve Online. Beyond Empire space is a free-for-all where player battleships prey on the weak. Bold players can target victims even in Empire-controlled areas with a chance of crippling and looting a vessel before authorities arrive.
Meanwhile, most of the drama in Eve Online is in the hands of the players. Player groups ('Corporations') spy on each other, declare war, or get involved in theft or shady financial deals.
Eve is a great counter-example to my earlier point, but more importantly, it's a modest success. The game is doing well and continues to enjoy a passionate fan base. Hopefully it's inspiring other games to follow its example. So there are still places online where a frontier spirit still drives game mechanics and where experimentation lives on...
-Fargo
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