It looks like we have a sense now of what the year is going to look like for MMO gamers. Free Realms is dropping later this spring, with what sounds like a twofer following in June. Champions and Jumpgate letting loose at the start of the summer is sure to give younger MMO gamers with some downtime plenty to do. Then capping off the year we’ll be seeing Aion on this side of the world. That’s about all the MMOs I expected to see release this year, with a pretty good spread. You have to sort of worry about two games hitting live service in the same month.

That said, it’s questionable how much overlap the JGE and Champs audiences will have. And, as Massively points out, Eurogamer’s announcement of Champions’ release date hasn’t been confirmed by Cryptic yet.

Just in case you need some background:

Free Realms: SOE’s first free-to-play title, a whimsical fantasy game aimed at tweens and families.
Champions Online: Cryptic’s second go at a superhero MMO, based on the tabletop RPG license. Will build on City of Heroes innovations and feature more physicality in the world.
Jumpgate Evolution: Netdevil’s long-in-development space shooter, a persistent online successor to games like Wing Commander.
Aion: A fantasy game from NCsoft featuring a unique background story and playable characters with the ability to fly.

I’d say it’s a busy year for MMOs, but the genre’s become something altogether different in the last few years. I expect most years we’re going to be looking at a number of big-picture releases, along with numerous smaller entries into the field. These AAA titles are going to be joined in 2009 by numerous free-to-play games and indie offerings; already this year we’re seeing the relaunch of Three Rings’ Bang! Howdy.

It’s awesome, and highly encouraging, to see the genre explode like this. I can’t wait to see what the industry looks like at the end of the year (thought I’m pumped that Free Realms is going live so soon!)

A while back Steve Danuser put up a post weighing in on the fate of Tabula Rasa. His was but one of many, with Scott, Damion, Eric, and Adam all putting in their two cents as well. I can’t hope to add anything to this discussion that hasn’t already been mulled by these guys, but I do want to clarify something that Steve links into. He says, “So if these guys are so smart, and if making a AAA epic fantasy MMO is a solved problem, then why did so many games have a rough year in 2008?”

“Making a AAA fantasy game is a solved problem” is something I said in my 2008 MMO wrapup on Gamasutra, and it’s something I’ve said frequently in the past. And I mean it. AAA fantasy games are ‘solved’, the formulae is complete, development and iteration on that particular niche of the niche market can stop now.

I never said anything about making one being easy.

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So, just a day after my video-questioning of what Champions is offering to distinguish itself, I remembered that X-Play actually partially answered this question. Check out their preview below and note the differences between Champs and CoH, primarily the ‘nemesis’ system and the wide-open areas.

Instead of the usual enormous blog post (which I used both in 2007 and 2006) I decided to take a different tack this year. Below are embedded a pair of videos running down my thoughts on the upcoming year. Enjoy!

This is something that I have to say, I love about my job. Despite the pain, suffering, and etc, there is never a truly ‘empty’ week in MMO gaming news. The doldrums of regular game releases just never hits my favorite part of the industry thanks to patches, updates, and (this year) drama out the yin-yang.

Last two days alone:

• SOE Launches Proper RMT services for EQ/EQII
• Warhammer adds two of its missing classes
• Infogrames/Atari purchases Cryptic Studios
• Age of Conan server merges delayed
• Mythic won’t skimp on WAR Updates for Expansion

Now that the pain has faded somewhat, I think it’s obvious that MUO’s death may be a good thing after all. If it was going to be a broken, license-groaning mess there was no reason for it to make it to launch. Given the rumors of confusion on the dev team about what the game was going to be like at a fundamental level, pulling support from the project seems like a no-brainer. Still, I think MUO’s death highlights Microsoft’s sordid history with Massively Multiplayer games.

If you look down the big list of cancelled or never-released Massive games, Microsoft’s name comes up a suspicious number of times. AC2 anyone? Mythica, True Fantasy Online, Vanguard, and now Marvel Universe were all dented by the Redmond giant’s deft touch. On a fundamental corporate level, I think that MS just doesn’t understand the whole MMO ‘thing’. Trash talking jock douches calling each other ‘fag’ on Xbox Live? That’s understandable. But having the patience to see something like an MMO through – not so much.

Even more than that, I think Microsoft’s stupidity when it comes to this genre has left a huge opening for Sony and the PlayStation 3. Though there are no firm plans in the public eye right now, the tide is rising for MMO experiences on Sony’s console. Has Microsoft ceded the fight without even firing a shot?
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I tend to be an empathic kind of guy. Despite my cynicism and sometimes jaded outlook, I care a lot. Especially about things in the world of MMOs. For example, I am frustrated and saddened by the passing of the Marvel MMOG.  I really wanted to see that DC/CoH/Marvel fight. (Aside: that article is really well written. Go me!) Last year I was made emo by a number of things; Vanguard’s suq, Auto Assault’s closure, Gods and Heroes’ cancellation.

There’s something ongoing in Massive games that just makes me dejected, though, and that’s ‘middle levels’. The levels past the ‘newb experience’ and before the ‘endgame’. IE: The stuff everyone mostly wants to skip. The reason: I love those levels! I think the middle levels are freaking awesome. The problem is that both the developers and the players seem to view them more as speedbumps than anything else. As a result, additions to games tend to heavily weight towards either end of the play experience. New character races introduce new newbie experience, while almost every expansion will add (or prolong) endgame content.

Meanwhile, the middlin’ levels are left lolling about wondering why they got out of bed in the morning.  I want to take a moment to pour out a metaphorical beer for my friends, the middle levels.

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