Forum Discussion
I am often left wondering how an MMO version of the Sims would work.
In games like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Champions Online (or the defunct City of Heroes) - there's a definite path of progression from a green new player to a veteran who has defeated the major challenges of that game. There's no such equivalent in the Sims.
We (Sims players) make our own schedules, and decide our own paths to success. There's equal fun to be had from making a supermodel who lives in a concrete shed, or a starving family of 5 who live in a mansion that costs $5 less than their starting funds.
I guess the point I am trying to make is that a big part of the attraction and longevity of the Sims is that the ultimate success of your Sims is completely in the individual player's hands. It's not limited by someone else's imagination. An MMO removes that by chanelling the player along a narrower set of waypoints to whatever their arbitrary goal is.
Ultimately I think that persuing a hybrid game design is the way to go. Have a solid offline game such as we have now. Have the ability to take your Sims to multiplayer areas to interact with other people's Sims. I'd be down for that, because if it turned out to be terrible, or threatening, or laggy or disjointed, I could just bail out and send my Sims home. I can appreciate that multiplayer is not everyone's cup of tea.
I'd imagine (in the scenario above) that it would play like going to say, Geek-Con, and instead of having all NPCs wandering about, there would be other players' Sims. That could be kind of fun.
Hmm this post was longer than I expected.
In games like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Champions Online (or the defunct City of Heroes) - there's a definite path of progression from a green new player to a veteran who has defeated the major challenges of that game. There's no such equivalent in the Sims.
We (Sims players) make our own schedules, and decide our own paths to success. There's equal fun to be had from making a supermodel who lives in a concrete shed, or a starving family of 5 who live in a mansion that costs $5 less than their starting funds.
I guess the point I am trying to make is that a big part of the attraction and longevity of the Sims is that the ultimate success of your Sims is completely in the individual player's hands. It's not limited by someone else's imagination. An MMO removes that by chanelling the player along a narrower set of waypoints to whatever their arbitrary goal is.
Ultimately I think that persuing a hybrid game design is the way to go. Have a solid offline game such as we have now. Have the ability to take your Sims to multiplayer areas to interact with other people's Sims. I'd be down for that, because if it turned out to be terrible, or threatening, or laggy or disjointed, I could just bail out and send my Sims home. I can appreciate that multiplayer is not everyone's cup of tea.
I'd imagine (in the scenario above) that it would play like going to say, Geek-Con, and instead of having all NPCs wandering about, there would be other players' Sims. That could be kind of fun.
Hmm this post was longer than I expected.
