First a few observations…

There was a video released by Josh Strife Hayes (JSH) reviewing 100 hours of Everquest. He talks in the Everquest video a little about how MMOs evolved from MUDs and were primarily chat systems with gaming as a secondary function. Even in games like World of Warcraft, it's almost as if raiding and other events are just vehicles through which to get gamers to interact with each other. In his video on the epic in the MMO genre, JSH briefly mentions matchmaking and other improvements that were made over the years that detracted from the social aspects, making the games less MMO and more single player RPGs with other people.

Also there was also a video by Force Gaming asking WTF Happened to MMOs. While it was light on content, it does a good job of pointing out something most MMO fans don't know, that there are a record number of MMOs in development now compared to any point in history.

Lastly, there has been a recent long form video on the history of EVE Online by Fredrik Knudsen. This video goes in depth into the history of EVE both as the game studio making it and the players playing it as well as the corporations/guilds that formed up over the course of the game and their history and social interactions.

It seems like every MMO ultimately fails players. Why is this?

I like to think I'm the perfect person to answer this question, but there ARE MMOs that I never participated in or didn't get to play much myself. I played Asheron's Call, Everquest, and UO in the early days, but I didn't really get to play much WoW till later on as I was playing other MMOs like EVE, Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online, Rift, and etc. I did eventually do a long stint playing WoW as well as a PvP-focused Darkfall, but didn't feel compelled to stick with either of them. As more MMOs like Guild Wars 2, Elder Scrolls Online, and Final Fantasy all came out, I tried them, but found progression unrewarding and end game mostly repetitive and boring. I also played Age of Conan, Tabula Rasa, Anarchy Online, and various other MMOs that all mostly went nowhere, but had various elements I found entertaining.

Over the years, I'd have to say that my favorite MMO would be Star Wars Galaxies as its economy was unbelievably complex and robust. I have also obviously liked Project Gorgon most recently as I feel like it's progression system provides something unique and complex. I'll never really forget Asheron's Call, as that was my first serious MMO addiction. Another game that I have to say that I still admire is Albion Online, because I think it's probably the only game that has successfully gotten end game PvP “correct”. Obviously this means EVE (which is basically what Albion is copying, just as a faster-paced game) has also figured out the end game should work, but the slow-paced spreadsheets-like gameplay just isn't my cup of tea. The group PvP combat in Warhammer Online was some of the best I've ever experienced. There is nothing like the thrill of saving your self-revive after your keep was taken by the enemy zerg in that game and then slowly reviving your entire team again to kill any stragglers and retake the keep from the inside after the zerg leaves.

I think the one thing no MMO has ever tried that should be done is a way to intermix all the core elements of an MMO into one large, complex but unique, system.

Everything in an MMO needs to be progression towards some end goal. Even if it is grindy. Even if it leads into something you don't necessarily care about progressing in, if it eventually leads to something that you DO care about progressing in, then it's a worthwhile endeavor and players will participate in it.

If I had to put down each of the core elements of an MMO into a list, it would be as follows:

1. Gathering
2. Crafting
3. PvE
4. Raiding or group PvE
5. PvP
6. Small group PvP
7. Group PvP

Almost every MMO has most, if not all of these core elements. Very few games focus on all of these elements and instead have strengths in certain ones, while neglecting the others. Many of them have currencies for participating in specific elements, and then provide gear or items for progression down that same path. I think this is where current MMOs go “wrong”, however.

Only one MMO that I know of correctly realized that participation in each of these aspects or events should be encouraged, if not mandated, for proper game design. Warhammer Online, for example, provided great group PvP gear in their Raids. This made raiding a requirement for doing well at group PvP. Unfortunately, the group PvP was imbalanced due to the lack of a third realm, something that even Planetside and the precursor to Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, got right.

Put simply, for end game group PvP to work correctly, there needs to be 3 major “realms” or sides fighting over the group PvP content so that the two losing sides work together to crush the winning side. Additionally, there should be a dungeon that opens up for the winning side. In fact, the whole point of Group PvP should be a capture the flag (CTF) type game in order to open up solo Gathering content and put pressure on the team winning to enter the unlocked zone, because it is “rich” in resources.

Here is my ultimate design for how one improves their character in the perfect MMO:

1. Gathering leads to materials for…
2. Crafting leads to better gear for…
3. PvE leads to experience levels needed for…
4. Group PvE or raiding which helps get shards/trinkets needed for…
5. PvP which leads to PvP experience levels needed for…
6. Group PvP which leads to a new zone for…
7. Gathering the best materials in the game for…
8. Crafting the best gear in the game.

The best MMO would require a robust auction system for trading the “currency” or shards/trinkets or materials from the very start. Nothing should be absent from the auctionhouse and anyone should be able to trade for any other items in the game, meaning crafters can focus on crafting, gatherers can focus on gathering, and if someone likes the PvE or PvP, they can focus on that as well if they are good enough at it.

A zero-tolerance policy should be established for any real money trading, and anyone caught doing RMT (real money trading) on either side should be immediately and permanently banned. There exist systems to do this, and every MMO ever made has had the capability to catch RMT, but often doesn't do anything about it because high net worth individuals just offer to pay these studios to allow it or pay people to grind on their accounts and then buy the accounts themselves.

A set of prolonged penalties for accounts that do RMT-like actions would solve most of the problems associated with RMT and increase the cost for the abusers so much that it would be easier for them to participate in these actions on a different game entirely.

Last Epoch, for example, has a system whereby players who do group content with the same person over and over are allowed to trade items. Preventing trades of items not obtained while in a group with another player or between non-guild members entirely would be one such way to remedy this issue. Continued regular play could build up points towards allowing one to do some trades with friends or other players, but only occasionally and only over long periods of time. Week-long locked trades for VPN users or non-region IPs is another way, though it would upset the playerbase, so some other system to cut back on false positives would be needed.

Additionally, a system could be created to value trades, and any trade between players that is far too one-sided in nature according to the economy could be outright denied, especially if not between guild or alliance members.

I know some systems like Albion Online have ways to balance this as well by integrating a form of RMT into the base game itself, easing pressures on outside and often illegal abuse (ie, moneylaundering).

Let's note some contradictions among MMO players and commentators on why MMOs are dying. For example, we have social media for interactions between people. We can fight about politics online on Reddit or online forums, we can share pictures of our dogs or cats on Facebook, we can talk about the latest news on Twitter or X. When people get online, they can choose to go to the realm of play that they want, and sometimes their version of “play” is going to be finding romance, or chat rooms, or political discussion. Sometimes their version of “play” is going to be playing video games. But these people don't want to talk religion or politics, so almost every MMO bans discussions along these lines, right?

Well, they didn't used to. Hell, there are still MUDs out there where pretty much anything goes. So what changed?

We changed. What we expected changed. We realized that some formats just aren't great or ideal for certain types of discussions or that some conversations ruin experiences for people. My argument is that we should keep evolving along these lines. Global chat should really only be used for help or for players that need some sort of assistance finding what to do in game. Nearby chat should be used in almost every other case. A significant portion of people abuse global chats in video games simply because it is a massive way to intervene in someone else's life. If you've ever run an MMO or multiplayer server for the public, take a long look at your logs and determine what percentage of it is actually wholesome interactions. Maybe 5%? We're putting up with 95% garbage for that 5%?

Some people still use MMOs to find romance. Some use it to talk about furries. Go check out Second Life if you don't believe me. My opinion on all that is that those games are only pigeonholing themselves into categories and niches of the Internet that are only fun for those types of people. If you want the perfect MMO, you'll want to cater to everyone, and MMO commentators seem to think that going back to more MUD and chat rooms and less a shared gaming experience is somehow a good thing. It isn't.

We should go further, we should ban discussions in a global chat about anything and everything not related to the game, basically a global chat should just be a global help channel and everything else can be region-locked or zone-locked. In a sense, I'm actually kind of making the argument that the best MMO is a roleplaying-only server. I'm willing to accept a global help channel, though.

I personally think a global chat or temporary access to one could be an unlockable achievement in the game, like a way to speak as a god or demigod or something. It could be something to be unlocked. But no MMO has ever done this before. It'd be cool to see one do this someday, but I'm not recommending it for the perfect MMO, necessarily.

I'm sorry, but match-making is required. I know some MMO commentators over the years have poo-poohed this as taking away from the social aspects, but that is, quite frankly, bull shit. Match-making simply improves the time to action, and if your game is going to require or expect grouping for any portion of content, it needs to have this feature built-in. If players have a choice between an MMO that doesn't have match-making and one that does, they will choose the one that does. It was the one change that WoW did that completely changed the game for the better, IMHO.

I compare this back to global chat. Most people don't want to participate in a global chat and don't. We're not all little narcissists playing a game where everyone has to be updated about who we are and where we are at. We're not asking for help for every single puzzle we come across, right? Oh wait, some people are, and they do. I wonder how long those players stick with the games they play. I wonder what percentage bugger off and leave a bad review on the game when they finally annoy someone.

Finding people for group content when you disagree with the idea of there even being a global chat is why I think match-making is the way to go for forced group content. It gets you straight to the team you are going to be working with, and it forces you to communicate early and well without all the non-functional conversation.

I get that for some people social interaction is why they play MMOs, but for at least some portion of the playerbase, they want to choose when and how they participate in that. Match-making lets them do that. Match-making gets them into that mindset. I think Josh Strife Hayes, in his video, was the one that thought match-making was one the worst systems that ruined MMOs, but I think he's completely wrong on this. It was one of the best things to ever happen to MMOs. It is worth noting, that he kind of back-tracked and explained the venture of the solo player in another video.