THWACK, DING, THWACK, DING

Transcribed from the pages of my new Hello Kitty notebook is a list of Japanese MMOs and Asian MMOs currently available in Japan. Not surprisingly, yet possibly scarily, this isn’t a list of all the MMOs, but rather a sample size of the most recent and/or big name ones.

Quarda Online (http://www.denyu-sha.co.jp) – Currently in development, it touts itself an MMO that introduces the ability to host game sessions.

Yogurting (http://www.yogurting.jp/start/?ban=yg02) – Everyone’s favorite psychedelic saga where you’re the schoolgirl fighting off things. Like tentacles, I guess.

Emil Chronicle Online (http://www.econline.jp/?ban=eco02) – Cuteness on acid. Spiked acid.

A3 (http://www.a3online.jp/?ban=a302) – Apparently it’s all about the Love and Hate...

Tantra (http://www.tantraonline.jp/?ban=to02) – Judging by the pictures on the right, half-naked men and meat on a plate are somehow involved. Just another regular day in Japan.

Ragnarok Online (http://www.ragnarokonline.jp/?ban=ro02) – Other than Final Fantasy XI, this is perhaps the most successful Japanese MMO to penetrate the Western market. Its Eastern subscriber base isn’t shabby either.

Final Fantasy XI (http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/index.shtml) – Come on. Do I really need to explain this one to you?

Freestyle (http://fs.hangame.co.jp/fs/index.asp) – A basketball MMO with a cel-shaded urban look. Word.

Lineage (http://www.lineage.jp/) – Where everyone, and I mean everyone, is more hardcore than you.

Tales of Eternia Online (http://www.toeo.jp/) – Namco’s long running “Tales Of...” RPG series taken, well, online. Standard Japanese fare, complete with isometric layout.

Barvillage (http://barvillage.net/) – Owl + Bear = Owlbear. What else needs to be said?

DarkStory (http://www.darkstory.jp/) – How they tease me with their English named links only to present me with more kanji than I can poke a kimono at. Oh yeah. Apparently there are big explosions and giant white fighting teddy bears.

Xenepic Online (http://www.xenepiconline.jp/) – Your one-stop shop for all your epic xen. Looks quite similar to Ragnarok Online.

Mabinogi (http://www.mabinogi.jp/) – Buy cuddly animals and stuff. *Squeeeeeel*

Tales Weaver (http://www.talesweaver.jp/) – Clone number 43 straight from the Nexon MMO mould. Nexon are the masters of churning out these low resource intensive games.

Haten (http://www.haten.jp/) – Blue hair. You’ve got to have blue hair. It’s doctrinal.

Ran (http://ran.excite.co.jp/) – For anyone who has ever wanted to dress their avatar up as Lara Croft.

Risk Your Life Part II (http://www.ryl.jp/) - This time they’re offering $2,000,000. They’ll pay up. Really. Hello?

Derby Owner’s Club Online (http://www.doc-online.jp/) – Sure, you can ride a horse. But can you whip the competition off theirs?

With Your Destiny (http://www.wyd.jp/) – Oversized weapons at no extra cost.

Tokimemo Online (http://www.tokimemo-online.konami.jp/) – Schoolgirls kicking arse. No, no. Kicking arse. In any case, go back to school and live your dreams of making out with the captain of the football team. Erm.

Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion (http://www.playonline.com/fe/index.shtml) – Square Enix states this “RPG x Action X Strategy hybrid” fits no current genre. As McIGN states, “The game promises to ofer [sic] the fun of an MMORPG, with character building elements and battles taking place over a network. It also promises the depth of a real time strategy title where you team up in battle with friends. Finally, the action elements see players take control of a general”. Free set of steak knives is included.

Trickster (http://www.trickster.jp/trickster/index.html) – Epic animal ears ftw.

Granado Espanda (http://granadoespada.jp/) – One of only a few Asian MMOs with a distinct visual style rather than falling back on “Hay! It’s fantasy. Big swords and blob pets olol!!1”. Offers the player a team of characters to control and adventure with instead of the usual single avatar.

Silkroad Online (http://www.silkonline.jp) – Sharing similarities with Guild Wars and Lineage II, the game would probably enjoy some success if translated to the Western market.

Front Mission Online (http://www.playonline.com/fmo) – Square Enix’s long-running mech game taken online. It has still a while yet to go in development and will definitely need that time if previews are anything to go by.

Phantasy Star Universe (http://www.phatasystaruniverse.jp) – The sequel to the ground-breaking Phantasy Star Online, PSU sports both online and offline play. Expect a large number of people trying to hack character data when the game goes live.

Gundam Online (http://www.universalcentury.net) – More a simulation and less of an RPG, this online version of the widely popular anime/game/franchise sees you piloting giant robots. Duh. The expansion, Dawn of Australia, allows me to crush my noisy neighbor under my giant steel foot. Yay.

Lineage II (http://www.lineage2.jp) – Castle warfare, farmer versus non-farmer gank fests, elf upskirt shots. You know the drill.

Kwonho (http://kwonho.hangame.com/) – Created in Korea, the Japanese are taking great interest in this online fighting game. With almost nothing but fighting games being played in Japanese arcades, it’s not hard to wonder why.

Come on Baby (http://www.comeonbaby.co.kr/) – As above, a Korean game with interest from Japan. Less fighting this time and more drug-induced kart racing.

Note: Dark Age of Camelot and Everquest 2 (published by Square Enix) both offer Japanese localization but are yet to enjoy any significant subscriber numbers. Even with a large nod to a mechanic loved by and introduced by the Eastern market (PvP), taking an ancient European-themed and Western-styled MMO in the form of DAoC to Japan was a gamble at best.

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Disclaimer. Jet-lag induced rambling to follow. If you do not wish to be subjected to thoughts possibly devoid of any thought, click here and enjoy true love.

Thwack.

Looking back up at the list, I’m struck by something. A something that has little to do with the correlation between mini-skirt length and the level of an avatar, and more to do with the types of online virtual worlds available to Japanese consumers.

Sure, my list contains your standard stab-a-rabid-rat-in-the-rat-spleen-eight-times-please-can-I-have-some-more fare. Japanese gamers play that stuff as much as anyone and they are damn good at it. Japanese gamer skills are pretty much classified as an export product these days.

Instead, if I may draw your attention away from the mini-skirts and to the selection of MMOs within the above list that eschew 10 foot long swords, ogre populations requiring a player-driven genocide, and a world in the throes of torment from which only you can save it as the One True Hero. Nevermind those hundred thousand other One True Heroes also saving the world.

Pony clubs and horse racing. Team-based basketball. Stylized kart racing. School-themed advancement. We Westerners had always known Japanese games to be a little, well, different. You see, there’s this little thing called the Internet, so we’re not totally isolated from getting our daily hit of J-Pop encrusted multimedia. But perhaps in much the same as your typical cable channel watcher will exclaim “Oh, that’s those crazy Japanese for you” in reply to Mr. Takahashi from Kyoto smothering himself in breadcrumbs and jumping into a tub full of cockroaches in an effort to win a holiday to mainland China, we had partly dismissed Japanese MMOs as nothing worth looking at. “All I see hitting my shores from Japan is the latest Mario title and Dragon Fantasy Hunter VI for the PS2.”

And yet, as we Westerners have repeatedly lamented the current situation in today’s MMOs – the lack of any diversity between DikuMUD_clone_14 and DikuMUD_clone_15 in terms of setting, character advancement, end game, and skill system – those crazy Japanese have not only been exploring alternative virtual world mechanics, but have made a bona fide business out of them.

And what do we have? A bunch of DikuMUD clones that Western consumers could quite possibly handle being the norm if only there was some…wait for it, this is going to be a revelation…variety. Hallelujah, yes! It’s variety. Puzzle Pirates, Second Life and A Tale In The Desert are notable and welcome exceptions, but they are quite obviously failing to fill the current demand for varying MMO types. And simply put, this demand will only continue to rise, rise and rise like a dress on prom night.

Ding.

So why is it that in this Western castle of ours - one set by ourselves high above everything and filled with academics, developer blogs and armchair critics – are developers afraid of acting outside the box?

• Publishers want to back a sure-fire  money maker. Mr. Smith-Smythe, President of Marketing at NCBlizz Online, leans back in his plush office chair that took a whole family of cows to make and skims over the latest MMO market report. Even his wife yelling at him over the speaker phone does little to dissuade Mr. Smith-Smythe’s eyes spinning like bags of phat loot as he observes the top 3 MMOs all follow the same fantasy level-based whack-a-mole formula. The newest MMO to hit the market has even reached the second highest amount of subscribers in a record time. Bling! More phat loot spins through his skull.
• Making a clone of a product currently on the market is easier. Part of the battle of achieving a moderately successful MMO is getting it on the market when the time is right, with it on budget, and without making any clusterfuck problems putting it there. So, what better way to achieve this than by doing what other companies did right and not doing what other companies did wrong. Playing with new genres and sweeping mechanics to game moulds scares the suits, and let’s just say it’s not their pants they’ll be shitting in.
• Developers like making and playing the current games. Wow. Who’d have thought someone would actually, you know, want to make this stuff? Crazy thought, huh?

To which I offer the flipside and perfectly good reasons to make Cosmik’s Virtual Date Sim Online. With mechs.

• Money, money, money. Sure, publishers want to make money. Don’t we all? I’ve got habits to meet, dammit. But there’s a saying in the games industry that rings a great deal of truth - “Publishers don’t know what they want until you give it to them.” Giving a marketing executive access to data on the subscriber data of the top 3 MMOs only encourages them and that’s something we can certainly do without. Take a look at the Star Wars: Galaxies NGE for an example of what a publisher making design decisions can do for you. Meanwhile, a potentially huge part of the market remains untapped because no one is making an online world for the stay-at-home-mum who loves her daily dose of quick puzzle games, the 14-year-old-student that has no interest in dragons but wishes he could step into the shoes of his favorite sports player, or the Vietnam vet who couldn’t give a flying fuck about an avatar in girly clothes and instead wishes to control a country. Niche? No, I don’t think so. The market share is there, and slooooowly Western developers are becoming aware of it; eyeing each other off to see who makes the first move so they may clone the success. The first developer to comprehensively serve these potential consumers will never have to make a level-based fantasy game again.
• Easy moder! To quote another much-quoted passage, “Making games is hard.” I don’t have to spell it out that MMOs are not exempt from this. Even with current MMO paradigm as a benchmark, no one is spared from troubles within their own project during pre-production, production and release. So, hey, you may as well make any type of game you want, right? Well, that and fantasy level/class-based, loot-centric MMOs are one of the highest resource intensive online games to make and balance. There is enormous scope out there for virtual worlds that utilize simple, and most importantly fun, mechanics – those from your Maddens, your Katamaris, and your Tetrises…es - not yet properly explored in the multiplayer arena; an example being those translated from single player games such as the Asian market is currently exploiting. The result is a line-up of Japanese, Chinese and Korean companies that have obtained the enviable position of maintaining a stable of online worlds that offer distinctive play styles and compliment each other within the company’s portfolio. The aforementioned stable is a notion that Western companies like SOE and Turbine are trying to achieve, but they are ultimately falling short of their expectations due to product monotony and product overlap.
• It’s my dream game, dammit. Well, what can I say? If a developer loves the current flavor and wishes to keep contributing to the bloated belly, all the more power to them. But it is here that I must suggest – nay, insist – that it is becoming increasingly more crucial to the growth of people within a company and to the success of the company itself to be flexible and willing to explore alternative mechanics. In the very least, hammering out a non-conformist title that lends itself to fewer resources through the intelligent use of its game mechanics will provide a company with the increased revenue that is needed in order to create their DikuMUD-clone-to-beat-all-DikuMUD-clones.

Thwack.

“Ok, Cosmik. Quit yer blabbering. What do you propose be done about it?”

In much the same way that relates to the current MMO paradigm, I doubt there is any sure-fire recipe that will churn out a successful alternative online world – much to the chagrin of Mr. Smith-Smythe. But I’ll be damned if I wouldn’t enjoy playing MMOs that entertained some of the following:

• I take off my robe and wizard hat – A small, yet albeit expanding group of sci-fi and super-hero games aside, your fantasy themed online worlds stack the lineup. This is still your daddy’s MMO, boy. Content-rich worlds such as the Era of Exploration (1500s), steampunk, and weird fiction (HP Lovecraft) fail to raise a hand even with the considerable weight of their fan bases behind them. It is to our own detriment that we have yet to experience the joy of discovering a new island off the coast of South America and trading with its natives, the delight of finishing the assembly of a brand new rocket powered machine, or the sheer thrill of being scared out of our pants upon entering a demon shrine deep beneath Paris. Yet, it must be said here that the setting of an online world is merely the paint job; it is what’s under the hood, the game mechanics, which really gets the motor running. Set yourself up with the right engine and you can spray your ride whatever color you damn well choose. So let’s move on.
• Multiple avatars – This essentially covers what Granado Espanda is promising to bring to the table, but why has no one done this before? We’re not talking about alts on the same server here, bub.
• Avatar-less – Go for the Big Picture. Trade in your naked elf for control of a nation, your skills for the command of an army. Players take on the roles of countries and interaction with other players unfolds in the form of wars (PvP and PvE), diplomacy (socialization), allegiances (guilds), foreign affairs (crafting and trade), and homeland affairs (a new mechanic that sees you managing your population in order to gain added benefits). There’s money in them thar war game hills.
• Do-be-do-be-doo – If there’s one constant across the world, regardless of race, religion or sex (tee hee) it’s music. Allow players to take up an instrument, improve their proficiency in it within a real player skill-based system, and form a band with other like-minded individuals. Give players the in-client tools to film themselves and create video clips. Use VoIP to freestyle on the streets. Play from bar to arena and bling yourself like there was no tomorrow. Oh, and dancing. You can never have too much dancing. If push comes to shove, I guess you can always add kobolds and allow players to smack them over the head with guitars.
• Hi, I’m your sports role model – Building upon the competitive nature of human beings, offer a virtual playground for players to immerse themselves in. For example, allow the world to be a ski field. Include a class-free system that gives players the opportunity to ski or snowboard when they want to, mechanics free of any levels resulting in the player needing to use their skill to navigate a tree run, embedded games in the form of snowball fights and giant inner tubing, socialization within the nightclubs and bars of the town, competition as a result of downhill runs and half-pipe jams, and construct beautiful log cabins. The snow industry is undeniably massive in terms of income and customers, but feel free to swap it out for your sport or lifestyle activity of choice.
• Create and meditate – Puzzle Pirates and Second Life are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg for puzzle and sandbox based online worlds. As more and more a) mature gamers and b) casual gamers begin to arrive at our virtual world doorsteps – and they are - , they will be searching for online versions of the crosswords they enjoy completing in the newspaper and the creation hobbies they undertake on the weekends. We shouldn’t write off this demographic just because they can’t take Ragnaros down in an hour. These are the people buying all the internet connection starter kits at this very moment.
• No, you carry it – How’s this for a proposal? A virtual world where players compete against another for control of the real-world simulated economy, whilst at the same time cooperating with one another for survival of the virtual world. Hey look, it’s M.U.L.E. Online. Make it.
• Woof – Their success is no fluke. They cater to the very nature of human beings and have solid game mechanics to boot. I am referring to games such as Pokemon, Nintendo, and on a similar level, Tamagotchi. Money hats to the developer that creates a virtual world catering to and facilitating the bond between customer and virtual furball. Show contests, walking in the park with other players, sharing breeding tips. The kids go nuts for this stuff. Hell, I’d log in every other day just to make sure Fluffikins stayed worm free.

Ding.

Ok, here’s the deal. Not everyone wants to level up their Orc Wizard up to level X and then go raid 3 times a week, replaying the same game patterns over and over, learning nothing new and, as Raph would put forth, not having fun. It’s the reason why even amidst this fresh new wave of WoW-induced popularity we are experiencing, players are reporting more cases of burnout and cancellations amongst the current generation MMOs.

Yet we Westerners remain to look sideways. To look elsewhere for stimulation. We’re so intent on feeding the bottom line that we resign ourselves to churning out the next clone even when we’ve had our fill. We’re taught to fear chance or change, and dismiss anything that doesn’t fit our mould. We look for validation, not inspiration.

There’s a huge Non-Level Non-Skill Non-Fantasy market out there waiting to be tapped for both monetary and enjoyment value. It’s no rumor of a secret southern counterweight continent (hah, who would believe that?) – it’s true.

We say the Japanese with their stylized arcade and action themed online games are crazy.

Are we not in fact the crazy ones?

Comments

[Abalieno]

FIRST!!!

Then why those "Second Life", "A tale in the desert" and "Puzzle Pirates" aren't extremely successful since they offer that unique approach that everyone is supposed to wait?

I know I don't like them. And, still, I'd like to see different games that are able to push the boundaries.

[uofitorn]

If you like Raph so much why don't you just marry him?

[Raph]

Heh, yeah, it does sound a bit like what I've been advocating for a while. Either the world is catching up to me, or whatever I have is catching.

I have actually pitched M.U.L.E. Online more than once. Alas, it never gets very far.

BTW, many (most?) of the games you list are actually Korean. And you may want to read my recent post about China, it ties in to your stuff about churning out games quickly. And you need to read Darniaq's latest post too.

[Cosmik]

Abalieno said:

"Then why those "Second Life", "A tale in the desert" and "Puzzle Pirates" aren't extremely successful since they offer that unique approach that everyone is supposed to wait?"

Firstly, I don't believe I said that everyone will want alternative virtual worlds. However, there is a market for them.

Secondly, without sitting behind the CEO's desk of the respective companies, I submit a number of possible reasons. Lack of the desirable amount of marketing needed to grab consumers? Although catering to the non-fantasy/non-level/etc field, specifc game mechanics that are used are not optimal? Perhaps even the virtual world itself is missing an allure - that certain je nas sais quoi.

The above 3 games all started out quite small - in both scope and resources - compared to the top MMOs today. I'd say they have been quite successful and proven their worth. Yet, there is still alot of market room for alternative virtual worlds in general to grow into.

Besides, it's not much fun to write about an untapped market if in fact it has been tapped, now is it?

Edit: After my trip, I have much reading to catch up on. I'll have a look, thanks Raph.

[Abalieno]

Besides, it's not much fun to write about an untapped market if in fact it has been tapped, now is it?

Or maybe because there's a reason why it is left untapped.

[Patrick McKenzie]

Ragnarok is a Korean game which was localized to Japan, not a Japanese game. The lion's share of the Japanese MMORPG market, in terms of number of games if not subscribers, comes that way.

There is also a devoted cult-like following to UO. You can still find it on the shelves of those few video game stores that sell PC games. My local sushi chef brags about how he GMed cooking on fish steaks.

[Darniaq]

How is it all of a sudden so many of us are coming to the same conclusion?

http://www.darniaq.com/phpNews/news.php?action=fullnews&showcomments=1&id=207

Is this some sort of non-directed yet-still-coincident wisdom of a crowd? :)

[Michael]

As Darniaq says, I've been talking about this too.

I guess Raph might have had some say on this once or twice before too.

I *guess*. :)

[Paul Canniff]

We tried to get a Cthulu-themed game doing using the Delta Green IP, but after a few runs a that, we ended up with a period pirate piece set in 1720 instead. Head to burningsea.com to visit & kibitz. We're expecting a very large Asian market, partly because of PVP and partly because there is also a rich Asian pirate heritage to mine.

I wonder how well an "old west" game would do, given Hollywood and Italian / Spanish produced westerns were once global but probably not familiar to the younger folks. E.g. anybody under 30.

[unbeliever]

How was Shinjuku or Roppomgi?

Lived near a year in Shinagawa myself, all I can say is Tokyo is a Schizophrenic and possible the best place in the world (yes am a tokyo fanboi). Melbourne sucks compared

[Cosmik]

Patrick McKenzie said:

"Ragnarok is a Korean game which was localized to Japan, not a Japanese game. The lion's share of the Japanese MMORPG market, in terms of number of games if not subscribers, comes that way."

Yeah, I know. As I said, it is a list of Japanese MMOs AND Asian MMOs available in Japan.

As an aside, Ragnarok Online is owned by a Japanese based company after buying a 52.4% share last year.

Unbeliever said:

"How was Shinjuku or Roppomgi?"

Shinjuku was awesome. I was staying in Ebisu, so I was close to Shinagawa as well (and did go there). Whereabouts in Melbourne are you (if I haven't asked)?

[unbeliever]

"Whereabouts in Melbourne are you?"

So you can send people to beat me up?

Word bam smack in the CBD, live 20 min out in Glen Iris, socialize in Chapel street.

Send your minions, mine will retaliate!

[OnlineLevitra]

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