MMO 2.0

In passing conversation, a friend recently remarked that he felt we were on the cusp of a new generation of MMO, referring to this as the beginning of MMO 2.0, beginning with Secret World and following through with Guild Wars 2. I was a bit surprised, and then I thought about it -- was he right? To define this further, we need to look at the history of the MMO.

His argument was based around his perception that Everquest, Ultima Online, and World of Warcraft created the first MMO as we see them today. The MMO was around long before that, however -- long before either of us were born. There are three elements I see as essential as defining an MMORPG: Online, a comprehensive developer defined sense of character and rules, and social interaction. Other elements have certainly been part of the genre, but haven't consistently.

The first generation of MMORPGs was defined by a different term: MUD. A MUD was a text-based environment that was hardcoded and defined player interaction by the actions he or she could take. They were defined by these three very concrete categories, and were usually played over dial up modems using Telnet, with later MUDs utilizing a custom-tailored front-end. According to Wikipedia, the first MUD was created in 1978 as a multi-user adventure game in the style of Zork, and run on the network of Essex University later joining ARPANet and thus an early version of what became the Internet. The MUD model provided a wonderful base for internet environments, and its code spawned other variants, such as the MUSH, essentially an early predecessor of Second Life where players, not coders, defined what could and could not be done. MUDs entered prominence with the growth of America Online, where Dragonrealms, Dragon's Gate, and Gemstone thrived. These later MUDs would define the MMO genre, incorporating the ideas of grouping, questing, massive open-world environments, death mechanics (including the now-ubiquitous corpse run), and a persistent world available without direct storyteller intervention. As broadband internet became available, developers took advantage of the increased bandwidth to incorporate graphics, bringing about the second generation of MMO. As my family chose to remain with AOL after the conversion to an unlimited plan, and after I acquired a free AOL account as a Community Leader, I did not move to the graphical MUD genre (as it was then defined). Instead, I remained heavily invested in Dragonrealms and chat room roleplaying until I went to college in 2002. MUDs still were thriving at that time, and some, such as Dragonrealms, still thrive today, albeit with significantly diminished populations.
Early graphical MUDs were simply that. There were few of the conventions that we've come to expect, and the primary innovation of graphics. I cannot under-emphasize how huge of a leap this was. Graphics alone defined the second generation of MMO, but they developed many of the core concepts we've come to expect today, including the idea of quests, dueling, click-activated combat, item crafting, and structured item drops. More than that: with the popularity of early titles, developers realized they needed to split the player population into discrete servers in order to accomodate the huge demand. Where Meridian 59 and The Realm defined the graphical MUD, Everquest, Asheron's Call, Runescape, and Ultima Online forged what Richard Garriot coined the Massively Multiplayer Online RPG. This third generation defined what we now see as an MMO.

As the new century dawned, the genre became further defined. Dark Ages of Camelot was the first out of the gate, sporting the first structured PvP of any major MMORPG. The existing MMOs waned significantly, and found themselves having to keep player interest as developers began saturating the market. This is also the first generation where members of the previous generation have made significant effort to be able to compete with the next generation. Phantasy Star Online, Guild Wars, Final Fantasy XI, Shadowbane, Lineage 2, and dozens of other titles jumped in in an attempt to get a piece of the MMO pie. The current generation of MMO is primarily defined by the World of Warcraft, including staples of the genre I'm certain you're already familiar with. This is where the idea of an instanced dungeon and large-scale "raid" were created, as well as the idea that players should be split into factions in both PvE and PvP to experience different content. Innovations from prior generations were not only universally adopted, but each game adapted to the innovations made by its competitors. Every game is expected to have structured PvE, instanced dungeons, massive raids, more content than a player is expected to actually play in. This last generation has essentially held the expectation that each and every title should be an amalgam of all innovations, leading to the 500 pound gorilla that is World Of Warcraft. It's also why there has been so little innovation on the market -- because Blizzard (along with other developers) has adapted nearly each major innovation, and made it more convenient to stick with one title than to stick with a new one.

Looking at this pattern, a new generation of MMO is defined primarily by a huge change of direction universally adopted by developers of the genre as a whole. Note that individual titles do not in and of themselves define a generation even when innovative -- for example, Phantasy Star Online was largely overlooked because console titles have been outliers in the MMORPG genre as a whole. Creating a new generation would require not only significant innovation, but also making the game more convenient than World of Warcraft, while also not breaking the genre as a whole, and still maintaining each and every feature developers are currently expected to incorporate.
The question still stands: are we on the cusp of a new generation of MMO? My opinion follows on Friday.
As always, my memory was enhanced a tad by Wikipedia, though I disagreed with its editors on the definition of generations as a whole. For more details on the evolution of the MMO, I encourage their History of MMORPGs article.