World of Warcraft has been reclining nonchalantly on its throne for going on five years, now. Other MMOs have been released over the past few years as developers and publishers eagerly sought the “next big thing.” Unfortunately for game companies and players alike, no such unseating has yet occurred. Why is this unfortunate for players? Quite simply, a sturdy competitor to the giant would help to foster more ingenuity among all designers. Conan couldn’t do it, WAR couldn’t it, Vanguard wouldn’t even run on most rigs. However, dedicated MMO fans may not be without more options for long, as lately, the industry is a-twitter with reports that a Fallout MMO is in the works.
The original Fallout was developed and published by Interplay back in 1997 for the PC. In this single-player RPG, players ventured outside of a fallout shelter, or Vault, several years after the Great War that virtually destroyed civilized life. The enemies faced consisted of deformed animals and mutated humans that had evolved to form the Super Mutant army. A large part of the game’s unique draw centered on the atmosphere of being alone and scared in an extremely dangerous and unfamiliar world.
How could this type of gaming translate to a massively-multiplayer experience? It is possible that the MMO experience could be accomplished through phasing and instancing. For example, Guild Wars employs instancing in a much larger scale than World of Warcraft. When players leave the larger social areas, they enter an instanced version of the outside world. While this didn’t foster the sense of community from WoW or the on-the-fly grouping that WAR encouraged, it may just be the answer to a more Fallout-friendly universe. Players may be able to band together in order to accomplish more strenuous goals while still being allowed to explore the vast, empty terrain solo if they prefer. Based on past experiences, one can only imagine the effect that 100 players, all named some variation of “Nuked” and jumping around dropping duel-flags, could have on a seemingly abandoned and apocalyptic atmosphere.
Another consideration of building an MMO in this genre concerns the inclusion of PvP and its balance with PvE content. While it isconceivable that players may be able to choose between warring factions a la WoW or WAR, the choice would seem to be limited to either Vault dwellers or Super Mutants. Character customization for Vault dwellers would presumably use the familiar SPECIAL attributes along with skills and perks. It will be very interesting to see how customization for an alternative faction might be handled.