There are some who say that we are trapped in fantasy, that making other genres, like a Western MMO, a Viking MMO, or even a Space Roman MMO is simply too hard. They claim that the Sims Online was doomed, because no MMO that doesn’t involve elves in tights could ever be successful.*

For all of you saying that, all I can say is, “Suck my Dance-based MMO“.

That being said, doing games for non-EQ-style, non-men-in-tights games and genres is a tough design challenge. If you’re trying to convert your favorite genre to an MMO, be it hardcore shooter, turn-based strategy or football simulation, you have to change core precepts of the game design to support (a) persistence, (b) the quirky Internet and (c) the word “massively”, in some form or another. There’s always a real danger that you change it so far from the inspiring source material that fans of the original genre feels the game is a watered-down compromise.

Original comments thread is here.