MMOFPS Games The Next Big Thing?

GameOgre writes "Despite a few lackluster attempts at a major MMOFPS like PlanetSide and now (in some ways) Star Wars Galaxies, could the MMOFPS genre one day rival MMORPGs in popularity and become the next big thing in MMO gaming?" From the article: "Imagine the possibilities of the MMOFPS genre for a second. Instead of going through the tired old tread mill of generic missions and level grinding, blast through a combination of other players and intelligent bots on a massive scale. There would be no rooms or lobbies that you have to scan through to find a vacancy, but one persistent world. The game would be as simple as an FPS but would have enough depth to keep you coming back. You would also not be able to camp a certain monster for treasure, because their would be no monster or treasure." The big issue I see here is pricing. The monthly fee for Planetside is just too high for what they offer.

Comments

Re:Essentials

[NateE]

This parent apparently never played Planetside. Think BF2 but on a larger scale.

1) Guns make the FPS.
2) You have sides and small teams to accomplish missions.
3) Your overall goal is to capture territory.
4) Each of the 3 Planetside factions have unique weapons and vehicles. This did lead to a lot of balance complaints. The developers tried to address these complaints over time.
5) Unfair fights do not ruin the overall experience in a MMOFPS. You just learn to avoid putting yourself in these situations.
6) I'm not sure what your saying with #6. Planetside lets you level up your character so that you can do more things and use better weapons. There are no traditional possessions to acquire to better your character.

Other ideas:
7) In Planetside lag wasn't a major problem even in large battles.
8) I could see MMOFPS crafting being fun as long as it isn't a major timesink.
9) Large MMOFPS battles can be amazing. Chaos on a grand scale. Small team tactics should be what a MMOFPS is designed around.