Avatar Customization

Know what every 2D MMORPG needs more of? Heck EVERY MMORPG needs more of? Character customization. In fact, I think every VIDEO game needs better character customization – but MMORPGs in particular, as unique avatars are much more important in MMOs than say a single player puzzle game. Why am I writing about this now all of a sudden? Well, I was playing Conquer Online the other day – a free 2D MMORPG from TQ Digital, and after creating my character and logging in, I saw so many doppelgangers of myself running around. The game has no appearance customization what-so-ever. Once you play the game for a while and reach late-gand, the equipment you wear can make your character look different, but the regular appearance customization in the game sucks. Now, Conquer Online isn’t the only game with this problem. MMORPG character customization across the entire spectrum tends to suck, except for a few exceptions. Perfect World, Vanguard and EverQuest II all have great customization. But most games don’t.

I don’t mind poor customization in MMOFPS games, as appearance customization is pointless in games like GunZ, S4 League and Soldier Front. But in actual MMORPGs, I feel that appearance and uniqueness are very important and should never be over looked. One of the reasons I quit playing Ether Saga Online is because of its lack of customization. I was pretty shocked to see Ether Saga have bad customization, as Perfect World had great customization, and both games are by the same company – Perfect World Entertainment. So what’s up? Either the developers got lazy or they figured no one would notice. Grand Chase is another example of a top notch game that would benefit from better customization.

I’m really curious why so many games have such limited appearance customization? How difficult could it be to program a thousands different hair colors and hair styles into the character creation system? Or how about a thousand different shirt colors and a few hundred body options. In the grand scheme of things, it can’t be that expensive. Look at games like Runes of Magic and Allods Online – both are big budget games that took over $5 million to develop, but both have decent appearance customization at best. If you’re going to spend $5+ million making a game, why not spend a tiny bit more and make it perfect? Both of these MMORPGs are great, but they could be better. Unfortunately, I could say the same for most games, as appearance customization in the free to play space, as is, is disappointing.

2D Browser Based Games

Most of my posts have been dedicated to 2D MMORPGs that can be downloaded, but there are a whole bunch of awesome 2D MMOs that are on the browser. Games like AdventureQuest and AdventureQuest Worlds are two simple examples, but there are many more. I’m surprised the web browser isn’t a more popular platform for MMO gaming, as titles like Quake Live and FusionFall have proven that web browsers can be powerful enough to run 3D games. Quake Live for example is a port of the popular Quake 3: Arena FPS game to the web browser. It’s completely free to play and has great graphics. It puts flash games to shame, as it runs full 3D with fast paced gameplay. FusionFall from Cartoon Network also shows that browsers are a solid platform for MMO gaming, as FusionFall is a hugely in depth game with gorgeous graphics. Heck it has better graphics than older 3D client based games like Hero Online, Cabal Online and Azuga: Age of Chaos.

So what are some great browser based 2D MMORPGs? One of my favorites is zOMG from Gaia Interactive – the same company who made Gaia Online. I like zOMG because its one of the few actual browser based MMORPGs that competes with client based games. It plays a bit like Neverland Online, except with crisper graphics and a much more in depth game world. I say in depth, because it was developed by a great Western studio. I say great Western Studio only because Gaia Online is ridiculously popular. One cool feature in zOMG is that players can use their avatars from Gaia Online in zOMG, so there’s lots of appearance customization. MMORPG character customization tends to suck, so seeing a browser MMORPG with good customization is always neat. There are a few good action games like Dark Orbit, Deepolis and SeaFight from BigPoint, but these aren’t exactly MMORPGs, so I’m going to skip over them for now.

Fallen Sword is another decent 2D browser based MMORPG as is Pet Forest. Pet Forest from PlayOMG is actually one of the few incredibly in depth browser based MMORPGs. Most games on the browser right now are strategy games like Evony or social games like Woozworld or OurWorld, but Pet Forect is different because, like zOMG, it plays like an actual client based game, except with one difference. It runs on a browser. PetPet Park and ShadowTale are also neat games, but both lack a large playerbase. That’s it for this list though. Check out some of these awesome non-download MMOs!