Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart reckons MMORPGs could negatively impact the popularity of the RPG genre if the design of games like Neverwinter Nights doesn't take MMORPGs into account.
"For instance," Urquhart explained in an interview to be published on CVG shortly, "it used to be fine to make an RPG that was just wandering around and hacking things up with the player having very little effect on the world around them. Why play that game now if you could just play a MMO?"
He believes it's key that developers of non-MMO RPGs look closely at what the genre offers over MMORPGs to ensure the RPG genre doesn't lose out to the increasingly popular massively multiplayer online world.
"I think those of us that make non-MMO RPGs need to look at what a single-player/small multiplayer RPG can do that MMOs can't and spend our time and effort on those things", Urquhart said.
"For example, in Mask of the Betrayer, we can make the world react more to your personal decisions than any MMO could hope to. We can let you impact your companions and the game's NPCs - and the entire story outcome - in ways that MMOs cannot."
Looking at the future of the RPG genre, he added that he'd "like to see RPG focus more on the world that they take place in with particular focus on making the player a real part of that world."
"Many RPGs, including some that I've made, allow the player to just stomp around and not really have to worry about the world that they are playing in. I think that really limits the feeling of you being in that world, which is what I certainly want when I'm playing a great RPG."
"I want that escape from reality and the more we can do to give that to players the better", Urquhart explained.
Keep eyes peeled for our full interview with Feargus Urquhart hitting soon.
