Wish: What Went Wrong?

If you are following the Mutable Realms Web site, you know by now that Wish has suddenly been cancelled. The only reason given is an analysis of data from beta 2, which I was participating in. Since I was going to offer my beta impressions of the game anyway, I've decided to add some speculation about Wish's unfortunate demise. It's likely that there are lessons to be learnt by other MMORPG developers from looking at this case.

Given that Mutable Realms hasn't provided any details about this decision, it's anyone's guess what went wrong. Technology, funding, market conditions, and many other factors have to come together before a successful MMORPG is born. For a small company like Mutable Realms working on their first game, it's a very risky, and very competitive business.

Easily the most complained about and passionately debated aspect of the game was the use of a point and click (PnC) movement system, with no options for keyboard movement controls. MR made it clear that this was not going to change as it was fundamental to their "single world" (no separate servers or shards) technology. They went to great lengths to make the system easy to use, and implemented the best pathing I've ever seen in a game. Even within cities, you could click on a location several staircases and bridges away, and your character would run to it without a hitch. It was a little difficult indoors, but coupled with decent camera controls and auto-run, it was actually one of the better PnC systems I've used. In fact, compared to Shadowbane, which has no pathing whatsoever, it was downright dreamy.

Nevertheless, I don't expect to see a flood of PnC MMORPGs hitting the market anytime soon. Like it or not, EverQuest set conventions for 3D MMORPG controls which the vast majority of its competitors have followed, and it has been reinforced once again by World of Warcraft. Furthermore, WASD movement is ubiquitous in first-person shooters. Quite simply, it is what gamers are familiar with and it is what they prefer. Many people will not make the effort to adjust to a new system no matter how good it is.

I doubt that distaste for PnC movement was, by itself, enough to cause the game to be canned, but here's a bit of advice for future MMORPG developers considering PnC: don't do it. Shadowbane users still complain about it years after release, and Lineage 2 was designed around PnC movement but has since added optional keyboard controls. PnC may not sink your game, but it will narrow your potential audience.

Another prominent difference between Wish and other MMORPGs was the combat system. In most games of this kind you perform basic attacks automatically, choosing special attacks from your shortcut bar only when you feel it's necessary. In Wish each and every swing of your weapon had to be delivered manually, either by clicking on the shortcut or pressing the corresponding key. This turned combat into a rather button-mashing affair, because if you didn't keep pace on the buttons your character would just stand there.

Low-level content was lacking, although that is nothing unusual for a game in beta. The easiest monster available couldn't be tackled solo and at one point I was literally sent on a quest to chop wood for 20 minutes.

Aside from these issues, however, the game did have a lot going for it. Wish had an ambitious crafting system which had definite potential, and with the options turned up, the graphics were quite nice, particularly the outdoor environments. The trees and grass were first rate, and the water was almost up to EverQuest 2 standards.

The skill system was not class-based, leaving you free to develop whichever skills you decided to use. If you swing an axe for a while, your axe skill goes up, and if you cast fireballs, your fireball skill improves, and so on. You're not limited to being either a fighter or a caster. Open skill systems have been very popular in games like Ultima Online and Asheron's Call, and it was clearly one of the most treasured features of Wish.

What really set the game apart, however, was the promise of live content. They intended to have people operating within the world similar to Dungeon Masters, staging events with a personal touch that isn't possible using AI. Having everyone in a single world was to facilitate this process. Live content was naturally scarce in the beta, but when it did happen it was warmly received.

The cancellation took me by surprize because Wish seemed to be coming along fairly well. Although there were a few issues that needed to be addressed, they really didn't strike me as anything that would warrant abandoning the project entirely. I was hoping that Wish would carve out a niche for itself among the mammoth MMORPGs that rule the day. Unfortunately, it now serves as yet another indication of just how difficult it is for a small company with a limited budget to be competitive in this genre.