Are mmorpg's too similar?

I think there is a tendency for games of a particular type to take on parallel paths. WoW has definitely set the bar. I find games with a similar interface easy to pick up and adapt to. If you are trying to lure away players this is a good idea. There does need to be more variety in the combat styles, the quests, and the general storyline of the games. LOTRO made an effort with mounted combat, but I think it fell a little short as I am just heading out to kill ten boars from horseback rather than on foot.

 

I think that some are very similar but every so often you do come across one that is different, lately though its becoming less and less often though.

 

Not just MMORPG but any game is bound to be similar to another when it's in the same genre. It's inevitable that gameplay mechanics and features resemble each other. It's just how one game does it better than the others that is the question.

 

That is a very fair point, there are after all only so many different types of game that can be created once, the rest that follow will no matter how hard they try to be different be similar to another game.

 

Changing it too much is bad as well. Dont change a winning team as they say!

 

Yes but at the same time if you don't change things radically then you'll find companies becoming complacent in the games they make and you'll find that no two games ever show any difference.

 

The MMO Runescape is becoming similar to WOW because Jagex knows how much more Blizzard is making. I feel those are the only similar ones though.

 

That is a very good comparison and I find myself agreeing with you, it seems after every update that Runescape receives it does become more and more like WoW and I'm not sure I like the direction it is going in.

 

I don't think so not a lot of them have much in similar imo

 

A lot of people see design philosophies shared across many MMOs. There are only so many ways to put together fantasy games of that genre and still make them compelling. Don't worry, there'll always be people to create original content, but the design lessons of the past are valuable for sculpting the games of the future.