Putting the RPG Back in MMORPG

Using Troika’s steampunk RPG Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura as an example of meaningful choices and consequences and different quest paths, RipTen’s Jensen Walker editorializes on MMO’s lack of a “sense of morality” and “consequences for the player’s decisions” and how an addition of such things could actually improve the player’s experience. Here’s a sampling:

What MMORPG’s have historically lacked is the sense of morality instilled into single player RPG’s, combined with consequences for the player’s decisions. I remember playing an RPG called Arcanum way back in 2001. Similar in nature to the Fallout series, Arcanum allowed me to play the saintliest of heroes or the most despicable of villains in a steampunk fantasy setting. Regardless of what I chose to do, most of my decisions had consequences. Certain choices weren’t available to certain races. If I chose to play a character with low intelligence, my options were altered. I could kill important or useful NPC’s and screw myself out of certain paths. There were so many varied ways to complete the main plot depending on the decisions you made.

Now, I’m not suggesting that MMORPG’s should have the depth that single player RPG’s are capable of. Resources need to be devoted to different areas when catering to an online audience. It would be nice, however, to have some semblance of choice and consequence. If I decline a quest, perhaps another quest will become available, while remaining inaccessible to the player next to me who just clicked accept. If I act like a jerk to a particular NPC, that NPC might no longer sell their goods to me. If I elect not to save a town from rampaging bandits, perhaps that town should be overrun, with changes to reflect that. The new bandit settlement could then offer rewards to players who engaged in PvP to protect the town of outlaws from other players intent on forcing them to relinquish their foothold.

It would be nice indeed Jensen, but I’m not sure if those kind of choices and consequences are even common in single-player role-playing games, unfortunately.