Games NOT Made to be MMOs

So, yesterday I brought you my top 5 games that I think should/could be made into MMORPGs, either because its easy to do so or because they’d be a smash success, given the right development team. Today, I am gonna bring you guys my top 5 games that should NEVER be made into an MMORPG. Just like yesterday, these are my opinions, no matter how right I am you are entitled to your own. . . I kid, I kid. :) Enjoy the list:

1. Halo. Or, for that matter most, FPS games in general. Any O.G. MMOCrunch reader here may note that we did a piece on a possible MMOFPS of the Halo franchise back when we first opened our doors to the public. That is not the same thing I am talking about here. Halo would make an excellent MMOFPS, but a horrible MMORPG. You see, Halo has about 4 million fans, most of whom love their fast-paced run&gun shoot-em-up style of gameplay. The story is like that and the multiplayer is like that. MMORPGs are not like that. In order to be a good MMORPG you need to be able to develop your character and spend time with him. FPS games don’t allow you to “grow” with your character and, as such, they would generally make horrible MMORPGs.
2. The Sims. I know, I know. I can hear your voices now, “but Geoff there already is a Sims Online MMORPG.” Unfortunately it’s true. EA, in their infinite desire to torture us as human beings made a Sims Online game a few years ago, one that is still running today. This was a mistake. In fact if I had a time machine I’d go back and stop this monstrosity, among other things like *cough* pick some choice lottery numbers *cough*. In anycase, the state of the game speaks for itself. People within the game have created “new family members”, namely children, and have sold them off to others as some sort of weird slavetrade. It’s one of the most bizarre things any MMORPG has bred and one that only the Sims could have provided. The Sims is a single-player life simulator and should have remained so.
3. Life. While I am on the subject of “life simulators” I might as well include Life, in general. While not technically a game it is close enough for government work to be put on my list. All around the web there are “life” MMORPGs such as There, Second Life and IMVU, or something like that. Why the hell would anybody make an MMORPG (yes, they are massive and yes, people do roleplay) about something you can do in person? One of the main ideas behind games like WoW and City of Heroes is you get to act like somebody you can never be and what makes this better is that you can do it with a thousand other people just like you. I don’t want to log into a “life” MMORPG to act like some guy named Dave, thats boring. Why goto a virtual Best Buy when I can go to a real Best Buy right down the street from me? Somehow these things are successful, and I admit there is some novelty in them, but what they really offer are pseudo-alternate lives which, in my opinion, isn’t healthy.
4. Civilization. This should be a pretty obvious guess as to why it would make a horrible MMORPG. Namely, because the game is turn-based and the regular multiplayer is already slow enough as it is. Civilization is one of the last few good turn based strategy games on the market. Unfortunately there just isn’t any easy way to translate this into an MMORPG. Sometimes even the computer players take too long for me. Also, there is no Civilization “world” from which you could establish a setting. The world is anywhere you make it, whether it is Earth or just a randomly generated map.
5. Wii Sports. Was that a collective “duh” I just heard? Obviously, Wii Sports would make a horrible MMORPG. Actually one of the reasons why I decided to include it was because I wanted to keep up with my Nintendo theme from yesterday and what better way to end my mini-series than with the game that launched the Nintendo Wii into success. Wii Sports, while hilariously fun with friends/family, can’t ever be made into an MMORPG. It’s a trivial sports game and a very very simple one, at that. There is not a whole lot to do even in the online realm, which leaves the MMORPG realm sitting out in the cold. 

So concludes my top 5 games NOT made to be MMORPGs. I know, I threw out some shockers there but really can anybody actually see any of my games becoming good MMORPGs. Naturally, the Sims and “life” already have MMORPG renditions but can anybody say they are any good? I guess it depends on what you like. In anycase, this is my list and in no way reflects any sort of reality. There may very well be an awesome way to translate each one of these things into great MMOs. On another note, did you hear that scientists successfully cloned a pig with wings? Amazing stuff.

Got a game to add or an opinion to share? Feel free to drop it below (I read all my comments). :)