Players need more power

[gifthorse]

What is the purpose of an MMO?

Sometimes I have to ask myself: is a Massively Multiplayer Online game any different from a Single Player game? With the way the games are designed at the moment, I would wager that the developers of said games don't think so. The end products we receive seem to suggest that developers of MMOs approach them in almost a similar way to how they approach single player games.

Just look at what FFXIV set out to accomplish. Tanaka stated that FFXIV was supposed to bring single player FF players to the world of MMOs. They created a world, lore, and some things to do in this world. And then they opened that world up to us players as a mere afterthought.

The same is true of WoW, FFXI, everquest. Most MMOs are made with the philosophy of "give players something to do." Generally this is in the form of quests, i suppose.

But you have to ask yourself if this mentality is really making the most of the MMO genre. With so many players playing together, you would think they would have the potential and capacity to do more than simply digest the quests and bosses/ NMs/ Raids/ Dungeons/ Instances which the developers give them.

Which brings me to the point of the thread. Players need more power, and developers should change their design philosophy from that of "give players something to do" to instead "give players the tools to make something to do."

In WoW, FFXI, Everquest, FFXIV even as a next gen MMO, we can't shape the world around us. We are merely passers by, along for the ride. And I think that falls short of the ideal for what an MMO should be.

So do you think players need more power to change and effect the world? Is there a chance of abuse? Or would you prefer to just do quests and instanced content which the developers give you? Or both?