What is it then? Classify it for me.
Ive had a discussion last year about this topic on destiny being an mmo with some research with it, that i had found what makes a mmo, a MMO. I wish i could find that info again. But i aint gonna dig for it again.
The reseach ive found has brought to my attention three main characteristics that every mmo has, that classifies it as a mmo. Things like raids and leveling is not a mmo feature. Its an rpg feature. Which why games like WOW are classified as mmorpg. Since there are other mmos like some phone games and pc games like need for speed world, which are classified as mmo, but yet they dont have any of the same features with other games classified as mmo like vindictus.
The three characteristics, from my own findings, that every game i came across with mmo as a genre, had in common regardless of genre, were
Massive - the high amount of players that can occupy and interact with each other in a single instance. Player count being around 100 or more.
Multiplayer - game can only be played in multiple mode.
Online - the game can not be played offline.
I found these three characteristics in every game claiming to be an mmo.
Games that are claimed as mmo that came before wow didnt have wow features like raids and such but they were mmos. But wow is the most influential since it was the most successful. Wow features are those of rpg background. Not the mmo genre itself.
In the case of destiny. Its a online multiplayer game with features of a mmorpg. But it doesnt have the capacity to host massive amounts of players in a single instance. Were talking 100 or so players. Destiny can only hold under 20 players in the same insrance. If people are going to call destiny a mmo because of its features like always being online and having social features and raids and leveling up with friends. Then borderlands fall in that caterglory and other games like dark souls.
From MY FINDINGS, destiny isnt exactly an mmo because it meets two of the three mmo characteristics ive seen in other similar games like defiance. Its like a half breed. A class or genre of its own like warframe or phantasy universe on xbox360. I just call it a online multiple game. Like dragons dogma online or so. But thats just my opinion since there is no official or stardardized way to classify a game what it is. People can just say what they want.