Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom decided to go in-depth with what he thinks makes for the perfect MMORPG. This week he's talking about gameplay and combat mechanics!

Of the few MMORPGs that have done a great job of creating a smooth and responsive game, Blizzard's World of Warcraft is obviously one of the best. Debate all you want about World of Warcraft as an overall MMORPG, but even the cynics will have to admit that Blizzard has created one of the most polished games of the industry. Nothing was more satisfying than using vanish to dodge a spell between the time it left the caster's finger and the time it reached your character, or throwing out that huge instant heal on the main tank just as his health dropped to less than 5%. With its smooth game mechanics, World of Warcraft could also afford to create fights and instances that really forced players to pay attention to their surroundings as they ran out of fiery pits and dodged incoming projectiles while being tossed hundreds of feet into the air.

Trion Worlds' Rift is also an excellent example of a game with strong underlying game mechanics, and I have no doubt that this was one of their biggest targets in their challenge of World of Warcraft for high-fantasy MMORPG supremacy. People can talk all they want about the similarities they see between WoW and Rift, but I personally believe that it's their unparalleled responsiveness that has set them apart from 90% of other MMORPGs on the market.

Looking into the future, there are two games that I have really high hopes for having unique, well-crafted gameplay mechanics, and they are Guild Wars 2 and TERA. Arena Net's Guild Wars was technically strong as a competitive online RPG, but it did fall a bit short when it came to creating that immersive "MMO" experience. Guild Wars 2, on the other hand, has promised to focus a lot more on that overall MMORPG experience, and the combat mechanics look like they will require a more active hand than ever before.

When it comes to TERA, I think I've always had a soft spot for action MMORPGs, but the problem is that latency has always been a problem when previous action MMOs have tried to make the move to North American markets. Nexon's Vindictus and Dungeon Fighter Online are two action-MMORPGs that play smoothly in Korea and Japan, but in North America, if there's even one player with a bad connection, the overall experience can be disastrous. I'm really hoping that TERA can deliver on its promises to create a connected MMORPG world with some smooth, action-packed combat.

In the end, I'm a firm believer that when it comes to deciding what the next big MMORPG success will be, it will really come down to who has the smoothest, most well thought out gameplay mechanics. Your MMO can have an incredible storyline and some of the most interesting character classes around, but if your players can't get into that satisfying rhythm of smooth combat, or if they can't experience the thrill that comes from barely winning a battle through those split-second decisions, I'm just not sure if I'll be able to stick around.

Next time, I'll talk about character progression and the leveling process.

Christopher "Pwyff" Tom, Senior Staff Writer