Is the Zelda formula really suited to an 'MMO' environment?

[Rufus]

I have always been a fan of 'classic' servers on Graal and not much else. If there weren't any servers of this genre remaining, I probably wouldn't be here myself. I had a conversation with Crono a long time ago however, and he stated that the genre is doomed because it's based on something that was never really intended on being an actual MMO. At that time I was pretty convinced in my belief that a classic server would be sustainable once given some quality, but over time I seem to be losing faith in that resolve.

Most games in the Zelda series are classified as an action-adventure games, but I don't think it's the action-adventure genre that is the problem. There are 'action-adventure' MMOs, but as I try to draw comparisons from them, they all seem to be heavily based upon leveling up your character. This is hardly a foreign concept, but when it comes to MMOs, it seems to be the only one employed. With the Zelda formula you do have a pseudo form of leveling up, in that your health increases and your sword/weapons become stronger, but it lacks the kind of depth you'll find in an RPG.

When it comes to the Zelda formula everyone works towards the same direction, and because of this, your options are a lot more limited. There are no builds, no classes, weapons, armor, or skills, and everyone ultimately ends up on the same playing field. What does differentiate players is the skill they employ in the endgame, but doesn't that cut a large portion out of the gameplay itself? It's not as though players are casually raising their statistics up, as quests aren't something you can dip and dive out of. You are forced to do quests, and even if they were drawn to compensate for the loss of gameplay, your progression would still be linear. A quest in this style is always working towards that single end goal; a heart, a sword power increase, an NPC. Sure, you can choose not to go to a specific quest, but you are ultimately losing the ability to participate in everything else because of it.

That is why I believe so many classic-styled servers (such as Classic, Unholy Nation, etc) always and up having to rely on Mario Party styled events, and with such a lack of entertainment and gameplay, it ends up creating a sour community. End content such as that for guilds hasn't received any attention for years, and maybe it should be, but there's only so much that can entertain players this way. I dunno, I just feel like I'm losing my faith and starting to believe that developing servers of this genre might be fruitless. I hope not.