An Open Letter to Adult MMO Developers: More Imagination, Cheaper Hardware

Suggestions for the next generation of virtual sex playgrounds.

Without a doubt, there are some truly spectacular Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) games currently available. What’s even more exciting is that there is a growing number of these digital domains solely dedicated to sexual entertainment.

We’ve already looked at 3DXChat’s high-quality animations and its large crowd of real-life sexual explorers looking for partners in erotic play. Then there’s Red Light Center [NSFW], with its near-infinite amount of virtual sex worlds and customization options to satisfy just about any fantasy (For a rundown of the top massively multiplayer online sex games, be sure to check out this review article.)

Even the legendary Second Life, now going on 15 years old, still has an extremely active user base. Its members creating all kinds of kinky playgrounds, which include marketplaces to create and sell everything from BDSM gear to controllable and lifelike genitalia for avatars.

Meanwhile, we know that developers are hard at work on the Next Big Thing for adult MMOs. In fact, Linden Labs has already teased Project Sansar, a virtual reality domain that will usher in a new generation of immersive and virtual sex experiences not possible in Second Life.

That being said, after taking a look at some of these current adult MMOs and doing some playful thinking about erotic possibilities, I’ve come up with some l suggestions for developers working on the new wave of multiplayer online sex games.

We want them to be mobile

To be fair, this first suggestion may have to wait for technology to catch up. However, at the speed things are now moving that may not be too far off.

One of the biggest drawbacks to current adult MMOs is that they are technologically grounded, meaning you need a laptop or a desktop computer to visit your favorite virtual sex world.

It would be a dream come true to pull out your portable device, be it a smartphone or tablet, and immediately interact with all your MMO friends and lovers.

We want affordability

Here we’re not talking about the cost of the adult MMO itself., Let’s be honest, most of them are still quite reasonable and a few, like Second Life, are free. No, this is more about the price of having a quality experience: what it technologically costs to have a good time.

Right now, to run a good adult MMO takes a fair amount of computing power. Sure, you can run many of them on older or less-than-powerful hardware. But it’s like a cold shower when you are getting into some hot MMO action and a lag, or even a crash, brings everything to a less-than-satisfactory end. The only solution, therefore, is having to pour a lot of money into a more expensive computer.

Heralding back to wanting mobility, it would be sweet to have an adult MMO designed from the ground-up to run smoothly on almost any device. If it’s a question of complexity versus available computing power, I’m sure that a lot of people would be willing to lose detail for a smooth performance.

Similarly, while we respect developers working to bring virtual reality into adult MMOs, it would be another cold shower to have new VR sex worlds released that require thousands of dollars in equipment to access. Is there any way to make these virtual sex games work with smartphone VR rigs?

Multiple platforms

As we mentioned in our article reviewing the best sex games for Mac, it’s the bane of Apple aficionados that we too often get left behind in the world of virtual sex games—and especially adult MMOs. Luckily, places like Second Life and Red Light Center run fine on Macintosh computers, but for every few that do there are tons that are PC only.

Making a full circle back to wanting mobile access, ideally we want to see adult MMOs support a greater range of operating systems.

Let’s be imaginative

This one is quite understandable if a touch disappointing. For many adult MMOs, the focus seems to be on making them as realistic as possible. From high-pixel-count count avatars to fluid animations, the graphics seem they are eventually going to become indistinguishable from reality.

The problem with this is we already have reality.

Yes, some adult MMOs are more sandbox than others, allowing users to create just about anything they wish. Unfortunately, they seem to be limited by some common erotic tropes: male, female, gay, bi, straight—though a few (applause) have included trans variations. The problem is that the more imaginative content seems like an afterthought and not a selling point.

What would be wonderful would be to have an adult MMO that, from the get-go, would be that aforementioned wild playground of possibilities that bursts through normative ideas of sex and gender and our real-life physical world. Rather than going for realism why not create an MMO with a more cartoonish art style or, even better yet, is anime-inspired?

In short, instead of pushing the limits of processing power, have the adult MMO offer a look that would be lower on pixels but higher in imagination?

The future of adult MMOs

Let’s daydream a bit: you’re an active member of the brand new and remarkably popular adult MMO called Cloud9. While taking a nice little stroll, your selected music gets interrupted by a flirty little voice. Looking at your phone, you see an animated face giving you a provocative wink.

Recognizing one of your virtual sex playmates, you tell this person that you’re out right now, but will be somewhere private in half an hour—so go ahead and start without you.

As you make your way home, you get some wicked little texts informing you of this character’s activities as they get your MMO bedroom all set. With a series of simple commands you can engage as well, helping to set the mood.

Back to your safe space, you drop your phone into an affordable VR rig and—bam!—you’re there. The animations are smooth, and while what happens isn’t 100% lifelike it is still playfully erotic.

If you wish, you can even couple the experience to an assortment of peripherals so you can, by proxy, even feel some of what’s going on.

Keep up the great work

We applaud the developers of all the delightful adult MMOs. It’s not easy to create a virtual sex world for thousands of users romping to their hearts’ content.

It’s just that we think, as we approach the next wave of technological innovation, it might be time to make to reassess the erotic potential of what multiplayer online sex games are and can be.

Who knows, maybe someday soon all these dreams may become a reality. And what’s beyond that? Well, that’s when the fun really begins!

Image sources: Bea Serendipity, Joonie Jatho, Peter Jackson, Elle Couerblanc