Fewer & fewer MMO players?

chrisel

I am just sitting here thinking how bored I am about the current MMO's. Not long ago I knew lots of people playing MMO's; it was really THE hype. Friends and others were playing all kinds of MMO's. Nowadays they seem gone, mostly playing FPS or DOTA games.

Am I correct on this, or is it just me? By all means, there are MMO games outthere that are interesting, but they just arent able to keep me interested for any long time. usually just a few weeks at most. I grow tired either because it is too much grind or because it feels like I have played it before; like there's nothing new.

Meh. I need inspiration, but personally I feel the future does not look good when I look into the game list on games to be released

Jakdstripper

more and more crappy mmos that's all.

UOlover

The sheer number of people who turn 13 every year and get into the genre has to be greater than anyone who quits or takes a break.

Wrender

My thought's exactly Chisel. It's almost like you read my mind.

MMOrUS

Since I found EQ1 back in 1999 the amount of ppl that I know who play these games has remained the same, relatively low compared to console gamers.

At the various places I have worked I have been lucky if I could find 1 other that had even heard of MMO's let alone played them, this has remained constant since I found them myself.

However if your part of an MMO comunity, and over the years those ppl you have played with have drifted away then yes your going to feel as if the genre is shrinking, however I personally don't feel this happening in my own circle of MMO friends, we have had a core of ppl who started playing together when SWG went live and have moved on to new MMO's over the years. We have always remained in communication with each other and are just as passionate about MMO's today as we where over 10 yrs ago.

 

 

Sovrath

given that there are far more people playing mmo's now than when everquest was in its hey day, I would say "no".

More than likely what you are experiencing is that, as you indicate, you can't spend more than a few weeks in a game before you get bored.

This means you aren't spending that much time getting to know your fellow players. Part of that is that a lot of current mmo's seem to be set up so that you don't get to know current players.

In any case, If you are not in a game very long and the game itself has no real reasons to know your fellow players then of course you are going to think there are less players.

There aren't. They are just doing their own thing.

Another possibility is that the players who want more of an old school game aren't finding it. And so aren't playing as much.

That doesn't mean there are less players. Just less players who want a more old school game. - S

UOlover

It's a lot of effort to make online friends. People are constantly growing up and moving on, also you wind up liking less and less games which just limits the people you have access to

Germaximus_S

Your lack of enthusiasm for current mmo's does not make the community smaller.

The community has gotta be 100x bigger than it was 10-15 years ago. With browser/cell phone gaming its just gonna continue to grow.

Jakdstripper

OR.....ever since EQ1 in 1999 pretty much every single mmo has recycled the same old recipe over and over and over with very limited innovation.

you have every right to be getting bored of it.

Jimmy562

Originally posted by Jakdstripper

OR.....ever since EQ1 in 1999 pretty much every single mmo has recycled the same old recipe over and over and over with very limited innovation.

you have every right to be getting bored of it.

I wouldn't say that's exclusive to MMO's

UOlover

Originally posted by monstermmo

Your lack of enthusiasm for current mmo's does not make the community smaller.

The community has gotta be 100x bigger than it was 10-15 years ago. With browser/cell phone gaming its just gonna continue to grow.

 If you don't try a game when you would have in the past and you miss out on all the friendships you could of made, how is that not a lessing of the community

Sovrath

Originally posted by UOlover

Originally posted by monstermmo

Your lack of enthusiasm for current mmo's does not make the community smaller.

The community has gotta be 100x bigger than it was 10-15 years ago. With browser/cell phone gaming its just gonna continue to grow.

 If you don't try a game when you would have in the past and you miss out on all the friendships you could of made, how is that not a lessing of the community

That doesn't make sense.

In any case his statemnet/question is that there are fewere mmo players. The numbers are exactly the opposite.

whether one likes the games that these players are playing or whether the communities are "good" is not the question in his thread.

There are more players now than in the past.

UOlover

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by UOlover

Originally posted by monstermmo

Your lack of enthusiasm for current mmo's does not make the community smaller.

The community has gotta be 100x bigger than it was 10-15 years ago. With browser/cell phone gaming its just gonna continue to grow.

 If you don't try a game when you would have in the past and you miss out on all the friendships you could of made, how is that not a lessing of the community

That doesn't make sense.

In any case his statemnet/question is that there are fewere mmo players. The numbers are exactly the opposite.

whether one likes the games that these players are playing or whether the communities are "good" is not the question in his thread.

There are more players now than in the past.

 I already said that heh

 

The comment was, the lack of enthusiasm does not mak the community smaller. My response yes it does. Doesn't matter if there are 50 million people out there, if you're not getting involved with them the community that you interact with is getting smaller.

Sovrath

Originally posted by UOlover

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by UOlover

Originally posted by monstermmo

Your lack of enthusiasm for current mmo's does not make the community smaller.

The community has gotta be 100x bigger than it was 10-15 years ago. With browser/cell phone gaming its just gonna continue to grow.

 If you don't try a game when you would have in the past and you miss out on all the friendships you could of made, how is that not a lessing of the community

That doesn't make sense.

In any case his statemnet/question is that there are fewere mmo players. The numbers are exactly the opposite.

whether one likes the games that these players are playing or whether the communities are "good" is not the question in his thread.

There are more players now than in the past.

 I already said that heh

 

The comment was, the lack of enthusiasm does not mak the community smaller. My response yes it does. Doesn't matter if there are 50 million people out there, if you're not getting involved with them the community that you interact with is getting smaller.

ah!

ok when you put it that way then "yes" that is correct.

but it's not so much a "lessening" of community but not taking advantage of the community that is there. your first post said "lessening" and the only think lessening would be the players' participation.

Zeus.CM

I think players are waiting for upcoming big releases like swtor and gw2. Then you should count them, I predict an 33% increase.

Jakdstripper

keep in mind also that the ammount of mmos out there has more then quadrupled in the last 10 year so wile in the beginning there were few VERY populated mmos that gave a feeling of big comunites, now the same player base is scattered through many many different mmos resulting in a lot of much smaller comunites (WoW being the only exception).

BamaDoc

There are a net of more players but the market and the players have changed. The 13 year olds mentioned earlier have an attention span too short to be competent comrades. And why wouldn't they? They are kids.

A decade of awful launches have watered down the genre as a whole. At least Rift launched with a functional product, a rarity in the MMO market. As their million subs at launch showed the market remains. Don't let Blizz fool you. They have had a total of 14 million accounts created over time. They do not have 14 million current subs. The Chinese market is set to open soon and that will add millions more potential customers, none of whom will matter to you or I, just Activision. :-)

Personally my 11 cohorts who played MMOs have all left for other pastures. How many folks will continue to dedicate hours per day to one game? Time, technology, and the market will tell.

Hellscream07

Indeed OP, the MMO fad has died a bit, but ppl still play. Personally, I stopped playing MMOs a while ago, only game I look forward to is GW2.

fivoroth

I can't really say for sure. All my mates stopped playing MMOs and so did I. I have a huge backlog because I used to play WoW only. Now I am playing the best game ever (SC2) and I am trying to get through all those games I bought but never played.

There are also a lot of new games I am really looking forward to - ME3, TES5, Diablo 3, SC2 HotS etc. So I don't think I will be a playing an MMO for a very long time (if ever)...

If you think about it, how many people are actually playing MMOs if we take out WoW? Because many WoW players are not actually MMO players, they are WoW players....(I might actually fall in this category as WoW is the only MMO which I played for more than a few weeks).

 

Originally posted by BamaDoc

There are a net of more players but the market and the players have changed. The 13 year olds mentioned earlier have an attention span too short to be competent comrades. And why wouldn't they? They are kids. A decade of awful launches have watered down the genre as a whole. At least Rift launched with a functional product, a rarity in the MMO market. As their million subs at launch showed the market remains. Don't let Blizz fool you. They have had a total of 14 million accounts created over time. They do not have 14 million current subs. The Chinese market is set to open soon and that will add millions more potential customers, none of whom will matter to you or I, just Activision. :-) Personally my 11 cohorts who played MMOs have all left for other pastures. How many folks will continue to dedicate hours per day to one game? Time, technology, and the market will tell.

Actually WoW has had over 100 million accounts created over time. This was mentioned some time back by Blizzard. I won't go into the whole sub argument but saying that they had only 14 million accounts created is definitely not right. 

BamaDoc

Originally posted by fivoroth

I can't really say for sure. All my mates stopped playing MMOs and so did I. I have a huge backlog because I used to play WoW only. Now I am playing the best game ever (SC2) and I am trying to get through all those games I bought but never played.
There are also a lot of new games I am really looking forward to - ME3, TES5, Diablo 3, SC2 HotS etc. So I don't think I will be a playing an MMO for a very long time (if ever)...
If you think about it, how many people are actually playing MMOs if we take out WoW? Because many WoW players are not actually MMO players, they are WoW players....(I might actually fall in this category as WoW is the only MMO which I played for more than a few weeks).
 


Originally posted by BamaDoc

There are a net of more players but the market and the players have changed. The 13 year olds mentioned earlier have an attention span too short to be competent comrades. And why wouldn't they? They are kids. A decade of awful launches have watered down the genre as a whole. At least Rift launched with a functional product, a rarity in the MMO market. As their million subs at launch showed the market remains. Don't let Blizz fool you. They have had a total of 14 million accounts created over time. They do not have 14 million current subs. The Chinese market is set to open soon and that will add millions more potential customers, none of whom will matter to you or I, just Activision. :-) Personally my 11 cohorts who played MMOs have all left for other pastures. How many folks will continue to dedicate hours per day to one game? Time, technology, and the market will tell.

Actually WoW has had over 100 million accounts created over time. This was mentioned some time back by Blizzard. I won't go into the whole sub argument but saying that they had only 14 million accounts created is definitely not right. 

 

Fair point. That giant number probably includes free trials. They publish the 14 mil number so that likely refers to paid accounts. Strictly conjecture on my part though.

Master10K

Originally posted by thedarkess

I think players are waiting for upcoming big releases like swtor and gw2. Then you should count them, I predict an 33% increase.

I agree with this statement. I never played an MMO before I got interested in them, last year and I only got interested because of Guild Wars 2. Me and a lot of my friends are patiently waiting for GW2's release and most of my friends haven't even touched an MMO. I'm sure we aren't the only non-MMO players that a waiting for both of these MMOs, so I can confidentally say the OP's initially commment regarding falling MMO player numbers is based purely on his own personally experience and not the industry as a whole.

Vesavius

Originally posted by Jakdstripper

more and more crappy mmos that's all.

 

Thats not really the issue, no matter what people think.

The truth is that MMORPGs became the fad for a bit, they entered the mainstream big style and attracted a ton of people that wouldnt have normally been interested in what they offer but played because it was 'the thing' to be doing. Hell, even my sister made a WoW account for a while and she isnt even approaching the type of gamer that would have picked up EQ in '99.

Now that bubble has popped and we will see a shrinking player base for them as mainstream people drift away to the new fad, be it the new Nintendo or whatever. 

While online gaming will stay strong, MMORPGs have peaked and will now only diminish. Already the 'RPG' part of the name is becoming a dirty word (even in single player games tbh.. look at Bioware's direction in it's last couple of offerings), and soon they will be firmly back into the nerd niche (where they belong).

All imo of course.

 

MMO.Maverick

Originally posted by vesavius

While online gaming will stay strong, MMORPGs have peaked and will now only diminish. Already the 'RPG' part of the name is becoming a dirty word (even in single player games tbh.. look at Bioware's direction in it's last couple of offerings)

 

I disagree. It may have been the case that with WoW the focus lay ever more heavier on the game part and the MMO part of WoW. But MMO gamers aren't the only ones who had seen that: devs from both ANet as well as BW have stated that they wanted to bring the 'RPG' back into 'MMORPG', each in their own way.

Same applies to TSW, where there's a deep focus on its lore and world setting, with emphasis on story and missions that are directed towards solving puzzles and unraveling secrets and mysteries.

servedogg

I can only get kicked in the nuts so many times before I stop coming back for more.  Until someone puts out an MMO with some unique and innovative gameplay, I will be content straying into other genres.  I've had enough wasting money on CEs of hyped up mmos that just fall flat on their face.

Vesavius

Originally posted by MMO.Maverick

Originally posted by vesavius

While online gaming will stay strong, MMORPGs have peaked and will now only diminish. Already the 'RPG' part of the name is becoming a dirty word (even in single player games tbh.. look at Bioware's direction in it's last couple of offerings)

 

I disagree. It may have been the case that with WoW the focus lay ever more heavier on the game part and the MMO part of WoW. But MMO gamers aren't the only ones who had seen that: devs from both ANet as well as BW have stated that they wanted to bring the 'RPG' back into 'MMORPG', each in their own way.

Same applies to TSW, where there's a deep focus on its lore and world setting, with emphasis on story and missions that are directed towards solving puzzles and unraveling secrets and mysteries.

 

You disagree with what part? (heavy edit there btw )

That the overall market for MMORPGs has peaked and is now diminishing, or that the companies selling these games are making RPG lite?

On the first part,well I stand by that. The fad for these games in the mainstream HAS peaked and we will see only diminishing returns from here on in.

On the second part, well... They all talk a good game, especially when their know thats what the core audience wants to hear. I will believe them when they deliver their product. In the meantime I will judge Bioware on their recent track record, which is definitely in the realm of RPG lite.

I should say though that I was making a point about the term 'RPG' becoming dirty again to the mainstream audience rather the the game designers.

and if I need to put 'IMO' here to protect sensibilities, then consider this it.

MMO.Maverick

Originally posted by vesavius

You disagree with what part? (heavy edit there btw )

That the overall market for MMORPGs has peaked and is now diminishing, or that the companies selling these games are making RPG lite?

On the first part,well I stand by that. The fad for these games in the mainstream HAS peaked and we will see only diminishing returns from here on in.

On the second part, well... They all talk a good game, especially when their know thats what the core audience wants to hear. I will believe them when they deliver their product. In the meantime I will judge Bioware on their recent track record, which is definitely in the realm of RPG lite.

I should say though that I was making a point about the term 'RPG' becoming dirty again to the mainstream audience rather the the game designers.

and if I need to put 'IMO' here to protect sensibilities, then consider this it.

Ah, I thought it was clear, the second part. I disagree with the 1st part too, but the 2nd part was what my post was about.

Since I'm not embittered or disillusioned by any kind of past expectations, I see no reason to believe that how the devs described it were all vaporware features, and how they wanted to implement them I can definitely see how these features would bring the RPG back into MMORPG more than past MMO's did.

The way you referred to RPG becoming a dirty word, I thought you meant by the devs. Although I also can't really see how RPG has become dirty to the mainstream audience, unless you mean 'RP'?

You may always put in IMO in your post, but not especially for me, since I don't really care about anyone's sensibilities either