I just think the gaming community as a whole has become a very cynical bunch. Watching this week's episode of southpark reminded me of it, quite a bit actually, scary.
We want change and innovation, it should be just like UO.
What the problem is that MMO devs are becoming lazy and pushing out half-baked games expecting to make money off of next to nothing. Then they pay off mmo review sites to give them good ratings and ask them to write articles that skew the issue, thus trying to turn it around on gamers and claim; "How dare us gamers expect the best from modern technology."
I just think the gaming community as a whole has become a very cynical bunch. Watching this week's episode of southpark reminded me of it, quite a bit actually, scary.
We want change and innovation, it should be just like UO.
The gaming community hasn't become cynical; the gaming industry has changed.
Complaining that games are more linear and less open, easier, and generally dumbed down with the removal of features that use to be stadard in the industry, isn't being cynical because it's actually what's happening. Gaming culture is becoming more mainstream, and thus game complexity is dropping to better appeal to the masses. Just like with anything, when you lower something down to appeal to the lowest common denominator, then it will no longer meet the standards of the hobbyists.
That's exactly what's happened to MMOs.
They used to be about creating virtual worlds with a myriad of gamepaly possibilities.
Now they're about combat, and being lead by the nose from quest to quest to level up and then run the end-game gear treadmill. Meanwhile other MMO aspects such as crafting, player housing, etc, that were prevelant in older MMOs take a sideline in modern MMOs... that is, if they're even included at all.
And I think that your mentioning of the South Park episode is ironic... because a lot of what Stan saw as being crap, very rightly should have been viewed that way.
Well Isabelle, the problem is the developers in this industry have gotten really lazy. They hide their games behind rigid class/level designs that challenge no one, just because it makes it easier to code and balance. I don't see anything changing in the near future. I think your thought that it has to be cheap is nonsense, there are plenty of players would pay more than what the standard cost is current for a decent game.
Personally I don't think we ask enough of the MMO's because they think that the crap they are producing is good enough for us and it isn't.
Let me put it this way. I don't really care how much effort someone puts into something or what they get paid. At the end of the process they want to sell us a product and make money from it.
Do you ask too much of every product that you pay for?
If anything with MMO's we are too forgivng and pay for too little. Think of the average MMO and then turn it into any other product. Then ask yourself if you expect or ask for too much.
The MMO industry pretty much has been following a path. Not the "clone" thing... its the every year you are getting less game for our dollars. Every design element is streamlined... not because it makes the game easier to "get into". Its because its easier to design... which means less work.
Compare that to your early MMO's with all kinds of choices.. and complexity.
We don't ask too much... the problem is we keep buying them (mmo's).
Have you ever wondered exactly what a developer is spending 80 million dollars to create? I wonder where salaries are currently compared to say the mid 1990's.. when UO/EQ were in production. Quite simply the only better thing we have is graphics... because gameplay and options are no where near what they once were.
The gaming community hasn't become cynical; the gaming industry has changed.
Complaining that games are more linear and less open, easier, and generally dumbed down with the removal of features that use to be stadard in the industry, isn't being cynical because it's actually what's happening. Gaming culture is becoming more mainstream, and thus game complexity is dropping to better appeal to the masses. Just like with anything, when you lower something down to appeal to the lowest common denominator, then it will no longer meet the standards of the hobbyists.
That's exactly what's happened to MMOs.
They used to be about creating virtual worlds with a myriad of gamepaly possibilities.
Now they're about combat, and being lead by the nose from quest to quest to level up and then run the end-game gear treadmill. Meanwhile other MMO aspects such as crafting, player housing, etc, that were prevelant in older MMOs take a sideline in modern MMOs... that is, if they're even included at all.
And I think that your mentioning of the South Park episode is ironic... because a lot of what Stan saw as being crap, very rightly should have been viewed that way.
QFE, those of us that have been playing MMOs since before 2004 aren't asking for too much- we're asking for what's already been in games and has since been eliminated for convenience mechanics and to reduce complexity so that grandma and grade schoolers can "pwn" as well.
We obviously need to ask for more because MMO's have completely stalled as a genre. There is so much potential that is being held back by dollar signs.
If that's the case then the cost of production needs to drop (salaries most likely), credit needs to be more available and negotialbe (not likely) or players need to be willing to pay more for a sub.
I would pay more if the game was good enough. I'd just drop the 3-4 other MMO's that I may be subbing that a rarely even play. I start playing & at first its fun with all the new sights but after the shiny has worn off I realise that I'm mostly doing the same stuff I've done in almost every other MMO I've ever played. If someone would make a game that gave me a new & fun experience I wouldnt mind the extra $$. but I know what would happen. if the game was successful & everybody paid a higher sub, the industry would just adopt the new price as the standard and go back to making the same crap & charging us more for it
Would be nice if we got what was promised or they at least told us 'Hey this won't be in here" isntead of hiding it until launch. Another thing i realize they need to sell the game through marketing but i am pretty sure that sluggish gameplay constitutes fals advertising when it was praised as "faster than anything before it" and so forth.
But that last bit is on the hands of publishers and we all know it is their job to twist the devs arms as much as possible.
It is best for the industry the MMO throne remains an dusty empty seat never to be filled.
The problem with the MMO genre is not really the developers, it's the people with the money, the investors or "suits", who only look at their data and not what is fun or original. Independent developers (and I am sure AAA devs too) are constantly coming up with new ideas they could be great fun if they could actually implement them, unfortunately they seem to come up short in the monetary department. Investors are still stuck trying to chase down what WoW had (or still has?), so they pump money into garbage, unoriginal games. Unfortunately there is a large portion of us who just eat it up, afraid to use our brains (looking at you Rift). There are some fun, or would be fun if they were fully developed, games out there that are being run by companies/developers that just don't have enough cash to get it right.
Are we asking too much? Hell no. All I ever ask for when I sit down at my computer and log in to whatever game is to have fun. Are many of the current popular MMO's much fun? Well fun is subjective, but besides Eve, for me at least I would say no. Also, it seems to be a trend of current MMO's to shift the focus away from the Massive Multiplayer Online part, into a more single player experience. Kind of defeats the purpose of being online and paying a sub for a game.
Simply making demands is never the fastest nor absolute route to change or personal "approval"..
Once we stop training to be professional critics, and more actual proactive Game Designers ourselves, we shall not expect the industry to become what WE (as in our own personal flavor and desires) want..
A wise man once said "Judge what is given and not what is desired and you can find satisfaction in the smallest of things.."
It's my money, and it's my time. There is no such thing as asking too much. I will either pay for it, or I will not. The last few years, the answer has been not. No pub or dev has to cater to my demands, but until they do, or at least get close, they're not getting my money. It really is that simple.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
i think that times are changing along with video games while mmos are staying the same boring repetitive thing i mean why would i pay monthly for a game like all the others but with one little trick that the others don't and well if they want my money then they better work for it i meani play a game to have fun and if i am not having fun should i pay to play that game i mean i don't think so or if a game has me running the same mission just rehashed like for example perftact world kill this a certain amount of time then kill this hting a certain amount of times or pick up this or that well it gets boring i want something fresh and fun not bland and boring
We aren't asking too much because a game created in 1997 had more than every other game combined since then.
The problem is we hand over our money, regardless of quality. We all b-tch and complain about how bad the games are and we threaten to quit...but we don't. We hand over the cash every month and rage ont he forums.
So, the industry has no reason to ramp up because they are getting our money now. Why spend more money when they can push the same tired sub-content on us and get our money.
Not asking enough tbh.Most mmo players seem to accept mediocriy as long as their is a big hype machine surrounding the game, but then complain that all the games suck. Everyone says they want something new and innovative, but you'll never get it because you keep buying the same crap. So they keep making the same crap.
MMO development is now driven by big business. We will likely never see independent labours of love that actually harken back to RPG roots or at least not in a quality expected by the masses.
The very core concept of what makes an rpg is ignored and ever since the industry meeting many years ago that changed the genre name of mmorpg to mmo these games have become their own entity. Developers only see them now as a set of mandatory mechanics that have to fit into a mold. Vision and imagination is lost on the number crunchers and the the mmorpg core audience is no longer connected to the genre's rpg base.
Mmo's are shallow because the game development is now an industry and players are bred from spoon feeding console action where demand for immediate reward has stripped them of the patience needed for imagination.
The genre is dead. I have been saying this for over 3 years. There needs to be brave souls who are willing to resurrect concepts lost in time and draw influence from rpg roots far before the online age.
Originally posted by Derros I just think the gaming community as a whole has become a very cynical bunch. Watching this week's episode of southpark reminded me of it, quite a bit actually, scary.
We want change and innovation, it should be just like UO.
Do you realize that UO has a much deeper gameplay and much more options than any modern MMORPG with a pimped graphic? The innovations happened between UO and SWG and since then nothing good has happened to enhance the gameplay. Instead of progress we got reverse evolution of gameplayelements.
Yes, graphic has advanced somewhat. UIs have a better functionality today and you often can use skins (and addons which i dislike to do but the choice is there).
Beside this there is no enhancement in PvP since Daoc, SWG or EvE which be old games. There is no visible enhancement in AI. There is no enhancement in non combat gameplay instead a big removal and degradation of this mmorpg parts happens. The virtual world feeling is completely gone. PvE combat has not evolved, its still the same as it was ten years ago - AI is part of the problem also is the overall layout of modern worlds and most time it seems mobs have been spread out and have no other motivation than to be dumb killmeat. Some have more HP and some do more Damage and some Bosses call Minions, bleh... PvP has degraded to meaningless shoebox competitions with companys caring for the most loud whiners starting nerf cycle after nerf cycle impacting not only PvP but also destroying the PvE experience for it.
An UO with a modern engine, overhauled UI would be a very good game, much better than these AoC, WAR, Aion and what else has been released.
We get some big releases (SWTOR, TSW, GW2, AA) in the near future with games that try to enhance the mmo experience, lets hope they start a revolution of the current trend of degraded gameplay!
PS: Once a great Designer made games "easy to learn hard to master". Today we get games "to easy to learn to shallow to master".
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
Really the MMORPG or rather the massively multiplayer adventuring game market has been saturized. It is a proven and lucrative market where players are expected to either spend $15 a month or $ per item. However what is not saturized is the Massively Multiplayer Simulation/Sandbox genre. Games such as Civilization, Sim City, The Sims and many more were best sellers in the last few decades but no one has really tried to implement such features to the Massively Multiplayer scale.
A majority of MMO gamers want a world they can help build and create. Human beings have an artistic side to them and if you give them a large enough piece of land, they will begin settling and exploring the land. They will begin making the land their own and their home. An MMO of this magnitude was tried by "Dark and Light" however they failed to have a successful launch and ended up being referred to as one of the worst disasters in MMO history. The problem here was the concept was good but the development team didn't know how to cope with the features.
So here's to an MMO taking on the ideas of new lands to explore and conquer. Forming not clans/guilds but kingdoms of people working together to strengthen the economy among the borders and hiring an army of Players to defend and conquer neighbouring lands. This MMO would never get stale because there would be massive amounts of new content produced by players every day and each server would be unique in it's population, politics and landscape.
obviously I rarely post here, but the authors point of view is something I cannot agree with.
The question isn't about asking too much or too little, and never has been.
As long as AAA developers/publishers/investors continue trying to snag/grab widely varied demographic profiles (and often mutually exclusive ones), they then have earned every rage-quit; epic-whine; and long hours they get PERIOD.
If developers don't wish to be subjected to that (or have the option of ignoring it) they should target a niche of the mmo market to the peoples interest that correlate to their game. Start small and expand over time, Shooting for the goal right out the gate is more of a risk imo than trying a little innovation.
It probably has a lot to do with investors not understanding how the WOW perfect storm initially happened. Nothing against Bliz or WOW but it wasn't all to their credit, there were a lot other factors in play then and inertia is carrying it now.
Some MMOs are aiming to be a second life or the player and I don't think we are asking too much of them.
On the other hand are some others, particularly CORPGs closer to tradtional games and asking that they will provide us with 4-6 hours fun gaming for several years might be bit unfair.
So it kinda depends on the game, a high budget game with monthly fees like Wow should really provide it's players with more than a low budget B2P game like Guildwars.
I personally expect 20 hours of good entertainment a week for any P2P game, I don't think that is unreasonable. If they can't give me a huge enough world with enough content to keep my busy that time they really should raise the price, because I don't mind paying 25 bucks a month instead of 15 but I am not happy with a game that I can complete with the exception of a few raids in just 80 hours.
Some people do clearly expect too much, 40+ hours a week full with new content is impossible but most of us wants to be entertained and not just with the same rat killing or being forced to do exactly the same dungeon a 100 times to get enough gear to get to the next. Sadly few enough games can provide that.
It's simple supply and demand balancing, just like any other product. The makers want to fleece the customers for as much as possible w/a minimum of effort on their part, and the consumers want to do the the exact same thing in reverse to the company. Video games, and MMOs in particular, just have a much higher level of communication between the sides of the equation than other products.
As rough as it might be on the developer's egos, this is a good thing. Businesses are not going to let up on pressure to raise their margins to irrational levels, so customers need to continure the pressure to increase their value to irrational levels. As always w/ the economic equation, reality will end up somewhere in the middle.
It is hard on developers, many of whom come into this expecting to be "artists", but the reality is that MMOs are big business now. Customers will only get screwed if they cut companies a break, because the companies sure as hell won't do the same for customers.
It's simple supply and demand balancing, just like any other product. The makers want to fleece the customers for as much as possible w/a minimum of effort on their part, and the consumers want to do the the exact same thing in reverse to the company. Video games, and MMOs in particular, just have a much higher level of communication between the sides of the equation than other products.
As rough as it might be on the developer's egos, this is a good thing. Businesses are not going to let up on pressure to raise their margins to irrational levels, so customers need to continure the pressure to increase their value to irrational levels. As always w/ the economic equation, reality will end up somewhere in the middle.
It is hard on developers, many of whom come into this expecting to be "artists", but the reality is that MMOs are big business now. Customers will only get screwed if they cut companies a break, because the companies sure as hell won't do the same for customers.
I have mentioned this concept many many times in the past. The single greatest destructive mechanic that has ever been introduced into mmo's is raiding. It was created for one purpose only: to provide the greatest time sink for the least amount of developement ... and players have drank the marketing kool-aid so well they didn't even notice their choice being taken away from them.
New games continue to shrink their world and funnel their players into instanced mini-games where they can be controlled. Game worlds used to the be the singlular concept that breathed life into the game. It wouldn't be a game without it. Now entire worlds where all it's lore stems from are nothing more than leveling grinds to get to the ultimate time sink. So instead of developers going back in the direction of player freedom and world dynamics they instead continue toward making an mmo into a queueing system funneling players in a casino-like reward system.
Good article it's something I've thought about quite a bit over the years. The MMO world is a world I think will eventually be killed off by the consumer.
The fundamentals of a genre are what separates it from others. Those fundamentals are becoming washed away simply because people who do not like MMO's are attempting to play them.
I think there are basically two camps in this genre right now. Actual MMO fans, such as those who played the early games like Uo, EQ, SWG etc... Then of course you have just plain gamers who are taking the plunge. It's the latter I feel is mostly responsible for this decline and a majority of the nonsensical whines.
The former normally complains about the steps the genre has taken away from it's roots which is understandable. The latter constantly asks for the genre to change into something else, this not so much.
The big problem is those people out number the actual MMO fan spectrum by quite a bit. Naturally companies have taken to embrasing these new comers, as more money is more money. Even though in the end they'll end up with less money. These players are not in this genre for the long haul. They play these games like they play console ganes, and migrate from one to the next. Always looking for better or more action oriented combat as well as making demands for it.
They demand a lot from these developers because they have no understanding of what this genre was supposed to be about. These games are not meant to be aimed at the action crowd, at least not the MMORPG. Yet that crowd insists on attempting to play them, why? I have no clue. I guess it's PVP that thrills them, as it certainly can't be level grinding and PVE, there's no action in it.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
In the case of P2P games, no. When I have to pay a monthly fee just to play a game I bought, they better deliver what I want.
In the case of F2P games, yes. It's free, and if I don't like it I leave.
"I am the harbinger of hope. I am the sword of the righteous. And to all who hear my words, I say this: What you give to this Empire, I shall give back unto you." -Empress Jamyl Sarum I
Comments
I just think the gaming community as a whole has become a very cynical bunch. Watching this week's episode of southpark reminded me of it, quite a bit actually, scary.
We want change and innovation, it should be just like UO.
What the problem is that MMO devs are becoming lazy and pushing out half-baked games expecting to make money off of next to nothing. Then they pay off mmo review sites to give them good ratings and ask them to write articles that skew the issue, thus trying to turn it around on gamers and claim; "How dare us gamers expect the best from modern technology."
The gaming community hasn't become cynical; the gaming industry has changed.
Complaining that games are more linear and less open, easier, and generally dumbed down with the removal of features that use to be stadard in the industry, isn't being cynical because it's actually what's happening. Gaming culture is becoming more mainstream, and thus game complexity is dropping to better appeal to the masses. Just like with anything, when you lower something down to appeal to the lowest common denominator, then it will no longer meet the standards of the hobbyists.
That's exactly what's happened to MMOs.
They used to be about creating virtual worlds with a myriad of gamepaly possibilities.
Now they're about combat, and being lead by the nose from quest to quest to level up and then run the end-game gear treadmill. Meanwhile other MMO aspects such as crafting, player housing, etc, that were prevelant in older MMOs take a sideline in modern MMOs... that is, if they're even included at all.
And I think that your mentioning of the South Park episode is ironic... because a lot of what Stan saw as being crap, very rightly should have been viewed that way.
Well Isabelle, the problem is the developers in this industry have gotten really lazy. They hide their games behind rigid class/level designs that challenge no one, just because it makes it easier to code and balance. I don't see anything changing in the near future. I think your thought that it has to be cheap is nonsense, there are plenty of players would pay more than what the standard cost is current for a decent game.
Personally I don't think we ask enough of the MMO's because they think that the crap they are producing is good enough for us and it isn't.
Asking to much?
Let me put it this way. I don't really care how much effort someone puts into something or what they get paid. At the end of the process they want to sell us a product and make money from it.
Do you ask too much of every product that you pay for?
If anything with MMO's we are too forgivng and pay for too little. Think of the average MMO and then turn it into any other product. Then ask yourself if you expect or ask for too much.
The MMO industry pretty much has been following a path. Not the "clone" thing... its the every year you are getting less game for our dollars. Every design element is streamlined... not because it makes the game easier to "get into". Its because its easier to design... which means less work.
Compare that to your early MMO's with all kinds of choices.. and complexity.
We don't ask too much... the problem is we keep buying them (mmo's).
Have you ever wondered exactly what a developer is spending 80 million dollars to create? I wonder where salaries are currently compared to say the mid 1990's.. when UO/EQ were in production. Quite simply the only better thing we have is graphics... because gameplay and options are no where near what they once were.
devs should stop developing MMOs for awhile and release more RTS games
QFE, those of us that have been playing MMOs since before 2004 aren't asking for too much- we're asking for what's already been in games and has since been eliminated for convenience mechanics and to reduce complexity so that grandma and grade schoolers can "pwn" as well.
I would pay more if the game was good enough. I'd just drop the 3-4 other MMO's that I may be subbing that a rarely even play. I start playing & at first its fun with all the new sights but after the shiny has worn off I realise that I'm mostly doing the same stuff I've done in almost every other MMO I've ever played. If someone would make a game that gave me a new & fun experience I wouldnt mind the extra $$. but I know what would happen. if the game was successful & everybody paid a higher sub, the industry would just adopt the new price as the standard and go back to making the same crap & charging us more for it
Would be nice if we got what was promised or they at least told us 'Hey this won't be in here" isntead of hiding it until launch. Another thing i realize they need to sell the game through marketing but i am pretty sure that sluggish gameplay constitutes fals advertising when it was praised as "faster than anything before it" and so forth.
But that last bit is on the hands of publishers and we all know it is their job to twist the devs arms as much as possible.
It is best for the industry the MMO throne remains an dusty empty seat never to be filled.
The problem with the MMO genre is not really the developers, it's the people with the money, the investors or "suits", who only look at their data and not what is fun or original. Independent developers (and I am sure AAA devs too) are constantly coming up with new ideas they could be great fun if they could actually implement them, unfortunately they seem to come up short in the monetary department. Investors are still stuck trying to chase down what WoW had (or still has?), so they pump money into garbage, unoriginal games. Unfortunately there is a large portion of us who just eat it up, afraid to use our brains (looking at you Rift). There are some fun, or would be fun if they were fully developed, games out there that are being run by companies/developers that just don't have enough cash to get it right.
Are we asking too much? Hell no. All I ever ask for when I sit down at my computer and log in to whatever game is to have fun. Are many of the current popular MMO's much fun? Well fun is subjective, but besides Eve, for me at least I would say no. Also, it seems to be a trend of current MMO's to shift the focus away from the Massive Multiplayer Online part, into a more single player experience. Kind of defeats the purpose of being online and paying a sub for a game.
If there is more to want we werent given everything.
Simply making demands is never the fastest nor absolute route to change or personal "approval"..
Once we stop training to be professional critics, and more actual proactive Game Designers ourselves, we shall not expect the industry to become what WE (as in our own personal flavor and desires) want..
A wise man once said "Judge what is given and not what is desired and you can find satisfaction in the smallest of things.."
It's my money, and it's my time. There is no such thing as asking too much. I will either pay for it, or I will not. The last few years, the answer has been not. No pub or dev has to cater to my demands, but until they do, or at least get close, they're not getting my money. It really is that simple.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
i think that times are changing along with video games while mmos are staying the same boring repetitive thing i mean why would i pay monthly for a game like all the others but with one little trick that the others don't and well if they want my money then they better work for it i meani play a game to have fun and if i am not having fun should i pay to play that game i mean i don't think so or if a game has me running the same mission just rehashed like for example perftact world kill this a certain amount of time then kill this hting a certain amount of times or pick up this or that well it gets boring i want something fresh and fun not bland and boring
We aren't asking too much because a game created in 1997 had more than every other game combined since then.
The problem is we hand over our money, regardless of quality. We all b-tch and complain about how bad the games are and we threaten to quit...but we don't. We hand over the cash every month and rage ont he forums.
So, the industry has no reason to ramp up because they are getting our money now. Why spend more money when they can push the same tired sub-content on us and get our money.
Not asking enough tbh.Most mmo players seem to accept mediocriy as long as their is a big hype machine surrounding the game, but then complain that all the games suck. Everyone says they want something new and innovative, but you'll never get it because you keep buying the same crap. So they keep making the same crap.
MMO development is now driven by big business. We will likely never see independent labours of love that actually harken back to RPG roots or at least not in a quality expected by the masses.
The very core concept of what makes an rpg is ignored and ever since the industry meeting many years ago that changed the genre name of mmorpg to mmo these games have become their own entity. Developers only see them now as a set of mandatory mechanics that have to fit into a mold. Vision and imagination is lost on the number crunchers and the the mmorpg core audience is no longer connected to the genre's rpg base.
Mmo's are shallow because the game development is now an industry and players are bred from spoon feeding console action where demand for immediate reward has stripped them of the patience needed for imagination.
The genre is dead. I have been saying this for over 3 years. There needs to be brave souls who are willing to resurrect concepts lost in time and draw influence from rpg roots far before the online age.
You stay sassy!
Do you realize that UO has a much deeper gameplay and much more options than any modern MMORPG with a pimped graphic?
The innovations happened between UO and SWG and since then nothing good has happened to enhance the gameplay.
Instead of progress we got reverse evolution of gameplayelements.
Yes, graphic has advanced somewhat.
UIs have a better functionality today and you often can use skins (and addons which i dislike to do but the choice is there).
Beside this there is no enhancement in PvP since Daoc, SWG or EvE which be old games.
There is no visible enhancement in AI.
There is no enhancement in non combat gameplay instead a big removal and degradation of this mmorpg parts happens.
The virtual world feeling is completely gone.
PvE combat has not evolved, its still the same as it was ten years ago - AI is part of the problem also is the overall layout of modern worlds and most time it seems mobs have been spread out and have no other motivation than to be dumb killmeat.
Some have more HP and some do more Damage and some Bosses call Minions, bleh...
PvP has degraded to meaningless shoebox competitions with companys caring for the most loud whiners starting nerf cycle after nerf cycle impacting not only PvP but also destroying the PvE experience for it.
An UO with a modern engine, overhauled UI would be a very good game, much better than these AoC, WAR, Aion and what else has been released.
We get some big releases (SWTOR, TSW, GW2, AA) in the near future with games that try to enhance the mmo experience, lets hope they start a revolution of the current trend of degraded gameplay!
PS: Once a great Designer made games "easy to learn hard to master".
Today we get games "to easy to learn to shallow to master".
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
Really the MMORPG or rather the massively multiplayer adventuring game market has been saturized. It is a proven and lucrative market where players are expected to either spend $15 a month or $ per item. However what is not saturized is the Massively Multiplayer Simulation/Sandbox genre. Games such as Civilization, Sim City, The Sims and many more were best sellers in the last few decades but no one has really tried to implement such features to the Massively Multiplayer scale.
A majority of MMO gamers want a world they can help build and create. Human beings have an artistic side to them and if you give them a large enough piece of land, they will begin settling and exploring the land. They will begin making the land their own and their home. An MMO of this magnitude was tried by "Dark and Light" however they failed to have a successful launch and ended up being referred to as one of the worst disasters in MMO history. The problem here was the concept was good but the development team didn't know how to cope with the features.
So here's to an MMO taking on the ideas of new lands to explore and conquer. Forming not clans/guilds but kingdoms of people working together to strengthen the economy among the borders and hiring an army of Players to defend and conquer neighbouring lands. This MMO would never get stale because there would be massive amounts of new content produced by players every day and each server would be unique in it's population, politics and landscape.
obviously I rarely post here, but the authors point of view is something I cannot agree with.
The question isn't about asking too much or too little, and never has been.
As long as AAA developers/publishers/investors continue trying to snag/grab widely varied demographic profiles (and often mutually exclusive ones), they then have earned every rage-quit; epic-whine; and long hours they get PERIOD.
If developers don't wish to be subjected to that (or have the option of ignoring it) they should target a niche of the mmo market to the peoples interest that correlate to their game. Start small and expand over time, Shooting for the goal right out the gate is more of a risk imo than trying a little innovation.
It probably has a lot to do with investors not understanding how the WOW perfect storm initially happened. Nothing against Bliz or WOW but it wasn't all to their credit, there were a lot other factors in play then and inertia is carrying it now.
Edited for spelling
Some MMOs are aiming to be a second life or the player and I don't think we are asking too much of them.
On the other hand are some others, particularly CORPGs closer to tradtional games and asking that they will provide us with 4-6 hours fun gaming for several years might be bit unfair.
So it kinda depends on the game, a high budget game with monthly fees like Wow should really provide it's players with more than a low budget B2P game like Guildwars.
I personally expect 20 hours of good entertainment a week for any P2P game, I don't think that is unreasonable. If they can't give me a huge enough world with enough content to keep my busy that time they really should raise the price, because I don't mind paying 25 bucks a month instead of 15 but I am not happy with a game that I can complete with the exception of a few raids in just 80 hours.
Some people do clearly expect too much, 40+ hours a week full with new content is impossible but most of us wants to be entertained and not just with the same rat killing or being forced to do exactly the same dungeon a 100 times to get enough gear to get to the next. Sadly few enough games can provide that.
It's simple supply and demand balancing, just like any other product. The makers want to fleece the customers for as much as possible w/a minimum of effort on their part, and the consumers want to do the the exact same thing in reverse to the company. Video games, and MMOs in particular, just have a much higher level of communication between the sides of the equation than other products.
As rough as it might be on the developer's egos, this is a good thing. Businesses are not going to let up on pressure to raise their margins to irrational levels, so customers need to continure the pressure to increase their value to irrational levels. As always w/ the economic equation, reality will end up somewhere in the middle.
It is hard on developers, many of whom come into this expecting to be "artists", but the reality is that MMOs are big business now. Customers will only get screwed if they cut companies a break, because the companies sure as hell won't do the same for customers.
I have mentioned this concept many many times in the past. The single greatest destructive mechanic that has ever been introduced into mmo's is raiding. It was created for one purpose only: to provide the greatest time sink for the least amount of developement ... and players have drank the marketing kool-aid so well they didn't even notice their choice being taken away from them.
New games continue to shrink their world and funnel their players into instanced mini-games where they can be controlled. Game worlds used to the be the singlular concept that breathed life into the game. It wouldn't be a game without it. Now entire worlds where all it's lore stems from are nothing more than leveling grinds to get to the ultimate time sink. So instead of developers going back in the direction of player freedom and world dynamics they instead continue toward making an mmo into a queueing system funneling players in a casino-like reward system.
You stay sassy!
Good article it's something I've thought about quite a bit over the years. The MMO world is a world I think will eventually be killed off by the consumer.
The fundamentals of a genre are what separates it from others. Those fundamentals are becoming washed away simply because people who do not like MMO's are attempting to play them.
I think there are basically two camps in this genre right now. Actual MMO fans, such as those who played the early games like Uo, EQ, SWG etc... Then of course you have just plain gamers who are taking the plunge. It's the latter I feel is mostly responsible for this decline and a majority of the nonsensical whines.
The former normally complains about the steps the genre has taken away from it's roots which is understandable. The latter constantly asks for the genre to change into something else, this not so much.
The big problem is those people out number the actual MMO fan spectrum by quite a bit. Naturally companies have taken to embrasing these new comers, as more money is more money. Even though in the end they'll end up with less money. These players are not in this genre for the long haul. They play these games like they play console ganes, and migrate from one to the next. Always looking for better or more action oriented combat as well as making demands for it.
They demand a lot from these developers because they have no understanding of what this genre was supposed to be about. These games are not meant to be aimed at the action crowd, at least not the MMORPG. Yet that crowd insists on attempting to play them, why? I have no clue. I guess it's PVP that thrills them, as it certainly can't be level grinding and PVE, there's no action in it.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
In the case of P2P games, no. When I have to pay a monthly fee just to play a game I bought, they better deliver what I want.
In the case of F2P games, yes. It's free, and if I don't like it I leave.
"I am the harbinger of hope. I am the sword of the righteous. And to all who hear my words, I say this: What you give to this Empire, I shall give back unto you."
-Empress Jamyl Sarum I