I'm puzzled... there's 2 (3 if you count diablo clones as MMO ), and 4 (or 5) in the planning. For a fairly niche subgenre I wouldn't call that "lacking".
Alright, take this perspective. You're saying there's 2-7 games rn. Now, look at the typical fantasy genre in itself or even space/scifi. there's an abundance. Or, we can just take the standard survival genre that is peaking right now. They are all well beyond 2-7 games in total.
The genre is lacking. 2-7 is extremely limited in comparison to all the other genres out there. It is lacking.
Space/Sci-fi is a way broader definition, that is why there is more there. Almost all MMOs are high fantasy for some silly reason, everything else is lacking, not just super hero games.
I think the issue is even more basic. Super Hero games are basically "stuck" in the present day age and with very few exceptions has proven to be the least favorite setting for MMORPGS at least.
Role playing Clark Kent and Tony Stark has less appeal than Gruknak the Orc Destroyer.
Well, at least for me anyway.
(Although an economic driven MMO called "Zillionaires" would draw my interest)
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I generally prefer to watch super heroes rather than roleplay them. The villains are actually more fun in most cases, but if I had to choose it would be spider man. I don`t see a world filled with super heroes as much fun. That is also why I prefer to start as an average joe in rags killing rats to survive as appealing.
If there is only 2-7 games in that genre and you still can't' fill those games with decent amount of players, chance are no company will put the money to invest in it.
There's four games in-the-works right now. We'll just have to wait 12-18 months for at least one to hit mid to late beta. Most of the rest should follow soon after that.
I've got a feevah, and the only prescription... is more cowbell.
While Super hero movies have really been trying to make themselves more relevant older consumers and retain their aging fans, I still think your primary audience who really gets obsessed with superheroes is younger on the whole, while the primary audience interested in MMOs is getting older and and older.
I think there are a lot of us that feel "You can count me out of any game that has me flying around in spandex punching things."
I'm puzzled... there's 2 (3 if you count diablo clones as MMO ), and 4 (or 5) in the planning. For a fairly niche subgenre I wouldn't call that "lacking".
Alright, take this perspective. You're saying there's 2-7 games rn. Now, look at the typical fantasy genre in itself or even space/scifi. there's an abundance. Or, we can just take the standard survival genre that is peaking right now. They are all well beyond 2-7 games in total.
The genre is lacking. 2-7 is extremely limited in comparison to all the other genres out there. It is lacking.
Space/Sci-fi is a way broader definition, that is why there is more there. Almost all MMOs are high fantasy for some silly reason, everything else is lacking, not just super hero games.
I think the issue is even more basic. Super Hero games are basically "stuck" in the present day age and with very few exceptions has proven to be the least favorite setting for MMORPGS at least.
Role playing Clark Kent and Tony Stark has less appeal than Gruknak the Orc Destroyer.
Well, at least for me anyway.
(Although an economic driven MMO called "Zillionaires" would draw my interest)
Strange how things work; I spent more time RPing in CoH than any other MMORPG I played. /shrug Role playing a hero, specifically a flawed one, seemed more natural than an Orc to me.
I'm puzzled... there's 2 (3 if you count diablo clones as MMO ), and 4 (or 5) in the planning. For a fairly niche subgenre I wouldn't call that "lacking".
Alright, take this perspective. You're saying there's 2-7 games rn. Now, look at the typical fantasy genre in itself or even space/scifi. there's an abundance. Or, we can just take the standard survival genre that is peaking right now. They are all well beyond 2-7 games in total.
The genre is lacking. 2-7 is extremely limited in comparison to all the other genres out there. It is lacking.
Space/Sci-fi is a way broader definition, that is why there is more there. Almost all MMOs are high fantasy for some silly reason, everything else is lacking, not just super hero games.
I think the issue is even more basic. Super Hero games are basically "stuck" in the present day age and with very few exceptions has proven to be the least favorite setting for MMORPGS at least.
Role playing Clark Kent and Tony Stark has less appeal than Gruknak the Orc Destroyer.
Well, at least for me anyway.
(Although an economic driven MMO called "Zillionaires" would draw my interest)
Strange how things work; I spent more time RPing in CoH than any other MMORPG I played. /shrug Role playing a hero, specifically a flawed one, seemed more natural than an Orc to me.
Well I guess roleplaying a superhero or Tony Stark would be too much like my real life.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I think the issue is even more basic. Super Hero games are basically "stuck" in the present day age and with very few exceptions has proven to be the least favorite setting for MMORPGS at least.
Role playing Clark Kent and Tony Stark has less appeal than Gruknak the Orc Destroyer.
Well, at least for me anyway.
(Although an economic driven MMO called "Zillionaires" would draw my interest)
I dunno, if the story/background and the world is well done I could certainly go for something else then high fantasy. The market is full beyond belief of fantasy set MMOs and there are so many possibilities around.
And you could easily make historical super hero games (Captain America Vs the Nazis to mention one or Zorro for that matter. Heck, even Robin Hood is kinda a super hero). As for Sci-fi you have Legion of Super heroes, Lobo (I would play that) & marvels titels (like Starjammers but I can't say I like them very much there, tend to get silly even as super heroes go which say a lot).
Personally I think there are even better settings then Superheroes (Shadowrun, Lovecraft, a Red Dead sandbox MMO, Musketeers and a few more) but I am for anything well made that is different.
And I think ultimately the reason for the percentage of fantasy games comes down to Everquest and Wow. Publishers have a one track mind.
Comics have a comparatively niche appeal compared to fantasy, and are also fairly difficult to design in a balanced fashion while remaining true to the source material, as the genre has no issue with presenting characters of vastly different power, often working side-by-side. While this can easily work in a controlled, static story it is quite a challenge in the context of MMORPGs.
Comics are also a fairly free-wheeling genre, that can combine elements of fantasy, science-fiction, and whole mishmash besides into a single setting. It is probably fairly difficult to design a setting that can maintain all these elements while still remaining decent, in comparison to a game that focuses on only a few of them.
Sure, you could go with a licensed setting as some have, but they are in short supply and pretty much already spoken for, so this isn't all that viable for more reasons than just cost.
However, there are several superhero games motivated by the demise of City of Heroes in the works, so at least until the dust settles there will be several options for those interested in that kind of play to consider. Ideally at least one of those will survive to expand on the few currently available.
Role playing Clark Kent and Tony Stark has less appeal than Gruknak the Orc Destroyer.
Well, at least for me anyway.
This is very much a personal preference, albeit a common one.
I role-played much more in City of Heroes (on the Virtue server) than in any other MMORPG I've played, and saw much more out in the open as well.
Detailed role-play bios were common on characters, with many linking to more detailed profiles on sites specifically designed as a place to showcase them. Walk-up impromptu role-play was fairly common as well.
There was the occasional troublemaker that tried to disrupt things but much less so than I've seen in any other games, and there was a fair amount of cooperation in squelching them.
So, although there may be more role-players in fantasy due to number of games and population of those such as WoW and FFXIV, the superhero genre can certainly attract a fair share.
I can't speak for all groups of course, but I know the one I was in had several players past the 20s in age, some like myself far past. Perhaps that was partly due to a focus on the Golden Age of comics in the characters and philosophy of the group compared to the more abundant supergroups focusing on more contemporary characters and stories.
I agree with you on the over conservative studios, but disagree on the difficulty in making hero combat entertaining. I think the cool moves most fantasy games have are a lot more like super powers than fantasy sword play. Sure magic could give the same effect, but that even applies to non-magic characters. I've just been playing GW2 as a revenant, and some of the powers are more like Nightcrawler with swords than a fantasy warriors.
Despite the so-called heroes games in the works right now I don't see anything to look forward to in this genre either.
I don't think the IP is the problem either. The most successful hero game so far has been CoH, with it's own IP. And most online games you don't get to be the main characters.
People with the dough in gaming are pretty much clueless money grabbers that can't believe their choice to make a low budget flop could possibly be the reason their brilliant game failed. Must be the type of game, the genre, or the timing.
Most superheroes powers are limited and works to implement but Superman, Thor and a bunch of others wont really work. Also, powers that aren't that OP like superspeed is far to add well into a multiplayer game.
So a superhero game with more limited powers can be done with limited new mechanics, but if you want the over the top heroes it is hard.
If I had to choose a superhero IP with more limited powers I think I would set it in Gotham, the powerlevel is easier to set there and you have a great bunch of villains to use as well. It would also have way more star power then anything you make up as you go.
X-Men, Avengers or Justice league would be very hard to turn into MMOs.
For sure, Superman is one of the worst ideas in they could have come up with if you ask me. Why even bother? XD With how fast he can move and his super strength he should never even be more than minimally affected by crytonite XD
Feeling slightly strange . . . time to super fast fly and get my lead suit!
As a former CoH player, it was my first serious MMORPG, I know a lot of people who would love to play a hero game but can't get into any of the current offerings.
Champions Online - hard to put a finger on, but it just seems cheap DC Online - too button mashy Marvel whatever - the isometric view and makes it more of a Diablo game, never got into em.
Nothing in development has any potential that I can see.
That issue exists across the entire mmorpg genre and not specific to super heroes.
Yeah, one of my favorite quotes but i don't think it applies. I think giving players flying in games like Revelation Online get that effect. When everyone can fly its just another way to get around.
Personally, I do not fully agree with the "because Marvel and DC have their rights argument". You can still make a superhero game. A number have been done before and yes, they have their rights to certain things.
Infamous Infamous 2 Infamous Last Light Champions Online Crackdown Freedom Force Prototype (kind of) City of Heroes All the new superhero MMOs in development
All I'm saying is that it's been done and it's possible. Yes, they're limited in a way due to powers and what not.
Making a good superhero game is not easy, there are IP's that are at risk of being infringed because of the nature of superheroes, its hard to make one that isn't 'similar' to something that already exists, for MMO's this is particularly bad as its often possible to create your own superhero that is virtually identical to an existing hero that belongs to a particular IP, which if its a marvel superhero is risky as the company is particularly toxic at the moment as its undergoing a rather 'cancerous' phase that is hurting the company badly as anyone who has followed diversity and comics, or captain cummings on youtube will no doubt appreciate, that is just how bad things have got there so risking infringing on a marvel ip is best avoided.
DC Online - too button mashy Marvel whatever - the isometric view and makes it more of a Diablo game, never got into em.
I agree on both On CO and cheapness... just partly.
True that it's more "regular" MMO than CoH was, in a lot of mechanics it's much closer to wow than to CoH. On the other hand it did some things way better than CoH, namely the character creation (both cosmetically and power-wise, FreeForm is simply amazing), travel powers, the gfx (though it's up to each's taste, I love cel-shade), the vehicles, the events... even a few pvp modes could get on the list (and I don't pvp, for the record).
Comics have a comparatively niche appeal compared to fantasy, and are also fairly difficult to design in a balanced fashion while remaining true to the source material, as the genre has no issue with presenting characters of vastly different power, often working side-by-side. While this can easily work in a controlled, static story it is quite a challenge in the context of MMORPGs.
Comics are also a fairly free-wheeling genre, that can combine elements of fantasy, science-fiction, and whole mishmash besides into a single setting. It is probably fairly difficult to design a setting that can maintain all these elements while still remaining decent, in comparison to a game that focuses on only a few of them.
Sure, you could go with a licensed setting as some have, but they are in short supply and pretty much already spoken for, so this isn't all that viable for more reasons than just cost.
However, there are several superhero games motivated by the demise of City of Heroes in the works, so at least until the dust settles there will be several options for those interested in that kind of play to consider. Ideally at least one of those will survive to expand on the few currently available.
I am rather sure that super hero movies have sold far better then fantasy movies the last 5 years so I disagree.
With TV shows fantasy have GoT but besides it there are tons of super hero shows. Fantasy is rather thin (again, besides GoT), Shannara was acceptable.
Fantasy do win the book competition easy while it loses the comics. BTW, anyone know that George R R Martin have written some superhero books? Just read the first myself and it was an anthology with other famous writters but GM made the world and put things together.
As for superheroes have different powers, that is true and I have said it earlier myself but to be fair is there a rather huge powergap between fantasy heroes like Frodo & Sansa Stark and Gandalf & Conan so it exist in fantasy as well.
There's not more super hero titles, because the previous attempts in the genre with mmorpg games didn't make enough money to attract more developers.
If you don't know the answer, it's always money.
There is also lazyness and stupidity that influences the genre...
"We could try something different and fun but lets do something just like Wow instead, it is easier and Wow did well so our blatant copy will certainly get even more players". The devs believed that for about 10 years.
Comparing a low budget title like CoH against a game like Wow or Lineage is stupid, if you compare the development cost and the experience by the team then CoH actually did very well.
I'm puzzled... there's 2 (3 if you count diablo clones as MMO ), and 4 (or 5) in the planning. For a fairly niche subgenre I wouldn't call that "lacking".
Alright, take this perspective. You're saying there's 2-7 games rn. Now, look at the typical fantasy genre in itself or even space/scifi. there's an abundance. Or, we can just take the standard survival genre that is peaking right now. They are all well beyond 2-7 games in total.
The genre is lacking. 2-7 is extremely limited in comparison to all the other genres out there. It is lacking.
Space/Sci-fi is a way broader definition, that is why there is more there. Almost all MMOs are high fantasy for some silly reason, everything else is lacking, not just super hero games.
I think the issue is even more basic. Super Hero games are basically "stuck" in the present day age and with very few exceptions has proven to be the least favorite setting for MMORPGS at least.
Role playing Clark Kent and Tony Stark has less appeal than Gruknak the Orc Destroyer.
Well, at least for me anyway.
(Although an economic driven MMO called "Zillionaires" would draw my interest)
Strange how things work; I spent more time RPing in CoH than any other MMORPG I played. /shrug Role playing a hero, specifically a flawed one, seemed more natural than an Orc to me.
Well I guess roleplaying a superhero or Tony Stark would be too much like my real life.
Why, do you roleplay them in real life too?
Constantine, The Console Poster
"One of the most difficult tasks men can perform, however much others may despise it, is the invention of good games and it cannot be done by men out of touch with their instinctive selves." - Carl Jung
I'm puzzled... there's 2 (3 if you count diablo clones as MMO ), and 4 (or 5) in the planning. For a fairly niche subgenre I wouldn't call that "lacking".
Alright, take this perspective. You're saying there's 2-7 games rn. Now, look at the typical fantasy genre in itself or even space/scifi. there's an abundance. Or, we can just take the standard survival genre that is peaking right now. They are all well beyond 2-7 games in total.
The genre is lacking. 2-7 is extremely limited in comparison to all the other genres out there. It is lacking.
Space/Sci-fi is a way broader definition, that is why there is more there. Almost all MMOs are high fantasy for some silly reason, everything else is lacking, not just super hero games.
I think the issue is even more basic. Super Hero games are basically "stuck" in the present day age and with very few exceptions has proven to be the least favorite setting for MMORPGS at least.
Role playing Clark Kent and Tony Stark has less appeal than Gruknak the Orc Destroyer.
Well, at least for me anyway.
(Although an economic driven MMO called "Zillionaires" would draw my interest)
Strange how things work; I spent more time RPing in CoH than any other MMORPG I played. /shrug Role playing a hero, specifically a flawed one, seemed more natural than an Orc to me.
Well I guess roleplaying a superhero or Tony Stark would be too much like my real life.
Why, do you roleplay them in real life too?
Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
Only when everyone has to live in the "same world".
You can easily play a GAME that you are the only superhero inside that game. Isn't that what games are about? Setting up some fake environment to entertain.
Comics have a comparatively niche appeal compared to fantasy, and are also fairly difficult to design in a balanced fashion while remaining true to the source material, as the genre has no issue with presenting characters of vastly different power, often working side-by-side. While this can easily work in a controlled, static story it is quite a challenge in the context of MMORPGs.
Comics are also a fairly free-wheeling genre, that can combine elements of fantasy, science-fiction, and whole mishmash besides into a single setting. It is probably fairly difficult to design a setting that can maintain all these elements while still remaining decent, in comparison to a game that focuses on only a few of them.
Sure, you could go with a licensed setting as some have, but they are in short supply and pretty much already spoken for, so this isn't all that viable for more reasons than just cost.
However, there are several superhero games motivated by the demise of City of Heroes in the works, so at least until the dust settles there will be several options for those interested in that kind of play to consider. Ideally at least one of those will survive to expand on the few currently available.
I am rather sure that super hero movies have sold far better then fantasy movies the last 5 years so I disagree.
With TV shows fantasy have GoT but besides it there are tons of super hero shows. Fantasy is rather thin (again, besides GoT), Shannara was acceptable.
Fantasy do win the book competition easy while it loses the comics. BTW, anyone know that George R R Martin have written some superhero books? Just read the first myself and it was an anthology with other famous writters but GM made the world and put things together.
As for superheroes have different powers, that is true and I have said it earlier myself but to be fair is there a rather huge powergap between fantasy heroes like Frodo & Sansa Stark and Gandalf & Conan so it exist in fantasy as well.
Because the current fad of superhero movie popularity is what drives the appeal of superhero MMORPGs? I suspect it is related more to the over 70 years of comics history that is what gave those movies any relevance to begin with.
The most popular superhero MMORPG released to date shut down before the plethora of superhero movies was a thing. All the current ones are based on IPs that have been around for several decades, with Marvel Heroes being the only one released during this popularity surge.
Yeah, Frodo and Gandalf traveled together, but they weren't suddenly treated as though they had a similar level of effectiveness when doing so and extremely disparate otherwise. In comics characters normally depicted as having vastly different power levels are frequently suddenly somehow treated and depicted as equally relevant when teamed up. I haven't read any Conan books, so have no idea how the characters mentioned compare.
The most popular superhero MMORPG released to date shut down before the plethora of superhero movies was a thing. All the current ones are based on IPs that have been around for several decades, with Marvel Heroes being the only one released during this popularity surge.
That is not correct, and is not in multiple ways. First, superhero movies never was "out", every decade had them, even if with several years long gaps. And the "modern" era start usually counts from Burton's Batman.
But if you ment "plethora of superhero movies" the era of MCU, and the most popular game CoH, then there's still a slip, since by the time CoH was closed, MCU already finished the first phase... (CoH closed at the end of 2012, by that time MCU was over the Avengers and Iron Man 3 / S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 was already in production)
on a sidenote I don't know how is it related to the cancelled deal with Cryptic, but I remember there were some disappointed voices back then, since around that time they started MCU, so if they stick to the plan, and release the Marvel mmo (which later turned into CO) alongside the MCU start, with the publicity and hype, they could've hit the jackpot... but there were also rumours that even Marvel wasn't entirely sure about the MCU (and especially not expected it to turn into this juggernaut which is today ) and that's why they didn't want to spend money on a game.
The most popular superhero MMORPG released to date shut down before the plethora of superhero movies was a thing. All the current ones are based on IPs that have been around for several decades, with Marvel Heroes being the only one released during this popularity surge.
That is not correct, and is not in multiple ways. First, superhero movies never was "out", every decade had them, even if with several years long gaps. And the "modern" era start usually counts from Burton's Batman.
But if you ment "plethora of superhero movies" the era of MCU, and the most popular game CoH, then there's still a slip, since by the time CoH was closed, MCU already finished the first phase... (CoH closed at the end of 2012, by that time MCU was over the Avengers and Iron Man 3 / S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 was already in production)
on a sidenote I don't know how is it related to the cancelled deal with Cryptic, but I remember there were some disappointed voices back then, since around that time they started MCU, so if they stick to the plan, and release the Marvel mmo (which later turned into CO) alongside the MCU start, with the publicity and hype, they could've hit the jackpot... but there were also rumours that even Marvel wasn't entirely sure about the MCU (and especially not expected it to turn into this juggernaut which is today ) and that's why they didn't want to spend money on a game.
Every decade had them? I don't know this to be so since the advent of superheros in the 30s. Regardless, they never had a popularity surge equal to that of recent years.
You might count modern back to 1989 in the context of superhero movies. I do not. I would place it where it conceptually switched from movies (and TV shows) to cinematic universes in terms of public awareness.
City of Heroes was obviously the game being referenced. It started in 2004, several years before the MCU was a thing. By the year 2012, despite the MCU flood, there apparently wasn't enough revenue coming in from CoH for NCSoft to feel it worth continuing.
CO didn't exactly wow the fans of superhero MMORPGs upon release, and apparently wasn't all that attractive to Marvel either that had already lost interest before that. Perhaps with a graphic overhaul and the Marvel IP iced on top it may have done better, but CoH already had an excellent setting in place that wasn't burdened with the constant need for Marvel approval, so it is hard to say how things would have gone.
And yeah, Marvel would have been foolish to assume the level of success the MCU attained. It will be interesting to see how long it will last when they have to shift their focus from their most widely known heroes to those less so. There is also a chance for burnout too, simply due to the media glut that success resulted in. Even the best of things can be eventually too much for the general audience. As of right now, though, it seems to be all systems go and full steam ahead for the discernible future.
Comments
Role playing Clark Kent and Tony Stark has less appeal than Gruknak the Orc Destroyer.
Well, at least for me anyway.
(Although an economic driven MMO called "Zillionaires" would draw my interest)
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Pretty much sum up the mmorpg genre.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
I've got a feevah, and the only prescription... is more cowbell.
I think there are a lot of us that feel "You can count me out of any game that has me flying around in spandex punching things."
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
And you could easily make historical super hero games (Captain America Vs the Nazis to mention one or Zorro for that matter. Heck, even Robin Hood is kinda a super hero).
As for Sci-fi you have Legion of Super heroes, Lobo (I would play that) & marvels titels (like Starjammers but I can't say I like them very much there, tend to get silly even as super heroes go which say a lot).
Personally I think there are even better settings then Superheroes (Shadowrun, Lovecraft, a Red Dead sandbox MMO, Musketeers and a few more) but I am for anything well made that is different.
And I think ultimately the reason for the percentage of fantasy games comes down to Everquest and Wow. Publishers have a one track mind.
Comics are also a fairly free-wheeling genre, that can combine elements of fantasy, science-fiction, and whole mishmash besides into a single setting. It is probably fairly difficult to design a setting that can maintain all these elements while still remaining decent, in comparison to a game that focuses on only a few of them.
Sure, you could go with a licensed setting as some have, but they are in short supply and pretty much already spoken for, so this isn't all that viable for more reasons than just cost.
However, there are several superhero games motivated by the demise of City of Heroes in the works, so at least until the dust settles there will be several options for those interested in that kind of play to consider. Ideally at least one of those will survive to expand on the few currently available.
I role-played much more in City of Heroes (on the Virtue server) than in any other MMORPG I've played, and saw much more out in the open as well.
Detailed role-play bios were common on characters, with many linking to more detailed profiles on sites specifically designed as a place to showcase them. Walk-up impromptu role-play was fairly common as well.
There was the occasional troublemaker that tried to disrupt things but much less so than I've seen in any other games, and there was a fair amount of cooperation in squelching them.
So, although there may be more role-players in fantasy due to number of games and population of those such as WoW and FFXIV, the superhero genre can certainly attract a fair share.
I can't speak for all groups of course, but I know the one I was in had several players past the 20s in age, some like myself far past. Perhaps that was partly due to a focus on the Golden Age of comics in the characters and philosophy of the group compared to the more abundant supergroups focusing on more contemporary characters and stories.
Feeling slightly strange . . . time to super fast fly and get my lead suit!
As a former CoH player, it was my first serious MMORPG, I know a lot of people who would love to play a hero game but can't get into any of the current offerings.
Champions Online - hard to put a finger on, but it just seems cheap
DC Online - too button mashy
Marvel whatever - the isometric view and makes it more of a Diablo game, never got into em.
Nothing in development has any potential that I can see.
I think giving players flying in games like Revelation Online get that effect.
When everyone can fly its just another way to get around.
On CO and cheapness... just partly.
True that it's more "regular" MMO than CoH was, in a lot of mechanics it's much closer to wow than to CoH.
On the other hand it did some things way better than CoH, namely the character creation (both cosmetically and power-wise, FreeForm is simply amazing), travel powers, the gfx (though it's up to each's taste, I love cel-shade), the vehicles, the events... even a few pvp modes could get on the list (and I don't pvp, for the record).
With TV shows fantasy have GoT but besides it there are tons of super hero shows. Fantasy is rather thin (again, besides GoT), Shannara was acceptable.
Fantasy do win the book competition easy while it loses the comics. BTW, anyone know that George R R Martin have written some superhero books? Just read the first myself and it was an anthology with other famous writters but GM made the world and put things together.
As for superheroes have different powers, that is true and I have said it earlier myself but to be fair is there a rather huge powergap between fantasy heroes like Frodo & Sansa Stark and Gandalf & Conan so it exist in fantasy as well.
If you don't know the answer, it's always money.
"We could try something different and fun but lets do something just like Wow instead, it is easier and Wow did well so our blatant copy will certainly get even more players". The devs believed that for about 10 years.
Comparing a low budget title like CoH against a game like Wow or Lineage is stupid, if you compare the development cost and the experience by the team then CoH actually did very well.
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
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Everybody gets an awesome!
You can easily play a GAME that you are the only superhero inside that game. Isn't that what games are about? Setting up some fake environment to entertain.
The most popular superhero MMORPG released to date shut down before the plethora of superhero movies was a thing. All the current ones are based on IPs that have been around for several decades, with Marvel Heroes being the only one released during this popularity surge.
Yeah, Frodo and Gandalf traveled together, but they weren't suddenly treated as though they had a similar level of effectiveness when doing so and extremely disparate otherwise. In comics characters normally depicted as having vastly different power levels are frequently suddenly somehow treated and depicted as equally relevant when teamed up. I haven't read any Conan books, so have no idea how the characters mentioned compare.
But if you ment "plethora of superhero movies" the era of MCU, and the most popular game CoH, then there's still a slip, since by the time CoH was closed, MCU already finished the first phase...
(CoH closed at the end of 2012, by that time MCU was over the Avengers and Iron Man 3 / S.H.I.E.L.D. season 1 was already in production)
on a sidenote I don't know how is it related to the cancelled deal with Cryptic, but I remember there were some disappointed voices back then, since around that time they started MCU, so if they stick to the plan, and release the Marvel mmo (which later turned into CO) alongside the MCU start, with the publicity and hype, they could've hit the jackpot... but there were also rumours that even Marvel wasn't entirely sure about the MCU (and especially not expected it to turn into this juggernaut which is today
You might count modern back to 1989 in the context of superhero movies. I do not. I would place it where it conceptually switched from movies (and TV shows) to cinematic universes in terms of public awareness.
City of Heroes was obviously the game being referenced. It started in 2004, several years before the MCU was a thing. By the year 2012, despite the MCU flood, there apparently wasn't enough revenue coming in from CoH for NCSoft to feel it worth continuing.
CO didn't exactly wow the fans of superhero MMORPGs upon release, and apparently wasn't all that attractive to Marvel either that had already lost interest before that. Perhaps with a graphic overhaul and the Marvel IP iced on top it may have done better, but CoH already had an excellent setting in place that wasn't burdened with the constant need for Marvel approval, so it is hard to say how things would have gone.
And yeah, Marvel would have been foolish to assume the level of success the MCU attained. It will be interesting to see how long it will last when they have to shift their focus from their most widely known heroes to those less so. There is also a chance for burnout too, simply due to the media glut that success resulted in. Even the best of things can be eventually too much for the general audience. As of right now, though, it seems to be all systems go and full steam ahead for the discernible future.