Will the next WoW level MMO even be on PC?

maskedweasel

Per the article below, the next big MMO(s) won't be stuck to PCs only.

https://www.gamespace.com/featured/mmo-resurgence/

What do you all think? Will the PC get dethroned as the hardware of choice for MMOs or will PCs always be the platform of choice for MMO gamers? 

Flyte27

They already have MMOs of different types that are fairly popular on tablets I believe.  I'm not quite sure how people enjoy the controls through.  I guess they are more interested in being with their friends or family than good gameplay.  I really dislike playing games on a tablet myself.  I'd rather either gamepad or keyboard and mouse.  A gamepad is the most comfortable that has some level of precision.  The keyboard and mouse are very accurate but aren't that comfortable.  The tablet is neither comfortable nor accurate.

luclinraider

No one here really wants to hear it.

I myself am not much of a supporter of their means of gathering funding through hundreds of millions of dollars in ships. I personally only own the starter package.

But the best chance we have atm of a major hit MMO is Star Citizen.

The genre has become stale and people would rather just push out copies of 15 year old MMO's rather than try anything new. 

People forget the merging of instanced based dungeons and PvE and Open World faction PvP along with the simplicity to jump in is what made WoW the king that it became.

These features seems standard nowadays, but back then it was really UO and DAOC for PvP, and Everquest for PvE. Merging them together in the way WoW did was something new.

The only MMO really attempting to push the boundaries right now is Star Citizen.....it's as easy as that.

Dauzqul

The console market is gigantic. However, they are of a different breed. They don't really yearn for giant / deep / complex MMORPGs. MMOs will always be for PC.

Robsolf

luclinraider said:

But the best chance we have atm of a major hit MMO is Star Citizen.

IMO, what made WoW big, most of all, was accessibility.  While it was certainly more difficult a game than it is, now, it was still much simpler and had a more streamlined interface than its competition at the time.

My point in mentioning that is... so far, SC doesn't seem like it will be that way, at all.  It's clearly going to be more simulator than arcade.  That in itself will make it a niche game, no matter how spectacular the visuals, or seamless the gameplay.

Albatroes

The market oversaturated. Old wow couldn't even hit old wow numbers in today's market.

PsYcHoGBR

Looks like consoles will be getting keyboard and mouse support. Both the PS4 and Xbox are basically custom gaming PC's, the one x has directx 12 built into the main chip. This gen is not a big threat to PC gaming but I reckon the next gen could be. 

http://metro.co.uk/2017/12/21/xbox-one-keyboard-mouse-support-plans-leaked-7177783/

Robsolf

PsYcHoGBR said:

Looks like consoles will be getting keyboard and mouse support. Both the PS4 and Xbox are basically custom gaming PC's, the one x has directx 12 built into the main chip. This gen is not a big threat to PC gaming but I reckon the next gen could be. 
 

There's some truth to that.  However, keyboard interfaces, particularly those involved with gaming, aren't well suited for a console environment.  I think of how silly it looks when I see the Big Bang Theory guys tapping away on laptops on their laps in the living room, where they're supposed to be playing WoW.  That's just friggin' silly.

That doesn't prevent somebody from buying a console and putting it in a PC environment.  But unless manufacturers just give up on the PC platform(not an impossibility!), the console will always be inferior in that way.

Kabulozo

Lineage M is insanely popular (L1 ported to mobiles).

http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/469480/ncsoft-3rd-quarter-revenues/p1

Wizardry

There is simply a big market in what i call FAKE gamer's,just people who want something to do and fiddle with their phones.So mobile has made a lot of money off of these people.

Consoles have been around forever,i guess the article forgets as most do that FFXI was made for the PS2 and so happens to be my fave mmorpg.Square Enix mater of fact has lead the way from day 1 to multi platform gaming,this however is dedicated to a few developers,not everyone can aim for multi platform licenses.

Most important fact often left out>>>QUALITY,these other platforms can do whatever the heck they want,quality will remain higher on PC when taking the big boys club.Popular also has nothing to do with quality either,unless we are going to say Farmville was one of the highest quality games ever?

Quizzical

Probably yes, assuming that there is such a next game.  Even if it starts out only on consoles, a game with the popularity of WoW will be ported to PC to take advantage of the additional market possible unless it's made by a console vendor who has an incentive to use the game to drive purchases of their console rather than a competing one.

AAAMEOW

Don't you need to pay royalty to sony or microsoft to use their plateform?

Same with steam I suppose, but some mmorpg are released on steam.

gervaise1

Before the PC there were "consoles" and all games were on "consoles".

A PC was simply the standard created by IBM who were big enough then to set a standard.

Today the only ley difference between PCs and consoles is in the operating system - unless its a PC or an XB1. (Processing power, graphics capability etc. all comes down to how new the system is).

I could add that todays phones and tablets are more powerful than early PCs.

The future though?

For people who don't have recent TVs - that come with quadcore processors etc. - the latest Fire TV sticks have 2GB memory, 8GB storage, a/b/g/ac 2.4 & 5GHz wifi, 10/100 ethernet, bluetooth, HDMI, 10/100 ethernet, quadcore processor, micro-usb, onboard supports that support 4k at 60Hz.  (Eventually all the hardware needed will be in the TV.)

Connect the TV - or a monitor if it has the required hardware support - to the internet and that is the future. Well its already here just not as widespread as it will be going forward.

And you will be able to do the same with tablets etc. 

hallucigenocide

gervaise1 said:

Before the PC there were "consoles" and all games were on "consoles".

A PC was simply the standard created by IBM who were big enough then to set a standard.

Today the only ley difference between PCs and consoles is in the operating system - unless its a PC or an XB1. (Processing power, graphics capability etc. all comes down to how new the system is).

I could add that todays phones and tablets are more powerful than early PCs.

The future though?

For people who don't have recent TVs - that come with quadcore processors etc. - the latest Fire TV sticks have 2GB memory, 8GB storage, a/b/g/ac 2.4 & 5GHz wifi, 10/100 ethernet, bluetooth, HDMI, 10/100 ethernet, quadcore processor, micro-usb, onboard supports that support 4k at 60Hz.  (Eventually all the hardware needed will be in the TV.)

Connect the TV - or a monitor if it has the required hardware support - to the internet and that is the future. Well its already here just not as widespread as it will be going forward.

And you will be able to do the same with tablets etc. 

as long as i don't have to use controllers like the ones for xbox etc. i don't care what platform they use.

Darksworm

I think Console is where MMOs are slated to move.

Honestly wouldn't want to play one on a Tablet, but would like to be unshackled from the Prison that is PC System Requirements

I think Consoles are where they're going to go, because the market for people who are going to buy ever more powerful PCs is shrinking.  The PC hardware available off the shelf to the non-techie MMORPG gaming base is also hilariously expensive compared to a console.

I think the next major console generation is going to be a turning point for this genre - as well as the ARPG genre.

I think MOBAs have it good on PCs, because they can be played fluently on cheap, off the shelf equipment.

I wouldn't be surprised to see console makers partnering with companies like Razer, Logitech, and Corsair to support their peripherals, either (but it's more likely that Sony and Microsoft will try to corner that market to increase their own profits - which will ultimately make the solutions less convenient for players - like the ability to use same peripherals across consoles).

Personally, I can see the day when I'm done with gaming altogether in the not-distant future.

jpedrote52

Ofc it will be on PC. Consoles do not have a large enough no life hardcore player MMO base to even sustain an MMO as large/successful as WoW was in it's prime.

Quizzical

gervaise1 said:

Before the PC there were "consoles" and all games were on "consoles".

A PC was simply the standard created by IBM who were big enough then to set a standard.

IBM didn't intend to create a standard.  Rather, because their PC used almost entirely components bought from other companies, Compaq realized that they could build an IBM-compatible PC by buying those same components from the same other companies, and reverse-engineering the one IBM chip used in the PC to make their own version of it.  Other copycats turned that into a standard, and if anything, Microsoft is the company that maintains the standard.

But that was way back in 1984.  PCs of sorts existed before then, too, but the market was fragmented like consoles have been for most of their existence.

k61977

Any developer in today's market would be an idiot to cut out any platform.  The real issue is making a game that is truly cross platform where everyone just plays together no matter what system you have.  There are already a few that have stuck their toes into this but it isn't the main stream quite yet. 

Look at it like this, how much sense does it make to lose out on getting those few million customers that don't own or want to own a console or a gaming PC.  Not everyone wants to own every console and a PC. 

It would be better to just call console what they are in today's market anyway, mid range gaming PC's.  The only reason games run better on any system especially a console is because it was optimized to do so. 

Optimization is the answer for all games in the future.  If you can make a game that is optimized for any PC (consoles included in PC) then you would have something that could truly brig the gap and overtake the industry as you could sell to all customers no matter what they own.

So to answer the question no I don't think any game of the future will omit a massive customer base.

kartool

PC's and consoles are no longer distant cousins. A console is basically a PC, games are released simultaneously on all three. I don't know why any developer today wouldn't want to release their game on all three platforms - unless it's a console exclusive title used to push the hardware. I think it's silly to think modern MMOs won't be released on multiple platforms, considering most developers are already finding ways to port their PC MMOs to console, or creating new games with simplified controls that can be played on any of the three. 

Viper482

maskedweasel said:

Per the article below, the next big MMO(s) won't be stuck to PCs only.

https://www.gamespace.com/featured/mmo-resurgence/

What do you all think? Will the PC get dethroned as the hardware of choice for MMOs or will PCs always be the platform of choice for MMO gamers? 

Misleading subject line. 

Flyte27

I don't think optimization is the answer.  I've played games on both console and PC and the console developers don't do a good job.  Considering the consoles are set hardware they should be able to get every game to run at a steady 60 fps, but they are lucky to run games at a steady 30 fps.  I'd rather change the settings on a PC and get the settings that are easiest on my eyes.  I'd rather not trust some company to do this for me if I have a choice.  There is also the issue of consoles being way to locked down for my taste.

AAAMEOW

k61977 said:

Look at it like this, how much sense does it make to lose out on getting those few million customers that don't own or want to own a console or a gaming PC.  Not everyone wants to own every console and a PC. 

I dont' agree.  Simply because you can't even find a mmorpg with a few million customer.  Unless developer make a mmorpg so successful it'll get really big, I don't think it'll ever happen.

k61977

AAAMEOW said:

k61977 said:

Look at it like this, how much sense does it make to lose out on getting those few million customers that don't own or want to own a console or a gaming PC.  Not everyone wants to own every console and a PC. 

I dont' agree.  Simply because you can't even find a mmorpg with a few million customer.  Unless developer make a mmorpg so successful it'll get really big, I don't think it'll ever happen.

Guessing English isn't your primary language because I can't really make out what you are disagreeing about other than the random number.  I could just start by saying that there are some mmo's that have over a million players today, just not concurrently playing.  But you missed the entire point of my reply go read it again.

PottedPlant22

For me I think what is possible is a game that is so true to itself that it attracts enough players to be compared to the size of WoW in numbers only.  That game would be nothing like WoW.  It must find its own identity.

There are options with little to no information.  The one I'm most curious about is Amazon's New World.

Scot

Depends what you mean by WoW level MMO.

If you mean sheer number of players and huge name recognition I would say console.

If you mean quality of content and gameplay, quality of dlc, ground breaking use of the MMO formula I would say PC.

Kyleran

Robsolf said:

PsYcHoGBR said:

Looks like consoles will be getting keyboard and mouse support. Both the PS4 and Xbox are basically custom gaming PC's, the one x has directx 12 built into the main chip. This gen is not a big threat to PC gaming but I reckon the next gen could be. 
 

There's some truth to that.  However, keyboard interfaces, particularly those involved with gaming, aren't well suited for a console environment.  I think of how silly it looks when I see the Big Bang Theory guys tapping away on laptops on their laps in the living room, where they're supposed to be playing WoW.  That's just friggin' silly.

That doesn't prevent somebody from buying a console and putting it in a PC environment.  But unless manufacturers just give up on the PC platform(not an impossibility!), the console will always be inferior in that way.

Er, I play all games on a gaming laptop, including WOW back in day, why do you think that looks silly? 

In fact I managed a six account mining fleet from my laptop, which I actually put in my lap by the way. (a 1/2 inch plastic/rubber cutting board protects "the jewels")

Now if they were supposed to be playing Red Dead Redemption,  that would be silly.