Majority of news articles on this website aren't MMORPG's. Sign of slowdown.

VicusEQ

Been coming to this website daily for the last 5 years.  Really noticed a trend of articles that are about Non-MMORPG's.  Like Warframe, Overwatch, ect. Also 1 or 2 of the top 10 stories are usually a hardware item like headphones/keyboards/mice.  Heck the main story the past few days has been a review of the XBOX One X.  

Why is this?  Feel like the slowdown for people making MMO's has increased.  I also feel like companies are paying the bills for the website and are demanding more airtime.  5 years ago we would of seen stories about the "little" guys a lot more then we have been.  Games awhile back had more airtime and it was closer to 50/50 (big Budget/low budget).  Now there is maybe 2-4 stories a week featuring an actual MMORPG and maybe 1 of them isn't named WoW/ESO/FFXIV/ect.  Small example.  Dungeons and Dragons Online.  In 2017 MMORPG.com featured a story on Update 35 on March 18th.  The next story on DDO was in December about the expansion release.  During that 9 month block DDO had around 14-15 Major updates to include two extra raids, 4 classes having major overhauls, and the edition of about 20+ quest/instances.  This website use to be a good news source for actual MMORPG's but I feel I learn much more about the MMO's out there by visiting their websites and reading their forums.  DDO is just an example, but it's apparent that you only get airtime if you are either a big budget game/have some famous dev working on it/or really unique high demand (I.E. ship of heroes). 

Thoughts.   

cjmarsh

Personally I think it's the quiet before the storm as a lot of crowdfunded and indie titles are finally starting to take the last steps into becoming an actual product. They will shake up the industry one way or another and determine what the larger studios are going to be willing to take a risk on. Also, A:IR just got a ton of funding so we might see another eastern import soon.

btdt

Considering that MMORPG.com changed their format a year or two ago it shouldn't surprise you that they cover more than just MMORPGs.  

The name MMORPG.com is just a name, not a description of what the site is about (anymore).  They will discuss hardware, software, company closures, rumors, pretty much anything that even slightly relates to gaming.  There's more money (and readership) in diversity.

Tabmowe

Actually i had been thinking this for the last few months as well.

Cryomatrix

I like it. 

I play other games, I hear about other types, I like the hardware reviews and such. 

Cryomatrix

time007

yeah the non-mmo game articles are kind of a pain.  though im starting to like their peripheral articles/reviews.

Scot

The site needs to expand into the spin off genres MMOs helped create. Solo RPGs were the genre's roots and we all use hardware. So I welcome all these articles.

The only bone of contention, is the site does keep wanting to call every game it talks about a MMO. Co-op games, action games, moba, MMOFPS, etc no reason they can't all be here just use the right name for them. My favourite is MMOish.

Gitmix

They need to diversify if they want to expand their business. Sticking to MMORPGs would end up limiting revenue.
I would say this is normal business practice except I notice they tend to ignore many low pop MMORPGs in favour of more popular non MMORPGs. That's a lack of integrity on their part and borderline unethical business. And they'll surely end up paying for it some way or other, if they haven't already.

IceAge

cjmarsh said:

Personally I think it's the quiet before the storm as a lot of crowdfunded and indie titles are finally starting to take the last steps into becoming an actual product. They will shake up the industry one way or another and determine what the larger studios are going to be willing to take a risk on. Also, A:IR just got a ton of funding so we might see another eastern import soon.

The quiet before the storm ? Are you calling crowdfunded and indie titles the .. "storm" of this genre ? 

I strongly believe that this crowdfunded titles will not shake up the industry in any way. I mean, I don't see anything innovating in any said titles, nor .. something more then decent.

But to each his own. I find this crowdfunded projects the decline of this genre. 

Shaigh

Its quite simple, companies like soe, funcom, cryptic and turbine just don't make new mmorpg. NCsoft doesn't fund new western mmorpg studios, blizzard and CCP failed when trying to make a new mmorpg while the big AAA publishers would rather focus on online multiplayer shooters.

Crowdfunded venture and eastern mmorpg was never going to be enough to fill the void that was created.

nariusseldon

You didn't get the memo? mmorpg.com is no longer only about traditional mmorpg. It is now about broadened "MMO". Just take a look at their game list. Destiny counts. Warframe counts. 

If not enough people care about mmorpg anymore, the website has to adapt or die. 

Lawlmonster

I'm cool with it.

nariusseldon

Lawlmonster said:

I'm cool with it.

It is not like you have a choice. The only other option is not to come to this site. 

Lawlmonster

nariusseldon said:

Lawlmonster said:

I'm cool with it.

It is not like you have a choice. The only other option is not to come to this site. 

OP asked for thoughts, I provided them. I'm glad you've weighed in, sweetheart.

cjmarsh

IceAge said:

cjmarsh said:

Personally I think it's the quiet before the storm as a lot of crowdfunded and indie titles are finally starting to take the last steps into becoming an actual product. They will shake up the industry one way or another and determine what the larger studios are going to be willing to take a risk on. Also, A:IR just got a ton of funding so we might see another eastern import soon.

The quiet before the storm ? Are you calling crowdfunded and indie titles the .. "storm" of this genre ? 

I strongly believe that this crowdfunded titles will not shake up the industry in any way. I mean, I don't see anything innovating in any said titles, nor .. something more then decent.

But to each his own. I find this crowdfunded projects the decline of this genre. 

I'm not convinced that the indie titles will be all that successful but what consumers are attracted to in them is likely going to be a big factor in deciding how the next generation of MMOs are going to be designed. In an industry worth billions of dollars with project lifetimes that take up the better part of a decade there is no surprise in there being a lull between major AAA titles. This isn't a genre in decline by any means, it is just one waiting for the technology to catch up and there have been gains in recent years that will prove for some very exciting games down the road.

nariusseldon

Lawlmonster said:

nariusseldon said:

Lawlmonster said:

I'm cool with it.

It is not like you have a choice. The only other option is not to come to this site. 

OP asked for thoughts, I provided them. I'm glad you've weighed in, sweetheart.

I am glad that you are glad that i weighted in. Will do so more.

JDis25

MMOs.com has some good articles, although there is no community on the website which is why I still prefer this one.

JJ82

It isnt due to an MMO slowdown as there are more being made right now than there were each year 5 years ago. The difference is that they lost a TON of readers during that event a few years back when a very very very large group of gamers exposed people in the industry and the trust level fell so low that many sites have never recovered from it so are trying desperately to bring in new people. Not to mention the massive issue with how they punish opinions and ban people here destroying the community with a gestapo like fervor for controlling the narrative on games they are getting advertising money from(which will probably get this post deleted/edited and me banned).

So here they are expanding what they cover to try to bring in more types of people, others turn to non-gaming things or have shut down.

Kyleran

I've found some other websites to be a bit better at covering more traditional MMOs, but their feedback sections aren't as good as this site's more open forums.

Whereas this used to be my only source for MMORPG info, I regularly visit several others to keep up to date on the genre.

Theocritus

I remember when we just used to talk about MMOs that were released!

dreamsfade

Kyleran said:

I've found some other websites to be a bit better at covering more traditional MMOs, but their feedback sections aren't as good as this site's more open forums.

Whereas this used to be my only source for MMORPG info, I regularly visit several others to keep up to date on the genre.

Yup, same here.

MasoodVoon

I'm not sure why people burn this website and the editors. They are just providing a variety of multiplayer content. The traditional MMO's are still my favorite to read about but it doesn't mean I think other games are irrelevant.  If you don't like the direction and you have such passion about it volunteer to write an article for them on something that you like! This is almost as annoying about reading from people complaining about free to play and then hearing people complain about how another game is too expensive.

nariusseldon

MasoodVoon said:

I'm not sure why people burn this website and the editors. They are just providing a variety of multiplayer content. The traditional MMO's are still my favorite to read about but it doesn't mean I think other games are irrelevant.  If you don't like the direction and you have such passion about it volunteer to write an article for them on something that you like! This is almost as annoying about reading from people complaining about free to play and then hearing people complain about how another game is too expensive.

In fact, it has nothing to do with this website. 

If they are not happy that western companies are no longer interested in AAA MMORPGs, they can put their career and money where their mouths are. Go become a game develop and make something you like. 

Otherwise, your only option is pretty much to vote with your time & wallet. 

cameltosis

I have no problem with this site covering other genres and doing hardware reviews. Whilst I come here primarily for MMO news, I do play other genres and enjoy reading about them here. 


That said, the lack of news about MMOs is definitely a sign of a slowdown / stagnation in the genre. 

Panther2103

This thread comes and goes every couple of months, there is no way to generate news stories about only MMORPG games at this point. We would get maybe 1 or 2 articles every two days, and it isn't going to generate enough traffic and I'm assuming revenue for them to keep the site running at that point. 

It's been pretty accepted that they have to cover other things like Peripherals and other types of games, and honestly I welcome any of those types of articles as sometimes it turns me onto things I may not otherwise see. You can still come to this site to only discuss MMORPG games, as most of us still mainly do that. But the news can't only be about MMORPGs if there aren't any coming out any time soon, or the same news has been provided over and over. 

When interest dies in a genre, at least a fad type interest, and the community left isn't big enough to push out new games in the genre every few months, then the news sites start to move over into other things. It's a normal happening.