MMORPGS causing people to buy fewer games?

Greslore

VERY interesting article I found on Slashdot.   Quotes an article from Gamespot based on this article

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taken from: http://www.grimwell.com/index.php?action=fullnews&id=330

Do MMORPG's Cause People to Buy Less at Retail?

Wednesday June 21, 2006 by Grimwell

According to information at MMOGChart,
there are over 12 million MMORPG players in the world. To put that
number in perspective, games that sell a million or more copies are few
and far between these days -- so 12 million players is more than a few
peanuts. MMORPG's tend to retain players longer than a traditional game
as people will often play a single MMORPG obsessively for months, or
years in some cases! If you are the company benefitting from the
monthly subscription for the game, this is a very big draw -- to the
point that many MMORPG's have built in time sinks to ensure that
players have reason to play for months on end.

What if you
aren't the MMOG company, though? What impact is there on the bottom
line of other companies in the gaming industry? Do MMORPG's benefit the
industry by bringing in more actively involved gamers? Or do they bleed
money away from other companies in the industry as MMORPG players spend
their money on subscriptions and skip out on trying other games that
hit the shelf because they already have something to go home to?

Could MMORPG's be bad for the industry?

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Tuutob

Hey, it's not the MMORPG's fault it is addicting to someone...

If more people like MMORPG's there's really nothing anyone can do except make them

Rod_B

I used to buy PC games occasionally yeah, haven't bought mroe then one in the last two years tho. I've been playing MMO's longer then that, but the last two-three years have been more intensive then my UO days were.

nomadian

haha its true when I've played a mmorpg I have played less games. Perhaps it will encourage more companies to come into the mmorpg genre and see where the money is.

ianubisi

When I'm deeply involved in a fun MMOG, I buy far fewer games. When I'm not deeply involved in a MMOG I tend to buy a game almost every week.

By and large, MMOGs have saved me a lot of money over the years.

Elnator

More like the quality and depth of content in MMORPG's makes it pointless for you to buy any but the very best games released.  I don't buy as many games as I used to because I am far more finicky about what I will play.  If it's not as good as, or better than, the MMO I am playing then I have no real interest in purchasing a game.

The list of Non MMORPG games I've actually purchased in the past 6 years (not counting ones I got as gifts) is:
Vampire:  Bloodlines
MechWarrior III & IV  (and expansions)
KOTOR
KOTOR II
Star Wars Battlefront II (Got BF 1 as a present)
Vampire:  Redemption
Far Cry (PC)
Diablo II (And regretted it)
NeverWinter Nights Series of releases.
Freelancer
Galactic Civilizations II

That's it.

Prior to UO (which was actually 9 years ago) I used to buy a new video game almost once a month.  A LOT of them would suick and wind up in the trash fairly quickly.  Since I started playing MMORPG's I do a lot more research on games before I buy them and if they don't look interesting enough to me I just avoid them, or wait for them to drop into the bargain bin.  EQ1 and UO had the most drastic affect... I didn't buy a single video game while I was playing UO regularly.  Same with EQ1.... it wasn't till I was playing DAOC that I started buying the occasional video game again.  And for the year I played SWG religiously (June 2004-Aug 2005) I didn't buy any either.  

To be honest it's not just because of MMORPG's either.  Since Origin and Kesmai and a few other huge names in the single player market went under (or rather, were destroyed) there haven't been too many quality games on the market. 

imortal986

The MMO genre may be claiming the market, but it is due primarily to the rapid growth in online tech.  The fact that in so few years (10ish for instance), so many people have come to explore the internet, has led to a push on the gaming industry to support it.  I think that although MMOs are mainstream now, other games will still be able to compete down the road, by offering more enticing and innovative ideas, and support for online play.

While MMOs have claimed my wallet for the time... I still purchase non-MMO games, very selectively.

imortal986

I apologize for the second post but it appears that there was a glitch and I ended up having 2 of the same post.

baff

Mmorpg's haven't changed my shopping habits, I finish them pretty quickly and move on to the next game.

I play a variety of computer games from many genres not just MMO's. I haven't bought an MMO for about a year and I'm not expecting to for another 6-9 months. 

Pc games are a big growth market. I doubt 12 million subs is going to especially slow it.

At a guess, I would say 8 out of the current top 20 best selling PC games in the U.K. have all sold over a million each. 

vqly

I know I have personally stop buying console games altogether and pc games far and few between (as oppose to quite a lot) after I started playing mmorpgs.

So yeah, there's some truth to that article.

I have a vision that in the future, there won't be such thing as a "stand-alone" game. ALL games will be mmorpgs/networked games in one form or another

WindexofDoom

the only decent non MMO game i have bought in a while is Battlefield 2.  Normally non MMO games are low quality, IMO.

Navsterz

I think the offline/non mmorpg gaming industry is losing out not only to MMORPGs but to piracy and the ability to easily download the game and play it... but as where with mmorpgs you can download the game but you can't play it for free unless there has been a private server released, which in most cases is not released or made untill a year or more after the games release.

Mavick

When I played EQ for about 2 years I only turned on my ps2 when I was LFG, or waiting for my guild to assemble for a raid, and even then I only turned it on if there was absolutely nothing on TV.  When I'm into an mmo I don't bother with single player games, so I don't buy them.  Since I haven't played an mmo in almost 2 years I've bought 15-20 games, and an xbox360, something I wouldn't have even thought of if I hadn't fried my computer. 

cumbom

I am actually having a really hard time deciding if I want to pull myself away from EQ2 to play the Superman Game next week, and I am a HUGE Superman fan and that game looks SOOOO GOOOD!

Murais

   Since starting my first MMO (FFXI in '02), I've bought about 6 games:

     KOTOR
     KOTOR II
     Guild Wars
     World of Warcraft
     Half-life 2
     Elder Scrolls: Oblivion


        Before that, I bought console games like candy. Since starting MMOs, I've actually SAVED money.