Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
'Free Realms' Aims for Bigger Audience than 'Warcraft'
relish001
Member Posts: 15
The Only reason I am posting this is because of the statement JS gives at the end of the article... here is the end statement.
Smedley also remarked on the new direction this game marks for SOE as a whole, commenting, "'Free Realms,' in my mind, is going to take the company in a direction we've needed to go for a long time. We've been making these Lord of the Rings kind of 'high fantasy takes itself too seriously' games for a long time now. I don't think those games are bad, by any stretch of the imagination ?? it's been our bread and butter. But those games don't have that kind of mass level of accessibility, I think, even 'World of Warcraft' notwithstanding. We're not aiming for those kinds of numbers with 'Free Realms,' we're aiming for a lot bigger. I think that bringing something that I can play with my kids to the market is a big deal."
lmao is all I have to say. Thoughts?
-Relish
Rawr
Comments
but im not sure that he sees what the problem is with MMOs
genre is interchangeable, its gameplay that is lacking
and there's always the more low-tech approach.... try playing Sorry, Clue or the Life with the kids.... mine loved it.
"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
Is that a fact?
-Relish
Rawr
Total time played: 9125 Days, 21 Hours, 29 Minutes, 27 Seconds
Time played this level: 39 Days, 1 Hour, 24 Minutes, 5 Seconds
In other words, we cant seem to get big subscription numbers on our own, so we are going to copy other, more successful, models.
I don't think this will have much an impact over here in the states due to it being "just another Asian style mmo". Only time will tell if it can make an impact in the already flooded Asian market, though. On one hand, there seems to be plenty of room for growth in that market, since there seems to be MMO's of all types being released there all the time. On the other hand, with all those games being released all the time, theres sure to be some serious competition. Claiming that you are going to be bigger than WoW in your first foray into a new market seems like setting yourself up for failure.
This is my opinion.
Edit: I think (hope) that comment about 99.9% of WoW's population being kids was just sarcasm...
Perception is Reality.
Just because they are gearing the game towards a wider audience doesnt mean that it will get more subscriptions than their other games. They just dont want to target the same audience as other mmorpgs (inlcuding WoW and their own mmorpgs like EQ2 and VG). Its not like they actually expect every girl and every kid who might like video games to play their mmorpg.
Play as your fav retro characters: cnd-online.net. My site: www.lysle.net. Blog: creatingaworld.blogspot.com.
"The title is said to be primarily aimed at children, particularly girls. It will be free to play for the most part, although a paid subscription will be in place granting players access to special zones and activities. Likely, this means the game will follow a model similar to that of popular MMORPGs like 'Maple Story.'"
Here's another quote from earlier in the article and I think the big problem with this kind of logic that there are more people out there other than those people who like to play the WoW's or LOTRO or EQ is that those people are NOT gamers. The big MMO's have attracted the gamers and yes, there are a lot of people that are not gamers, but why would they want to play your online game? Just because it's not like the typical MMO doesn't mean they are gonna want to play it. And even if they did for some reason decide to play, it's going to be very casual in nature I would guess with a high turnover rate, so while you might get 10,000 new customers a month, 10,000 others are gonna quit playing after a month. The big MMO's didn't get up to the subscription rates they have overnight, it took months and years where they maintained the majority of their members month to month.
I don't see it. Looks a lot like the argument that "The Sims" was gonna be the biggest online game of all time. We all know how that turned out and it already had a large fan base to begin with.
I'm looking forward to some grand entertainment from this. No, not from playing any dumbass game they come up with but from watching SOE flounder around cluelessly and try to figure out why their projects are failing so miserably.
I'm not a fantical SOE hater but I really do believe that Smed doesn't have any idea what gamers of any type want in a game. And he not only doesn't understand what they want, he doesn't care. He got lucky once with EQ because, basically, they were in the right place at the right time. But since then it's been one f-ck up after another...including f-cking up the one big hit they had originally which was EQ.
Knowledge is Power!
What the hell is he supposed to say? "We're aiming for ok numbers"?
Seriously you SOE haters are geting brutal. Everything anyone from SOE says is somehow used as a flame now.
WoW is not invincible and if anyone has the means the money and the tech to design something that can destroy it, its SoE.
The only thing that makes wow what it is is just that its warcraft. The game has been around for ages and has probably one of the biggest fan bases out there. If Warcraft RTS never exsisted, and WoW was the first of its kind of the warcraft name. I doubt the game would have near as many fans as it does now.
If SoE start caring what the fans think (like blizzard does), and start taking there input to heart, listening to what they have to say. Then yeah I think WoW will get dethroned. I however find this very unlikely given SoE's track record.
Personally I could care less about either company or there, but I will give each credit where credit is due.
Raven
Also, as a parent I don't want to play MMOs with my son. My son needs his own life.
I don't think Smed is as smart as he thinks he is.
and there's always the more low-tech approach.... try playing Sorry, Clue or the Life with the kids.... mine loved it.
I feel sorry for your kids.
Absolutely brilliant. All you Smedley haters wish you could be his limo driver, since you all make 10's of thousands a year while he's making millions. I guess you guys got it all figured out. LOL
Seriously, make a couple Mario type, like paper mario, mario cart, smash bros., maybe get a license with the Harry Potter franchise, and make kiddie style games. Promote them on cartoon networks "Play "Mario" against ANYONE in the world". Make them easy and fun and you'll rule the world. Raise everyone's kids for them, and then teach them how to play the more complicated games as they get older.
Keep them glued to PS3's and PC's from 5 till 105.
"Granted thinking for yourself could be considered a timesink of shorter or longer duration depending on how smart..or how dumb you are."
-
Do not hate it, but instead embrace the diversity.
Begin Flaming.
I pretty much ignore Smedley, there is not a more clueless game company exec in the business. It is a wonder they make any money at all. If he says something you can pretty much assume just the opposite, he is that bad.
If you notice most of these new games say they are going to replace Wow, yet everyone falls flat on their face. Lotro is the latest, it is not a bad game, but it's numbers are small when compared to Wow.
The asian market is quite different than the North America/Europe, they just don't generate the revenue. Take Wow for example, Asia is over 50% of the subscriptions, but less than 25% of the revenue. They also have different tastes when it comes to MMO's. I have tried many of their more popular ones and not found one I can come close to liking.