The market for superhero MMOs isn't big currently, it would be unrealistic to say they expect numbers like 500k subscribers. So they have already placed MTs to make up for the low subscription numbers (which makes some not even purchase the game - like me, but they must believe it will work). DCUO will probably bring a good quantity of people into MMO gaming, if they start advertising their MMO for their already loyal customer base, but I don't see how Cryptic could do it, except for a few people that enjoy WAR trying CO.
I don't think CoX is necessarily a good measure of how big the market for superhero MMOs is.
Randomly generated instanced missions aren't to everyone's tastes. The only mmo I can think of that used them as extensively as CoX is Matrix Online - and that was a huge flop. I never played MO - but the reviews I read when I was considering trying the free trial all mentioned this style of mission as a downside.
CO is deliberately more mainstream (i.e. EQ-esque) in this regard because of the long-standing criticism of CoX that it lacks 'world factor'. Minus the MTs, I think it would have given a more accurate measure of how big this market this.
Though DCUO also looks likely to have MTs of some description - so we may never know.
G4: Speaking of it being successful, when youre launching an MMO, like how many subscribers do you need in order to survive or thrive? JE: Well, I think that number is the number for success is over 100,000 for us. If its over 100,000, Im skipping the light fantastic. The break-even point is somewhere below 100,000. And thats obviously depending upon every MMO is different depending on how much money is spent on it. But, clearly, we mark 100,000 as success.
From memory, CoH's business model was built on getting 50k subscribers to break even. As such, it has had a very good ROI to its owners.
I don't see this as a case of setting the bar low, I see it as a case of being realistic. If you build your business plan on becoming the second most successful MMO in the US market by player size just to break even (looking at you, WAR) then you are setting yourself up for a failure. Being profitable at 100k players seems like a fantastic thing to plan around to me.
There is a difference between saying what your break even point/profit mark is and how many players you think your game will attract. They are not the same question and it seems they are being blurred into that same topic.
That being said, the G4 question was loaded and there really is no good answer. It is setting the bar low to say 100k players in the size of the mmo market right now, but it is also smart to be meek about a new game instead of talk how awesome you think it will do. To many "steak and glass of wine" and "we are the led zepplin of mmo" claims that came back to bite developers in the ass.
Comments
I don't think CoX is necessarily a good measure of how big the market for superhero MMOs is.
Randomly generated instanced missions aren't to everyone's tastes. The only mmo I can think of that used them as extensively as CoX is Matrix Online - and that was a huge flop. I never played MO - but the reviews I read when I was considering trying the free trial all mentioned this style of mission as a downside.
CO is deliberately more mainstream (i.e. EQ-esque) in this regard because of the long-standing criticism of CoX that it lacks 'world factor'. Minus the MTs, I think it would have given a more accurate measure of how big this market this.
Though DCUO also looks likely to have MTs of some description - so we may never know.
THOSE BASTARDS. THEY KILLED OPTIMUS PRIME!!!
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From memory, CoH's business model was built on getting 50k subscribers to break even. As such, it has had a very good ROI to its owners.
I don't see this as a case of setting the bar low, I see it as a case of being realistic. If you build your business plan on becoming the second most successful MMO in the US market by player size just to break even (looking at you, WAR) then you are setting yourself up for a failure. Being profitable at 100k players seems like a fantastic thing to plan around to me.
There is a difference between saying what your break even point/profit mark is and how many players you think your game will attract. They are not the same question and it seems they are being blurred into that same topic.
That being said, the G4 question was loaded and there really is no good answer. It is setting the bar low to say 100k players in the size of the mmo market right now, but it is also smart to be meek about a new game instead of talk how awesome you think it will do. To many "steak and glass of wine" and "we are the led zepplin of mmo" claims that came back to bite developers in the ass.