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what is the future of MMORPG's?
crbapple
Member Posts: 1
What are your thoughts on the future of MMORPG's? I have played a few now and I feel through the past years that one of the things that seemed to make a game good was the fact that there were plenty of people playing. As the game became older and people either got bored or moved to a more modern game, the population of the old game decreased to the point where there were hardly any new players and everyone else were veterans that didnt have much left to shoot for. With the ever increasing number of choices of new games coming into the market, wont the gaming population become so dispersed that there will be very few games with any respectible populations? Obviously one could go into much more depth of why a game needs a good population to make it good, but that would take too much time to write.
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From the immortal words of Emile Coue
Every day, in every way, it's getting better and better.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
This is what I think happened and what will happen in the future. A few years ago, MMORPGs were still pretty new and pretty unpopular, around the time of UO, EQ, and AC. These populations grew slowly and once other new MMORPGs (DAoC, AO, WWIIOL, PS, SWG) started coming the populations started to thin out a bit with people starting to play all of them. These new games didn't really draw as many new people to MMORPGs as they did people from the earlier MMORPGs. So MMORPG populations dipped for a bit. Now, WoW has drawn many, many, MANY new people to MMORPG games. I have friends playing WoW that I never thought would ever play anything like it and they love it. I think this new influx of WoW players will get bored of WoW (as many already have) and go on to newer (even older) MMORPGs.
So what's the future of MMORPGs? Well, WoW and other MMORPGs like it have lots of money but don't really have very many unique aspects of their game. This is what gives the indie/low-budget developer a chance to develop new, unique ideas and games which will change MMORPGs for the better.
Widely-marketed games like WoW are drawing in many more gamers who will most likely try more MMORPGs and maybe keep playing them. I think WoW and others like it have brought in enough new players to revitalize MMORPGs a little bit once they tire of WoW. In the end, although I dislike WoW, it is ensuring the survival of MMORPGs.
Also, larger populations make MMORPGs good for many reasons. First of all, that's where they're different from all other games. Second, there are more people to quest with, talk with, fight with, have fun with, and kill. Running through lively, packed towns is more fun than running through a ghost town with a few NPCs standing around (at least to me).
Just breifly...
Stengths : addictive entertainment, human interaction, active not passive, enough money to attract major investors, growth industry
Weaknesses : Cynical devs appearing who beleive game players are mugs, big buisiness means focus on cash not the game, broadband tech is still too low to support major grafic advances, too many average titles around hurting the image of the industry overall
Opportunities : the largest part of the potential market dont even know they exist, cross promotion from movies, many old stories and movies to make new games from, technology offering advances we cant even think of yet
Threats : popularity will breed mediocrity - its already happening, hollywood links could do more harm than good, a bigger pie will allow fringe developers to make games that apeal to seasoned players, the first wave of real scams is yet to happen but the writing is on the wall.
If we look at the movie and music industries, I cringe in anticipation of the sequels and re-runs we may have to endure.
From a more optimistic PoV maybe with a much bigger market and more efficient technology, better more complex games will have the chance to emerge.
Thye opportunity for a major new idea is sitting there waiting to be picked up.
Overall En1gma got it right.... the future should be bright!
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"MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
http://purepwnage.com
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"Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
I would say that that is a very good question of mmorpgs.
I think that since the whole world is more easily interacting, everyone wants to...hence everyone having cell phones, internet and such in america. Therefore, the interaction level in mmorpgs has drawn many people into them and lessened attention to other games. I think that eventually, only online multiplayer games will exist, wether they be shooting games, role playing games or such, but each company will probobly own a few online games, and just keep improving them. Then there won't be so many people widely disperesed over a lot of games because companies wouldn't need to produce as many, because they are pulling in tons of money from tons of people subscribing to their games. This stuff might not happen, but I hope it will happen, and there is probobly some likelyhood that it will.
I am of the strong opinion that we have only begun to see the surface scratched on the available playerbase that has yet to even try a single MMOG.
In other words, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever to fear dilution.
I believe future MMO's will have more purpose to people being there. Planetside almost had it, but since no one side could truely be defeated it just turned into a large circle of events, like most mmorpgs. Storylines add purpose right?? Wrong, storylines really dont effect players like they want. In single player games you are told what to do and you do it so save humanity or whatever, and without that player the main goal would likely to never be achieved. The Matrix online is all about purpose i guess..., the storyline will effect players and will push players into directions they will have to go, but it lacks a clear objective which people like for the most part (save the world, kill the enemy, etc.).
Though i fear purpose in a game may not be possible for a long long time b/c of the ability to be exactely like the player next to you, a lack of randomness and the lack of things you in real life cant control (appearence, name, things you start out with, personality, etc..).
america has a population of 250 million and the europeans have like 4 times that right. yet currently only MAYBE 20million people worldwide out fo 5 billion have subscriptions to MMORPGs.
i think first off guildwars is takinga step in the right direction having no monthly fee, so that people wont not buy it cus they read "subscription required" on the box. i think guildwars could have a shot at sort of becoming like the world in .hack where all the funding comes from the fact that the community is growing and getting more popular therefore they make all their money off sales of the game.
i think also the largest step that has been taken in the past two years is game cards, cus lets face it with the scare of identity theft, giving out your CC number isnt always the smartest thing and that has prolly been a surprizingly large deterent.
and i think free world is actually making a step forward in the fact that you can hunt the DoDo birds to totaly extenction(deliberate gramatical error).
however no one has yet to incorporate the "Fable" features, yes i am talking about the crappy xbox RPG, but however it had some good ideas.
thats my thoughts on where it will go.
PS en1gma if u like that post can u give me 1 point on my user rating so im elite again????
98% of the teenage population does or has tried smoking pot. If you''re one of the 2% who hasn''t, copy & paste this in your signature.
Staff begging!
Come on Vampy! Whatever you do, dont openly beg on the public channel! At least spam them with private emails, they read you faster and you keep the channels free! Unless you actually want to beg from ANYONE around here?
*take cover*
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I think soon all games will become online/multiplayer. And the future will be great. I dont think population in multiplayer games will ever be a problem in actual GOOD games. IF a game is truely good people will pick up on it and have a great community. Thats how i see it, but that also comes with a few bad apples as well.
Online gives people a chance to get away from their true personality and life. They become the online them, their alias. Its a whole new world and people love it now and always will love it.
98% of the teenage population does or has tried smoking pot. If you''re one of the 2% who hasn''t, copy & paste this in your signature.
Staff begging!
Come on Vampy! Whatever you do, dont openly beg on the public channel! At least spam them with private emails, they read you faster and you keep the channels free! Unless you actually want to beg from ANYONE around here?
*take cover*
An u can only beg for what isnt yours, and i only lost the 5 points because of Sexi Lexi's god damn "Smartest thing i ever read", in which it was basically just bashing me.
and i believe adreal was way way way way way way way way way way too nice on her. she has been told what is wrong with her posts time and time again. the only solutino is to have her stop posting.
thats why she was banned in the first place.
besides im posting as much as murt, kiamde, and most of the higher end member now.
and im not posting junk.
anway i think at the end of the month ill at least be elite again.
98% of the teenage population does or has tried smoking pot. If you''re one of the 2% who hasn''t, copy & paste this in your signature.
No way. Only I'm 1337z0r.
I think that eventualy games will suck if they dont have online play and i think mmos will keep continuing to grow because people love escape and adventure. Gamers Hell site already rates a game low if it dosent have online capability im sure other sites also do this and magazines honestly i think mmos should be underground and against the law because it takes up sooooo much time and becomes a stumbaling block in our lives but ofcourse that wont happen. MMOS ------->
98% of the teenage population does or has tried smoking pot. If you''re one of the 2% who hasn''t, copy & paste this in your signature.
Well thats obvious isnt it .
The same thing that happened to overpopularization of RPGs will happen to MMOs. They will rush so fast to get a product out that the good ones will be few and far between. My favorite RPGs are still from the commodore64 and Nintendo.
The target for MMOs used to be adults - now its for kids. Guess there is more money there. Kids will love it, but they will grow out of it while their own kids will play the next gen games. Viscious cycle of corporate America.
This is the "threat"
If my memory serves me correctly (cant be bothered googling) the largest market for popular music is 12-17 y/o females. This may have nothing to do with MMO's but what it does say is that there is a market there with discretionary income that drives a MASSIVE industry like music, that isnt even touched for MMO's
Any company with a brain is going to aim for the largest segment of the market. What do you think an MMO targeting 12-17 y/o girls would look like ? I shudder to think
But what does this have to do with the prospects of great games for the rest of us ? Well unless these companies plan to run parrallel projects aimed at several markets, the resources that could have gone into something great will go into something lame. (to most of us)
The only bright spot at the end of this tunnel is like Anofayle said and I noted in "opportunities" there is a whole world out there that doesnt even know MMO's exist. Many of these people are the same type of folks we are, that would love to see a well done game like DnL or D&D etc etc.
Lets just hope someone at the top has the sense and the argument power to put those points to the suits when they are working out how to suck away poor kids allowances on crap games like they currently do with the crap that passes for music these days.
Brittanys World of Adventure online ?
Just shoot me now
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"MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
http://purepwnage.com
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"Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon
I think WoW started this process (in the western world at least). WoW is the first MMORPGs to appeal the mass market, and GW will continue this process.
In Asia the conversion of players from off-line games to online games is already begun years ago with Lineage. Now the Asian market seems more interested in MMOs than off line games.
The same thing will happen in the Western market.
In the future 70% of players will play MMOs instead of normal games, and this future is not so far away
The next generation consoles will bring online play to the forefront.With xbox2 and the ps3 just around the corner gaming will be changed very soon.
If these 2 systems are as powerful as rumors say think about the next consoles after these come out.No doubt mmo's WILL be developed on consoles very very soon.
Some games wont even be mmo's but will be just as fun to play.Say a "EvE" ish universe with 500 or less players?Take a browser based game and put it in a console format or how about muliplayer GTA6?
Take San Andreas and make it a mmo?
How about taking every game produced and making it true multiplayer console or not?Vampire bloodlines should have been multiplayer on release and it wasnt.Sure would have been nive though.
Want to ENJOY an mmo?
Dont start a guild and dont be a leader or volunteer to be coleader or captain.
Just play the damn game:)
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