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Should MMOs cater to all or to few?
Consuetudo
Member UncommonPosts: 191
In the beginning, the earliest MMOs catered to the whole community. This is because the amount of MMOs at that time was very small, and you only had a choice of a few games anyway: necessarily, each one defined what an MMO was, and the players constituting future niches had to find their own fun in such games as well, since there were no other options. As time went on, and the number of MMOs increased, they began to differ from one another, with new elements being added, certain old ones being emphasized. Now, most MMOs attempt to grab the largest number of players, yet wisened veterans of the genre at this point know and expect better, so those MMOs fail to attain what they want; and those MMOs which formulate themselves to cater to a specific niche, dwindle in obscurity, as their communities never grow large enough to deliver on what the genre promises.
Comments
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Yet another lacking poll. Did not vote.
It depends on the MMO.
And I disagree entirely with your initial premise that the first few MMOs all catered to the entire community.
I mean, look at the big three. EQ, UO, AC. All very very different, and very good in their own ways.
would you like me to include the only possible option left of "a good mmo caters to no one?"
Herald of innovation, Vanquisher of the old! - Awake a few hours almost everyday!
Agreed completely. The big three had very different and extremely loyal audiences. All three games were very different from one another as well. I would say that each game was specialized in many regards, additionally, I'd argue that the game that tried to really cater to all was WoW.
Many mmos did specialize before the WoW era, and each of them was successful in their own right. The problem now is that too many believe sub numbers rule the world. I don't think AC had many more than 25k users, but it was considered successful. Hell, even EQ which peaked around 500k (iirc), would be considered a flop by today's standards. Unless you retain millions the game "failed".
The answer to the question was already answered. It should have a target audience. It doesn't matter if that audience is niche or general, go for that audience and do what you can to retain them. As long as the game is fun, everything else will fall in place.
"Other"
/eyes
They're businesses. They're going to release products which are both broad and niche, depending on what the market is perceived as being able to support.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
A good MMO should cater to all, but there are two ways MMOs can cater to all:
1) The old school way, like what Consuetuno said. It is a game where RPers can be RPers, gankers can be gankers, bread bakers can be bread bakers, and everyone needs everyone else to do what they do. This is the way I like.
2) The new school way, like what today's producers want. It is a game where anything that is unpopular is taken out. This is the way I don't like.
__________________________
"Its sad when people use religion to feel superior, its even worse to see people using a video game to do it."
--Arcken
"...when it comes to pimping EVE I have little restraints."
--Hellmar, CEO of CCP.
"It's like they took a gun, put it to their nugget sack and pulled the trigger over and over again, each time telling us how great it was that they were shooting themselves in the balls."
--Exar_Kun on SWG's NGE
"So long as the game is fun... everything will fall in place"
Such a fleeting statement... how many games are outright awful or unfun the first time you try them? A lot start out as fun then get old real fast.
Longevity is probably a bigger goal to try an attain... because most lack it... in spades.
"Personally think games have gone in the sh*tter ever since they started listening and catering to the players."
What he said.
IMO, a good portion of EVE's success can be attributed to CCP's focus on listed to their players.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
Games should be designed for the target audience, whether that target audience is as narrow as Star Wars fans or as broad as everyone in the whole world.
A designer whose target audience is the latter would have to consider a lot of issues concerning accessibility (how easy it is for players from many demographics to pick up the controls, understand what's going on, etc.) and giving everybody something to do. A designer whose target audience is the former should be concerned with the things that fans find makes the Star Wars setting exciting, like oh, I don't know, space combat? If your target audience includes progression raiders, then you would be well advised to provide interesting raids and a well-thought out progression mechanic.
The tough part as a gamer is that although a game might have some things you like, in other areas you might fall well outside of the audience the game was designed for. WildStar is a great example. People who find the combat, character paths, raiding and PvP focus, etc. appealing might find the visual style and tone of the game appalling, and vice versa.
I also think that broad audience and "casual audience" are not necessarily the same thing, even if the casual audience is generally considered to be large. A game that appeals to a broad audience can have features many people consider "hardcore" for lack of a better term, but it provides many of them to appeal to many different types of players.
No MMO can be all things to all gamers. It does have to cater to some sort of niche.
Thanks,
Mike
Working on Social Strategy MMORTS (now Launched!) http://www.worldalpha.com
Because i can.
I'm Hopeful For Every Game, Until the Fan Boys Attack My Games. Then the Knives Come Out.
Logic every gamers worst enemy.
I think MMO shouldn't focus on catering at all but should focus on creating worlds.
Devs need to start looking at what they are doing as art and literature as oppose to making a commercial.
Build it and they will come... if it is good; and if they don't, it is because your backyard is shit. Copying other people's backyards won't help if your mentality is shit to start with.
The depth of this topic is going to go over a lot of heads.
For a game to cater to a few, for example...raiders. It would mean the game would completely lack in every other MMO aspect from crafting to open world PvE as well as PvP...name me one old school game that so many will claim was great that did that.
The idea of catering to a few is far deeper than many are saying here, most of whom no doubt are falling back to the tried and true "old games were great, new ones suck" argument...when in fact, the only real difference today is that the games are easier and watered down to cater to non-MMO players.
EQ catered to groups, crafters, explorers and expanded further to include PvPers and larger group sizes. That is NOT catering to a FEW.
I hope we shall crush...in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomes Jefferson
I admire an MMO that tries to please everyone, even if it is an impossible task.
It's just something about the genre - while most games try to provide a focused experience, I like the old fashioned idea of MMOS being a big tent where many different kinds of people meet, even if they have conflicting basic play styles.
We all want our ideal experience. We all get irritated by compromises made for people who play the game differently than we do, but I'm not convinced that culling players who don't share one narrow play style is a good idea. I think you lose essential diversity and I think you lose economies of scale when you try to carve up an audience and make specialized games for each niche community.
That said, there are certain divides that are very hard to bridge. For example, putting PvE and PvP players in the same world without making many people very unhappy is a puzzle I can't figure out how to solve.