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[Column] General: How Long is an MMO's Life?
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
I’ve been playing some Wildstar lately and it’s been really nice. I have always absolutely loved its art style and get such a kick of its animations and character creation (although some of the female characters need way more options) that I find myself playing it just to look around or take screenshots. I was playing this weekend with my Gamer Hangout co-host Eboni, and she commented at one point that leveling “takes a long time.” I was surprised; I felt like there was no way I should have leveled twice within a few hours. Then again, she was probably just impatient to get her player house, which happens at level 14.
Read more of Beau Hindman's A Casual, Cornered: How Long is an MMO's Life?
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i love wildstar- have recently ran out of things todo endgame(and waiting for f2p) to start my alts, but i recently started playing SWTOR for the very first time= and well iam hoping WS uses them as a role model for content not cash shop-lol.
that said- iam hoping Wildstar has a longevity it deserves-they really have turned the game around- and its the ones that walked away thatll miss out on a really well done mmo.
Sway all day, butterfly flaps all the way!
My thoughts on this:
If a developer / publisher keeps the game fresh and interesting, with new development, activity, and a reasonable amount of promotion, I see no reason that the game should ever go stale enough that pulling the plug becomes the only option.
On the flip side, when a developer / publisher milks the game and lets it go stagnant, I give it three years until the population has dwindled where pulling the plug become a humanitarian act of putting the thing out of its misery.
What I personally find unfortunate is when a half-decent game with moderate population gets sent to the morgue just because the developer / publisher doesn't want to make the effort. Perhaps because profits weren't enough to make them happy.
That's sort of like killing Grandma just because she takes too long in the bathroom.
You know those colorful, yet cheaply built items you can buy at Walmart? The ones made in mass for as little as possible, and sold for as much as they can get away with? You know those items. They tend to break down after a few uses, or short out and set your house on fire. They aren't built to last. They are designed to keep you buying more and more to increase profits. A quick thrill, and a fast buck.
That is what the majority of the MMO's in the last 10 years have been like. They're designed to keep you for 3 or 4 months, and dip into your wallet as often as possible for those super sized wings, flaming shoulderpads, and uber flying mounts.
It's not about deep, involved, immersive gameplay anymore. The developers are fully aware of the figures that graph peaks, and drop-offs, in populations and spending, and design products to get the most bang for their buck. Then, they make a new one, and a new one after that, rotating the cycle to catch the game hoppers, the content locusts, and those that simply have to play the newest, shiniest thing as soon as possible.
Not only is that instant-gratification demographic being almost entirely catered to, it is training that demographic with the expectation that future products will be similar: shallow gameplay, short curve to level cap, and all the best e-peen increasing eye-candy is but a micro-transaction away. But, why wouldn't you cater to those millions, when you can make billions off of them?
So, given that model and trend (and to answer the OP's question), the current market simply doesn't design games any longer to keep you for years. It's less profitable for them to do that, and the time and financial investment to keep rolling out content takes away from that profit. Older games, yes, they are designed to keep you engaged and built solid communities. Newer games? Gotta keep that cycle going, and those shareholders happy.
I believe it entirely depends on the way a developer approaches content.
As long as the premise is for a person to follow a path from a beginning to an end, the games will keep running out of content. It is not possible for a studio to keep producing more content than a player can consume (especially post-launch).
From my point of view, the games that have potential for longevity are those that encourage player interaction (and player driven content) as much as possible. Ultima Online was built around roleplaying and guilds, rather than a linear story (player interaction). Similarly Skyrim mainly stayed popular due to its modding tools (player driven content).
If the developer manages to encourage people to stick together in a meaningful, they will have a much harder time leaving. Likewise, if players can develop a meaningful relationship with the environment (that does not end when a linear story ends), they are less likely to leave.
As long as developers are putting out content their player base wants.
Once sentence.
Firefall
Project Genom
Line of Defense MMO if it ever takes off xD
Bionic Marine Command Online
???
MMOFPS ftw
Sway all day, butterfly flaps all the way!
It's a combination of things. For one, there are so many more games, and many of them are free, which means that players can just skip to a new game at the first sign of burn out or frustration. When there were limited games that was not a viable option.
Beyond that though games often aren't designed for the long haul unless your in a raiding guild. The quest grind ends at max level, and then your options are battlegrounds, raids or move on.
https://www.therepopulation.com - Sci Fi Sandbox.
A MMO can last a lifetime if you and the developer want it to.However i really do believe people buy on impulse and seeing a new face/skin.I see VERY few people become entwined in their game but instead just chase end game and the best loot.Once that simplistic goal is reached,it becomes boring and nothing left to achieve.
To me it is a shallow mindset from the gamer as well proving developers are NOT creating FUN content,instead content players want to RUSH through.I have never in my life wanted to rush through something i enjoy,that usually is for something i don't like.
If a developer starts out with a decent game engine and create systems that can expand and get better,then you can make a triple A game and make it last forever.
ALWAYS a fine line for the developer to keep content simple enough to enjoy but complex enough to be challenging.If ever in question,then aim for fun over challenging.You NEVER want to make content feel restricted to say huge guilds or 24 man raids.There are lots of other options up for debate but the bottom line is these games should be lasting a very long time,not the few months i see in every game before a mass exodus.
A perfect example still fresh in minds is the recent ARK game.It has only been a couple weeks since the hype train and already i see a noticeable decline.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Beau,
Perhaps you should contrast your experience with Wildstar against an experience playing one of the new EQ progression servers. It would be interesting to hear how you find the comparison of a 'new' game vs one that is almost 20 years old (and still going).
I think you summed up my feelings on MMO's today better than I ever could. You get a cookie! Well said.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
That sounds like a good idea. I have an EQ account that is almost as old as my Ultima account. Should do a side-by-side.
Beau
Beau Hindman I agree with you. We need to create a crowd funded movement to keep mmos that have no dev and distributor support alive at least in a viewable format.
An example is the game I still play called Flyff.
We should use thunderclap.it to spread the word.