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Of course, indie MMOs try...but have not near the funding that an AAA company would have.
So what am I talking about? Every AAA MMO is themepark after WoW. Only one is going the sandbox route. Granted, it does seem EQNext is going to change things...so that is (from what has been revealed) a great step in the right direction.
Every themepark MMO that has been released has either shut down or went free to play. Even WoW is thinking of going down that path.
But no sandbox MMO has ever needed to be free to play. Some have free options (like Runescape), but all of them survive on a pay to play model...no themepark MMO except WoW (and even then, it doesn't look good) has needed to go free to play.
Lets see here.
SWTOR...failed and went free to play
LOTRO...failed and went free to play
EQ2...failed and went free to play
Age of Conan...failed and went free to play
RIFT...same thing...
list goes on.
However, Ultima Online is the oldest MMO...AND IS PAY TO PLAY! AND A SUCCESS!
EVE Online is a very successful MMO and completely pay to play (minus the stupid 50 dollar cash shop item that I still lol myself to sleep at)
Asheron's Call is also still pay to play, and it is as old as EQ
And...lets see...then some exceptions (like Ryzom has a free model, and probably only really true sandbox MMO that failed for some reason (which is a shame, as it is amazing))...and runescape having a free model, similar to Ryzom.
Now...what are the most successful games that MMOs can learn from?
Skyrim, X3 Terran Conflict, Minecraft (which EQ Next seems to be using ideas from), Grand Theft Auto, Saints Row 3...all are a super success, have more life span than a linear game AND...sell more copies than most themepark MMOs do.
And many companies are seeing that open world and sandbox games are a success and going that route...the next witcher...the next assassin's creed...and I'm sure others.
So to refer back to the title...is it time for AAA MMOs to change genres? All sandbox/openworld games (mmo, singleplayer or multiplayer) see FAR more success than any linear game.
My Skyrim, Fallout 4, Starbound and WoW + other game mods at MODDB:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-anime-overhaul
Comments
A. Why would an MMO change genres? We've seen what happens when an MMO merely changes target demographics (SWG), so hopefully you're not suggesting MMOs should change genres (poof now SW:TOR is an RTS!)
B. The raw demand for themepark experiences is massive. So massive that even with the huge reduction in demand associated with being a clone, all the "failures" you mention managed to be profitable games.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
LOTRO...failed and went free to play
EQ2...failed and went free to play
These two at least are not correct. They have both had stable populations for years. The switch was to get even more money, call it greed if you want, but they did not switch because they failed.
And these "failed" games have by and large generated more profit than virtually all the sandbox put together. So why would they switch?
You tell me what would you rather do. Start out with ten thousand subs and hopefully grow to 450k over a decade, or start out with 2 million subs and drop to 500k in 2 years?
Which one do you think the industry notices more?
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
UO was a sandbox and EQ crushed it. SWG came along and it was a sandbox and EQ crushed it too. So did EQ2 for awhile. Sandboxes, in what I'm starting to consider the "fundamentalist" style are not commercially viable entities. Not at a AAA level. Eve is the exception, and it's just that, an exception. It was self funded, which allowed it to grow its subscribers until it topped both UO and SWG. A AAA game will not be self funded. It will have investors, and will not be a "fundamentalist" sandbox.
That doesn't mean that "progressive" sandbox games won't come along. I think it's almost inevitable. The theme park vein has nearly been tapped, something else is going to have to come along. Sandbox features seem like a good thing to tap into (to me).
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
The 10 year old.. because the one starting with 2 million, got 500k after 1 year will most probably be dissapeared within 10 years. And the profit generated from the 10 year old is also a lot bigger.
@OP: 3 month ago i would most probably answered that no AAA mmo will be able to change the genre, because they are to expensive to try out anything unknown, and will always go the easy, the predictable route.
Now we do have EQN.. and maybe it will actually change the genre.. another design paradigm shift like back in the days from UO to EQ, and now again back to more UO style.
But in all honestly it is far to early to make any prediction, because we don't know enough about EQN to forsee anything.
And i still believe that the most innovative ideas will come from indy games(and it is true for EQN too.. they are heavily influenced from Minecraft a indy game).. and so i think small kickstarter games with experienced developer will more likely try out new things, and will change the genre a lot more than any AAA game ever could. But yes.. as usually AAA games will copy good ideas from indy game, when they have proved to be successful. And basicly that is it what happens with EQN, although they go by far further as i would have imagined a few month before.
It ought to: EA spent about as much on it as EVE has cost over its whole life, not to mention the massive advantage of using an incredibly famous IP.
Give me liberty or give me lasers
Neither of us said that UO failed, only that EQ crushed it.
Likely it is the wow effect, and likely it went f2p to milk the players. But it was never in danger of shutting down.
EA always owned UO.
I would say thats accurate. It definately didn't live up to it's predictions, and did need some retooling.
I am sure minecraft will open a mmorpg in the future. and after they get the subs a bunch of clones will flood the market. I think the age of hand holding and telling a player what to do will end soon.
this.. I about choked when I was EQ2 failed... >.< I cant believe he didnt add Lineage 2 to the list, it had more subs than EQ2 and lasted as a sub for around the same amount of time. I suppose by his logic only WoW and Lineage 1 havent failed =P
http://mmodata.blogspot.com/ the current info isnt all that accurate but the old info is pretty accurate.. I dont think they update it much anymore so please dont use it regarding current MMOs.
The reason sandboxes do well with subs is because theyre open ended. Theres always a reason to come back. Themeparks don't do as well because once you ride the rides theres no reason to come back. So its not really about genres, its about content. So long as you can keep giving people something fun to do, they'll keep paying.
However I think there is money to be made in getting away from wow clone fantasy and branching out into other historical genres like western, martial arts, roman empire, etc. People may not recognize it, but they are tired of magic and ogres. Which is why they don't find yet another wow clone exciting. People want NEW.
If you want to talk about SP games, there are tons of super successful linear story games.
D3, Dishonored, Halo, GoW, CoD, Bioshock, Dead Space, Splinter Cell .. a lot more than open world games.
In the MMO space , even a themepark failure like TOR is bigger than Eve, which is viewed a sandbox success.
Yes, AAA MMO may be changing genre ... into non-MMOs like Destiny.
Well considering that several games that were not in danger of shutting down, that were making good profit, and had stable populations switched to f2p.... kinda proves your wrong.
[mod edit]
LoL a failure? It is bigger than WoW.
WoT a failure?
Maple Story a failure?
Close enough. It is even listed here, and included in many MMO reports. You are not paying attention to shifts in the industry.
The problem is that a MMORPG is a product and if everyone was you the MMORPG genre would fail.
Never fear, your dream MMO will be here....
just give me a decade or two to finely hone my Game development
and design abilities as well as start a Game Design Studio.
Thank you for your patience.
Well you are partly right. I've never been serious about any game... they are games after all, not meant to be taken seriously. But I've been playing since 2000, several games for many years. But of course that makes me a game hopper. But I do play several games at once, so far no game has offered me everything I want, so I will seek them out in variety. I've figured out what MMORPG's mean for me. Have you?
I game hop too. Don't talk as if it is a bad thing. It is fun for me. MMORPG ... they are just entertainment products to me. Nothing more, nothing less.
The problem is that a MMORPG is a product and if everyone was you the MMORPG genre would fail.
The sandbox MMORPG genre is NOT FOR GAME HOPPERS. There is no exception to that rule. If you play a sandbox game, you play it for a long time, if you don't like it you leave. Sandboxes are meant to be explored with the community, built with the community, and experienced with the community. If everyone game hopped there would be no community. On the otherhand, there are themeparks. I personally don't enjoy them like a sandbox, but people enjoy them nontheless. Unfortunately the kingpins of this genre happens to be a handful of greedy assholes, who simply feed the casuals their quick snack so they can leave in a month or two. A good themepark such as older WoW, had a legitimate P2P sub method, and served the real MMORPG community what they wanted. It had loads of content, and no B.S. cash shops or other such payments. Nowadays, EVERY mmorpg is going the themepark route and it's leaving a bad mark on those who want a good sandbox MMO without all the F2P bullshit. The MMORPG industry is now being overrun by casual themepark players, the population needs to rebalance.
Never fear, your dream MMO will be here....
just give me a decade or two to finely hone my Game development
and design abilities as well as start a Game Design Studio.
Thank you for your patience.
Not calling out the mod or anything. I'll assume I said something thats against the tos.
I just find it funny that I honestly have no idea what it was that got modded. Can't remember for the life of me what I said there
Close enough. It is even listed here, and included in many MMO reports. You are not paying attention to shifts in the industry.
No. Not close enough. League of Legends is a MOBA. That's an entirely different genre. Call of Duty is not a racing game, you'r point is moot.
Never fear, your dream MMO will be here....
just give me a decade or two to finely hone my Game development
and design abilities as well as start a Game Design Studio.
Thank you for your patience.