They are just average game developers that make average games and it has been proven time and time again with these guys. Funcom with the Anarchy Online launch and Mythic with DAOC. At one point Mythic had 500k subs for DAOC but shortly after that announcement the majority bolted because Mythic has no clue how to run a game properly. Funcom had the "mad scientist" Gaute Godager who promised the world it seemed knowing full well he couldn't produce it just to raise sales. He made himself and Funcom look pretty bad you have to admit. I won't be suprised to see AOC and WAR still running this year because both companies will continue to patch and milk every penny out of their customers before these 2 games actually die off. Lets not try to sugar coat anything here, until both companies prove they can make and run a game right they will always be considered average game developers.
Because last i checked AoC or War has more playing people than those games.Aoc and War are only failures when you compare them to WoW(which freak or the exception to rule).The true of judge mmo success is Lotor which had a good launch,never had big crisis,and continues to grow slowly.
AoC and WoW had great starts,then a big drop off,They restructured and now they have stabilized.Both AoC and War made 2008 top ten money mmo list. http://gigaom.com/2009/02/01/top-10-money-making-mmos-2008/ Also both are just starting to cross into Europe and Asia.The games have struggle yes but are only a failure in jaded mmo players minds.
With Runescape,Maple story,Fantasy westward story,Club penguin,Legend of Mir all making more money than most big name mmo isn't time western mmo rethink their payment stuctures.I am postive if War used the Guilds Wars structure they would be number 1 mmo on the market.
WAR and AoC turning out the way they did is bad. If you think it is a good thing for MMOs, you need to let off the Ridalin and think clear.
Those games set a bad precedent. They sold close to a million subs each in their respective first months of play. Say all you want about their numbers falling after that; that is money in their pocket. It says to the MMO industry, "The gamers are morons who will fall for the hype and buy anything shiny, just to be the first there. So don't worry about relesing a game still in beta form. You can clean it up later, and still have a few hundred thou subs to keep the money machine churning."
Thanks to this, we will probably have a few hyped games coming out(Fallen Earth, you arouse my suspicions) who will pop out, rake in a ton of dosh, and not live up to their hyped standards.
Now, if they had turned out like Tabula Rasa, that would have been a good thing.
Comments
They are just average game developers that make average games and it has been proven time and time again with these guys. Funcom with the Anarchy Online launch and Mythic with DAOC. At one point Mythic had 500k subs for DAOC but shortly after that announcement the majority bolted because Mythic has no clue how to run a game properly. Funcom had the "mad scientist" Gaute Godager who promised the world it seemed knowing full well he couldn't produce it just to raise sales. He made himself and Funcom look pretty bad you have to admit. I won't be suprised to see AOC and WAR still running this year because both companies will continue to patch and milk every penny out of their customers before these 2 games actually die off. Lets not try to sugar coat anything here, until both companies prove they can make and run a game right they will always be considered average game developers.
Is City of heroes failing?
Is Lotoro failing?
Is Eve failing?
Is Final Fantasy failing?
Because last i checked AoC or War has more playing people than those games.Aoc and War are only failures when you compare them to WoW(which freak or the exception to rule).The true of judge mmo success is Lotor which had a good launch,never had big crisis,and continues to grow slowly.
AoC and WoW had great starts,then a big drop off,They restructured and now they have stabilized.Both AoC and War made 2008 top ten money mmo list. http://gigaom.com/2009/02/01/top-10-money-making-mmos-2008/ Also both are just starting to cross into Europe and Asia.The games have struggle yes but are only a failure in jaded mmo players minds.
With Runescape,Maple story,Fantasy westward story,Club penguin,Legend of Mir all making more money than most big name mmo isn't time western mmo rethink their payment stuctures.I am postive if War used the Guilds Wars structure they would be number 1 mmo on the market.
WAR and AoC turning out the way they did is bad. If you think it is a good thing for MMOs, you need to let off the Ridalin and think clear.
Those games set a bad precedent. They sold close to a million subs each in their respective first months of play. Say all you want about their numbers falling after that; that is money in their pocket. It says to the MMO industry, "The gamers are morons who will fall for the hype and buy anything shiny, just to be the first there. So don't worry about relesing a game still in beta form. You can clean it up later, and still have a few hundred thou subs to keep the money machine churning."
Thanks to this, we will probably have a few hyped games coming out(Fallen Earth, you arouse my suspicions) who will pop out, rake in a ton of dosh, and not live up to their hyped standards.
Now, if they had turned out like Tabula Rasa, that would have been a good thing.