A Ghost of Christmas Past scrys our MMO future.

Scot

A Ghost of Christmas past scrys our MMO future.

Sorry to sound a down note as the year draws to a close, but I think readers need a glimpse at the forces that are driving MMO’s and gaming into a dumbed downward spiral. As the linked article shows, which made for a dismal breakfast.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8425623.stm

To sum up this and similar articles, we are going to be forced to play with an ever expanding player base. We are still weathering the console storm in my eyes, before which MMO’s were for a more adult audience. Consoles joined us, with loads of teenaged lads, the values of the FPS and sports gamer were thrust upon us. Don’t get me wrong I am a BF and LFD fan, but what works In those games won’t work in all and graphics alone does not make a good game.

In a recent article on here, a staff writer proposes a Twilight MMO. Now we have to welcome on board the ‘teenage girls and soccer mums’. Next in line is anyone on Facebook it seems, and we will all embrace the crappy visuals and limited gameplay of such games.

If the MMO genre could expand its player demographic by making new games for new types of players, we would not have a problem. But that does not happen, executives will push designers into making games for the entire player base to maximise profit. Once the MMO industry thinks the player base has new desires, all games will have to pander to those desires. Most new releases are already a muddled stew, where designers try to please all, but succeed at pleasing so few in the long term. As the player base increases the MMO stew will only congeal into a even more unrecognisable mess.

My predictions for the next ten years, some of you may be happy with some of the changes; my concern is we will all be playing an increasingly similar brand:

MMO’s will have less PvP.

MMO’s will allow you to group, but there is nothing you will not be able to do as a solo player.

MMO’s will become more family orientated.

MMO’s will forget that role playing ever existed in the genre.

MMO’s will all have cash shops, ‘Pay to Level’ will become the norm.

MMO’s will feature less quests, or more ‘quest grind’.

MMO’s will have less content but graphics will get even better.

MMO’s will increase the cuteness factor.

MMO’s we think of as triple ‘A’ will become even more reliant on pre existing IP’s.



Hang on to the game you are playing, in the years to come you will think of it as outstandingly unique.

Sikgamer

The problem with catering for the 'hardcore' or veteran MMO gamers is, it costs a lot of money relative to the money you get back. If a company made, let's say, a cutesy MMO involving cutesy animals and minigames and virtual homes or what have you. Lots and LOTS of people will play it, and the company will get lots of revenue even if the game is horrible to the average gamer. This encourages companies to make these games because of the ease of revenue.

If a company makes a hardcore PvP/full loot/steep learning curve or some such, the hardcore or vet gamers may like it but the vast majority simply aren't interested. Furthermore, the company has to work harder and, as a result, recruit more, higher paid staff to suit the wants of the veteran gamers (And let's be honest, veterans whine, this forum is a good example of it). Companies simply don't want to go back to the old style of MMOs because they simply don't bring in revenue as much as the easy, cutesy, 'fun' MMOs.

Cephus404

Originally posted by Scot

MMO’s will have less PvP.
Good, that's a positive as far as I'm concerned.


MMO’s will allow you to group, but there is nothing you will not be able to do as a solo player.
Good, that's a positive too.


MMO’s will become more family orientated.
Fantastic.  More and more players are adult and are therefore family oriented.


MMO’s will forget that role playing ever existed in the genre.
It never did, the farce that has ever pretended to be RPing in an MMO is laughable at best.  You can no more RP in an MMO than you're RPing Master Chief when you play Halo.


MMO’s will all have cash shops, ‘Pay to Level’ will become the norm.
I'd say that's a negative, certainly.


MMO’s will feature less quests, or more ‘quest grind’.
MMOs feature almost all quest grind now, what's the difference?  I can't see much more grind being possible in most MMOs.


MMO’s will have less content but graphics will get even better.
I couldn't care less about graphics and less content will mean I just don't play.


MMO’s will increase the cuteness factor.
Blah.  Hate cute.


MMO’s we think of as triple ‘A’ will become even more reliant on pre existing IP’s.
They are now, what are you talking about?  But that's true of lots of things in the video game market, anything that's vaguely successful gets sequel after sequel after sequel, not because the games are any better, but because they think they can wring more money out of the consumer.  Welcome to reality.

Teiman

 

Maybe these dreams are vaporware, or bussines porn.  Do soccer mods are really ripped by the millions to buy "virtual goods"?.   People (invenstors are people) would love that his most fantastic dreams are real (make money from nothing = sell virtual goods )  but often the reality disagree.  The ability of humans to lie to thenselves is amazing. 

vmoped

In otherwords the OP is sad that their exclusive club is becoming more and more accessible to others? Nice, real nice...  You will always have single player games OP since you seem unable to socially adapt.  Blaming the increasing playerbase for the homogenesation of games is poorly thought out. The lack of support from the entire community, including the older playerbase, for unique and low budget games has led to that.  Everyone wants something different, and plenty of companies have tried to provide that, yet they fail due to poor support from the majority of the community. I have said it for years, if you want diversity in mmos, then support the mmos that try to be diverse and send a message with your dollars/pounds/yen/etc... not on anonymous rants on forums that no company executive or developer with the power to make the changes will bother to read.

Cheers!

Teiman

Originally posted by vmoped


In otherwords the OP is sad that their exclusive club is becoming more and more accessible to others? Nice, real nice...  

 

To make a game for more people, theres once the need to make tradeoffs. Make the content simpler, sometimes even remove the content  (we see that daily with soloers that can't let  fun group only content exist ).  The people that like these removed content are losing something, so, obviusly.. is bad.   The new people are "changing" the customs, and landscape of the genre, not adapting to the existing customs and complexity.  The new people ask for things to be removed, key elements of the genre, so the whole building of the MMORPG is in danger of collapse. 

Slampig

 Time to turn on the Way Back Machine and stagnate back in 1999...

Axehilt

"MMO’s will all have cash shops, ‘Pay to Level’ will become the norm."

This statement is wrong in multiple ways.

1. Games whose gameplay is fundamentally harmed by their store system will end up less popular (and thus less profitable, and thus gradually be phased out.)

2. In some ways we already pay to level.  How did you get to the current level cap in EQ1, WOW, or countless other MMORPGs...without first buying the expansion?

Scot

I should point out that ‘quest grind’ refers to repetitive, simplistic quests. Very little thought has gone into the quests which seem to be the same as mob killing but with a quest just tagged on.

Yes, triple ‘A’ titles are reliant on IP’s now, it is just that I see this being even more the case in the future. I don’t see this as a bad thing, the real issue is that we only get one brand of MMO. With the top titles all turning to pre-existing concepts MMO’s become chained to ideas not designed for them.

I thought someone might think the post was elitist. It does not matter who was here first, if it was the ‘teenage girls and soccer mums’, do you think they would welcome the shift in developer priorities when the console lads came on board? This is about a larger market causing a drive to one brand, not about who was here in our exclusive club first.

As an analogy imagine a world in which alcopops was the norm. This is the mentality here, we take something people like, alcohol, and we make it appeal to a younger market by making it sweeter. In our world though there are still many types of alcoholic drinks. MMO’s are in danger of become like McDonalds or Starbucks, one brand to suit all.

The idea that a game with a bad cash shop dies out, while those with ‘good ones’ will thrive does not take in to account the forces at play in such a revenue model. As yet has any F2P not become a cash cow within five years of launch? Many start of well but within a few years they all seem to want their pound of flesh.

I do not think of having to buy an expansion as F2P. There is a difference between paying for more content which also raises the level cap and paying for potions which decrease the time it takes to level.

Ilvaldyr

Innovation is like evolution. It doesn't happen fast, and the dinosaurs don't like it.

LynxJSA

Originally posted by Scot


I should point out that ‘quest grind’ refers to repetitive, simplistic quests. Very little thought has gone into the quests which seem to be the same as mob killing but with a quest just tagged on.
Yes, triple ‘A’ titles are reliant on IP’s now, it is just that I see this being even more the case in the future. I don’t see this as a bad thing, the real issue is that we only get one brand of MMO. With the top titles all turning to pre-existing concepts MMO’s become chained to ideas not designed for them.
I thought someone might think the post was elitist. It does not matter who was here first, if it was the ‘teenage girls and soccer mums’, do you think they would welcome the shift in developer priorities when the console lads came on board? This is about a larger market causing a drive to one brand, not about who was here in our exclusive club first.
As an analogy imagine a world in which alchopops was the norm. This is the mentality here, we take something people like, alcohol, and we make it appeal to a younger market by making it sweeter. In our world though there are still many types of alcoholic drinks. MMO’s are in danger of become like McDonalds or Starbucks, one brand to suit all.
The idea that a game with a bad cash shop dies out, while those with ‘good ones’ will thrive does not take in to account the forces at play in such a revenue model. As yet has any F2P not become a cash cow within five years of launch? Many start of well but within a few years they all seem to want their pound of flesh.
I do not think of having to buy an expansion as F2P. There is a difference between paying for more content which also raises the level cap and paying for potions which decrease the time it takes to level.

 

Aside from the blatantly false statement of cash shop = pay to level, it's truly humorous how the NA gamer will

- pay for the game months before it is released

- pay 20-30 USD over the base price for a CE/LE box

- pay a monthly 15 USD fee whether they played that month or not

Basically, judging by retail sales numbers for the past few NA/EU MMO releases, they will spend anywhere from 55 to 100 USD just to start playing.

 

And somehow.... SOMEHOW... that doesn't seem like a rip off.

 

But tell them they can

- try an MMO without spending a dime

- download the MMO's client for free

- play the MMO for free

 

And suddenly it's some kind of evil 'cashgrab' when they are presented with a completely optional 5 USD trinket in an item mall.

 

 

Agricola1

Originally posted by Axehilt


"MMO’s will all have cash shops, ‘Pay to Level’ will become the norm."
This statement is wrong in multiple ways.
1. Games whose gameplay is fundamentally harmed by their store system will end up less popular (and thus less profitable, and thus gradually be phased out.)
2. In some ways we already pay to level.  How did you get to the current level cap in EQ1, WOW, or countless other MMORPGs...without first buying the expansion?

 

John Smedley would vehemently disagree with you my friend!

Well I play DFO, a PvP game with free expansions a seamless world and pretty much all the stuff that the industry is currently trying to remove from MMORPGs because the ADD kids have the attention span of a goldfish. Call me a dinosaur but I think games like DFO and EVE are revoloutionary, the rest are more devoloutionary in my opinion.

rscott6666

Originally posted by Scot


MMO’s will forget that role playing ever existed in the genre.

MMO’s will all have cash shops, ‘Pay to Level’ will become the norm.

Pay to level?  Should be free to level.  Just like PnP games.  Pick a level you want to play at.  Save for some spells, your options should be mostly the same anyway.

RP mostly exists as far as success is determined by the character rather than the player.  This doesn't work well for PvP, so in that sense, i see RP as going away somewhat.  The character based play (RP) does work well for PvE, so i think we'll see games split more into these two camps.