I Imagine the next big change will be a zynga games using the facebook oculus device. Imagine the thrill of scooping the cow manure onto the field, or going to your friends farm and picking up boards to help them build their house.
Nonsense OP.... The next evolution is zero leveling, zero grinding. When you create a toon, you will have the option of what gear u want to wear. No level restrictions required, just your credit card. Therefore when u log in, you can stand in the main city and look cool. There's your endgame right there.
Originally posted by Vermillion_Raventhal I believe sandbox + procedurally generated content. MMORPG's engines that are more module to allow for more flexibility and sharing. Getting those tools out will change how things are done.
I was kind of surprised that we hit 2014 without those being a lot more common than they are. One of the biggest obstacles is the fear of peen. I'm serious. There isn't a single brainstorming meeting or discussion that I have been in on the topic where Time to Peen (TTP) - not if, but when - isn't brought up as a concern.
That's one of those things dependent upon programmer cleverness (and perhaps studio willing to take risks) rather than hardware capabilities. If you want to do procedurally generated graphics, then tessellation is a huge help, as it basically amounts to procedurally generated vertex data done on the GPU. But for procedurally generated anything else (maps, mob placement, mob strength/skills, loot, AI, quests, etc.), is there anything that can be done today that couldn't be done ten years ago? Is there anything even meaningfully easier to do today than it was ten years ago?
I don't know honestly if its any easier. But as far as tools that deliver those type of things I think the genre is way behind. The focus has been largely on themepark and scripting. Tools to generate content on its own should have be pretty high on the list considering the cost involved in keeping up with content. I fully believe if it was done properly in the past you would have much more developed techniques right now.
The next big evolution of MMO's will be more solo/smaller group content.
You heard it here first! Actually maybe somebody already guessed this.
My reasoning on this - single player content has shown to be a real driving force behind sub numbers. We have been making a large steady push to focusing on solo content - in the beginning we had open world raids. Then large instanced raids. Then big raids. Then raids that are just two groups together. We are going to see this go smaller and smaller, and come with some kind of a rating/ranking system most likely.
Expect single player ladders and 3-5 player ladders. Expect a lot of content. Expect someone to try and make esports out of PvE. Watch the top 10 teams in the world as they take on the new boss we designed! Expect some teams to get angry because they don't want their super secret strategy revealed.
But I bet this will work, and hell I bet I will participate. This sounds like it doesn't fit the MMO model, but I think it is where we are headed. There will still be an MMO "world" but it will mainly be a lobby (we are headed there already). The main point of that area will be looking awesome and talking with other players. Possibly expect it to be possible to view other teams as if you are sitting in an arena with your character watching them. I think the reason this will work is because it will absolutely require the devs pumping out content - but since the only content they are going to be looking at is small group content, it should be a bit quicker to design and balance.
Expansion packs will be out. The sub model will still be in. Your sub fees will be funding the new content, kind of how CCP does EVE. Cash shops will still be huge. Expect lots of cosmetics in the cash shop, along with some diversion minigames for the social part of the game. Expect special items in the cash shop where a portion of profits go to a prize for first teams to kill bosses.
Also expect them to push instance based PVP into the same game and to never successfully balance it but still try to push esports for that, too.
Comments
I did not contradict myself.
Me too, I wanna know.
MAGA
I don't know honestly if its any easier. But as far as tools that deliver those type of things I think the genre is way behind. The focus has been largely on themepark and scripting. Tools to generate content on its own should have be pretty high on the list considering the cost involved in keeping up with content. I fully believe if it was done properly in the past you would have much more developed techniques right now.
The next big evolution of MMO's will be more solo/smaller group content.
You heard it here first! Actually maybe somebody already guessed this.
My reasoning on this - single player content has shown to be a real driving force behind sub numbers. We have been making a large steady push to focusing on solo content - in the beginning we had open world raids. Then large instanced raids. Then big raids. Then raids that are just two groups together. We are going to see this go smaller and smaller, and come with some kind of a rating/ranking system most likely.
Expect single player ladders and 3-5 player ladders. Expect a lot of content. Expect someone to try and make esports out of PvE. Watch the top 10 teams in the world as they take on the new boss we designed! Expect some teams to get angry because they don't want their super secret strategy revealed.
But I bet this will work, and hell I bet I will participate. This sounds like it doesn't fit the MMO model, but I think it is where we are headed. There will still be an MMO "world" but it will mainly be a lobby (we are headed there already). The main point of that area will be looking awesome and talking with other players. Possibly expect it to be possible to view other teams as if you are sitting in an arena with your character watching them. I think the reason this will work is because it will absolutely require the devs pumping out content - but since the only content they are going to be looking at is small group content, it should be a bit quicker to design and balance.
Expansion packs will be out. The sub model will still be in. Your sub fees will be funding the new content, kind of how CCP does EVE. Cash shops will still be huge. Expect lots of cosmetics in the cash shop, along with some diversion minigames for the social part of the game. Expect special items in the cash shop where a portion of profits go to a prize for first teams to kill bosses.
Also expect them to push instance based PVP into the same game and to never successfully balance it but still try to push esports for that, too.
THE FUTURE IS COMING.