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Separating yourself from the rest...
Kopogero
Member UncommonPosts: 1,685
That's what the market needs. Plenty of niche and mediocrity floating around, but a game that separates itself from the rest, once that happens you'll know because popularity, hype and positive player feedback will skyrocket. From 2000 to 2015, we've had few MMORPG's who've succeeded doing this, either through AAA budgets, unique and bold ideas or both.
Big risks can only be taken by those who are not afraid of them. Those who know exactly what they are doing and backed with strong investments. Cleary that's not the reality...at least not that I've seen in the last 5 years and longer. I've consistently been saying...it's better more minds to gather up because two heads think better than 1, work faster and so forth rather than saturate the market with almost invisible and unnoticable products that have very high chance of not receiving any revenue or grabbing a market that's essential to give a healthy lifespan to the game.
I'm only making this threads because it's truly ironic how not a single new game has managed to draw my interest enough for me to spend $ on since January 11th 2011 with DCUO being the last thx to $35 box with 30 days free. Today MMORPG's need to be accessable, preferably free so they draw big audience, relay on DLC/donations and prevent pay to win or pay to advance as well as any other hacking, cheating, exploiting as much as possible. This is crucial for games with persistent worlds.
Through these 5 years I've continuesly been enjoying gaming. The lack of great ones have not stopped me from playing. My experience will always allow me to find the best available for my taste while also voting wisely with my wallet in the direction I want gaming to move toward. All these game producers though can be very fortunate that not all are savvy veterans as I'm, otherwise whatever they've been developing over the last 6-7 years would've send them back on the drawing boards or simply exit from this market.
Exiting a market you don't understand is not a bad decision. It allows more space and freedom for the better, hungrier game producers to thrive and it's not just amateur and small companies that have followed this road. We've seen the demise of Funcom, SOE...and we've seen how even Blizzard exiting the MMORPG market as they no longer have anybody else to copy on a "successful" formula.
Pioneers like Richard Garriott are the type of developers this genre requires. The man managed to be amongst the first civilians to fly in space with 30 mil ticket purchase because he knew how to develop a 2D MMORPG that I went back to over the last 1-2 years after 14 years of exceptional gaming. That's the irony of all of this, I'm playing the same game that got me into this genre.
After all these years it still has far more to deliver while also requiring minimal maintenence or content thx to its sandbox elements, allowing players to be the one generating the content. Add the fully open world with player housing and strong polish...it makes me still regret purchasing $800 rig 3+ years ago.
Comments
Why people keep saying Blizzard is quitting MMOs?
They are focusing on making games to cover slice of the market they didn't have covered yet.
It's called diversifying your product range
They have a MMORPG, they have a Card Game, they have a Moba so they can tap into different markets and get new customers rather than just making their existing customers moving from one game to another.
I am sure there are still slice of the market Blizzard doesn't have covered, so expect more alternative games from them.
That doesn't mean Blizzard are quitting MMOs..........c'mon.
You do that when you don't believe the future of MMORPGs is bright. And why would they, WOW has been declining in subs, and they now stop reporting the numbers.
OTOH, Hearthstone is reporting huge numbers and growth. Yes, they diversify ... into growing markets like MOBAs, CCG, and now a shooter. The importance of WOW is just going to decrease more and more. And they have decided not to do anything new (i.e. new game) in the MMORPG market.
In fact, they lost so much faith that they scrapped the one that is almost done.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Players are clearly looking for things other than just traditional MMORPGs.
http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/23/league-of-legends-tops-mmo-revenue-list-hearthstone-no-10/
You also forget one thing....where do you think Blizzard got all that revenue to pursue all these other markets? Diablo 3, StarCraft 2, Hearthstone, that failed Titan project and others. They sure spread/diversify, but at the cost of losing control of its biggest cash cow.
Blizzard was generating a billion annually from WOW for many years, but too many bad decisions let them to focus on abandoning that ship, which was a stab in the back to all those who believe WOW:WoD will remedy WOW from the damage Pandaria did, sadly....reality said otherwise.
@Nariusseldon, that's because there hasn't been a good traditional MMORPG delivered in a very long time. It's natural players to move on to other products that deliver better quality over playing medicre or P2W ones with the label MMORPG's.
If Blizzard makes WoW 2 right now, guess which game is going to suffer?
Yes WoW is losing player because it is a 10 y/o game, but it still has 4-5 years of steam, and Blizzard are not so stupid to kill it too early.
WoW 2 is going to be made in 5 years time, you can bet on it.
I am sure Blizzard are recruiting for that.
Now they have a MOBA and a Card Game, they can start thinking about what comes after WoW.
I actually won't exclude they could make World of Starcraft, instead.
In fact, all i need to bet is in 5 years (2020 Nov 30, to be exact), if WOW did not anounced a WoW 2 by then, I have the right to say "I told you so". You can do the same to me, if you turn out to be right.
Bad decisions? D3 is a success (30M copies sold). Hearthstone is a success. SC2 (different versions) obviously sold a lot. I don't know about HOTS or Overwatch, but knowing Blizz, those probably are going to be hit.
It is not that only players are moving onto other products, AAA devs are too. And no one says they will be moving back once they are hooked on the other stuff.
Just like once FPS took over, point & click adventures, even with the present revival, never came close to their formal glory.
If he did, there is no "defense". Good or bad, it is on him.
In fact, he never made another big successful game after U7 (UO is not entirely his). U8 was meh, and U9 was a mess, not even playable.
8 years and counting addicted to
Avalon: The Legend Lives - the longest running online RPG in history
With some many other types of online games to try and play, why should I just play MMORPGs? More entertainment choices and more competition for my entertainment time/money is a good thing ... in my book at least.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
How about if Blizz has nothing on World of Starcraft in 5 years (2020 Dec 2), i will say "I told you so" and you will admit I am right. If not, i will admit you are right, and you can tell me "I told you so"?
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I mean, it's been 5 years since nothing great (imo) has come to this genre, while from 2000-2010 we had Anarchy Online, FFXI, EVE, Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft...and prior Ultima Online, Lineage 2...somewhere in between Ragnarok. Some other MMORPG's worth mentioning Aion, DC Universe Online, Everquest 2, City of Heroes, etc etc.
I mean this genre exploded and this was alongside World of Warcraft....SWTOR also came that I dont even wanna mention, but the massive budget makes me hurt how it failed hard.
But over these last 5 years we've had basically FFXIV failed launch, SWTOR, then next year Guild Wars 2 then next year ESO, and nothing in 2015...Sorry Wild Star. But 2016-2017 look very interesting, at least 1 great MMORPG should arrive, just one is enough.
Back to my MMORPG now that was developed in 1997...
"there isn't a non-WoW crowd big enough for companies to want to invest developing an mmorpg" .. true.
"So since they all took the WoW-Clone route" .. this is not true. They don't make wow clone anymore. They make MOBAs, shooters, instanced pvp, and other online games.
Don't make non-wow mmorpg does not equate making wow-clones. There are a lot of other types of MMOs (and online games) to consider.
In fact, Blizz is a good example. They scrapped Titan (mmorpg) and make new non-mmorpgs (a moba, a shooter, and a card game to be exact).
So what is the problem of my reasoning? Don't tell me you think devs are confined to ONLY making MMORPGs.
You need to seriously diversify, One the Cat Slayer. You're little act on this site is beyond stale. Damn.
I am not impressed with your performance...
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
Anyone who thinks there is no market or not enough players to invest/build in a product should not be developing anything. Markets are created and attracted by a successful and great product. It's that simple.
Blizzard understood that spreading like a plague with cheaply designed games, pursuing other market is what best they can do now...because they kept losing subs with WOW and couldn't figure out why. Luckily for them there are gamers out there who are happy to spend $ on games that push gaming backward and not forward . These gamers are usually young, new to gaming or even some old who never gamed before.
Bottom line, the veteran and hardcore players like me who've seen almost everything one could see and experience the best of what's been out there will be the future of not just this genre but gaming in general. We will be those who will pay for the right products and sadly very few out there know working formulas for success. WOW proved that and how it was copied to death, so spending $ on a product you like surely has a domino effect on what comes next, but as I mentioned in previous threads...there are a lot more things playing a role if we will see a great game to come or not.
So, all we have to do is cross our fingers and wait it out...I've been waiting for 5 years now, so I'm sure the wait is almost over and what's coming in 2016/2017 is further prove of that.
A game could be the next coming of you know who and the best thing since sliced bread/cheese it doesn't mean anything.
Then just tell them it is released by Blizzard and it could be utter garbage and still go off big time.
There is a reason why marketing and advertising is a trillion dollar business,everyone relies on it.
So for now ,i can only hope that there are some brave developers willing to risk making a great game without relying on marketing and $$$ but it is not likely to happen.
For now we have to rely on the big $$$ names and for me personally ,i have zero confidence in Blizzard,SOE is like the retired grandfather and Square is not the same dev it used to be.Trion had some potential as an upstart operation but now i just don't see it happening,especially not after they went the Trove route.
Epic games?Valve?Yes two great businesses but Epic is kind of into faster design games,it spends too much time on engines and Valve is getting rich off of Steam.I mean seriously look how great Half Life was,yet they have not jumped all over another game,so yeah not many big developers left with a willingness to make a great game.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
It was just really coming together nicely when NCSoft pulled the rug out from underneath Garriott, as they seem to be fond of doing with Western developers, and shut the game down. There are plenty of people out there, including myself, who still mourn its loss, as well as the loss of other fun NCSoft published games (Dungeon Runners, City of Heroes, Auto Assault, etc.)
Not that I'm a fan of Garriott these days, mind you. Lots of people (including myself) are highly critical of Chris Roberts selling what amounts to item concepts (at time of sale) as opposed to actual items, but people seem to forget that Greedy Garriott did it first. Want the best land? Pay him $500-$1000, or you get stuck with the crap left over, that is if any remains left to purchase.
Garriott was a pioneer back in the day. Now, much like Roberts, McQuaid, Kern, etc. he's nothing more than a has-been trying desperately to stay relevant in a world and industry which has passed him by and left him choking on dust.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
#IStandWithVic