There is no death of,it just looks bad because the market has been flooded with so many wannabe Indie developers. If we simply take the top 6/7/8 mmorpg's ,things still look at least hopeful,promising.
It seems to be way too easy to make a crappy game and that is what has happened across ALL genres.Toss in a completely meaningless world,some mobs,a couple models,few tattoos and hair colors,call it a mmorpg.
I have not seen ANY effort put into the "GAME aspect",in TCG's,ARPGs',MOBA's,Survival games,all of those developers should be deleted from ever making games,their efforts have been less than Indie,i call them AMATEUR efforts. BORED,extremely bored people are allowing all those crappy games to survive and continue to bring us more and until people start waiting for quality,these trashy amateur designs wil keep coming.
Also making it bad for the future of gaming,is that for a LOT of people,this is all they have grown up on,so they THINK these are decent games,it's all they know.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I wouldn't say mmo genre is dead, but its definitely in a sad state. I mean half the current "homeless" mmo players are excited for Bless, which has already failed twice in the eastern market. Maybe I'm wrong, but most games that have started (key word here) and failed in the east dont find much success in the western market either. Of course many mmos that started in the west tend to not do so well in the east (FFXIV, GW2, etc)
I wouldn't say mmo genre is dead, but its definitely in a sad state. I mean half the current "homeless" mmo players are excited for Bless, which has already failed twice in the eastern market. Maybe I'm wrong, but most games that have started (key word here) and failed in the east dont find much success in the western market either. Of course many mmos that started in the west tend to not do so well in the east (FFXIV, GW2, etc)
This genre is so dead I'm playing Runescape 3......and sort of liking it.....
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
There are at least two AAA MMOs coming out this year, not sure what the hub bub is all about. Sure, we have not had a AAA MMO since Black Desert pretty much, but they still come out. Maybe Activision / EA / Ubisoft are not making them, but....do we really want an MMO from one of those companies at this point with all the MTX bullshit?
What we are unlikely to see again is MMOs that cater to players who want to just play one MMO forever. I think those days are gone. There are simply too many good games now to spend time investing years into one. It is the reason we see so much "Season" type content in games that are popular and content patch cycles that are built around a surge of players returning briefly rather then forever.
There are at least two AAA MMOs coming out this year, not sure what the hub bub is all about. Sure, we have not had a AAA MMO since Black Desert pretty much, but they still come out. Maybe Activision / EA / Ubisoft are not making them, but....do we really want an MMO from one of those companies at this point with all the MTX bullshit?
What we are unlikely to see again is MMOs that cater to players who want to just play one MMO forever. I think those days are gone. There are simply too many good games now to spend time investing years into one. It is the reason we see so much "Season" type content in games that are popular and content patch cycles that are built around a surge of players returning briefly rather then forever.
This here is a good example of a non-mmorpg player,
- MMOs are meant to play forever. If you were an MMO player you would be thinking less on fun action packed gaming that holds attention for several weeks and more about community games. - What Triple A MMOs are coming out this year that are real mmos ? - Black Desert is not a Triple A MMO, its an Asian cash shop grinder that infiltrated our financial defense's. - At least three real mmorpgs are in the making, unfortunately they are a few years away. I know why you haven't noticed them...Because they're not F2P !
I wouldn't say mmo genre is dead, but its definitely in a sad state. I mean half the current "homeless" mmo players are excited for Bless, which has already failed twice in the eastern market. Maybe I'm wrong, but most games that have started (key word here) and failed in the east dont find much success in the western market either. Of course many mmos that started in the west tend to not do so well in the east (FFXIV, GW2, etc)
I wouldn't really call Japan a western country, it certainly have plenty of western influence but it also have tons of eastern. They are somewhat closer to us gaming wise then South Korea or China but still...
And GW2s sales in China were acceptable, not great but not bad either. Wow is basically the only western MMO that really made an impact in China and I am not sure comparing the other western MMOs with Wow is very productive.
In any case, Europe, America and Australia have a different taste then China, South Korea and the Philipines. Japan is doing their own thing, sometimes their games are successful in one or both the other regions, sometimes not.
A really good game can be succcessful everywhere and sometimes does a game better in another region then it's home region, it might be that Bless is made the way it works better somewhere else or it might just be bad and not work anywhere, hard to say.
We surely could use a couple of successful MMOs about now showing investors that the genre still could generate money in the west.
There are at least two AAA MMOs coming out this year, not sure what the hub bub is all about. Sure, we have not had a AAA MMO since Black Desert pretty much, but they still come out. Maybe Activision / EA / Ubisoft are not making them, but....do we really want an MMO from one of those companies at this point with all the MTX bullshit?
What we are unlikely to see again is MMOs that cater to players who want to just play one MMO forever. I think those days are gone. There are simply too many good games now to spend time investing years into one. It is the reason we see so much "Season" type content in games that are popular and content patch cycles that are built around a surge of players returning briefly rather then forever.
This here is a good example of a non-mmorpg player,
- MMOs are meant to play forever. If you were an MMO player you would be thinking less on fun action packed gaming that holds attention for several weeks and more about community games. - What Triple A MMOs are coming out this year that are real mmos ? - Black Desert is not a Triple A MMO, its an Asian cash shop grinder that infiltrated our financial defense's. - At least three real mmorpgs are in the making, unfortunately they are a few years away. I know why you haven't noticed them...Because they're not F2P !
Disregarding whether or not you deem me worthy of being an MMO player, as that is irrelevant to my point, Tripple A MMOs are games that have a publisher and are not independently funded / crowd funded. By that logic, if you do a little bit of research, you can find a couple. Black Desert is certainly a Tripple A MMO as it certainly fits this criteria. You clearly don't like it, but that is okay. I never said that they had to be good games, in your opinion, to qualify.
Not really sure what F2P has to do with anything regarding my argument, so dismissing that as irrelevant as well.
Pantheon is going to save the genre. I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in the video but I'm assuming it's because the kick starter failed? Either way, the game is alive and well. It's currently in pre-alpha and the monthly newsletters have been getting better and better. If you haven't checked it out yet, do yourself a favor and see what VR has been up to: https://www.pantheonmmo.com/
Pantheon is going to save the genre. I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in the video but I'm assuming it's because the kick starter failed? Either way, the game is alive and well. It's currently in pre-alpha and the monthly newsletters have been getting better and better. If you haven't checked it out yet, do yourself a favor and see what VR has been up to: https://www.pantheonmmo.com/
You are putting a lot of preasure on it. It certainly seems good but it isn't really made to get millions of players, just to give us oldtimers something a bit more classic and maybe show a different side of MMOs to some newer players.
At best it might point other devs in a different direction then the genre been going since 2004 but it will never become the next Wow.
Still, I am happy to get something with a bit more difficulty, I am tired of cookie-cutter MMOs.
Pantheon is going to save the genre. I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in the video but I'm assuming it's because the kick starter failed? Either way, the game is alive and well. It's currently in pre-alpha and the monthly newsletters have been getting better and better. If you haven't checked it out yet, do yourself a favor and see what VR has been up to: https://www.pantheonmmo.com/
You are putting a lot of preasure on it. It certainly seems good but it isn't really made to get millions of players, just to give us oldtimers something a bit more classic and maybe show a different side of MMOs to some newer players.
At best it might point other devs in a different direction then the genre been going since 2004 but it will never become the next Wow.
Still, I am happy to get something with a bit more difficulty, I am tired of cookie-cutter MMOs.
I don't think you need to become the next WoW to save the genre. We just need an MMO "World" like we had back in the day, but with modernized graphics and gameplay. If it points other devs in a different direction that could very well be the start of saving the genre. =D
Next Wow,that game is total amateur trash game design,i could write a book on all of it's failed design ideas. I am not guaranteeing i will be playing Pantheon,but i for sure as hell know,it will be a better design than Wow. We know Pantheon right out of the gate will look MUCH better.Wow literally for years had NO lighting,just a global lighting,gear,items,objects NO lighting.Models very low end with pathetic customization options. I can look past really bad graphics IF i get into the game and the character has some depth in design,combat has some depth and not just grab any weapon and swing away while spamming icon 1-2 until you get some more.
Also just like all the cheap Asian MMORPG's ,Wow copied in that do 1 ,yep ONE quest and your level 2,simply magical,i sure felt like i earned that level.NO WAY can Pantheon be that pathetic with it's design. So imo to the person looking for a better mmorpg to play,Pantheon will NOT be that hand holding,linear pathetic Wow clone,we should get better looking world,better characters/depth and better mobs and better combat.
IMO it is only a matter of Pantheon doesn't do too much that really turns me off,like i do NOT want to see any silly somersaults,or content segregated by a need for a RAID.I want to see a REASONABLE game,maybe a group of 5-6 is good enough,some resistances to elements and weapon types and varied aggro properties,not just proximity.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Pantheon is going to save the genre. I'm surprised it wasn't mentioned in the video but I'm assuming it's because the kick starter failed? Either way, the game is alive and well. It's currently in pre-alpha and the monthly newsletters have been getting better and better. If you haven't checked it out yet, do yourself a favor and see what VR has been up to: https://www.pantheonmmo.com/
You are putting a lot of preasure on it. It certainly seems good but it isn't really made to get millions of players, just to give us oldtimers something a bit more classic and maybe show a different side of MMOs to some newer players.
At best it might point other devs in a different direction then the genre been going since 2004 but it will never become the next Wow.
Still, I am happy to get something with a bit more difficulty, I am tired of cookie-cutter MMOs.
I don't think you need to become the next WoW to save the genre. We just need an MMO "World" like we had back in the day, but with modernized graphics and gameplay. If it points other devs in a different direction that could very well be the start of saving the genre. =D
If you want other devs to take notice then you need WoW's financial success back when it took hold of the market and got every dev interested in cashing in.
FFXIV, WoW, ESO, GW2... MMOs are far from 'dead', it's just that there is a lot more competition now (i.e. you no longer need an MMO if all you want is to play in a persistant world and / or with friends) and 'AAA' devs have realised it's a lot harder to make an MMO cash-cow than they first thought (i.e. when WoW released) and would rather pump out the latest lootbox driven cash-grab instead.
Also, the last thing the MMO genre needs is another WoW (edit: and endless clones); much better to have a range of successful games, all offering something a bit different and expanding in different ways.
I don't think you need to become the next WoW to save the genre. We just need an MMO "World" like we had back in the day, but with modernized graphics and gameplay. If it points other devs in a different direction that could very well be the start of saving the genre. =D
I guess that depends on how you define "saving". If you mean put the genre back where it was back in 1999 then that is possible. If you mean where it was in 2005 that just ain't going to happen.
In any case I hope it does well, we need a good game with more difficulty and co-operation badly now. I am just saying that you probably should be careful overhyping it, I don't think the average fan of modern MMOs will like it since that isn't what it is going for. If some of them like it, fine, but it really cateers more to oldschool MMOers who really doesn't have much to play anymore.
In fact L2 is a pure sandbox game. Well you cannot cut a tree. You can't do anything with the trees - they are simply not an element from the gameplay. But it is a real open world game, even the instances are open world, and you have absolute freedom with all mechanisms and elements of the gameplay.
Except by many people's definition it's not a sandbox.
Its lacking feature "x", "y" or "z" which they feel are "requirements" for a game to be called a "true" sand box.
Or it isn't enough like game "abc" or game "def" which they believe set the "gold" standard 20 plus years ago.
Fact is there is no more elusive gaming term to define than this one IMO.
I always tell people I'll know a sand box game when I feel one, after that who can say?
It is open world, and gives freedom to the players, how it is not sandbox?
Thats such a loose description that you could pretty much apply it to World of Warcraft, if not just about every none instanced MMO/Single Player game out there.
I wouldn't say mmo genre is dead, but its definitely in a sad state. I mean half the current "homeless" mmo players are excited for Bless, which has already failed twice in the eastern market. Maybe I'm wrong, but most games that have started (key word here) and failed in the east dont find much success in the western market either. Of course many mmos that started in the west tend to not do so well in the east (FFXIV, GW2, etc)
This genre is so dead I'm playing Runescape 3......and sort of liking it.....
Stranger Days it seems.
It isn't dead, supply has just far outpaced demand for a while now.
The western market simply needs to balance itself better to avoid forcing publishers to monetize so aggressively to merely make end's meet.
In that sense, all the delays with crowdfunding may help thin the waters and open up larger potential bases for new ideas.
I don't think you need to become the next WoW to save the genre. We just need an MMO "World" like we had back in the day, but with modernized graphics and gameplay. If it points other devs in a different direction that could very well be the start of saving the genre. =D
I guess that depends on how you define "saving". If you mean put the genre back where it was back in 1999 then that is possible. If you mean where it was in 2005 that just ain't going to happen.
In any case I hope it does well, we need a good game with more difficulty and co-operation badly now. I am just saying that you probably should be careful overhyping it, I don't think the average fan of modern MMOs will like it since that isn't what it is going for. If some of them like it, fine, but it really cateers more to oldschool MMOers who really doesn't have much to play anymore.
VR is casting a much broader net than oldschool MMO gamers. They want to appeal to people who enjoy MOBA's, Survival Games, MMORPG's, even certain FPS games. The key is creating "challenging content" that requires "cooperation" with other players. If you enjoy those two things, there is a decent chance you'll enjoy Pantheon. Those are the exact reasons I started playing MMO's back in the day so whether you're new, old, or somewhere in between ... if you want to play in a "WORLD" rather than just a video game ... where socialization/reputation is important, where the environment is dangerous, where progression feels meaningful and where having capable friends is the difference between have and have not ... Pantheon is worth a look.
I wouldn't say mmo genre is dead, but its definitely in a sad state. I mean half the current "homeless" mmo players are excited for Bless, which has already failed twice in the eastern market. Maybe I'm wrong, but most games that have started (key word here) and failed in the east dont find much success in the western market either. Of course many mmos that started in the west tend to not do so well in the east (FFXIV, GW2, etc)
This genre is so dead I'm playing Runescape 3......and sort of liking it.....
Stranger Days it seems.
It isn't dead, supply has just far outpaced demand for a while now.
The western market simply needs to balance itself better to avoid forcing publishers to monetize so aggressively to merely make end's meet.
In that sense, all the delays with crowdfunding may help thin the waters and open up larger potential bases for new ideas.
The biggest MMO market now is China, and it will grow much faster than any Western market. In Asia there are almost untouched markets like India. This is the feature for the marketing. And the mobile platforms. In the last few years none of the big western publishers, so called AAA, did not release or even announced a new MMORPG. So how the supply outpaces the demand? And the demand is fading in the western countries. If I can play a good solo RPG, and a good multiplayer FPS or moba, why to play a bad MSORPG instead? WOW literally killed the genre.
Because the western market has been served for a while now.
Blizzard bailed on the idea of creating a new title because there's no growth to be had there, merely shifting of existing customers from one product to the next.
The barrier to entry has been reduced to literally nothing to entice players to try our MMORPG instead of the other guys' MMORPG.
Publishers left the industry wholesale.
It's all signs of a market too saturated to make for a good investment opportunity.
Because the western market has been served for a while now.
Blizzard bailed on the idea of creating a new title because there's no growth to be had there, merely shifting of existing customers from one product to the next.
The barrier to entry has been reduced to literally nothing to entice players to try our MMORPG instead of the other guys' MMORPG.
Publishers left the industry wholesale.
It's all signs of a market too saturated to make for a good investment opportunity.
In fact it is quite the opposite. Even lame games like BDO made spectacular profit. F2P - P2W, which is in fact P2P with random fees (the real P2W is not what players call P2W), even if it is not combined with B2P, is very profitable for the big studios with guaranteed market. This year the MMO players probably will overpass 1 billion over the world. Games like LoL keep making great earnings and attracting more players. The barrier to entry for a customer should not exist - this is a good marketing. The rich people are not the best buyers. Every retail bank will approve that. There are many indie MMORPGs, with the additional publishers. Nobody leaves the market. But let take Blizzard as example. They wanted to make space WoW. But realized this is incredibly stupid idea and shut the project. Why to make a game that will be a competitor to your own games? The lack of any really new ideas is the biggest problem of the market now. Many people claim the Nokia is the best phone ever, while others are waiting for the iPhone. It may come from some AAA studio - the Apple of the games, or from a charismatic new inventor like Tesla.
If Blizzard thought they could add even half the consumers they get with WoW to their base by releasing another MMORPG, I highly doubt they would've shuttered it for a completely different genre.
VR is casting a much broader net than oldschool MMO gamers. They want to appeal to people who enjoy MOBA's, Survival Games, MMORPG's, even certain FPS games. The key is creating "challenging content" that requires "cooperation" with other players. If you enjoy those two things, there is a decent chance you'll enjoy Pantheon. Those are the exact reasons I started playing MMO's back in the day so whether you're new, old, or somewhere in between ... if you want to play in a "WORLD" rather than just a video game ... where socialization/reputation is important, where the environment is dangerous, where progression feels meaningful and where having capable friends is the difference between have and have not ... Pantheon is worth a look.
I have already sponsored it, no need for the salespitch to me.
Because the western market has been served for a while now.
Blizzard bailed on the idea of creating a new title because there's no growth to be had there, merely shifting of existing customers from one product to the next.
The barrier to entry has been reduced to literally nothing to entice players to try our MMORPG instead of the other guys' MMORPG.
Publishers left the industry wholesale.
It's all signs of a market too saturated to make for a good investment opportunity.
You might be reading too much into that: Blizzard thought that Titan would just shuffle customers for them but that doesn't mean that it is impossible to get new westerners into the genre, just that Blizz thought that Titan couldn't do it.
With Wow like games you are probably right though, if the genre want to attract many new players it will have to release MMORPGs that differs from the standard model that have been around so long. All MMOs don't have to be that similar to the games we had the last 15 years though.
I think the key is to look on what an MMORPGG should accomplish (like bringing thousands of people together in the same world, interacting with eachothers) and try to figure out new ways of getting that to happen instead of just trying to improve on features that have been very similar for a long time.
And it might be easier to introduce the already established model into a country like India or Etiopia where most people never tried anything like it but if you want to attract a large new chunk of western players you need to offer them something new and that takes some hard work.
The other option is to try to bring back the people who once played Wow and similar MMOs but have given up on the genre since, I think that is rather tricky though. The best way for that might be to go back to Wow 2004-2005 and take that in another direction they would like more, something that isn't easy either but still probably far easier then to bring in millions of new westerners.
It's strange....MMORPG's popped into existence because a segment of the gaming base was sick and tired of arcade gameplay and wanted something more in depth. They weren't labeled virtual worlds for nothing. Yet, since the advent of UO and EQ, developers and certain segments of the gaming base have been trying wholeheartedly to corral MMO's back into the arcade fold. Turning them back into twitch over strategy, lobbies instead of worlds, multiplayer instead of Massively multiplayer, competitive over cooperation, simple over complex and most of all, rewarding anti-social behavior.
Comments
If we simply take the top 6/7/8 mmorpg's ,things still look at least hopeful,promising.
It seems to be way too easy to make a crappy game and that is what has happened across ALL genres.Toss in a completely meaningless world,some mobs,a couple models,few tattoos and hair colors,call it a mmorpg.
I have not seen ANY effort put into the "GAME aspect",in TCG's,ARPGs',MOBA's,Survival games,all of those developers should be deleted from ever making games,their efforts have been less than Indie,i call them AMATEUR efforts.
BORED,extremely bored people are allowing all those crappy games to survive and continue to bring us more and until people start waiting for quality,these trashy amateur designs wil keep coming.
Also making it bad for the future of gaming,is that for a LOT of people,this is all they have grown up on,so they THINK these are decent games,it's all they know.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Stranger Days it seems.
"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
What we are unlikely to see again is MMOs that cater to players who want to just play one MMO forever. I think those days are gone. There are simply too many good games now to spend time investing years into one. It is the reason we see so much "Season" type content in games that are popular and content patch cycles that are built around a surge of players returning briefly rather then forever.
This here is a good example of a non-mmorpg player,
- MMOs are meant to play forever. If you were an MMO player you would be thinking less on fun action packed gaming that holds attention for several weeks and more about community games.
- What Triple A MMOs are coming out this year that are real mmos ?
- Black Desert is not a Triple A MMO, its an Asian cash shop grinder that infiltrated our financial defense's.
- At least three real mmorpgs are in the making, unfortunately they are a few years away. I know why you haven't noticed them...Because they're not F2P !
And GW2s sales in China were acceptable, not great but not bad either. Wow is basically the only western MMO that really made an impact in China and I am not sure comparing the other western MMOs with Wow is very productive.
In any case, Europe, America and Australia have a different taste then China, South Korea and the Philipines. Japan is doing their own thing, sometimes their games are successful in one or both the other regions, sometimes not.
A really good game can be succcessful everywhere and sometimes does a game better in another region then it's home region, it might be that Bless is made the way it works better somewhere else or it might just be bad and not work anywhere, hard to say.
We surely could use a couple of successful MMOs about now showing investors that the genre still could generate money in the west.
Not really sure what F2P has to do with anything regarding my argument, so dismissing that as irrelevant as well.
http://baronsofthegalaxy.com/ An MMO game I created, solo. It's live now and absolutely free to play!
At best it might point other devs in a different direction then the genre been going since 2004 but it will never become the next Wow.
Still, I am happy to get something with a bit more difficulty, I am tired of cookie-cutter MMOs.
I don't think you need to become the next WoW to save the genre. We just need an MMO "World" like we had back in the day, but with modernized graphics and gameplay. If it points other devs in a different direction that could very well be the start of saving the genre. =D
I am not guaranteeing i will be playing Pantheon,but i for sure as hell know,it will be a better design than Wow.
We know Pantheon right out of the gate will look MUCH better.Wow literally for years had NO lighting,just a global lighting,gear,items,objects NO lighting.Models very low end with pathetic customization options.
I can look past really bad graphics IF i get into the game and the character has some depth in design,combat has some depth and not just grab any weapon and swing away while spamming icon 1-2 until you get some more.
Also just like all the cheap Asian MMORPG's ,Wow copied in that do 1 ,yep ONE quest and your level 2,simply magical,i sure felt like i earned that level.NO WAY can Pantheon be that pathetic with it's design.
So imo to the person looking for a better mmorpg to play,Pantheon will NOT be that hand holding,linear pathetic Wow clone,we should get better looking world,better characters/depth and better mobs and better combat.
IMO it is only a matter of Pantheon doesn't do too much that really turns me off,like i do NOT want to see any silly somersaults,or content segregated by a need for a RAID.I want to see a REASONABLE game,maybe a group of 5-6 is good enough,some resistances to elements and weapon types and varied aggro properties,not just proximity.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Also, the last thing the MMO genre needs is another WoW (edit: and endless clones); much better to have a range of successful games, all offering something a bit different and expanding in different ways.
In any case I hope it does well, we need a good game with more difficulty and co-operation badly now.
I am just saying that you probably should be careful overhyping it, I don't think the average fan of modern MMOs will like it since that isn't what it is going for. If some of them like it, fine, but it really cateers more to oldschool MMOers who really doesn't have much to play anymore.
The western market simply needs to balance itself better to avoid forcing publishers to monetize so aggressively to merely make end's meet.
In that sense, all the delays with crowdfunding may help thin the waters and open up larger potential bases for new ideas.
Blizzard bailed on the idea of creating a new title because there's no growth to be had there, merely shifting of existing customers from one product to the next.
The barrier to entry has been reduced to literally nothing to entice players to try our MMORPG instead of the other guys' MMORPG.
Publishers left the industry wholesale.
It's all signs of a market too saturated to make for a good investment opportunity.
With Wow like games you are probably right though, if the genre want to attract many new players it will have to release MMORPGs that differs from the standard model that have been around so long. All MMOs don't have to be that similar to the games we had the last 15 years though.
I think the key is to look on what an MMORPGG should accomplish (like bringing thousands of people together in the same world, interacting with eachothers) and try to figure out new ways of getting that to happen instead of just trying to improve on features that have been very similar for a long time.
And it might be easier to introduce the already established model into a country like India or Etiopia where most people never tried anything like it but if you want to attract a large new chunk of western players you need to offer them something new and that takes some hard work.
The other option is to try to bring back the people who once played Wow and similar MMOs but have given up on the genre since, I think that is rather tricky though. The best way for that might be to go back to Wow 2004-2005 and take that in another direction they would like more, something that isn't easy either but still probably far easier then to bring in millions of new westerners.