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Failing MMOs
Jamar870
Member UncommonPosts: 570
What are the signs of a failing MMO?
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Jamar870
Member UncommonPosts: 570
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"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
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
At that point, they have decided that no more money can be milked by the MMO, so it has failed.
Anything else is just anecdotal.
We had Empires run by Emperors, we had Kingdoms run by Kings, now we have Countries...
Some good posts in this interesting topic, though. Let me add my own negative indicator: if the game ever closes down temporarily or is sold off to a different company.
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance
Now almost every MMO is F2P, since all recent MMOs are at best mediocre, and they can't command a Subscription model anymore.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Another way is to tie almost unbearable to live without (by intentional design) singular features such as unlimited storage space (TESO), access to large amounts of content (again, EVE) or providing additional "energy" so players can spend more time focusing on crafting or other preferred activities (ArchAge)
Otherwise you are correct, the sub model hasn't proven sustainable for a game which offers nothing more than an average playing experience, far too many titles players can find such with a F2P payment model.
"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
Any "new game experience."
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
"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
There will always be a market for a few mmorpg. The problem is a couple of AAA mmorpgs hold that market and will do it all better than any crowd funded or indy dev made game will be able to afford to do.
Most of these games are what i see as the last of the mmorpg golden era, GW2/FFXIV/ESO and of course WOW. Realistically being owned by a massive game studio and having a beloved IP are going to be what keeps them going. I think WOW/FFXIV/ESO will last a long time. I fear GW2 will be the first of those to go.
Signs of a failing mmorpg? Lack of development and communication. Communication dies first with the letting go of all non vital employees. Im pretty sure all crowd funded mmorpgs will die, or be forced to launch as a mini game of the mmorpg, like that one game doing battle royale instead of mmorpg or the repopulation did.
My honest advice would be to enjoy the mmorpgs that do exist, those games you might have in the past avoided give them a try with the mindset the genre is dying and fast. Hopefully youll get enough game time out of whats left and a new mmorpg will come out by a notable studio with a popular IP and put the final nail in the coffin for many of the remaining....it will happen eventually but not for a while i think. Eventually enough time will have passed and someone will come out and mop up the remaining mmorpg community with a solid game.
Right now the industry is reeling from untold billions lost during the mmorpg golden age as AAA studios naively attempted to out WOW world of warcraft. Some studio will realize if they honestly tried to make their IP into a unique mmorpg with a real budget and real quality will make enough to warrant the effort...the memory of the mmorpg graveyard will need to pass though....and the ones still living will need to fade a bit more to be viable.
hopefully...
I had fun once, it was terrible.
Subscription only work if a player is Subscribed for the entire year and for multiple years providing the company with $180 per year per player.
If a game cannot hold the player attention for long periods of time, the company needs to find another way to get those $180.
Enter Micro Transactions.
Since most of recent MMOs nowadays have an average longevity of 2-3 months (yearly cycle), they need to be able to squeeze those $180 (possibly more) in just 3 months rather than a year, and Micro Transactions are just perfect for this purpose.
In games like EVE and WoW or most of the Old School MMOs, players used to stay subscribed for the entire year (or almost), providing a steady source of income throughout the fiscal year.
Now even EVE and WoW are in trouble, even though for different reasons.
EVE decided to declare war on the Carebears, and Carebears collected their stuff and quietly fucked off.
WOW is releasing increasingly shallow content, so easy to complete that they can no longer keep up with players, which chew the new content in just few months.
EVE raised the white flag already, WoW will be next.
By the way, by 'failing' I mean games that they are not fulfilling their true potential.
Neither ESO, GW2, or BDO are failing MMOs. They are just not good enough to warrant a yearly subscription, soon WoW will join them.
So for me going from Subscription to MT is the clear sign of a 'failing' MMO, or in the case of games that never had a subscription, a MMO without ambitions or mediocre.
When UO, Everquest, AC and DAoC were the only popular games we had better games. While we weren't commanding players in the millions it was a time where the games were developed with integrity and fun in mind and while the idea that the game must also make money it wasn't the paramount concern where the design was concerned. We have completely veered off in a solely profiteering direction and one I personally abhor. While we can still find in the midst of dozens of games some gems they are difficult to find and often suffer from a lack of population and seem to be constantly in danger of being shut down.
We are forced to play, if we desire to continue with this hobby, games we do not entirely like. While I am reluctant to embrace them I am often faced with an even worse possibility that the remaining few will all but disappear leaving me with even worse choices. So I support the games I somewhat like in favour of those I definitely dislike.
Companies that make games are not making MMORPG games. The ones that are have to beg their customers for funding. IF it was growing there would still be yearly releases.
"By the way, by 'failing' I mean games that they are not fulfilling their true potential.
Neither ESO, GW2, or BDO are failing MMOs. They are just not good enough to warrant a yearly subscription, soon WoW will join them.
So for me going from Subscription to MT is the clear sign of a 'failing' MMO, or in the case of games that never had a subscription, a MMO without ambitions or mediocre."
I self identify as a monkey.