There are a slew of new MMOs [massive multiplayer online game] on the way. Many of them are based on big time franchises: DC Universe Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Star Trek Online come to mind. I even hear there is a MMO that takes place in the Fallout universe in the works. Every thing I’ve seen for all these games, as it was with MMOs that came before them like Lord of The Rings Online, look great. Good graphics, strong game play, historic franchise, they all look like real winners, real money makers, but that usually isn’t the case.
The question isn’t what would make a good MMO, but do we really need another MMO? The Marvel MMO never got off the ground because there is only one really successful MMO out there, and we all know what that is. Many others are moving to a free to play, micro transaction model, since the subscription model in most cases isn’t working. Just look at Dungeons and Dragons Online, and Lord of The Rings Online and even the game that really started it all EverQuest is going free to play. I’m not saying that these games can’t be successful, but the odds are not in their favor.
It all boils down to one thing: time. The big benefit to MMOs is that they suck you into their universe, but that’s why you only really have room for one in your life. Are you going to travel around scrounging for material to make something in Middle Earth, just to stop and head over to Gotham City to do the same thing? No, you are going stay in Middle Earth, make the thing you wanted, and go adventuring. To top it off there are only a certain number of MMO players out there, me not being one of them, although I’m an avid gamer.
All these companies saw how much money Blizzard was making and said to themselves “Hey we can do that to?”, but in reality, you can’t. In order to be profitable you would have to lure the same World of Warcraft players away from a world that they have multiple years invested in. And with Blizzard constantly putting out expansions and keeping interest fresh, that’s a tall order.
I think “LEGO Universe” has a shot. Young kids with addictive personalities will eat it up… as will people of all ages who love LEGO, which is just about everybody.
Comment by Dave2 — August 14, 2010 @ 6:10 pm
I really think EQNext has a shot.
Comment by zakary — August 15, 2010 @ 3:32 pm
I am a beta tester for Lego Universe and while I can’t give details I can say that the game is lacking. It is fun but there is little long term sustainability in my opinion.
This seems to be the case with most mmo’s (I have beta tested 3 now). The whole idea is to bring massive amounts of people together but I have yet to come across one that I just don’t end up playing alone because it is more of a hassle hooking up with people or they just aren’t there.
Comment by Brian — August 16, 2010 @ 2:06 am
I’m a comics nerd who has never cared for MMO’s. I don’t like people and if I wanted to interact with them I wouldn’t be hiding in my apartment playing video games. That being said though I’m far too big of a comic nerd to at least try out DCU for a couple of months. Especially with the promise that events in the game will mirror ongoing storylines in the comics.
Comment by Mutt — August 16, 2010 @ 12:03 pm
your article was interesting apart from one line.
“even the game that really started it all EverQuest is going free to play.”
1) EQ didn’t start it all, NWN (aol) did
2) After that was UO
3) Habitat in 1987 really planted the idea of virtual worlds in most peoples minds and the systems it implemented were used in UO and EQ.
4) EQ is not going free to play, EQ2 is. Both are different games… and the live EQ2 servers, are not being changed… the free-to-play EQ2 is a stand-alone game, separate from the EQ2 live community, with 100% fresh servers. Technically, EQ, EQOA, EQ2, and EQ2x are all very different products from Sony.
Now as to the rest of your piece of writing.
EQ is successful, its survived 17 expansions.
EQ2 came out before world of warcraft.
World of Warcraft was designed with advice from psychologist on how to be an addictive game, it was originally planned to be an advertisement supported game, yes. A FREE TO PLAY GAME. They changed their model not long before release.
“To top it off there are only a certain number of MMO players out there”
And that number grows as people age and countries develop, thats like saying there are only a certain number of Internet customers out there, yet as countries develop and grow, so do the consumers of bandwidth… and users of the internet double or triple. It comes down to economics, availability and accessibility. Unless you are telling me everyone has had the level of internet access since the first spam email was sent in may 1978… because I am sure the 700ish recipients of that spam mail would beg to differ about internet availability back then.
“All these companies saw how much money Blizzard was making and said to themselves “Hey we can do that to?â€,”
Sadly this statement is flawed because by mentioning Everquest in your previous paragraph you have indicated, that Everquest came out after Blizzard and Blizzard was making millions straight after its release (Which it wasn’t for a good 6 to 8 months)
“lure the same World of Warcraft players away from a world that they have multiple years invested in.”
There are still people playing Everquest 17 expansions later for this reason, but there are also gamers who are willing to start over in another game very easily. Despite the years of investment. It is proven in studies that its not the “things” people have acquired that keep them in a game, its the people. MMORPG’s are a social environment, guilds have been known such as “The Syndicate” to jump games several times, because the games aren’t what keep them in a place, the people are…
To be honest after writing all this, I don’t think you should write anymore pieces on MMO’s… you need to play them, and study what you write.
To summarize, Everquest is not going to OFFER a free to play option, Everquest 2 is, and its going to be a separate stand-alone game (unlike lord of the rings online) on its own servers. As a separate title.
Comment by Kate — August 16, 2010 @ 12:19 pm
I was going to post something in depth and and point out flaws and such in this article, but I’d like to thank Kate for doing that for me, her post was very written and not disrespectful in anyway. I do agree someone who doesn’t play MMO’s kinda has no business writing an article on MMO’s. Also “To top it off there are only a certain number of MMO players out there†is a very incorrect statement. Its a number that is steadily growing World of Warcraft’s numbers steadily went up at a rapid pace and I know many people who are just getting into MMO’s now. It’s a steadily growing hobby, This article seems very biased and pretty inaccurate.
Comment by Kev — August 16, 2010 @ 3:33 pm
LoL this article is so horrendous i cant believe i just read it. I agree with the other person commenting how you pretty much stated other mmo companies wanted to “follow” blizzard yet stated about EQ in your article (among many others that came out before WoW) and yet everyone wanted to follow blizzard? The only thing Blizzard did right was marketing and the gaming engine they used. A simple minded game able to be ran on essentially a cardboard box with a processor in it $$$$$.
At least try to get your facts straight before posting articles like this.
Comment by Salty — August 16, 2010 @ 4:01 pm
P.S. “In order to be profitable you would have to lure the same World of Warcraft players away from a world that they have multiple years invested in.” really? you mean like WoW did to other MMO’s like UO, EQ, NWN? Your article is way to biased in the fact you pretty much seem to think WoW started it all lol, yet go against yourself on that fact.
Comment by Salty — August 16, 2010 @ 4:05 pm
Sometimes, you need to think about whether people care about these nerd facts or not. When he said EQ was going freeplay, i’m sure he meant EQ2… and we all knew that. . .
Anyways, It’s really a toss up for nerds such as I who are tired of the middle-earth brand of heroin, and are ready to move on to more interesting story telling. Personally I think Starwars has a leg up in the game having already failed once, but DC has a bunch of great writers/voices/artists on their side. So to me, it’s a toss up, i kicked my WoW habit a long time ago, and I think it is about time someone cracks the MMO Surface that they’ve been running for so long.
~NZ
Comment by NikoZ — August 16, 2010 @ 4:31 pm
Did you read the words you typed, or does crap naturally flow from your brain to paper…
O.K. Now on to some points:
Saying there is no need for another MMO is like saying there is no need for a new console, or new comic book, or a new trading card game…
As technology moves along, as computers get faster and the world grows closer, new generations of MMOs must come along and bring innovation and advances to an industry..
The MMO industry is a 6 billion dollar a year industry and many new games are coming along to drive this market even higher.
As far as free-to-play games like DDO, this was a marketing plan to save a good product and it worked by increasing population and profit to the IP. LOTRO and EQ2 are doing the same because it will make money, and that is the key.
The truth is that in a few years, WOW will be long in the tooth like EQ2, but will have a large group of people who will be looking for the next big thing, and will take those dollars on to the next game.
If we didn’t do this, we would still be playing on Yar’s Revenge on Atari and Pool of Radiance on a Commodore 64.
Please don’t write articles on something you have no knowledge about.
Comment by Negacrowbar — August 16, 2010 @ 6:56 pm