General Discussion

Anyone else feel that the game developers out there may be hammering home the nails in their own coffins? 

With the almost daily news of another mmo going into beta I find I have to take pause and consider the ramifications of over-saturating an already stressed market.

With the world economy the worst it has been in decades, more people out of work than has ever been before, and people that are working actually getting paid up to 30% less than they were just a few years ago, I have to wonder what the game developers are thinking and what direction they are heading.

Is there a marketing footprint that is encouraging this boom in mmo development?

Economy = Bad Stress= High Game Sales = Good?

Have MMOs become a psychologically necessary escape tool in modern society? And are developers aware of the roll they play and taking advantage?

It kinda makes you wonder just how long it will be until games begin to be tested in labratories to rate factors like endorphin release, what colors, what effects stimulate the best addiction and feel good state of mind.

Who knows maybe they already are.  

nope this is a high growth market.

Its oversatured only from the perspective of existing gamers......but this genre lures in more suckers every day who haven't been grinding faction off their favorite mobs for 10 hours a day.

the people behind this genre don't give a rats ass about existing subscribers.....they care about roping in new fools every day.  Churn is nothing for them.

It is a good question.  I think gaming is a bull market, but I think MMORPGs are a bear market; we have not had a hit, or success, since WoW.  The reason is that everyine is attempting to replicate the success of WoW, but that is not how this market works.

The market, the MMORPG market, needs something different, better, unique, innovative, and more than the World of Warcraft.  

We got WoW.  Why should I play 20 months of WoW then quit to play a WoW clone?  It makes no sense.

We want a world; we get linear gameplay, armor tiers, PvP areas, and predictable raiding.

But!  I got linear gameplay.  I got armor tiers already.  PvP areas - been there, and done that.  Raiding is awful and restricts freedom.

What we want, but never get:

• Freedom - Open World (not a huge world where different parts are just slightly different than others, but real, and meaningful, travel and - gasps!!!- exploration)
• Innovation
  • Player empowerment
    • Tools to develop unique areas, NPCs, armies, areas, zones, etc.
  • Evolving, and changing, world
    • Political controls;
    • Enemy territories;
    • New (player built?) taverns, buildings, monasteries, garrisons, cities; and
    • So much (much) more.
• Customization - totally, and completely, unique player characters (story, history, appearance, abilities, and much (much) more)

And you know what is worse?  

They are not even making a better WoW.  They know they cannot compete with WoW's market, so they do not fund these games with the proper funding needed to be competitive.

If I wanted WoW, I would play WoW.  Putting different lore on the same game does not make it different; it is WoW with less features, fewer players, and more limited things to do.

I dont think there is anything wrong with the mmorpg gaming companies.

This is always something where anything can happen, or anything we dont know is happening.  There are a lot of games that are very similar.  Maybe they think copying a popular game will have their game and their names rise.

It would be nice if the games that will come out will be significantly different but good.

Originally posted by declaredemer

 The reason is that everyine is attempting to replicate the success of WoW, but that is not how this market works.

 

I've been saying for a while that in a saturated market the "niche" game becomes more important. I think this saturation will benefit gamers in the long run as it'll ensure innovation if developers want to see some kind of success. Games will need to stand out from each other - and not simply rely on an IP.

For the first time in a while I'm starting to look forward to the future of this genre.

Originally posted by Sorrow

 

Anyone else feel that the game developers out there may be hammering home the nails in their own coffins? 

With the almost daily news of another mmo going into beta I find I have to take pause and consider the ramifications of over-saturating an already stressed market.

With the world economy the worst it has been in decades, more people out of work than has ever been before, and people that are working actually getting paid up to 30% less than they were just a few years ago, I have to wonder what the game developers are thinking and what direction they are heading.

Is there a marketing footprint that is encouraging this boom in mmo development?

Economy = Bad Stress= High Game Sales = Good?

Have MMOs become a psychologically necessary escape tool in modern society? And are developers aware of the roll they play and taking advantage?

It kinda makes you wonder just how long it will be until games begin to be tested in labratories to rate factors like endorphin release, what colors, what effects stimulate the best addiction and feel good state of mind.

Who knows maybe they already are.  

I don't think MMOs are a social scape.

In the big cities (at least in mine), in the last years, there have not been a place where joung people could hang out and meet new people. I think MMOs promise people this place, but at the end they fail at delivering.

Also, its a lot cheaper to pay an MMO than to go for drinks 2 days a weak, A LOT CHEAPER. that explains why in this time of economic turmoil more people may be interested in them.

One thing about the crisis, its not a world crisis, at least not yet. I live in Argentina and i haven't seen anything close to an economic crisis. And i have seen one already in the past so i can compare.

About the developers knowing what they are doing.... well

I'm testing a game, and for EULA reason i won't even give a clue of what game it is. But the truth is, im surprised on how clueless the developer is. I mean, give me the resources (and im not game designer genius) and i could make a better game.

I don't think people like Mr Richard Garriot or the idiot who made WAR really understand what is an MMO about, you even wonder if they even played online games as much as the average MMORPG.com gamer has.

Now, your last paragraph about laboratory studies. Well, thats what a game designer is suposed to know, maybe not after laboratory experience, but any Game Designer for every platform should understand how does the game influence the players.