Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) are the cause of alot of stagnation in Games, Discuss

[Archaeology Hat]

Whenever I go into my local GAME store, or Gamestation or even HMV or "Zavvi" I see on the area marked for PC games an example of exactly what I feel is wrong with Modern PC games. (And given it's only a matter of time before MMOs start to look at consoles this isn't only a PC problem, in the long run). Not quite half the shelf is made up of games that are simply graphics that have very little actual content and almost no originality, but look good while they do it. Those, I avoid, I don't have a PC capable of running them and they're overpriced for what you're getting. I tend to avoid them on consoles too, but as I don't have a console while I'm at uni, that becomes irrelevant. Then there are the small majority off "good games I have already played to death", things like the Total War games and Dawn of War, along with the TES series and Half-Life. Following this, there are the games that suck, yet somehow manage to stay around long enough to have pretentions to being good.

Finally there are the MMOs, theres always a fair number, although their share of shelf space is taken up to a great extent by World of Warcraft its expension and its Game-Cards, there are always others: Be it Guild Wars, FFXI, Age of Conan, Generic crap MMO of the Month. Once, in Zavvi, in the two full shelf segments devoted to PC games, I counted literally half the games at the front of the pile were MMOs or MMO derivatives. Who plays these games? Why is so much effort put into making them? Why do they all look like World Of Warcraft? Why not make some good non-MMO games?

 

[Daeres]

I think that PC games in general have a tendency to be stagnant, and that MMOs are just the latest thing causing it. Seriously, most PC-designed games are strategy games or rpgs, and have been for quite some time, and within those genres most developers pick an original game and copy it to death. How many clones did Age of Empires and Shogun:Total War inspire? In fact this is true for FPS games as well; how many games clone Doom, or Far Cry? The PC has traditionally been seen as the developer's place of choice for only these three genres, which means when there's stagnation we tend to notice it much more.

All that being said, yes MMOs are stagnating PC games, but frankly half the games I enjoy for PC these days are either flash games or indie stuff, because that's where most of the effort to be original is happening at the moment, that and player mods.

 

[The Potato Lord]

I think its due to the fact that non-mmo games you buy for a set price and that's it but if it's an mmo you can make more money for no work off of subscriptions, and to make the mmo all you need to make are grind spots, function Npcs(trrading, guilds, etc.), Some sort of PvP element, and a retrarded skill tree you assembled in five minutes. and there you go you have a generic mmo.

 

[Johnn Johnston]

I can't say I've ever cared much for muhmorpugers. Although when I've dabbled, I've always found the leveling up to be the carrot on the stick that has kept me going.

 

[Dosed]

About 10 million people play World of Warcraft alone. That's one answer to one of your questions.

 

[Rob Sharona]

When Doom came out there were a million crap Doom clones. When MGS came out there were a million crap MGS clones. When GTA came out there were a million crap GTA clones. The same is true with MMORPGs an the same will be true with every inventive, original or successful gaming idea in the future.

 

[shadow skill]

I don't know that there were MGS clones, sure there were other stealth games but all had their own reasonably unique ideas.

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

No, it's not MMO's - it's multiplatforming and the loss of exclusives. Hardly anything is exclusive now so a lot of people don't even realize that "there is also a PC version" of that extremely popular 360 game (seriously, so many 360 fanboys don't even realize that Orange Box even has a PC version - I'm not kidding.) - I don't see anything wrong with the PC market right now, but everyone always likes to come out and say "it's dieing" but, I felt like I should give my 2 cents on this one for whatever it's worth.

 

[shadow skill]

It's hardly dying when pretty much all the good games that are on the 360 make it to the PC like Mass Effect. It may be in a bit of a decline though.

 

[Anarchemitis]

So what we do is in PM start a terrorist cell to sabotage all the WoW servers in the world for 72 hours. That'll raise hell for odd-jobs all over the world.

 

[Wormthong]

not all mmos are that bad i admit most of them suck balls but some of them have kept me interested for at least 2 days (about the same time any normal game does) but ive found a new mmorpg called EVE and ive always liked space traveling games they usualy keep me interested for how long the story goes but the fun thing with eve is the players actualy make the story the players actualy couse the war and i havent been playing it long enough yet to realy know for sure but i think this is the game for me

 

[stompy]

A friend and I (PC elitist whore that he is) had a discussion about this, and we agreed that the PC market was dying... for big name brands that is. The PC market is leaning towards indie games now-a-days, which is great. While the PC market isn't getting much content in stores, going on the web will allow you to experience many new games with great new ideas.

...uh, the PC market isn't stagnating. You just need to look harder.

 

[shadow skill]

I do wish MMO's would just die though.

 

[Soraen]

I do wish MMO's would just die though.

I like the blind hatred to a genre that innovates faster then FPS' and RTS'. For proof, see games like EVE Online.

 

[Lord Krunk]

I used to play MMO's, then WoW sent me bankrupt.

Me, being the stingy bastard I am, have never been able to play them again; I attempt to, but walk away after a few minutes.

Maybe a lot of other people should come to my way of thinking, although it might cause a bit of "unfortunateness" in the neighbourhood.

Don't ask me where I was going, just get the impression that MMOs aren't exactly the way you want to spend your life.

 

[guyy]

I do wish MMO's would just die though.

I like the blind hatred to a genre that innovates faster then FPS' and RTS'. For proof, see games like EVE Online.

MMO's aren't necessarily bad...but they're pretty much always too consuming. If you really want to get sucked into playing one game for hours every day, go ahead, but I'd rather do more productive things or at least play more varied games. Anyone who's tried an MMO knows that limiting your play time strictly is very difficult, if not impossible.

Also, nothing innovates faster than games with no well-known acronym.

 

[Ultrajoe]

MMO's are fun-ish, what drives them is a sense of reward

it is a beautiful thing

because to topple them will take something truly spectacular that we cannot envision...

gaming only evolves, driven by natural selection (public demand) the ony way is forward, the boring the same-old and the unimaginative left by the wayside...

*sniff* its... glorious.

 

[Singing Gremlin]

I do wish MMO's would just die though.

I like the blind hatred to a genre that innovates faster then FPS' and RTS'. For proof, see games like EVE Online.

I love the way EvE players are always fanatical about how EvE's difference sets it above other MMOs. I still feel like that to a degree.

I guess it's just because that's where the money is. Using EvE as an example, it has about 250,000 players. Pretty paltry compared to other MMOs. But the monthly subs being just over 8 quid, 8*250,000=2,000,000. Two million quid a month. Blizzard, on the other hand, having roughly 9 million players, would be making an obscene £72 mill a month, and £864 mill a year.

But I don't think it's stagnating the market. It is very quickly growing and innovating as genre. As said before, all the added drive to beat off MMO sale-thieves is going to result in better games. Just maybe less of them...

 

[Meshakhad_v1legacy]

I do wish MMO's would just die though.

I like the blind hatred to a genre that innovates faster then FPS' and RTS'. For proof, see games like EVE Online.

I love the way EvE players are always fanatical about how EvE's difference sets it above other MMOs. I still feel like that to a degree.

I guess it's just because that's where the money is. Using EvE as an example, it has about 250,000 players. Pretty paltry compared to other MMOs. But the monthly subs being just over 8 quid, 8*250,000=2,000,000. Two million quid a month. Blizzard, on the other hand, having roughly 9 million players, would be making an obscene £72 mill a month, and £864 mill a year.

But I don't think it's stagnating the market. It is very quickly growing and innovating as genre. As said before, all the added drive to beat off MMO sale-thieves is going to result in better games. Just maybe less of them...

I'm another EVE player who feels that EVE is different, but that's for a separate thread.

Anyway, the runaway success of World of Warcraft is probably responsible for attracting so many others to the MMO market. I watch the MMO Report on G4TV, and we are constantly hearing about new MMOs entering the fray.

The real problem is that the fantasy market is pretty saturated. There are only two successful MMOs that I know of that AREN'T fantasy - EVE Online and City of Heroes/City of Villains. Tabula Rasa and Pirates of the Burning Seas were welcome additions, but they seem likely to fail. MMOs based on existing IPs seem strongest.

Jumpgate Evolutions, Codemasters' new MMO, seems to have a chance. My advice to Jumpgate: don't copy EVE. Don't emphasize PvP or getting giant ships. Don't try to take players from EVE, since many EVE players think that their game is the best thing since sliced bread. I personally compare it to Half-Life 2. Instead, try to snatch up everyone who LEFT EVE. Give your game an easy learning curve, for a start. Emphasize PvE. Then you and EVE can split the sci-fi market between you.

 

[shatnershaman]

Yes and no true MMOs are popping out everywhere but then so is peggle style games there at fault too