Whose going to make the next gen MMO?

[Bateluer]

The domination of WoW in the MMO market is truly depressing, isn't it? The best we get to look forward to are either WoW clones or MMOs that target a small niche portion of the market.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
The domination of WoW in the MMO market is truly depressing, isn't it? The best we get to look forward to are either WoW clones or MMOs that target a small niche portion of the market.

Thank god for WoW, at least some of the wankers flooding XBL go there for a few hours a night.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
The domination of WoW in the MMO market is truly depressing, isn't it? The best we get to look forward to are either WoW clones or MMOs that target a small niche portion of the market.

I dont find it depressing, they made a great game. EQ had its run and WoW will do the same, though its going to be alot longer IMHO.

 

[BenSkywalker]

This.

WoW at this point doesn't need a truly strong competitor, Blizzard's quality has tanked pretty hard recently. WoW has already fallen down the sad path of needing mini games in their pivotal sequences(extremely poorly done drake mini game for the final portion of the final raid boss currently in game....).

I think Blizzard is currently pounding arsenic while taking a chainsaw to their throat with one hand while keeping a chain gun emptying rounds into their head with the other. They seem to want WoW to die at this point, their gameplay mechanics are becoming a travesty and I don't see it taking much more then a remotely viable alternative to topple them. WAR could have done it, but they decided to focus too much on PVP while the vast majority of players want PVE content first and foremost. With Bioware entering the fray, I don't see Blizzard maintaining their dominance for too much longer. They have been going toe to toe with underfunded teams working with weaker IP- now they are going up against a team that has been far superior to them for several years now with a considerably more popular IP.

Facerolling and mini games may hold people over for a bit yet as they are in the habit of playing WoW, but the core gameplay has crumbled under the weight of poor choices made by the development team(reinventing game mechanics always has long term consequences- their rate of growth has shrunken an incredible amount already since the changes, a reversal will likely start even before TOR hits).

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: BenSkywalker
This.

WoW at this point doesn't need a truly strong competitor, Blizzard's quality has tanked pretty hard recently. WoW has already fallen down the sad path of needing mini games in their pivotal sequences(extremely poorly done drake mini game for the final portion of the final raid boss currently in game....).

I think Blizzard is currently pounding arsenic while taking a chainsaw to their throat with one hand while keeping a chain gun emptying rounds into their head with the other. They seem to want WoW to die at this point, their gameplay mechanics are becoming a travesty and I don't see it taking much more then a remotely viable alternative to topple them. WAR could have done it, but they decided to focus too much on PVP while the vast majority of players want PVE content first and foremost. With Bioware entering the fray, I don't see Blizzard maintaining their dominance for too much longer. They have been going toe to toe with underfunded teams working with weaker IP- now they are going up against a team that has been far superior to them for several years now with a considerably more popular IP.

Facerolling and mini games may hold people over for a bit yet as they are in the habit of playing WoW, but the core gameplay has crumbled under the weight of poor choices made by the development team(reinventing game mechanics always has long term consequences- their rate of growth has shrunken an incredible amount already since the changes, a reversal will likely start even before TOR hits).

Casuals will keep it alive for MANY years. So many people never even did alot of the content like Naxx.

 

[microAmp]

I'll be looking forward to Bioware's Star Wars game, hopefully it'll be good & polished.

 

[ZzZGuy]

Next gan as in the next game to hit subscription numbers of WoW or the one to start the next evolution of MMOs?

The star wars MMO has potential, but I can too easily see it being a clone of all the MMOs that have come before it and therefor failing to draw anyone away from WoW.

Darkfall looks like it will break the mold so to speak, but will they keep their word on many of the key features that will set them apart? AoC had such promise once. Either way I don't see it becoming a massive hit.

Then there is the possibility of many smaller MMOs, ones that focus on smaller markets making it more enjoyable for those who play but unable to reach the numbers of WoW. If this becomes standard then WoW will be the last of it's kind, as a game that tries to appeal to everyone won't be able to beat out all the smaller more specialized ones. You only need enough players to populate a few servers (or in EvEs case, one really big one) so you have lots of people to play with and can change servers if you want to meet (or get away from) different people.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm not big on MMO's but I would bet on World of Starcraft.

Maybe Universe of Starcraft.
Or Starcraft Galaxy.
Or Battlefield Starcraft. I'm suprised no one thought of that yet.

Seriously, you know folks are just itchin for it.

 

[drebo]

What the MMO market really needs is UO2. I don't think Darkfall will deliver on their marketing pitch of "what UO should have been." I'll give it the ol' college try, but I have no delusions.

I would buy a lifetime subscription to a game that offered a playstyle similar to what UO had circa 1999.

 

[coloumb]

The next gen MMO? That'll be one where it's linked directly to your mind - virtual reality style gaming. Just sit back and let your mind wander inside a vast game world.

I don't forsee Blizzard's WoW losing their subscription base anytime soon - the devs just know exactly what to do to keep making the game fun to play.

As for KOTOR - Bioware definitely wants to tell a story - but can they realistically pull it off in an MMO? A single player campaign is easy to alter the game according to what choices you make - but to do this in a multiplayer environment? You're still going to be killing "20 mutant hogcats" for a prize... or deliver a critical crystal component to jedi master fenobiwon.

 

[drebo]

Originally posted by: coloumb
killing "20 mutant hogcats" for a prize

See, this is exactly the mold that both players and developers need to break out of. Most people either weren't around, were oblivious, or don't remember the time before WoW when MMORPGs were social games without some master goal. UO, Everquest, and early DAoC didn't have quests. You went out and you spent time killing stuff because it was fun...not because NPC number 3 told you he needed 5 pig intestines for his daughter's school clothes. You fought to improve your skills. This is what's needed.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I wouldn't be surprised if people other than Blizzard just stop trying. Is Warhammer making money? AoC? I know so many people who bought the box but then quit before even paying for a month. That can't be a good sign for any new developer.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Originally posted by: drebo

Originally posted by: coloumb
killing "20 mutant hogcats" for a prize

See, this is exactly the mold that both players and developers need to break out of. Most people either weren't around, were oblivious, or don't remember the time before WoW when MMORPGs were social games without some master goal. UO, Everquest, and early DAoC didn't have quests. You went out and you spent time killing stuff because it was fun...not because NPC number 3 told you he needed 5 pig intestines for his daughter's school clothes. You fought to improve your skills. This is what's needed.

Sadly it DOESN'T need that at all. I still hear about more new people signing up for WoW than I hear about people quitting. Even with as lame as the end game is currently people are sticking around. The player base for WoW is just so massive now that I really think the only way it will ever truly die is for Blizz to decide enough is enough and pull the plug.

 

[AVP]

I just wish someone would make a pure raiding and pvp game, no grinding or questing. I envision player made cities where people can go outside and collect materials and have to fight off the occasional lurking bad guy to get supplies to build a constantly expanding city where contributions from individuals and guilds lead to titles and unlock different housing. So you have the crafting aspect, city building, and then the rest of the game would be raiding and pvp. Attack other cities and mobilize npcs from the city to attack dragons and fight off huge fricken monsters that lay seige to cities and actually destroy different parts of it.

While there would be a component of grinding to the crafting / city building / harvesting, no more go kill x of y at z to level up. You wouldn't even need an experience bar, just titles.

The raid game would be entirely composed of attacking other cities and dragons / monsters. You could hire mercenaries and make the enemies stronger (though relatively less so) with the size of a group. Want to fight with 5, hire mercenaries to get to 10. Fight with 10? Challenging. Fight with 55, challenging but easier and a whole lot more fun. You could make dragons scale and then turn the loot into the city for title upgrades that unlock stuff, no more dragons with shiny silver breastplates and wands. Every new dragon would have a different randomly generated name, appearance and base skill set (two heads, spiked tail, fire / ice/ poison etc) A database will keep a log of all the different monster types, names and kills so that each kill can be an individual triumph.

No more having to grind to some level just to have fun. No more stupid quests, but instead a fun, purposeful crafting environment, with a developing city to call your own, and raiding from level 1 onwards. This is my dream.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

I can tell you, as I did last year, that there is no MMO currently even in development that will be "next gen".

As for WHO will develop it? I'd have probably staked money on Bioware except that their Star Wars MMO looks like typical MMO shit, so they're out. So my next best guess is SOE. They sure as heck aren't making it right now, but they have the knowledge and resources and drive and Blizzard beat them at their own game, so I can only hope/guess they'll try to reinvent the game.

FWIW, a "next gen" MMO isn't just going to be a new fancy franchise to wrap the same boring ass game mechanics over top of. It will be a game that brings PvE and PvP players players together seemlessly and has an end game worth playing.

 

[shortylickens]

Originally posted by: AVP
I just wish someone would make a pure raiding and pvp game, no grinding or questing. I envision player made cities where people can go outside and collect materials and have to fight off the occasional lurking bad guy to get supplies to build a constantly expanding city where contributions from individuals and guilds lead to titles and unlock different housing. So you have the crafting aspect, city building, and then the rest of the game would be raiding and pvp. Attack other cities and mobilize npcs from the city to attack dragons and fight off huge fricken monsters that lay seige to cities and actually destroy different parts of it.

While there would be a component of grinding to the crafting / city building / harvesting, no more go kill x of y at z to level up. You wouldn't even need an experience bar, just titles.

The raid game would be entirely composed of attacking other cities and dragons / monsters. You could hire mercenaries and make the enemies stronger (though relatively less so) with the size of a group. Want to fight with 5, hire mercenaries to get to 10. Fight with 10? Challenging. Fight with 55, challenging but easier and a whole lot more fun. You could make dragons scale and then turn the loot into the city for title upgrades that unlock stuff, no more dragons with shiny silver breastplates and wands. Every new dragon would have a different randomly generated name, appearance and base skill set (two heads, spiked tail, fire / ice/ poison etc) A database will keep a log of all the different monster types, names and kills so that each kill can be an individual triumph.

No more having to grind to some level just to have fun. No more stupid quests, but instead a fun, purposeful crafting environment, with a developing city to call your own, and raiding from level 1 onwards. This is my dream.

Unfortunately those kind dont stay in business.
Its the constant, slow grinding that keeps millions of people paying for memberships for years at a time.
What you just described sounds fun, but its unlikely many people would pay for long memberships to do it. They would get tired in well under a year and look for something else.

MMO's are all about getting lots of people and keeping them.

I have to agree with the other folks here. The only thing thats going to break WoW is another Blizzard game, or something truly different. Something with even more addicting gameplay than we have seen yet.
Thats not gonna happen anytime soon.
The PC gaming industry is NOT about originality right now.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: ZzZGuy
Next gan as in the next game to hit subscription numbers of WoW or the one to start the next evolution of MMOs?


Darkfall looks like it will break the mold so to speak, but will they keep their word on many of the key features that will set them apart? AoC had such promise once. Either way I don't see it becoming a massive hit.

I hope Darkfall does some good...it has a lot of features i'd like to see and play with, but this time around I am not going to buy it until others have reviewed it...and there is a 14 day trial of some sort....or I finally get into beta, ha.

Next gen MMO with 1mil ~~ subscribers or so is more then enough really...dont't need a game to break WoW, a game to change the MMO industry.

Originally posted by: Bateluer
The domination of WoW in the MMO market is truly depressing, isn't it? The best we get to look forward to are either WoW clones or MMOs that target a small niche portion of the market.

I would not say depressing, I would say it's catering more towards the casual now.....as the tough grinds are non-existent...on my realm you can pug and 10 or 25 man with significant ease.

The thing I hated about the old star wars, was the fact that the GM's listened to the consumer and made getting a Jedi ungodly easy....just like how WoW nerfed the crap out of everything for the next expansion....but the star wars didn't have an expansion, haha.

I never got into it, but a few of my friends loved it...I'd like to see a new, polished DAoC! I love medieval swords/sorcery type of MMO's.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: drebo
What the MMO market really needs is UO2. I don't think Darkfall will deliver on their marketing pitch of "what UO should have been." I'll give it the ol' college try, but I have no delusions.

I would buy a lifetime subscription to a game that offered a playstyle similar to what UO had circa 1999.

no more from funcom....

Originally posted by: shortylickens
I'm not big on MMO's but I would bet on World of Starcraft.

Maybe Universe of Starcraft.
Or Starcraft Galaxy.
Or Battlefield Starcraft. I'm suprised no one thought of that yet.

Seriously, you know folks are just itchin for it.

This has been in the talks since 2000, among my friends at least ^_^

Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
I wouldn't be surprised if people other than Blizzard just stop trying. Is Warhammer making money? AoC? I know so many people who bought the box but then quit before even paying for a month. That can't be a good sign for any new developer.

fun com is an old developer...and Mythic is not new to the scene either...

 

[drebo]

Originally posted by: shortylickens
Unfortunately those kind dont stay in business.
Its the constant, slow grinding that keeps millions of people paying for memberships for years at a time.
What you just described sounds fun, but its unlikely many people would pay for long memberships to do it. They would get tired in well under a year and look for something else.

Funny...UO's subscribership was FAR higher before they added the "slow grinding questing".

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: drebo

Originally posted by: shortylickens
Unfortunately those kind dont stay in business.
Its the constant, slow grinding that keeps millions of people paying for memberships for years at a time.
What you just described sounds fun, but its unlikely many people would pay for long memberships to do it. They would get tired in well under a year and look for something else.

Funny...UO's subscribership was FAR higher before they added the "slow grinding questing".

That's the way I like to play...i hate these short grinds

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: AVP
I just wish someone would make a pure raiding and pvp game, no grinding or questing. I envision player made cities where people can go outside and collect materials and have to fight off the occasional lurking bad guy to get supplies to build a constantly expanding city where contributions from individuals and guilds lead to titles and unlock different housing. So you have the crafting aspect, city building, and then the rest of the game would be raiding and pvp. Attack other cities and mobilize npcs from the city to attack dragons and fight off huge fricken monsters that lay seige to cities and actually destroy different parts of it.

While there would be a component of grinding to the crafting / city building / harvesting, no more go kill x of y at z to level up. You wouldn't even need an experience bar, just titles.

The raid game would be entirely composed of attacking other cities and dragons / monsters. You could hire mercenaries and make the enemies stronger (though relatively less so) with the size of a group. Want to fight with 5, hire mercenaries to get to 10. Fight with 10? Challenging. Fight with 55, challenging but easier and a whole lot more fun. You could make dragons scale and then turn the loot into the city for title upgrades that unlock stuff, no more dragons with shiny silver breastplates and wands. Every new dragon would have a different randomly generated name, appearance and base skill set (two heads, spiked tail, fire / ice/ poison etc) A database will keep a log of all the different monster types, names and kills so that each kill can be an individual triumph.

No more having to grind to some level just to have fun. No more stupid quests, but instead a fun, purposeful crafting environment, with a developing city to call your own, and raiding from level 1 onwards. This is my dream.

wouldn't that just be like a persistent fps type of game?