Bored? What's going on? Where are our MMO games headed? This piece will consist of two parts. First just gauging where some of our favorite MMO games are on the map. Tomorrow I'm just going to throw out some ideas that we could benefit from to freshen up our games. Feel free to drop a line with your ideas or thoughts! I suppose the little bars could be an estimated show of which games are higher on the gauge- Just for fun ;)
Where do you gauge your MMO? I think there are three categories most fall into, while I don't have all day to list every game, how about some that best represent these! Shall we?
------------------------------------------------------------------------WoW (We lost some steam?!)
First off I suppose lets start with the juggernaut- World of Warcraft. This is a game that set the bar for some many others. While not the first of it's kind it has changed the MMO scene dramatically since release. Gamers and companies look to it as a comparison for anything new. It's starting to age but it still has the edge on a lot of games. The expansions always rock our socks off, developers are always innovative and coming up with awesome new ideas that have players falling back in love with the game. The game is easy on the eyes and the machines we play on, which opens a broad audience.
More and more I am seeing so many people taking breaks, going off for greener pastures or just not playing period. Some won't play anything else if not WoW. What is the problem here? Does the company not see it? Is it not enough to catch their attention? People are bored. This company could actually benefit by throwing out expansions at a faster rate while keeping players happy. Sure, a game is going to grow into a monstrous thing in terms of size with each expansion, as it ages. That's the nature of the beast.
A recent Cataclysm press release showed some things were being canned, not much other new information was shown to us. Is it being pushed to meet a deadline? In my eyes it's over a year over due.
*Cracks the whip*
------------------------------------------------LoTRO (Don't give up the ship!)
Oh no the sky is falling! LoTRO is going FTP! If you didn't see this coming then you must not have really paid attention to Turbine's other flourishing FTP with cash shop content- DDO. Honestly DDO is doing better than ever since going FTP, I am sure LoTRO will prosper as well.
While I think it is a bit unfair to lifetime subscribers, what can you do? I am sure they will get perks, will they be worth it? I just can't say. The game will be fine, look at the other FTP Model Turbine has and use that as a comparison.
Sometimes we really get carried away when games head in a new direction, hold onto your 'boxers' and don't jump just yet!
------------------------------------------------------------------EQ2 (Balls to the walls!)
You know when you get gold spam a game must be doing well. I saw someone say that in chat the other day in EQ2 and I have noticed that there has been more spam. It does seem to be doing quite well, I am happy with it and the speed of expansions seems to be at a steady rate.
I'd say if you're looking for something besides WoW this is going to be the most bang for your buck and I think a lot of people are realizing this. New players are joining every day and the trial makes it easier to fall into place. I would have to say this game is opening up more to keeping a broad audience happy. Battlegrounds level requirements have been lowered, the game is overall more solo friendly than ever while still offering group play.
Sure, I do have some preference to EQ2 but every game could use some changes and improvements. I think there are a few things that could greatly improve this game. Especially the group scene, but more on that tomorrow.
There are a lot of solid MMO games out there that are doing quite well, sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own little world that we fail to notice that there are other options for gaming.
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So we are losing steam in some areas, trying not to jump ship and going all out! I'm just using these three games as a gauge on where MMO games are at as a whole. Are we happy, do we need change? Is the company delivering content to keep players happy?
There are many others out there and If I didn't mention your game 'sowwy'. Tomorrow I want to cover some fun ideas about where MMO games could head in terms of direction. Share your ideas, as always, feel free to!
-kaozz
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