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Originally Posted by SwordMage
What I object to is the notion that the current MMO model is broken because it doesn't serve the needs and interests of the portion of the market the article's author represents. While some of his points were aimed at fixing the very real problems with many MMOs; others were aimed at changing the types of challenges that the player faces in game (which, to my way of thinking is actually describing alternative genres: twitch games, puzzle solving, etc.).
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Also agreed, hence QFE.
Rithrin, I take your point and agree with it to some extent also. Current MMO design has got stuck in the concept that in order to keep subscribers, you have to keep them doing the same thing over and over and over -- time-sinks keep money flowing. Which may have been true to begin with (or it wouldn't be such a huge strategy now, one which I'm sure marketing depts still push as hard as they can), but I suspect consumers are getting smarter about it.
Consumers are also, however, becoming more experienced, more varied, and more demanding. ...And also, for some of us, older. What I call console-gaming is starting to influence MMO design, which is all well and good, but it's not something
I would want to see totally take over the MMO field. I don't want to play nothing but PvP, or nothing but twitch-based, or nothing but... and so on. Yes, I would *love* to see a greater element of player skill involved, but if that means I have to play the equivalent of a console game then I'd stop playing MMOs entirely.
I *like* the old-style tabletop gaming flavour so many MMOs still have. It doesn't bother me much that the acquisition of "stuff" is still the prime motivator in these games, though if the focus on that is too extreme (WoW) it'll put my off just as much as any other extreme.
I'm not arguing that fresh thinking and new ideas aren't needed in the MMO genre. However, saying (my emphasis):
Quote:
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With apologies to the pen-and-paper role-players out there, this type of gameplay is not particularly compelling to the mass market, which finds more excitement in fast-paced combat with outcomes based primarily on player skill, rather than mathematical formulae.
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with no figures or elaboration on what, exactly, he means my "mass market" is a little disingenuous. "Mass market" is not equivalent to "non-tabletop roleplayer" which is what his sentence suggests. The market for MMOs is, thanks to WoW, still expanding hugely and, in my opinion, it'll be a while before we can really determine *what* the prevalent demographic is in this new mass, and also how large a percentage this represents. I could just as easily claim that there are now dozens of player types, not just old-styleRP/new-style console -- but if I did, I'd try to back it up with figures.
Time to pay
the Daedalus project another visit, see if Nick Yee has figures for that stuff.
Thanks for the article, Aredhel, and for the debate, everyone else who's posted here. As an avid gamer I'm really interested in MMO-design directions and trends, and in what everyone else wants/hopes for/expects. Even those I don't agree with.