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General: The List: Five Things We Want from MMOGs
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com contributor William Murphy takes a crack at this week's list, counting down five things that he would like to see from the MMO industry in general in the coming year.
#5 NEW WAYS TO PAY
The marketplace for the fifteen dollar-a-month subscription is getting awfully crowded. I would tend to suspect that most gamers only really keep one active subscription at a time. And even if many hold two to three at a time, a new game still has to be good enough to warrant a player dropping their progress, friends, and hard work. So as more games come in, unless the market is widened once more by a game that introduces many new millions to the genre, I don't see how the $15 model can be sustained by all of them. But when I see games like DDO bravely and successfully entering the free-to-play arena, I'm heartened with the prospect of other games following suit. Global Agenda and The Agency are both using a "Freemium" model when they debut in 2010, and something tells me such a decision will net them quite a few more sales than simply adopting the standard monthly subscription.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I agree with all of those except for #5. I don't want new ways to pay, I'm perfectly happy with a $15 subscription. Every new way to pay that I have seen only seems to benefit the developer, charging us more money for the same amount of content.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
A good list of reasonable expectations . I like it!
- RPG Quiz - can you get all 25 right?
- FPS Quiz - how well do you know your shooters?
I've been saying this one for a long time...
Why not develop more quests that involve some greater end being achieved, and to do so the players must fight through their "Ten Rats". This way I can be engaged with obtaining some relic, rescuing some hapless victim, flipping a switch, navigating a maze, or really anything that doesn't have me simply watching a counter on my quest tracker.
In a game like Morrowind or even Oblivion, there are very few quests that say "go out and kill 10 of x".
You just go out and explore, you might take a quest and along the way you might have combat. This is the way it should be. Also, end game should never EVER be a goal. If you discount all the game play up to your top most level then the game has failed in my opinion. Might as well not have the leveling and just give players top lvl.
The entire game should be enjoyable.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
+ another payment methods: it really sux when u live in another country and u only option is digital download/month fee with credit card, maybe especial offer for ya south homies
+ diversity for playstyles: not only others themes(sci-fi, superhero, vampire...) , but also new rules, more causal games, more thempark, more sandboxes, more fullloot ffa, and any other kind of combination to cater ALL ppl happy in their place
the rest quite cool
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
Good list. I couldn't disagree with any of it.
I do not mind the monthly subscription fee, but that doesn't mean I am not open to other forms of payment that are less expensive. (Sorry, but first rule of negotiating is not saying you'll pay more then you are currently. Ever.)
In 2010 i would like to see a Darkfall and Mortal Online Trial.
Nothing excites jaded Grandmasters more than a theoretical novelty
I would be happy with just stability and well realized feature set, of course innovation is nice but better have features that work than a lot of weird stuff that doesn't click..
More open world games, without zones and instancing.
Skill based games as opposed to level based.
Cheaper subscription costs, after all we are in a recession.
More games that have 1 giant server as opposed to many servers, if possible.
More tools for roleplayers, like better character creation, ability to modify characters after creation, ability to wear vanity clothing while getting stats from other gear, dressing rooms, housing with lots of furnishing options, pets, emotes that allow two avatars to actually touch (Matrix Online did it first), etc.
Agreed 100%.
There is one thing that I really DONT want to see in 2010. That is emphasis on PRE-orders and free "stuff" for preodering to be removed from this genre.
Long term wish I have on MMOs is that they will become a TRUE online experience. That is - you download the game ONLINE for free. You try it out - check if it works with your computer and your ISP - Check Ping and deside if its worth buying the content.
In other words... I wish 2010 will be dominated by good launches of MMOS that really are focusing on getting out top quality MMOs for the gamers - istead of scaming 50% of their potential playerbased with false PR and ads.
I know this is to much to ask for since most devs and publishers could not care less about gamers....
Agreed 100%.
Lol yeah don't give them any more ideas about how to squeeze water out of a rock. Pretty soon we will have to pay per-quest or get an order screen before we head into a dungeon.
Agreed 100%.
Lol yeah don't give them any more ideas about how to squeeze water out of a rock. Pretty soon we will have to pay per-quest or get an order screen before we head into a dungeon.
i read number 5 in a totally different way . it seams to be a similar arguement to what i ve made in these forums before . there are many struggling mmos that dogmatically stick to the 15 dollar subscription fee and are failing to attract players . no where is it set in stone that an mmo monthly sub has to be that amount and most arnt worth it . but maybe they are worth 5 -10 and would attract more players if they offered more competative prices . as a consumber to keep argueing that all mmorpgs should maintain a 15 dollar subscription fee is a little like saying older or less popular solo games should be sold at the same price as popular new ones . or that all newspapers and magazines should have the same cover price . it has always been a stupid arguement to say " i m happy with the 15 dollar " fee or " i d be more than happy to play x amount more " .
there are very very few games that are worth 15 dollars a month or can hold you for a long period at that price . thats why we only see the likes of world of warcraft being hugely successful and game like age of conan and warhammer failing to attract significant amounts of players . niether of which in my opinion are worth the standard fee but would be worth playing ( even for a few months now and again ) at a lesser fee .
a price war would benefit the mmo gamer in the long run and the mmo developers . i m sure a lot of people will argue against this saying quality would be sacrificed because of less revenue . but what if you cut you prices by a third and end up with twice as many players ? revenue increases . this may not work out for every game of course but competition in the marketplace is what capitolism is all about and i know you americans hate communists .lol .
this is definatly the way forward . argue against it as much as you like but in the end of the day the mmo market will work like any other market and sooner or later it will become a reality .
i do agree the freemium model can end up being more expensive but it depends how you play it ( and i think a lot of us are now playing ddo that would never have looked at it before ).
i think this is a good article it addreses a lot of issue that need to be tackled .
I understand what you mean, but you are not understanding the term end game. It is not a goal and never has been. The "end game" is symptomatic of the level treadmill mechanic in that once you get to the end there is nothing left to do. Therefore the "end game" is very important. The problem is not the "end game" but the actual game. As far as mmorpg's go, the level treadmill needs to die... maybe to be reborn, but it needs to go away as it is now.
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More open worlds wherein one can put a house/guild hall/etc. and show off earned trophies.
Can't believe how much I miss this from SWG.
I just want to pay a monthly fee and be done with it. I don't want to be nickel and dimed to death be able to access all content in a game. As to whether all MMOGs are worth the typical $15 a month, I'm less concerned about the amount, be it $5 or $25, than the quality of gameplay. If the game is engaging, I'm more than happy to shell out a small (like $15) monthly fee for entertainment. If there's two games i really enjoy and want to play, I'll pay two subs without blinking. Sadly, there's not much out there at the moment that would entice me into playing more than one at a time.
Yep. Nothing better than endless sprawls of abandoned player cities.
Yep. Nothing better than endless sprawls of abandoned player cities.
Keep a decay mechanic in, of course. Removing that was a big halt. Prior to Katrina and the halt to building decay, I had been in two cities. Prior to cities, I had houses on two planets. Those houses decayed prior to inflation, and prior to the moratorium that had been in place for *years* before they turned it back on.
I still maintain it can be done, just keep the decay on. Vanguard did, and the houses there disappear.
The old 15 dollar a month, yes now in tight times it is going away. I used to keep several game open.
I have a lifetime to lotro, but I am board stiff. I have 6 month subs to EQ2 but really some of the last releases have left a bitter taste in my mouth. I have a 6 month sub to FE, that one seen the cancel button today, while they been buzzy fixing bugs there really not much to it as its a single player game with an mmo flavor.
I can see folks getting and keeping maybee 2 games max opened now, the purse string are getting tight.
It all comes down to inovation and quality something that most folks dont have any more, just more clones of clones.
Yep. Nothing better than endless sprawls of abandoned player cities.
Keep a decay mechanic in, of course. Removing that was a big halt. Prior to Katrina and the halt to building decay, I had been in two cities. Prior to cities, I had houses on two planets. Those houses decayed prior to inflation, and prior to the moratorium that had been in place for *years* before they turned it back on.
I still maintain it can be done, just keep the decay on. Vanguard did, and the houses there disappear.
Well, I'll probably get verbally slapped for this, but this is one thing that I thought EQ2 got right.
Instanced housing.
No decay necessary. No land dedicated and then lost. You still get a place to decorate. AND players who take time off don't return to nothing.
At least that's how it was near launch for the very short time that I played.
Great list, I agree with all of them.
I ESPECIALLY agree with #5. I am so tired of the sub model. Sub models cater to those who can play hours everyday. They completely leave out those who are casual players, those who play in spurts, or those who split their time between multiple games simply because they like variety. I don't want to feel like I have to play a game all of the time to get my money's worth. I do wish that the quality of non-sub games would come up. I think Allods online and DDO could be helping to raise the bar on what we expect from a F2P.
I kind of wish that games would create a model where you pay for what you play. I buy a card with so many hours and as I play it deducts. When I get low on hours I buy another card, kind of like prepaid cell phones. Then if I want to take a break and play something else, go on vacation, have some economic trouble, etc I don't have to worry about my account bleeding sub fee while mya ccount sits idle.
I also really like the buy to play model like Guild Wars uses. I drop $40 or $50 on the game and I am covered. If An addon comes out that I want then I buy it (or ask for it for Christmas, birthday, etc).
Marcus
I couldn't agree more as this was the point in the article that hit home for me the most. I too have been asking this very question and have even thought of specific ways in which developers could do so.
If anyone knows of a game that has implemented these types of quests along with content in which the journey is as important and enjoyable as the destination, please let me know.
Great article Jon, well done. I can only hope that some developers are intrigued by the quest portion of your article. I am dumbfounded as to why there isn't more quests, like those you mention, in today's MMOs.
Your fail comment, failed.
1) Open World [No World Tiers] [No Load Screens between Zones{or little to none}]
2) Cool Classes and Mechanics. [ Would be nice, if Classes used muti mechanics. 1 unique mechanic, and other shared mechanics]
3) Large Scale PvE and Large Scale PvP [Pug Friendly and NO FFA/ FULL LOOT] [Must be Faction Based. Not Guild Balanced]
4) Fantasy Based
5) Muti playable races. Would be nice to get away from Orcs and Humans, [But please No BABY Race like FF. That just goes too far. Short Halfling, but no Baby Race]
Anyone who played the Chinese version of Aion has experienced something very similar to what you are describing and I was very much in love with the idea.
Over there, you pay for your time in hours rather than a set fee every month. So, you would buy blocks of hours rather than pay $14.99/month. In my experience, you would have to play a considerable amount of time to at which point it would be preferable to have a $14.99/months model. An easy solution would be to just put a cap on the amount of money one would have to pay per month for unlimited play. I can't recall if that was the case in China.
Your fail comment, failed.
#5 NEW WAYS TO PAY
The marketplace for the fifteen dollar-a-month subscription is getting awfully crowded. I would tend to suspect that most gamers only really keep one active subscription at a time. And even if many hold two to three at a time, a new game still has to be good enough to warrant a player dropping their progress, friends, and hard work. So as more games come in, unless the market is widened once more by a game that introduces many new millions to the genre, I don't see how the $15 model can be sustained by all of them.
New ways to pay = ways to stick your finger in both the subscription and item mall pie.
I for one definitely don't want it and any game developer that tries it can't have my money.
The subscription mmo market continues to grow at a healthy rate and most players who like subscriptions would rather chew their arm off than play a game with an item mall.
Trying to mix the two is stupid. If a game developer wants to stick their thumb in both pies, they can and should get creative about minor modifications that allow them to offer the game as either/or on different servers. That way they get a bigger potential market and players don't get lumped with mongrel payment models like CO's.
But I find it interesting that mmorpg.com continue to push this line. Game developers must be treating you to some seriously good lunches.....
#1 LESS HYPE
2008 and 2009 brought the promise of four big releases. Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Champions Online, and Aion all promised to be the next big thing.
Aion? Really?? Aion never claimed to be anything other than a top quality, unabashed EQ clone with sexy visuals and a bit more in the way of pvp. It is exactly that. While the game didn't ultimately have enough to hold my interest I found it incredibly refreshing to be able to play exactly the game I was promised.
Decent list mine is in no particular order.
More emphasis on character development over gear farming.
Less emphasis on end game and more on making the journey fun and meaningful.
More emphasis on non combat features. MMORPG are supposed to be more then ORPG.
Skill based system over level based system.
More payment options. I'd like to see more guildwars style or even a pay as you go type set up. Hell cell phone companies can do it why not mmo companies?
You know as I read these 5 things, I realized that Bioware has pretty much handed us all 5 even the less hype, the hype for The Old Republic isnt coming from Bioware or EA, they are rather close lipped about it, and release only small bites on their website, but its the fans that are giving the hype to ToR. So if you want a MMO that has the possibility of satisfying your 5 things we want...ToR is probably the closest thing their seems to be.