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Themepark MMOs are rapidly becoming a thing of the past
Trolldefender99
Member UncommonPosts: 416
As said by TotalBiscuit's Mailbox
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIWVz1tB5gU&feature=g-user-u
Even TB agrees that themepark MMOs are a relic.
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And clearly he is an expert on the subject.
latest trending hype for forum chumps.
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Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
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While I hope so, I seriously doubt it. The only sandbox games off the top my head that are in full swing development are Archage and Darkfall 2, I'm aware of kickstarter games, but one hasnt seen the light of day yet so my opinion on them is still undecided.
If either one of those above titles ends up being awesome maybe theres a hope or TES:O bombs in box sales, as thats the only thing that themeparks besides WoW make money on, but even then it will be a slow process of themeparks/themeparks with a gimic dying off completely, if ever.
Why sell customers gold when their lining up to buy coal at gold prices? The only people who can make a change is customers not buying into marketing hype. So if your wishing for a AAA sanbox, boycott TES:O,TSW, GW2, TERA, ect.
^
Instant gratification type gameplay is going nowhere. People simply no longer have the patience to treat an MMO like a world that you enjoy your downtime in... if it doesn't have quick-grouping and instantaneous travel to anywhere you could possibly want to go, the sky WILL fall.
Shit, people used to *love* the idea of fishing in an MMO... now it's more fun to pick on people that would.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
That's an odd thing to believe when almost all of the most recent and upcoming MMO offerings (TES:O,Rift,Tera,GW2) are themeparks. I haven't played TSW, but from what I gather it is also a themepark. I know Archeage is supposed to be a sandbox, but are there any others?
TB says they are the pinacle of themepark MMOs (including SWTOR to a degree). As many TB followers know, he is really looking forward to GW2 a (quote from his video) very very well hidden veil of a themepark.
You can only do so much with a clone, until you can't improve it anymore. Going by TB's line of thought.
There are current ones, like EvE, Mortal Online, Perpetuum, and Darkfall. Even UO is still around. Fallen Earth has some sandbox qualities as well. There are others out there as too, but themeparks outnumber sandboxes by a large margin.
There are those in development as well, such as ArcheAge, World of Darkness, Embers of Caerus, and Life is Feudal. I understand Earthrise is being re-developed too. Again, though, themeparks in development outnumber the sandbox games by a lot, and few major developers will attempt a real sandbox-style game.
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
Theme parks are only good for the moment then when the better game comes along people swarm to the next theme park. Whatever happened to mmos like FFXI that took you many months to level, so much immersion, group play and great communities.
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Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Yep. Depth and Immersion are ancient relics
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I did'nt get that from the video but theres nothing wrong with a themepark as long as the rides are good. I find that the really good games can be more fun when replayed and you know whats up and where everything is and can play with it a bit more as apposed to figure it out. I do love civilizations though when it comes to sanbox.
I wish. But too many idiots keep buying them, blitzing through the content in 2 months then whinging that they have nothing to do and moving on to the next overhyped POS themepark game. More and more of these games dont even have the Massively Multiplayer component of the genre they claim to be a part of.
No.
No they're really not.
Sandbox are yes, actually they already are, but not Themeparks.
There are a few reasons why all those sandbox MMORPGs (Darkfall, Mortal Online, etc...) fail and remain niche games. Poor quality, bug ridden coding, poor design, arrogant developers... but the main reason is that those games confuse "sandbox" and "FFA PvP". That's why they fail. Make a polished quality sandbox game where PvP is not forced on everybody and you will have a winner.
Oh yes, because awful grinds equal depth and immersion...
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Totally agreed, as FFAPvP without any kind of structure is bound to lead to a kind of chaos that only a few complete asshats are attracted too. FoM had FFAPvP, and because of the role/poltical structure, your only fear was of total noobs that fail at doing their research and attack anyone they see like if it was a deathmatch game... they eventually all get hunted down like animals by the factions they end up offending, though.
~and then they cry that the game sucks.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I agree with this guy, that the 2nd gen MMO which was defined by WoW and EQ2 in 2004/5 and copied thousand times comes to an end. But i also dont expect, that sandboxes will takeover the market. At least not the pvp-ffa type, which is doomed to fail (btw, EVE is not pure pvp-ffa imho).
What we will see is, that both subgenres will move into the direction of the middle between the 2 extremes. Lets call them sandparks. So ArchAge and Darkfall are not pure sandboxes and i expect, that Darkfall 2.0 will have even more regulated features and themes. they will be sandparks coming out of the sandbox corner.
From the other side we saw already sandparks coming out of the theme-park corner like GW2 and TSW, who are a very different kind of theme-parks. Some others of similar type are already announced. They try to avoid some fundamental mistakes of the 2nd gen MMO as e.g. linearity. The trends i see for the next years theme-parks are:
played: Everquest I (6 years), EVE (3 years)
months: EQII, Vanguard, Siedler Online, SWTOR, Guild Wars 2
weeks: WoW, Shaiya, Darkfall, Florensia, Entropia, Aion, Lotro, Fallen Earth, Uncharted Waters
days: DDO, RoM, FFXIV, STO, Atlantica, PotBS, Maestia, WAR, AoC, Gods&Heroes, Cultures, RIFT, Forsaken World, Allodds
You are going to play mindless single player online games where you always win and you're going to like it damnit!
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Themepark play may not be my favourite style of MMO, but they're going to become a thing of the past when books, movies and comics become a thing of the past. Just look at them as simply another method of delivering a block of static entertainment.
However, I suspect they will eventually evolve to have a more episodic, soap-operaish feel to them,
I have no idea how anyone can say that with a straight face considering how well GW2 is probably going to do.
The p2p model most are used to is about to come to an end but genre wise? Yeah right...themeparks aren't going anywhere.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
Sorry but even GW2 model won't last long. It is designed to never socalize with anyone but you get to zerg all the heart quests in a very boring non-lively world. They also have a long ways to go.
Given that Hype is all the matters in MMOs sales, look at SWTOR or GW2, the type of game really doesn't mean anything and there are a lot of people that like different types of games. Developers however kiled us with all themepark games for 10yrs without making games for the other gamers types. There can be more than one type of MMO made and it should be that way since it is impossible to cater to all player types.
OP is correct no themepark lasts with any kind of population for more than 3 months. It's a failed design.
I don't think theme parks will dissapear but the traiditional format of them will change. No game company wants to work for 4 years and dump millions of dollars into a game to capture game tourists for 3 months and then watch them skip to the next game.
There are huge differences between SWTOR and GW2. Really doesn't make a lot of sense to compare the two. Just because they're both themeparks does not mean they are the same game.
...and whether you like it or not GW2 is going to do well.
This isn't to take anything away from sandbox games. Just calling it like it is. Anyone thinking that themeparks are on the way out are fooling themselves.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
I'm not sure about "rapidly." I've seen a decent amount of sandbox games come out, but nowhere near as many as themeparks. Also, while the themeparks that have came out since WoW aren't doing too well, most of the sandboxes seem to be doing worse.