It seems that Korea, can pump MMOs out much easier than West

delete5230

Is it my imagination ?

Eastern mmos are not my style, nothing wrong with them, but It's the translation thing, the floral of the world, the teen school girl with the ten foot sparkling swards, and the lore doesn't seem to fit my particular culture.  Definitely an expensive cash shop attached to the grind.  Expensive cash shop most likely brought on by the Western translation. 

From 9Dragons back in 2007, to Black Desert in 2016, it seems we have a new Eastern mmo released here in the west every few months. Sure me being from the United States and not doing any type of in detailed study, I'm shooting from the hip on their back round.  But, from my perspective they make it look so easy.  COST IN DEVELOPMENT NEVER SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE.  They have large extravagant worlds, full of unique features.  None seem to be a buggy mess like Western releases......THEY SEEM TO BE PERFICT FOR THEIR STYLE.  

What's going on here in the West ?.........My guess :

- Politics

- Greed and cost.

- Deeper copy rights.

- Unnecessary management on the pay roll.

- Longer lunch breaks.

- No financial backers ( because of above ).

- The actual workers are the least paid, the bread and butter.

It seems that with all products, not just video games here in the west....... If a product type proves to be a success, everyone takes advantage.  Everyone gets their foot in the door until the product is ruined ........It so bad that companies would file bankruptcy before all pocket dwellers would back off.  New pocket dwellers are created and set in stone.  Even if ten year's pass of no video games or any product, they will still be waiting !.......... Add that bankruptcy is a beautiful option for the retirement of companies.  It's excepted and is no longer shameful.  As Universities and Collages are pumping out new managers and marketers and law students this can only get worst.  

This is what happened in the West, and why we don't have any good mmos to play   

Phry

No, your imagining it.
The games your talking about look very pretty, but they tend to be all about boob physics, and fantastical martial arts, not to mention the girls in the games look far too young and tend to have unrealistically large eyes and cleavage, and thats about the only things thats large about the games tbh, nor are they 'bug free' as you seem to be suggesting, if anything they seem far more shallow than is normally acceptable for the Western playerbase. If you are seriously suggesting that there are no good MMO's to play, i could not disagree more, if the current available games are not to your liking, given just how many of them there are, and how diverse the gameplay offered is, then i am not sure any future games ever will be either. Perhaps MMO's are just not your thing?

Kopogero

Korea is simply technologically far more advanced than most countries. I mean the fact they had the fastest internet speed for a long time prior to everyone else is further proof of that. South Korea only also has population of 50 mil that further proves its advansement.

It has nothing to do with how much people are spending, it's the fact they can deliver products that people are willing to spend for, while the rest cannot do the same. I recall not too long ago Star Craft 1 was also very popular esport out there in this glory days.

GeezerGamer

DMKano said:

Korean online player market is unparalleled in terms of how much Koreans spend in cash shops.

"South Korean consumers are spending more per capita on virtual goods than anyone else in the world."

- Cash shops have no negative stigma in South Korea - they are considered normal part of playing any game

The profitability+demand is driving game studios to pump out games.


That's all there's too it.

If the rest of the world was spending as much on online games per capita as Koreans, we'd be seeing a new MMO released every month

You seem to be more "plugged in" to this particular area of knowledge. I've sen you speak on this before. But, don't Korans also have a different social aspect to their online gaming as well? They use a lot of Internet Cafes right? I imagine them gathering at one and using these games like a big LAN party social event. Where they all log in together an go out and have a blast all grinding in a game. Contrasting in the West where we are all in our own homes and looking for a more single player, solo experience?

ste2000

Well to start with the thing about Asian Companies being less greedy is a bit far fetched.
Just have a look at NCSoft they shut more MMOs than any other Western company just because they are not making ENOUGH profit.

Another thing is, to you and me, it looks like Asian developers are making MMOs like there is no tomorrow, but you need to realize that all those game are already several years old when they get over here, Archeage was already 4 y/o before coming to the West.
So there is a bit of a delay between West and East, I am not sure at the moment the Asian MMO market is buzzing the same way it was 4 years ago.

Asians live online, almost literally, so publishers tend to make more games online than the West, that's their core market.
I have also the impression the Asians are better in budgeting, they know how to maximize profit with a small investment, and in most Asian countries the cost of labour is much cheaper than over here, so they have also an advantage, giving them  a bigger margin of error.
While if a Western publisher make a mistake, they have to shut the Company down.

Scorchien

pretty easy to pump out cow-pies , look what they have given us ...

SavageHorizon

 Mmo's in Asia are less than half the cost to develop than they are in EU and NA. 

Mikeha

The West is a joke.

delete5230

SavageHorizon said:

 Mmo's in Asia are less than half the cost to develop than they are in EU and NA. 

+1, this is my feeling too.

Were greedy, unnecessary fees attached !

GeezerGamer

delete5230 said:

SavageHorizon said:

 Mmo's in Asia are less than half the cost to develop than they are in EU and NA. 

+1, this is my feeling too.

Were greedy, unnecessary fees attached !

It's because Western gamers won't grind.

Rappelz leveling was all about getting into a group, heading into a dungeon (that was open to everyone) finding an empty spot and kill spawns until you leveled.

And yet, to this day, I still think it has the best pet system in any MMORPG I've ever played.

Horusra

Maybe Koreans are bigger suckers for shiny crap than Westerners so their companies like to milk them more.

laxie

I think it is the culture.

In Asia (and Korea especially), there is a huge culture around gaming. They have been showing Esports events on TV for years now, towns are littered with lan cafes / arcades, seeing games everywhere is not unusual. It's a whole different ballgame.

This means the market for games is much bigger. They can release what we could call a sub-par game and it will sell, because the market is big enough to buy it.

Have a look at Wildstar. It was a very decent game (definitely decent compared to most Korean titles), yet it was a flop because enough people didn't stick to it. Will Carbine start making another MMO with the same scope as Wildstar? Likely not.

On the other hand, when a Korean developer makes sub-par a game, there is enough people to play it even if it is average. Will the developer make more? Of course. Perhaps even several games.

Kyleran

Lineage 1 is NCSOFTS most profitable title after being out for about 18 years, (sub only no less) but couldnt survive in the west.

 Clearly there is much that is unique about the South Korean market that makes developing and marketing games there a different experience.

Vorthanion

Maybe it's due to our companies paying their employees a living salary versus eastern companies that are notorious for virtually slave labor?  Which do you think is more greedy in that scenario?

Horusra

Vorthanion said:

Maybe it's due to our companies paying their employees a living salary versus eastern companies that are notorious for virtually slave labor?  Which do you think is more greedy in that scenario?

Not every job is worth a "living wage"

Scot

Maybe its it the fact they pay more, many of them are more clone like than even our MMO clones, so less design needed. But they do churn out a lot yes.

flizzer

I just wish I could say I like a Korean MMO. I don't think there is one I can say I want to play.

Soraksis

Its pretty easy when you pump out the same game hundreds of times with new skins and names.  When was the last time a good game came out of korea?  When was the last time a game came out of Korea that wasn't exactly like all of the other games that came out of Korea?

MrSnuffles

Kyleran said:

Lineage 1 is NCSOFTS most profitable title after being out for about 18 years, (sub only no less) but couldnt survive in the west.

 Clearly there is much that is unique about the South Korean market that makes developing and marketing games there a different experience.

FFXI is SquareEnix's most profitable title ever. FFXI has survived just about as long and is also subscription only. If a game is good, it does not matter where you market it. It's going to be a success. Unfortunately most games are trash.

Avanah

delete5230 said:

Is it my imagination ?

Eastern mmos are not my style, nothing wrong with them, but It's the translation thing, the floral of the world, the teen school girl with the ten foot sparkling swards, and the lore doesn't seem to fit my particular culture.  Definitely an expensive cash shop attached to the grind.  Expensive cash shop most likely brought on by the Western translation. 

From 9Dragons back in 2007, to Black Desert in 2016, it seems we have a new Eastern mmo released here in the west every few months. Sure me being from the United States and not doing any type of in detailed study, I'm shooting from the hip on their back round.  But, from my perspective they make it look so easy.  COST IN DEVELOPMENT NEVER SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE.  They have large extravagant worlds, full of unique features.  None seem to be a buggy mess like Western releases......THEY SEEM TO BE PERFICT FOR THEIR STYLE.  

What's going on here in the West ?.........My guess :

- Politics

- Greed and cost.

- Deeper copy rights.

- Unnecessary management on the pay roll.

- Longer lunch breaks.

- No financial backers ( because of above ).

- The actual workers are the least paid, the bread and butter.

It seems that with all products, not just video games here in the west....... If a product type proves to be a success, everyone takes advantage.  Everyone gets their foot in the door until the product is ruined ........It so bad that companies would file bankruptcy before all pocket dwellers would back off.  New pocket dwellers are created and set in stone.  Even if ten year's pass of no video games or any product, they will still be waiting !.......... Add that bankruptcy is a beautiful option for the retirement of companies.  It's excepted and is no longer shameful.  As Universities and Collages are pumping out new managers and marketers and law students this can only get worst.  

This is what happened in the West, and why we don't have any good mmos to play   

The Grinding, No Story, No Lore, Cash Shops Galore,
Less Polish, Less Visually pleasing, More Hack and Slash, NON-Open World Games....*Runs out of breath*

*Deep Breath*

No thanks!

I prefer the wait for something great! Yes..It rhymes.

MrSnuffles

DMKano said:

Korean online player market is unparalleled in terms of how much Koreans spend in cash shops.
"South Korean consumers are spending more per capita on virtual goods than anyone else in the world."
- Cash shops have no negative stigma in South Korea - they are considered normal part of playing any game
The profitability+demand is driving game studios to pump out games.

That's all there's too it.

If the rest of the world was spending as much on online games per capita as Koreans, we'd be seeing a new MMO released every month

You are absolutely right however the western world spends not much less but they are spending it on mobile games and farmville not MMOs.

Kiyoris

Yes...making the same action MMO with the same combat is not hard.

Who knew copying was easy and faster than making original games.

Kiyoris

Kopogero said:

Korea is simply technologically far more advanced than most countries.

lol

Samsung pays IMEC from Belgium about a billion each year to do the research for them.

 I mean the fact they had the fastest internet speed for a long time prior to everyone else is further proof of that.

Just because a country has high internet speed, does not mean the population is technologically advanced.

Japan has some of the highest computer illiterates under 30 in the world, for example.

They are ranked dead last in the developed world when it comes to computer literacy.

Their internet speeds have not translated into computer literacy for young people, in fact, the average Japanese teenager, has issues doing even basic computer tasks.  They are extremely uneducated when it comes to technology.

Korea ranked higher, but they still only ranked average. They are far less skilled than people in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, etc.

The most skilled computer users in the world all actually border each other, it's a specific region in Western Europe.

st4t1ck

Seems to me they found out what the fans of the games there trying to sell want.  Everyone talks about crap asian games, and even if thats true to na/eu crowd. it doesnt matter, they found the recipe for what the gamers that they are trying to seel to want. 

 If the game is not "crappy korean grinder" to the people you are trying to sell to, why would you care what everyone else says

parpin

internet connection is getting faster and cheaper through out asia... biggest continent on the planet and most populated with fastest growing economy in it which is obviously china... for example B&S is very successful in taiwan alone almost as much money as gw2 when you look at ncsoft financial report.
much bigger market and they like anime style mmo with over the top females with huge boobs.
as matter of fact western countries have many asian immigrants who play asian mmos plus the good number of westerners themselves like asian mmos and that culture.
it is just they got much bigger market as simple as that.

kitarad

Although I am from an earlier generation how anime and manga /manhwa and asian games on the Playstation and Nintendo and other console whether handheld or not are perceived is different in Asia. I was a girl growing up in Asia and I watched anime and loved the art and embraced that culture. Growing up watching Chinese martial arts movies dubbed into Malay were a staple for most of us.

Long before it became a popular in the West for anime and even girls playing video games we in Asia have even Manga that caters for older women and young girls. So it is not very strange for girls to play video games when it was only considered something nerdy in the West.

So when you have such a huge population available and a wide variety of tastes it is inevitable that there will be a lot of games that will cater to all these different interests. I am a huge fan of Japanese Manga and the Korean Mahwa and I used to devour them in school if I could get them translated.

I doubt most Western girls grew up like that .We also appreciate the cultural differences and actually love the art and enjoy the quirkiness that seem to turn many away . 

Naturally Korea would have a huge gaming industry just as Japan has. So many games I have played in Japanese that never even see the light of day here . So at least now we can get translations online to help with those games that never get translated.

It is funny I was watching a Korean drama the other day and there were so many girls kicking the asses of these guys playing Starcraft.