Do young people still play MMORPGs ?

Adamantine

Well, do they ?

Do 14 year olds, 20 year olds, 30 year olds still have interest in the genre ?

Or are we a dying breed and the genre will die with us ?

Scot

A good point, I would like to see the demographics of todays MMORPG player bases compared with the late 90's/early 00's. I think they would have shifted to older players overall but it would depend on the game and what we are prepared to call a MMO. For example I use Genshin Impact when I use examples below, I would not actually regard that as a MMO myself but when thinking about this I was trying to see this from a teens point of view as much as an old guys.

Older MMOs like WoW would show a distinct leaning to the upper age groups where as "modern" MMOs like GI would be very teen heavy. CF MMOs are likely to have a weighted to older population as well, at least until they officially launch and even then it would depend on what type of MMO was delivered. I doubt AO has a weighted to older population for example, but Embers would have.

delete5230

IMPORTENT FACT:
Video games are ageless, same with mmorpgs.

Way back when I  played 24/7. I've played the hardest content with kids as young as 8, they were as good as adults.  Infact their were times when we were on Ventrilo voice chat and kids were so young they were annoying. Ssome Guilds wouldn't take kids only because they were annoying.

THEIR JUST AS GOOD AS ADULTS !
Infact when mmorpgs are so easy they don't like them same as adults. 


IMPORTANT FACT:
They hate the crap we have now.  The only difference now is they have no money, so they have to steal dad's credit card to pay-to-play in order to continue. 

Poor kids their getting ripped off, actually dad's are the ones getting rolled.  

AAAMEOW

I don't know how new world sold 25 million copies.  Does new world resemble survival games?  Maybe it's all survival games player trying out New world.

I don't even know how there are so many people play Lost Ark.  Maybe it's all ARPG players.

I've been playing pokemon go for 6 years.  Really popular game on mobile.  Arguable the most social mmorpg out there because you actually talk to real people.  

Maybe the way to make popular mmorpg is to actually not mmorpg.  

Adamantine

I'm relieved by the answers to this thread.

cheyane

See for yourself. What is on that video at 2022. Minecraft, Roblox , Fortnite and Genshin Impact.

Young people are very influenced by social media . They play what their friends play.

Although the 13 million on Everquest in 2004 is suspect and in 2004 September when WoW was not yet released it had 24 million. Probably rubbish ignore.

Kyleran

My 30 yr old son still plays WOW from time to time, mostly when his friends coax him back.

Otherwise despite being raised on the same MMORPGS that I played since he was 8 he basically quit the genre (outside of WOW) after graduating high school and I still haven't been able to interest him into trying any of the newer ones since GW2 launched.

He hasn't really missed very much. 

Sovrath

Adamantine said:

Well, do they ?

Do 14 year olds, 20 year olds, 30 year olds still have interest in the genre ?

Or are we a dying breed and the genre will die with us ?

There's that, seemingly, really young guy who constantly reports on Lord of the Rings Online.

So I suspect they must! At least some do.

Nanfoodle

I have friends in their 20 and 30s who MMO. I used to MMO with them when they were teenagers. I have not MMOed in the past year (longest I have not MMOed at all) but these kids keep inviting me back to MMOs we have played in the past. 

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The user and all related content has been deleted.

Mendel

cheyane said:

See for yourself. What is on that video at 2022. Minecraft, Roblox , Fortnite and Genshin Impact.

Young people are very influenced by social media . They play what their friends play.

Although the 13 million on Everquest in 2004 is suspect and in 2004 September when WoW was not yet released it had 24 million. Probably rubbish ignore.

Interesting, if somewhat suspect.  I wonder where they got these numbers; the MMORPG industry has been notoriously difficult to track.  I can never remember EQ boasting 13 million players.  I feel that Sony would have boasted.

The oddness is how a new game will appear from nothing, sprint to 100 million, then drop completely off the chart.  It's more hypnotic than factual, I think.

Sovrath

Mendel said:

cheyane said:

See for yourself. What is on that video at 2022. Minecraft, Roblox , Fortnite and Genshin Impact.

Young people are very influenced by social media . They play what their friends play.

Although the 13 million on Everquest in 2004 is suspect and in 2004 September when WoW was not yet released it had 24 million. Probably rubbish ignore.

Interesting, if somewhat suspect.  I wonder where they got these numbers; the MMORPG industry has been notoriously difficult to track.  I can never remember EQ boasting 13 million players.  I feel that Sony would have boasted.

The oddness is how a new game will appear from nothing, sprint to 100 million, then drop completely off the chart.  It's more hypnotic than factual, I think.

While I think 100 million is a bit much, I get your point. Though It's not surprising.

The majority of mmorpg players today most likely look at mmorpg's, at least new games, as "single player games with some multiplayer."

They hop on, get their fill, and then go to the next game. Whatever that is, single player, multip, mmorpg, etc.

They are a lot different than the players who started out playing mmorpg's who were looking for a community. Or at least they were looking to jump into the newest thing and found a community they could stay with.

DigDuggy

I don't know the demographics and it would be very interesting.  A quick look and I have no idea, but 2.2 billion revenue for MMOs annually.  Companies care about demographics, but they care about $$$$ more.  middle aged americans and a bit older have more income than younger people.  So, whether there are fewer younger players or not, 2.2 billion means that companies aren't gonna ditch this gaming category anytime soon.  Once we're in the grave, they'll have to worry.

Brainy

My son early 20's is playing WoW classic, and he has a full discord of people all around his age.  I asked him what the age of people in is guild was, and he said 18-25 probably the most common.  Its a hardcore guild so not sure if that makes a difference or not.

They on and off a bunch of survival games together while raid logging in WoW.

I know when I played Embers that game was predominately 40+ playing.  Never seen so many old folks in 1 MMO.

Neoyoshi

Do cats still poop outside of the litterbox?

Yes, yes they do.  >:(

Scot

Sovrath said:

Adamantine said:

Well, do they ?

Do 14 year olds, 20 year olds, 30 year olds still have interest in the genre ?

Or are we a dying breed and the genre will die with us ?

There's that, seemingly, really young guy who constantly reports on Lord of the Rings Online.

So I suspect they must! At least some do.

Somebody who looks to be in their early twenties is playing Lotro, sound the horn of Gondor!

Adamantine

Kyleran said:

He hasn't really missed very much.

Yes thats probably the main danger, theres hardly any good MMORPGs around in the first place, so how would young people even get the idea that MMORGPs are fun.

I havent played any MMO since Vanguard closed down, but I'm still having hope.

Theocritus

Do most of the younger gamers own a PC these days? Most of the ones I know do just about everything on their phone....

Sovrath

Adamantine said:

Kyleran said:

He hasn't really missed very much.

Yes thats probably the main danger, theres hardly any good MMORPGs around in the first place, so how would young people even get the idea that MMORGPs are fun.

I havent played any MMO since Vanguard closed down, but I'm still having hope.

Well, fun is subjective. I've said this before and it's worth mentioning now, I showed sone friends some "mmorpg" game play and they thought I was crazy. I tried to explain to them that the game was more than grinding but they thought it was just a waste of time.

To be honest, I don't see how most people would find early mmorpg's interesting "other" than the social aspect. The game play isn't "all that."

Look at Lord of the Rings Online. They managed to take some of the most exciting parts of the books and make them dull.

Angrakhan

My question is does anyone with a life play MMOS? Young or old. They're all designed to soak up every minute of every day and still ask for more investment. They're not games but lifestyles. A lifestyle of sitting on your ass in front of a computer accomplishing a bunch of nothing that becomes obsolete the moment the next expac drops. Don't get me wrong I'm all for entertainment and down time. People need to be able to relax and gaming is perfectly fine for that, but the time investment expected is way beyond "downtime" and goes into "what are you willing to sacrifice to play this game?".  My answer to that question has been to sacrifice the MMO for a while now. No regrets either. Maybe that's why the genre is dying? Too many people took the red pill and decided to wake up?

Andemnon

Sovrath said:

Mendel said:

cheyane said:

See for yourself. What is on that video at 2022. Minecraft, Roblox , Fortnite and Genshin Impact.

Young people are very influenced by social media . They play what their friends play.

Although the 13 million on Everquest in 2004 is suspect and in 2004 September when WoW was not yet released it had 24 million. Probably rubbish ignore.

Interesting, if somewhat suspect.  I wonder where they got these numbers; the MMORPG industry has been notoriously difficult to track.  I can never remember EQ boasting 13 million players.  I feel that Sony would have boasted.

The oddness is how a new game will appear from nothing, sprint to 100 million, then drop completely off the chart.  It's more hypnotic than factual, I think.

While I think 100 million is a bit much, I get your point. Though It's not surprising.

The majority of mmorpg players today most likely look at mmorpg's, at least new games, as "single player games with some multiplayer."

They hop on, get their fill, and then go to the next game. Whatever that is, single player, multip, mmorpg, etc.

They are a lot different than the players who started out playing mmorpg's who were looking for a community. Or at least they were looking to jump into the newest thing and found a community they could stay with.

At its height, i think Everquest had something like 200,000 players/subscribers, i am not even sure Everquest 2 achieved that number. Player numbers never broke the 'million' mark until WoW, so yeah, those numbers being quoted in the millions are highly questionable and likely have no bearing on reality. Honestly kind of reminds me of the BS that Superdata used to spout, anyone remember those guys? they would apparently use data from mobile games to make predictions/statements about none mobile platforms. Younger players are still likely playing Fortnite etc. As they mature its likely some of them will drift into playing actual MMO's like BDO, GW2, FFXIV and even WOW, but thats only if they keep on playing games at all, i doubt that many will.

Scot

Angrakhan said:

My question is does anyone with a life play MMOS? Young or old. They're all designed to soak up every minute of every day and still ask for more investment. They're not games but lifestyles. A lifestyle of sitting on your ass in front of a computer accomplishing a bunch of nothing that becomes obsolete the moment the next expac drops. Don't get me wrong I'm all for entertainment and down time. People need to be able to relax and gaming is perfectly fine for that, but the time investment expected is way beyond "downtime" and goes into "what are you willing to sacrifice to play this game?".  My answer to that question has been to sacrifice the MMO for a while now. No regrets either. Maybe that's why the genre is dying? Too many people took the red pill and decided to wake up?

I am not sure they all do anymore, they are designed to fit the lives of "rotation gamers" who play a few to several games in rotation over the course of a week. So they can't demand too much time these days. Of course there are exceptions and players who are prepared to put the time in do, but I think it is quite possible that in a few years time even spending a few hours doing a raid may be a thing of the past. Gaming is becoming ever more lite and has even less depth as time goes on.

waveslayer

I have 3 kids ages 25, 26 and 30 and they all still play WoW, but they seem to play games like call of duty, minecraft, apex etc more, my 26 yr old daughter keeps telling me I gotta play elden ring

Wordsworth

It seems to me that the largest subsection of kids today play games a lot like of us old people here seem to.  Instead of jumping from game to game looking for the nostalgia hit from years past, they jump from game to game with streamers and trends. 

cheyane

Andemnon said:

Sovrath said:

Mendel said:

cheyane said:

See for yourself. What is on that video at 2022. Minecraft, Roblox , Fortnite and Genshin Impact.

Young people are very influenced by social media . They play what their friends play.

Although the 13 million on Everquest in 2004 is suspect and in 2004 September when WoW was not yet released it had 24 million. Probably rubbish ignore.

Interesting, if somewhat suspect.  I wonder where they got these numbers; the MMORPG industry has been notoriously difficult to track.  I can never remember EQ boasting 13 million players.  I feel that Sony would have boasted.

The oddness is how a new game will appear from nothing, sprint to 100 million, then drop completely off the chart.  It's more hypnotic than factual, I think.

While I think 100 million is a bit much, I get your point. Though It's not surprising.

The majority of mmorpg players today most likely look at mmorpg's, at least new games, as "single player games with some multiplayer."

They hop on, get their fill, and then go to the next game. Whatever that is, single player, multip, mmorpg, etc.

They are a lot different than the players who started out playing mmorpg's who were looking for a community. Or at least they were looking to jump into the newest thing and found a community they could stay with.

At its height, i think Everquest had something like 200,000 players/subscribers, i am not even sure Everquest 2 achieved that number. Player numbers never broke the 'million' mark until WoW, so yeah, those numbers being quoted in the millions are highly questionable and likely have no bearing on reality. Honestly kind of reminds me of the BS that Superdata used to spout, anyone remember those guys? they would apparently use data from mobile games to make predictions/statements about none mobile platforms. Younger players are still likely playing Fortnite etc. As they mature its likely some of them will drift into playing actual MMO's like BDO, GW2, FFXIV and even WOW, but thats only if they keep on playing games at all, i doubt that many will.

No at it's height in 2004 Everquest had 420,000 players and had sold 2.5 million copes.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/everquest-celebrates-fifth-birthday/1100-6091457/

delete5230

cheyane said:

Andemnon said:

Sovrath said:

Mendel said:

cheyane said:

See for yourself. What is on that video at 2022. Minecraft, Roblox , Fortnite and Genshin Impact.

Young people are very influenced by social media . They play what their friends play.

Although the 13 million on Everquest in 2004 is suspect and in 2004 September when WoW was not yet released it had 24 million. Probably rubbish ignore.

Interesting, if somewhat suspect.  I wonder where they got these numbers; the MMORPG industry has been notoriously difficult to track.  I can never remember EQ boasting 13 million players.  I feel that Sony would have boasted.

The oddness is how a new game will appear from nothing, sprint to 100 million, then drop completely off the chart.  It's more hypnotic than factual, I think.

While I think 100 million is a bit much, I get your point. Though It's not surprising.

The majority of mmorpg players today most likely look at mmorpg's, at least new games, as "single player games with some multiplayer."

They hop on, get their fill, and then go to the next game. Whatever that is, single player, multip, mmorpg, etc.

They are a lot different than the players who started out playing mmorpg's who were looking for a community. Or at least they were looking to jump into the newest thing and found a community they could stay with.

At its height, i think Everquest had something like 200,000 players/subscribers, i am not even sure Everquest 2 achieved that number. Player numbers never broke the 'million' mark until WoW, so yeah, those numbers being quoted in the millions are highly questionable and likely have no bearing on reality. Honestly kind of reminds me of the BS that Superdata used to spout, anyone remember those guys? they would apparently use data from mobile games to make predictions/statements about none mobile platforms. Younger players are still likely playing Fortnite etc. As they mature its likely some of them will drift into playing actual MMO's like BDO, GW2, FFXIV and even WOW, but thats only if they keep on playing games at all, i doubt that many will.

No at it's height in 2004 Everquest had 420,000 players and had sold 2.5 million copes.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/everquest-celebrates-fifth-birthday/1100-6091457/

2.5 million copies

And Don't forget people had to buy dvd format disc at the store or mailed, some times you had to drive to five different stores to find it. Also if mailed, back then 7 to 10 business days ment 7 to 10 days.

Also computers were in their early stages, you had to fight hard to get your game working 


All this was up hill in a snow storm. Life was hardback then.  Now kids get everything handed to them