2 years later... the almost sad state of MMOs in the new era

Ukerric · Apr 22, 2019

(since the previous thread has mostly died, here's a new one)

Caveat: this is not a MMO-specialized channel, so having Gamer Zakh excited about Pantheon or Crowfall will probably generate massive groans. But at least, I learned about a few new MMOs (all crowdfunded, of course).

Now, discuss the state of MMOs! MMGA!

BoozeCube · Apr 22, 2019

It’s kind of a shame the biggest MMO to release this year is Classic WoW.

If only Everquest Next wasn’t ran by incompetence.

Sithro · Apr 22, 2019

The only way I see MMOs making a real comeback is if stand alone VR sets become really affordable and people start buying them. It's the only way I can see the genre being made fresh again. Oculus is doing stand alone sets, but it's not (and possibly never) will be mainstream. Sony tinkers with it, but having to be connected to a PS4/PS5 is shitty. Nintendo is tinkering with it with cardboard... Though honestly they're the only video game hardware company I could see actually going all in on a VR system in the future (just to disrupt the market). They actually have giant IPs that could sell that sort of thing, too. But right now it's speculation and fantasy.

The good news for MMOs is that the tools for it are always getting better. So that means smaller companies will have an easier time building them.

Right now I'm enjoying Albion Online. It's different from what I typically play, but it's something.

Noodleface · Apr 22, 2019

MMOs aren't the hot genre anymore. It's MOBAs and survival shooters.

MMOs cost too much.

Pantheon will be served right into the toilet.

Penalty · Apr 22, 2019

Yea I really get surprised at all the excitement for Pantheon. How many times do we have to learn this lesson?

Nola · Apr 22, 2019

Only choices you currently have for MMOs are WoW, FFXIV and ESO.

hodj · Apr 22, 2019

I really think the main reason MMOs died is two fold:

1. WoW just mastered the early model too well and no competition could breathe for over a decade, which gutted major investment from big companies
2. Economics. The 2008 crash tightened budgets, reduced free time outside of work. By the time things got better economically, everyone had moved on.

There's my thesis on this subject. Short. Sweet. To the point.

BoozeCube · Apr 22, 2019

It's much easier to make some dogshit battle royale game and charge retarded cocksuckers for faggot dress up skins, and make fucking billions. I bet the next step we see in WoW is them selling Transmog armor sets through the cash shop. I am surprised they haven't already or maybe that's just the next step. Make all the in game armor sets look like pig vomit then add some new art assets at $29.99 a piece of the cashgrab and Bobby gets paid. Players will complain but we'll get the excuse calm your titties faggots it's only cosmetic as if cosmetic shit isn't the only reward left now that items have no reason behind them thanks to titanforging.

Cybsled · Apr 22, 2019

They tried that once before with mixed results. FFXIV does it a bit and seems to have some decent success, but people don't riot because you can get decent ingame glamours as well.

The biggest plus to MMOs is if you get your playerbase invested, you can have a very loyal core that will play your game almost exclusively for years. The biggest downside is as the game gets older, the barrier for entry becomes much higher. There are all sorts of expansions and storylines and levels you have to go through. With WoW, a new player would have 15 years of content, but because of leveling changes, they'll blaze through that at an insane rate and not even experience a 10th of everything.

MOBAs and BR can be a bit more fickle. Fortnite's popularity will begin to wane a bit as it's core audience (little kids) begins to grow up and like all kids that get slightly older, want to prove they aren't kids anymore by not liking what they liked as kids.

Kuro · Apr 22, 2019

MMOs didn't fail, they just spread their cancer into everything else. Your live services, your shitty open world grindathons, your lootboxes. It's MMOs all the way down.

Neranja · Apr 23, 2019

MMOs are so fucking expensive to make the only viable option would be if it sells really well and has a lot of pull. For this you need an existing IP with lots of interested players (and ex-players) and rich lore background to explore.

There is only one thing with lots of players that could be converted into paying customers--well, enjoy your new world map.

Ukerric · Apr 23, 2019

Sithro said:
The only way I see MMOs making a real comeback is if stand alone VR sets become really affordable and people start buying them.

VR still hasn't solved the transport sickness problem.

When you move in VR, your brain notices that your inner ear isn't reporting the movement "properly". Which makes you sick and prone to throwing up. Games manage to avoid that by having you stay in place, or put in a vehicle where your brain can assume that you're not really moving, so it's ok.

Until VR can manipulate your inner ear, you won't see a game where you move around, like a RPG.

gshurik · Apr 23, 2019

Ukerric said:
VR still hasn't solved the transport sickness problem.

When you move in VR, your brain notices that your inner ear isn't reporting the movement "properly". Which makes you sick and prone to throwing up. Games manage to avoid that by having you stay in place, or put in a vehicle where your brain can assume that you're not really moving, so it's ok.

Until VR can manipulate your inner ear, you won't see a game where you move around, like a RPG.

VR is a gimmick for normies.

Until it can be playable by a majority with no adverse effects (which probably won't happen due to inner ear issues) it won't get a killer app. Without a killer app it just exists as an expensive paper weight.

iannis · Apr 23, 2019

I'm mildly surprised that minecraft didn't become some sort of mega-server MMO.

It's the perfect framework for a non-combat lego style MMO. And for a few years minecraft was serving the function that DIKU's served. Microsoft even bought them.

Didn't evolve the same way though.

You don't get much more open world sandbox survival crafting than minecraft. Of course the engine is terribad so i'm sure that's part of it.

I guess even with better tech the social interaction bar is just too high. Still, I would have thought there would be a community for that sort of thing. Offers no advantage to single player or small servers I guess.

Ukerric · Apr 23, 2019

iannis said:
I'm mildly surprised that minecraft didn't become some sort of mega-server MMO.

It's the perfect framework for a non-combat lego style MMO. And for a few years minecraft was serving the function that DIKU's served. Microsoft even bought them.

Didn't evolve the same way though.

You don't get much more open world sandbox survival crafting than minecraft. Of course the engine is terribad so i'm sure that's part of it.

Trion tried to make a Minecraft MMO with Trove. Unfortunatly, I think they thought the aesthetic of Minecraft was what made it popular (hint: it wasn't).

And then there is Wynncraft (which uses Minecraft to make a classic MMO).

iannis · Apr 23, 2019

Yeah, trove was bad. I didn't even know wynncraft was a thing.

BoozeCube · Apr 23, 2019

I would just like to see a world that follows a more D&D model which Everquest did very well. Why can’t someone just make something similar to that with better graphics and more fluid/responsive game play.

Chris · Apr 23, 2019

If you want to keep people engaged in a game then you need weekly/monthly updates. So far only Fortnite has managed it. WoW had at least two times in it's history where it was a year between updates, they really can't manage their teams properly and are terrible at this.

The other side is that you need to keep all content relevent so development resources are not wasted. FF14 has managed to do this somewhat by forcing you through their godawful storyline and incentivising max level players to help newbies through older dungeons, or having hard modes of old dungeons with totally different mobs and bosses. WoW just abandons more features with each patch, now you just get gear shat out of braindead world quests so you don't even need to run old dungeons.

Any new MMO needs to do these things or they won't compete with mobile games and things like Fortnite. I don't know why these games don't just have a team of interns working on crafting and old zone revamps and cranking out monthly content, since you can do those things without new art asssets.

dizzie · Apr 23, 2019

Pantheon 2019 or 2020.

jayrebb · Apr 23, 2019

Just dropped a riff on this in the Ashes of Creation thread before I saw this one.

Time's up for MMOs.

2 years later... the almost sad state of MMOs in the new era

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