Future of MMOs

[Jetsu]

People use the excuse that the players expected too much from the game. I say bull crap! Bioware/EA marketed this game as the end all be all of MMORPGs.

I will agree that marketing made this game seem very awesome, when really it was a new interactive story based MMO (with all the flaws and lack of content inherent in a new game).

However, I don't think that's mutually exclusive with players expecting too much from the game unless you assume everyone's too foolish to take marketing for what it is and make their own conclusions. If the cause for a product failing is that it was marketed to seem more awesome than it actually was I'm surprised anything ever sells.

[SoulBender]

However, I don't think that's mutually exclusive with players expecting too much from the game unless you assume everyone's too foolish to take marketing for what it is and make their own conclusions.

Prime example is all the various ideas as to what is going to happen when F2P arrives. We have no clue what will happen other than what little they have told us. Same thing happened pre-launch for SWTOR, TERA, Secret World, Star Trek, RIFT, etc.

[Jetsu]

Here's why all the expectations make me roll my eyes:
1. Players are unwilling to wait, but when they get anything that's not 100% how they want it they say it shouldn't have been released yet.
2. Players want innovation, but then complain when a game doesn't have all the same features another one did instead of enjoying the new features it does.
3. Players want bug fixes, but they complain when server maintenance is required during THEIR time.
4. Players want a challenge but they complain when THEIR guild can't get past something.

The list goes on and on, and these aren't even coming from different sides of the same argument. There are plenty of people who will complain about the lack of new content releases while they complain about how they wish they'd taken more time before releasing things.

While it would be great if we could have all these things and more at the same time, I can't believe how many people think any game will provide the bug free, never-ending, always pandering to their taste experience they're looking for.

[Count Sacula]

I believe it was one of the now fired fa/tg/uys at Bioware bragged about how they were going to have content added every couple of months....Well I am still waiting. I log in game and am still doing the same crap I was doing in April....

If you want to read something funny read this is from one of co-owners, editor of the fansite swtor-life he obviously has very massive butthurt.

Deceived | Swtor Life

[Jetsu]

I believe it was one of the now fired fa/tg/uys at Bioware bragged about how they were going to have content added every couple of months... Well I am still waiting. I log in game and am still doing the same crap I was doing in April...

Yeah, and they were doing very well at that until they started pouring a lot of their time into the move to F2P, server transfers, and a lot of other things as a result of not getting the support they were hoping for. They sort of went into content shock when they had a massive loss of subscriptions just following their first content release. Had to focus on keeping what they had instead of working on expanding.

Hopefully a lot of people come back with F2P now so they can focus on content and fixes instead of new features to keep impatient people around a little longer.

I know we differ on this outlook, but until the community gets less volatile I'm not sure we'll see any game that just gets to grow and be the game we're all looking for. Releases will be huge, content and fixes will flow, people will get fussy and move on, and the support will become more focused and slow by necessity to survive.

As I said in the OP: That's why we can't have nice things.

[Count Sacula]

If that is really the case then what is everyone playing right now? Seems like every game out there is losing subs.

Personally for me I just bought the legendary founders package for Mechwarrior Online, I have been playing World of Tanks and while at work been playing Dorf fort.

[Jetsu]

If that is really the case then what is everyone playing right now? Seems like every game out there is losing subs.

They seem to be playing games they used to play that are now F2P as well as games that aren't online based on the forums for the various older games now. Even WoW has a few "I'm just here to pass the time until Guild Wars 2" posts. Before that it was "until SWTOR". Before that it was Rift.

SWTOR going F2P will allow it to capitalize on the "floaters" between when players get disappointed with the next big thing until the next craze comes out. It won't get nearly the funding it would in a concentrated community like WoW got for years, but hopefully it's enough to keep content coming enough to keep the game interesting for me (though with my limited time I don't think it's going to be that hard).

To be clear I think it's a bit premature to say SWTOR is "dying". There are a lot of MMOs that have been saved by the F2P model's ability to get a bit of the ADD gamer's money that don't have the support TOR still has, but it's certainly not going to be what it could have been in a better market.

[Jetsu]

Just to make a final observation about this topic. Guild Wars 2 has been out about a week and while the official forums aren't up this site seems like a pretty active one: Guild Wars 2 General

On the front page at this moment there are such wonderful titles as:
"Exploits" are ANets fault, not the players

Guild wars 2 pvp is a let down.

No efficient way to find groups at 80?

No open world PvP means $#%^ game.



I'm not saying GW2 doesn't have problems, just as I'd certainly not claim SWTOR, Tera, Rift, etc... was free of them. However, when a game that is designed to evolve over a long period of time (as every MMO should be) isn't even given a full week before half of their forums are angry people complaining about a couple missing features in the face of all it DOES offer there's something wrong with the community.

[SoulBender]

It is endless...

[Jetsu]

I hope not.

Eventually I'm hoping to sell the game I'm working on. Though people are usually much more forgiving of a $5 indie game.

Edit: Being a single player game will certainly help a lot too.

[Skoroapps]

The failure of SWTOR as a pay to play franchise was not due to the toxicity of the MMO community but because SWTOR failed the MMO community by over promising and under delivering. So many people wanted to see SWTOR succeed and many waited but after the lack of response and content from BW they left. That's on EA/BW, not the MMO community.

[Lucious]

The failure of SWTOR as a pay to play franchise was not due to the toxicity of the MMO community but because SWTOR failed the MMO community by over promising and under delivering. So many people wanted to see SWTOR succeed and many waited but after the lack of response and content from BW they left. That's on EA/BW, not the MMO community.

What the **** is this? Clamus posted this drivel months ago.

[SoulBender]

Yeah, unfortunately, our new friend Skorapps was bumping up his post count to post an advertisement for an iPhone app. Looks like that post was basically taken down.