No OSX support the shortfall/downfall of MMORPG success on a wide scale level?

[Krekko]

I'm curious what people seem to think about this idea.

The reason why MMORPG's fail to see the success on the level of WoW, is a failure to have native OSX (Mac) Support.

We all know, that even though it's gotten better, gaming on OSX has been lackluster due to poor developer support. However, as the OSX market grows, especially amongst college kids there is an ever increasing field left wide open for potential gamers and customers. I know plenty of people who grab any old ports, even if they've played them before because they are just happy to get a game.

Thankfully Blizzard is one of the most Cross-OS friendly companies out there always bringing the game to both OSX and Windows OS's right on shipping. Could this be the key to their success in the MMORPG sector?

This thread is NOT;
An area to go tell OSX users "GO GET A REAL COMPUTER".
An area to flaunt off computer specs.
A Mac VS PC thread.

Keep those out of here for sake of discussion.

OSX isn't going anywhere, and a response like "MAC SUCKS GO GET A PC" do nothing. You might like your PC's, we'll like our Macs.

[Skizo]

Generally people who buy macs don't care about video games, or care enough to have the know-how(or willingness to get the know-how) to set up windows partitions
At least, that's everyone I've ever met
Anecdotal, I know

[Zeta333]

Generally people who buy macs don't care about video games, or care enough to have the know-how(or willingness to get the know-how) to set up windows partitions
At least, that's everyone I've ever met
Anecdotal, I know

Exactly this, You dont buy a mac to game on. Yeh it sucks that mac doesnt have wide spread game support but thats the breaks. And i highly doubt that blizzards MASSIVE success is becuase they are supporting OSX.

[Syrele]

Generally people who buy macs don't care about video games, or care enough to have the know-how(or willingness to get the know-how) to set up windows partitions
At least, that's everyone I've ever met
Anecdotal, I know

I disagree I know 7 people whom own macs and would like to try games but are not willing to pay ~$250+ for windows 7. Therefore they play games like portal, TF2, Diablo, and WoW.

All made by valve/blizz, Two of the most successful PC devs ever

[Kaosbringer]

Couldn't agree more with Zeta and Skizo. Not to mention Gamers who use mac generally have Boot camp or a Windows partition.

[vindicatorx]

Exactly this, You dont buy a mac to game on. Yeh it sucks that mac doesnt have wide spread game support but thats the breaks. And i highly doubt that blizzards MASSIVE success is becuase they are supporting OSX.

I don't think it makes or breaks them but I think it helps since the people who are mac users and do not boot camp all they really have access to is the Sims and a few other games. Not to mention the last 2 models of MacBook Pro has an excellent GFX card as well the 6850 mobile I run wow on the highest settings and have no issues ever. To the OP I really don't think it matters to most MMO's as most Mac users have bootcamped their setup and can you can install them on the Windows partition.

[Bcons]

No, mac still owns but a small portion of the desktop OS market share (sub 10% if I'm not mistaken), and a large number of these folks (I'd wager at least half) have access to a windows based platform be it on a separate partition or another computer.

Even if a large majority of people who owned macs exclusively wanted to play these unsupported MMOs it would not be enough to mean the difference between a flop and a hit.

[vindicatorx]

I disagree I know 7 people whom own macs and would like to try games but are not willing to pay ~$250+ for windows 7. Therefore they play games like portal, TF2, Diablo, and WoW.

All made by valve/blizz, Two of the most successful PC devs ever

$250 for windows is that in pesos cause it's like $100 USD. I paid a whole $20 for my copy through school so I did it ages ago.

[Ave07]

Can't people on Macs run bootcamp if they want to play a non Mac supported game?

[suttie]

$250 for windows is that in pesos cause it's like $100 USD. I paid a whole $20 for my copy through school so I did it ages ago.

I thought it was under $100 also but unless it's much cheaper in other stores we were both wrong.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Windows+...%207&lp=7&cp=1

Still Mac users really can't complain about Windows being expensive given the price of their machines.

[Remilia]

I thought it was under $100 also but unless it's much cheaper in other stores we were both wrong.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Windows+...%207&lp=7&cp=1

Still Mac users really can't complain about Windows being expensive given the price of their machines.

Best buy isn't exactly known for being cheap.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116986
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116992

[joecool4433]

Still Mac users really can't complain about Windows being expensive given the price of their machines.

Exactly this. Its a major reason I tell people to avoid Macs and just have me build them a PC.

OT: I chose undecided because I think its something that I couldn't possibly know without taking surveys from Mac users or seeing what the spread is among WoW subs is. I'm sure they make up a section of the sub base, but is it enough to make a difference for other MMO's that aren't as generally appealing as WoW? (around 10 million subs says that it is generally appealing)

I'm sure that there is some reason that developers shy away from OSX; whether it be a coding reason or that they feel their time spent on developing the code for it wouldn't pay for itself from the sales on the Mac. I know if I was involved financially in developing a game and they payoff wasn't there to develop an OSX version, I would say can it.

Typing this made a question pop into my head. Has WoW supported OSX from the beginning or did they support it later?

[RohanV]

Typing this made a question pop into my head. Has WoW supported OSX from the beginning or did they support it later?

From the beginning. I believe Blizzard games always have a Mac version.

I think it does make a difference. If you have a group of 5 friends, and 1 of them uses a Mac, a game which all five of you can play will seem more attractive than one that doesn't. This is especially true for MMOs, which are all about playing with others.

I don't think it's the sole reason though. Along similar lines, system requirements are just as important. Consider a couple with 2 windows machines. Odds are one of those machines will be fairly old. If an MMO can't run on that *second* computer, then the couple can't play together, and they won't buy the MMO.

WoW's system requirements were low enough to target that second computer. I don't think any of the new MMOs since has managed that feat.

[flarecde]

WoW's success is a complex formula of time, accessibility, an existing fanbase, and half a dozen other factors. Mac support could certainly be one of them, but the only one, or even a major one, I think is unlikely. If it was a significant force, I can't imagine the other gaming companies would ignore it.

[Detheavn]

Intel Macs can run Windows. I believe apple even supplies windows drivers for their hardware.
Dual boot ftw, no issue here?

[SL1200]

I personally wont run windows on my machine just to play some video game. I picked mac for a reason, that reason is so i dont have to support windows anymore.

[Syrele]

Can't people on Macs run bootcamp if they want to play a non Mac supported game?

It's very expensive

[Lagmonster]

I disagree I know 7 people whom own macs and would like to try games but are not willing to pay ~$250+ for windows 7. Therefore they play games like portal, TF2, Diablo, and WoW.

All made by valve/blizz, Two of the most successful PC devs ever

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that they just care more about their games/gamers. Translating into better success, and thus more resources to branch out to a wider audience with future projects. (well...past "future" projects as they have already happened lol)

Just saying someone willing to go the extra mile for mac support. Most likely went the extra mile in the development as well. I don't believe that BECAUSE they offer support, that the mac user base is the linchpin in the success of a game.

[Grraarrgghh]

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that they just care more about their games/gamers. Translating into better success, and thus more resources to branch out to a wider audience with future projects. (well...past "future" projects as they have already happened lol)

Just saying someone willing to go the extra mile for mac support. Most likely went the extra mile in the development as well. I don't believe that BECAUSE they offer support, that the mac user base is the linchpin in the success of a game.

Not to mention, Mac support came years after most of the games release (in the case of HL2, TF2, WoW).

[Deleted]

I currently work for Apple and I can tell you, whilst the popularity of Mac is certainly increasing as more people are adopting other devices such as the iPhone and iPad the majority of those that do decide to purchase an iMac or MacBook generally don't have too much concern for gaming (at least it's far from their primary concern).

Due to this I chose that it has no effect, whether that continues to be the case only time will tell. Both whether Apple's popularity and market share continues to increase (it's extremely small at the moment in the home computing department - discounting iPad) along with the support for OSX.