Is WoW dying.. or are Mmorpgs dying ?

[Torto]

The games you listed are dying because they are old. All games have a shelf life, rare games like wow have a longer shelf life than others. To me, the next big mmo will be Ashes of Creation, and when it launches I'll put wow on hiatus. AoC is a litmus test to see if the genre is well and truly dead, and if it does fail then I think we won't see another high quality mmo again.

[Kaleredar]

I'd say MMOs are a dying genre, or at least in a lull.

Their target market, that is to say, people that played them heavily when they were kids, is older and doesn't have nearly the time to spend putting tens of hours into a game in single settings, nor can most of them afford the metered time investment dictated by things like raiding guilds.

As for "the young people," they seem to like more fast-paced games where you're in and out; a playstyle not readily afforded by an MMO.


But these things come and go. Video games were initially very quick, vapid experiences, where your enjoyment of them was dictated by the number of quarters in your pocket (something people complaining about DLC should well remember.) Then they got more complex, then quick games came back around, then more complex ones, etc, etc, etc. Perhaps MMOs will pick back up again in the future with a new demographic willing to invest heavy amounts of time into them.

But I doubt they'll ever be another World of Warcraft. And, frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if WoW continued for at least ANOTHER decade, regardless of whether MMOs hit a resurgence or not.

[shaunika123]

Isn't it just because that so many games are released now a days? I would think that it's impossible to expect people to keep playing the same game when so much good new stuff is out every year! :3

if only it was actual good stuff

but 99.9999999% of games released nowadays are absolute garbage.

and even those few that are actually good, dont come out to PC

[Nobleshield]

The games you listed are dying because they are old. All games have a shelf life, rare games like wow have a longer shelf life than others. To me, the next big mmo will be Ashes of Creation, and when it launches I'll put wow on hiatus. AoC is a litmus test to see if the genre is well and truly dead, and if it does fail then I think we won't see another high quality mmo again.

I would also include Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen as well. A test to see if the pre-WoW MMORPG genre is dead or not. If it fails then nothing will conquer the WoW style of game since it's mainly appeal is to have a next gen MMORPG in the vein of EverQuest without going the route WoW did; the evolution of the genre if WoW didn't exist.

[Deleted]

I'd say they're becoming more and more niche, definitely.

The people who wanted MMOs with massive persistent worlds, are slowly growing up, and there's noone to replace them, as the next generations of gamers are much more interested in instant action, and the next generation of gamers who still want massive persistent worlds, want to be able to make at least some sort of impact on them.

I'd say there's room for pseudo MMOs to grow like Warframes, and Destiny if people would warm up to it and Bungie would get their act together but other than that I'd say MMOs hve gone into retirement homes and are just enjoying the time they have left.

[Sonqopura]

While I agree with you, it's also true that Wow has lost a lot of subs since its peak in WotLK (I think it was 11M user or something). And there is next to little serious competion out there.

The game is currently at 1,7mil subs

[Radaney]

I think MMORPGS are fine. The problem is that no one has actually made a good one.

I also think the next groundbreaking MMO will be a second life, VR Chat esque VR MMO.

But there will always be room for a good MMORPG, now would be a good time with WoW turning into a piece of crap.

And yes WoW is dying, Blizzard have nosedived it with WoD and BFA.

[jakstriker]

WoW has been going on for too long for it to ever feel fresh and exciting again, everyone is thirsty for the next big thing but unfortunately all the mmo's that have come out since then aren't as astonishing as WoW was in it's early days or have some kind of flaw (cash shop, lack of content, overgrinding, etc) which doesn't help promoting the genre as a whole either.

[Deleted]

The market is saturated. It's different than dying.

The industry is desperatly vying for our atention with service based games cause they are easy money. But, the pool of players is not infinite and it just gets thinned. With that said, there are still tons of people playing mmo's.
The WoW killers were only dubbed so by misguided people, and lets not go crazy because Wildstar closed. WoW, GW2, FFXIV and ESO are all doing great from what i hear.

[Corruptus]

Not sure, I would rather have threads like this die.

[Sonqopura]

if only it was actual good stuff

but 99.9999999% of games released nowadays are absolute garbage.

and even those few that are actually good, dont come out to PC

probably the stupidest comment I have read so far

[FelPlague]

Learn to read better

I'm not saying Wow is dying, just that considering that the MMO genre is (I think) less an less popular, it is doing very well, especially next to it's competitors.

Yes MMO by design require lots of people.
RPG's by design require lots of time.
the world has changed, specially in america, people have less free time now more then ever.
and when you have less free time, it is harder to set up a time to play with others.
and when you have less free time, it is harder to play a game that takes alot of time.

so just how the infrastructure of the world today is, playing a game that requires lots of time, and lots of dedication is difficult.
When we were all younger we had much more time, time felt like it traveled slower for us, and we didn't care about efficiency.

Yes MMORPG's are declining, more and more "wow killers" are right out shutting down or on the last step of free to play with insane microtransactions.
I wont say Wow has not gotten worse, but I will say a decent amount of the sub drop is obviously from people leaving simply because they dont have enough time. Wow takes alot of time, like ALOT

[Torto]

I would also include Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen as well. A test to see if the pre-WoW MMORPG genre is dead or not. If it fails then nothing will conquer the WoW style of game since it's mainly appeal is to have a next gen MMORPG in the vein of EverQuest without going the route WoW did; the evolution of the genre if WoW didn't exist.

Pantheon is a fascinating case study which I will follow with great interest. It is a pure mmorpg that requires social interaction to get anywhere. It is not a single player mmo like wow or swtor. It will get a core audience, but I just don't think there are enough players out there that are willing to be that social anymore. Gamers who lament the lack of community in games can now put up or shut up, because Pantheon is made for them.

[sam86]

they were never big success to count them in first place, only FF online passed wow during WoD then blizz stopped posting about how many active subs they have
is wow dying yes, but nothing stop wow from coming back
can wow comeback ? no idea, i do hope so

[Odintdk]

Easily and simply, both.

[Najnaj]

Just a thought,

Not a day passes without its new post on how and why WoW is "dying", and it has been like that basicaly forever : each extension was said to be the last, game going downhill, etc etc.

But when you look around, just how many other MMOrpg can you see that are faring well ?
Tera, Aion, Age of Conan, all those so-called "Wow-killer" have disappeared.
SWTOR, Rift, Wildstar... are slowly following.

My point is : isn't the genre itself dying ? And considering that, isn't WoW doing reasonnably well ?

The game is going well...so are drama queens.

[unbound]

Just a thought,

Not a day passes without its new post on how and why WoW is "dying", and it has been like that basicaly forever : each extension was said to be the last, game going downhill, etc etc.

But when you look around, just how many other MMOrpg can you see that are faring well ?
Tera, Aion, Age of Conan, all those so-called "Wow-killer" have disappeared.
SWTOR, Rift, Wildstar... are slowly following.

My point is : isn't the genre itself dying ? And considering that, isn't WoW doing reasonnably well ?

Well, WoW has been dying since the end of Wrath. It is mostly dying due to the ongoing reduced investment Blizz is putting into the game (before they eliminated reporting on subscription numbers and merging all online activities into their financials, you can see a very clear correlation of subscriptions with the amount of money Blizz spends on the game...subscriptions started sliding with Cata which is when Blizz started the downward spiral of money spent on the game).

I do get a chuckle that your list of alternatives skips out on multiple extremely successful MMORPGs...FFXIV, ESO, BDO, and GW2.

As for the genre in general, it is actually difficult to tell if it is dying or if the player base is simply more split apart between other games. When WoW first came out, there weren't many large MMORPGs out there (I was playing City of Heroes at that time), but there are a lot more compelling titles competing for attention now with more on their way.

[Deleted]

I wont say Wow has not gotten worse, but I will say a decent amount of the sub drop is obviously from people leaving simply because they dont have enough time. Wow takes alot of time, like ALOT

Are you sure that's the reason?

I would also include Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen as well. A test to see if the pre-WoW MMORPG genre is dead or not.

I doubt that. Pantheon is a very specific and niche game that only a selective minority group of people will like it. It's far from a "test" to the genre.

To me, the next big mmo will be Ashes of Creation, and when it launches I'll put wow on hiatus. AoC is a litmus test to see if the genre is well and truly dead, and if it does fail then I think we won't see another high quality mmo again.

I could not agree more. Ashes of Creation is the one game that has the potential to be the true ultimate immersive MMO that could perhaps give life to the whole genre. I wish them all the best!

[hynx]

wow has been daying since the day it released. By developer decision or tastes of the new generation of kids vs the old is irrelevant. The game is 15 years old, it could be the best thing since sliced bread and its not going to hold everyones attention that long.

mmorpgs litereally only need a few tens of thousands of subscribers to stay profitable, so id imagine wow will carry on for more time than youll want to keep playing it. (unfortunately for the industry imo)

and no, the genre isnt dying. its healthier now than its ever been in the regards which your referring to (i assume).

wrong, it hasnt been "dying" until Cata. everything before that was mostly growth in player base which is the exact opposite of "dying" since the day of release

[Deleted]

Well, WoW has been dying since the end of Wrath. It is mostly dying due to the ongoing reduced investment Blizz is putting into the game (before they eliminated reporting on subscription numbers and merging all online activities into their financials, you can see a very clear correlation of subscriptions with the amount of money Blizz spends on the game...subscriptions started sliding with Cata which is when Blizz started the downward spiral of money spent on the game).

I do get a chuckle that your list of alternatives skips out on multiple extremely successful MMORPGs...FFXIV, ESO, BDO, and GW2.

As for the genre in general, it is actually difficult to tell if it is dying or if the player base is simply more split apart between other games. When WoW first came out, there weren't many large MMORPGs out there (I was playing City of Heroes at that time), but there are a lot more compelling titles competing for attention now with more on their way.

Well that's true. I only thought about GW2, FFXIV and ESO after I posted to be honest. Then again, even if they are not "dying" (the way SWTOR and RIFT are), how do you define "extremely successful" ? Any numbers ?
I'm just curious.