Do you guys think the "MMO Genre" is dying?

[RyanJD]

I may not have the experience to speak about it but in 2 short years I've seen the trend. WoW was my first MMO and my very first RPG game of any kind.

I do know that there are a ton of new MMOs coming out this year. However, from my experience with WoW I've noticed things take a turn for the worst or better depending on your view of things. I've started playing WoW during WTLK and according to me it still had a certain element of exploration, meeting people and working as a group. Even though I wasn't a hardcore raider I was happy running my Heroics cause I went out of my comfort zone to find players and meet new people to form a group. With the dawn of the LFD Feature, Heroics didn't really feel an "epic" adventure any more.

I soon realized with time, that to really succeed in an MMO compared to any other Genre you really have to invest a considerable amount of time in the game. And most MMOs follow a similar design philosophy where you grind your way to high level. I think what we really need is something revolutionary when it comes to design.

The people of my generation just don't have the patience to grind it out and are only in it for "immediate results or satisfaction". At the same time some people don't have the hours to commit to a single game especially one that can take hours in a week. The game developers are picking up on the trend and are coming up with ways that can keep hold of the casuals. The Challenge Mode in MOP has Activision all over it. You get Medals, etc for completing the dungeon in a certain time? Isn't this suppose to be World of Warcraft and not some military shooter game?

I don't really think you can call WoW a traditional MMORPG in its current state. It is more of a MMOG game. The "role playing" has been removed and the immersive factor has been removed. It now is nothing more than a lobby for smaller mini games. To keep it profitable Blizzard are trying to change everything and appeal to a different demographic - The Casuals ( I DO NOT MEAN BADS)

I was surprised when a friend said that SWTOR didn't have a LFD, but how long before Bio Ware is forced to play that card to keep up subscription numbers when people keep crying for one.

Guild Wars 2 from what I have read seem to be changing the landscape here from what I have read. On the other hand Skyrim showed us in the age where "multi player games" are highly popular that you can still come out highly successful if you truly have a good and engaging game RPG. I do see the future where RPGs introduce a co-op mode where you can play with upto 4-8 people.

[Mayaluen]

Every genre that isn't:

-Yearly casual FPS clones
-Facebook game level crap
-Shovelware Indie crap where everything is an attempt at pretentious 2deep4u story or art.

Is pretty much dying.

Every attempt at making games outside those molds without established franchise fanboyism proping sales is selling less and less every time, established games are constantly warping down into clones of other games. SciFi RPGs are becoming Gears of War, everything is becoming CoD.

[The Acrimony]

If you look at the amount of people playing MMOs now compared to 10 years ago, you'll see that it's growing.

[Moorden]

Anything that involves a community is dying.

[Vook]

Not currently. But I expect it WILL see a drop in players if every single MMO keeps cloning WoW.

[Gaexion Ramza Beoulve]

I've been playing D&D since I was old enough to be ignored by girls.

Most MMOs are in effect trying to replicate the tabletop gaming experience.

These games are reaching a ceiling and what they lack in depth and personalization they make up for with approachability, graphics and ease of use.

If Tabletop RPGs didn't require even more time than MMOs and didn't require people to actually meet up they would probably far surpass MMOs and RPG video games.

If only there was an analogue form of roleplaying that used digital technology to enhance the live RPG experiences and make it fun, fast and deeply personal and that didn't require tons of time and monies.

[Deleted]

Don't really think is dying per-say, but some big changes are incomming, if they're good/bad...well thats up for time to decide

[sajin0084]

I think that trying to sell a subscription based game in this current economic environment is going to be a tough sell...

[Deleted]

There definitaly seem to be radically less people willing to play the real MMO thing, think Vanilla WoW and some stuff before that I don't know.

And in accordance with this trend MMO games are changing. And I am very much sure there are less % of game players who are in the MMO segment than there were say 5 years ago.

[vindicatorx]

Well, I think your average gamer doesn't really want to spend the time it takes to really get into wow and they are ok with playing quick and easy browser games like angry birds and whatnot. I think the genre still has a large market but it is slowly losing it's appeal to a lot of people.

[Vook]

I think that trying to sell a subscription based game in this current economic environment is going to be a tough sell...

Well, that's because not many people see that a subscription-based game is much more bang for your buck than most non-subscription games; but then again, that whole argument depends on the game and how much you want to get out of it. But you're still right, most people would think "What, I have to keep paying for the game after I buy it? fuck that!" Even moreso with the tons of online games that don't charge a fee to play online.

[jekyllnhyde]

Well, I think your average gamer doesn't really want to spend the time it takes to really get into wow and they are ok with playing quick and easy browser games like angry birds and whatnot. I think the genre still has a large market but it is slowly losing it's appeal to a lot of people.

i agree, i think the time commitment is an issue for a lot of people.

[akteliae]

I'll never understand the fascination gamers have on figuring out what is or isn't 'dying.' Subconscious cues about your own mortality maybe? I dunno, I've got nothing.

To the gamer in general; You are not an economist. Statistics are not your job, and are not something you understand well. Worrying about what companies are doing well and aren't doing well is not your job. Projecting figures for a game release is not your job. If you like the premise of a game play it, if you do not then do not play it.

[Deleted]

for me, after ultima online (best pvp MMORPG ever!!!) MMO games are just the same. same gameplay, just different universe. but im waiting for gw2 to see how it does...

[Redmage]

I think it is just stale atm, every MMO in the past 7+ years has been a wow clone, with wow itself borrowing heavily from everquest.

Somebody needs to do something new and interesting, we need a new combat system, a new UI and mechanics.

People need to start thinking outside the box...

my suggestion: MMOFPS with rpg elements (like fallout or mass effect).

a good hack and slash mmo (like skyrim or diablo) this has been attempted at the shitty free to play web based level, i would love for one of the major companies take a swing at it.

or something off the wall, like a pokemon MMO

[gherkin]

It's the natural progression of markets. Eventually someone figures out the market and they dominate for a while. Then others start to catch up. Once their domination comes to a close or decline, others step in but never get close to their previous domination. Eventually the market segments into smaller, more focused ones. Currently we are seeing clones of WoW with emphasis on PVE or PVP, not both at the same time. Eventually there will be games where PVP is a joke and PVE is a joke, separately.

MMO's are here to stay, but the form they take over the net 20 years will slowly change and diverge until WoW becomes the template on which to build basic functionality.

The difference between an MMO and other markets is that an MMO is a single product that takes YEARS to build one of. Other markets go faster because they take less time.

Think of it like the history of cellphones:
phone phone phone CAMERAPHONE cameraphone cameraphone PDA! pda pda IPHONE! IPHONE! IPHONE! ..... ANDROID! TABLETS! WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY! IMPLANTS!

[Redmage]

If only there was an analogue form of roleplaying that used digital technology to enhance the live RPG experiences and make it fun, fast and deeply personal and that didn't require tons of time and monies.

There have been a few text-based MMOs in the past. And probably still kicking around.

[Skelington]

Not really. It seems like it's been slipping from what it was because most everything has been a subscriptioned near-wow-clone, or hasn't been developed enough to stand much of a chance in being a highly popular game. There needs to be something new and different to keep people's interests in buying new ones, rather than staying addicted or bored of old ones.

[Redmage]

I
Think of it like the history of cellphones:
phone phone phone CAMERAPHONE cameraphone cameraphone PDA! pda pda IPHONE! IPHONE! IPHONE! ..... ANDROID! TABLETS! WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY! IMPLANTS!

You left out skynet and the machine uprising... I for one welcome our new robot overlords.

[LonestarHero]

Hell no!

The genre is only getting started.

Of course things like business models, the holy trinity, the need for static factions, end-game raiding, instanced PvP, world PvP, RvR, etc. WILL CHANGE in the coming decades, but I don't see persistent worlds/servers where thousands interact and form their own communities going anywhere soon.