Why do so many MMO's fail?

Sockmonkey

Sockmonkey

New member
There are so many forum members posting about MMO's that had so much potential but ended up being hugely disappointing. Why is this?
 
[Start Sarcasm] Because MMO`s are like girlfriends as soon as there is a new pretty girl on the block they leave the old faithful girlfriend (WOW) for the new girl on the block. Only to realize 3 months down the line that the new girlfriend is pretty much exactly the same as their first girlfriend (WOW) but just with a new pretty dress, so the leave the new girlfriend and go back to the old girlfriend till the next pretty girl shows up. [End Sarcasm]

MMO`s is a niche market catering for a niche group of people I dont like MMO`s purely for the fact that there is no instant gratification like when you play a single player game. Here it takes weeks and months to get to a level only to find that 1 million other people did exactly the same as you only better.
 
i believe it's because the "mmo veterans" can't just stop and be realistic about new games. they believe that new games must automatically have the same levels of content and polish their 5/6 year behemoths have from the get go. it' just not economically feasible for any company to even remotely attempt that on a first game

and then when the new games get released "it sucks, no content, i'm a loser, bitch, whine, moan"
 
I believe a lot of MMO fail as larch says many of them are the same, so why put all the new effort for a new dress, unless the old Girlfriend is getting wrinkly :P I played out a few MMO's personally i really enjoyed Metin UK, was there spent 8-9 hours a day on that game, sadly lost every thing to a noob friend. So the main problem is many people also leave because there effort is stolen from them, get board, find a better MMO, go back to there old MMO or just move on with RL.
 
Over-saturation is a key element. Too many games, not enough people to properly fill them all up, and keep them going ingame or more importantly, financially.

People like their little slumps or ruts. They then stick to one MMO (this happens in competitive gamers as well I have experienced), and seldom handle change well.

Also too many developers / publishers / or whatever trying to cash in on the popularity that is WoW. This has lead to some seriously subpar games being released, and actually some great ones too, but they often are lacking the development skills and/or proper longterm funding.

Then there is also the influx of the more 'casual' gamer into the MMO scene. Before MMO's almost required that you had no job, no life, or responsibilities so you could get ahead in this genre. With the advent of WoW that has largely changed, and with that change came an influx of people with shorter attention spans (*cough* larch <3), and they are seldom happy with almost anything, even their game of choice.
 
Maybe because its a considerable investment of time, and when you invest months building a character you don`t want to do it on a server that is probably going to shut down.
 
One of the reasons I can point out which I saw recently was that an MMO released itself without releasing a Beta version for users to try before they buy and ended up putting themselves in Debt and going under because they refused to let people try before they buy and what made things worse was the MMO wasn't all that good either... :rolleyes:
 
I think its due to the gamer him / herself

There was a quote sumwhere on the forums that "Your first mmo is always your best" and i think people try to compare it to their first, but for some reason they always find the first one the best, hence why the quickly drop new mmo's
 
Tank said:
i believe it's because the "mmo veterans" can't just stop and be realistic about new games. they believe that new games must automatically have the same levels of content and polish their 5/6 year behemoths have from the get go. it' just not economically feasible for any company to even remotely attempt that on a first game

and then when the new games get released "it sucks, no content, i'm a loser, bitch, whine, moan"
Click to expand...

I actually think you have a good point there Tank.

One of the biggest complaints I see about Aion is the lack of content. And the people loudest about the lack are the former WoW players.

Lucky for me, the only pre-Aion MMO I've played is Guildwars - which has enough differences to make Aion something new.

As larch pointed out, there is no instant gratification, which might be a huge disappointment to people who try it out for the first time - especially if they've spent the majority of their time playing FPS or Racing sims.

For myself, I've always preferred slower paced games - I grew up playing games like Civilization and I've been a general fan of the RPG genre in general, so I don't expect quick developments.

Although, sockmonkey - just because a lot of people aren't happy with an MMO I don't think you can call it a failure. Not by a long shot. It would be like me saying Audi fails because I happen to like Opels - it really comes down to your personal preferences. Sometimes playing the game is the only way to find out you won't like it - and many people make the mistake of expecting too much from an MMO simply because its new.

Sort of like what happened to me when I went to watch Avatar :p
 
Simple: developers are copying each other far too much. "Same crap, different name" is the perfect way to sum up most new releases.

Instead of innovating, developers are copying games that have succeeded, without realising that a number of people have tried to do the same thing and ended up failing.

I understand that technology and other factors limit the amount of innovation a company can do, but the rate at which MMO's are being churned out is spoiling the genre. Instead of being spoiled for choice, the rotten apples are giving the whole batch a bad name.
 
True, but at the same time you also have to consider, what else can really be done with the MMO genre. It's not only technology and so forth that limit developers, but you've also got to consider what is practically possible in an MMO of any sort.

Once we had Eve, Guildwars and WoW, I think most avenues of innovation will have probably been covered - yeah, certainly there are other ideas out there - but its left up to the creative geniuses to find them.

But the pace of releases is disheartening - as I've said before, an MMO is pretty much a full-time affair - playing one doesn't only preclude playing others (assuming of course you've dedicated yourself to that one), it tends to cut into your time for other, less time consuming games as well.
 
Well, it's definitely still possible to innovate in such a crowded market. Look at Guild Wars 2's events system, for example.
 
Lydon said:
Well, it's definitely still possible to innovate in such a crowded market. Look at Guild Wars 2's events system, for example.
Click to expand...

But in the end they just copy the popular game that came out before them. People play it then notice it then drop it and go back to the older game.
 
larch said:
But in the end they just copy the popular game that came out before them. People play it then notice it then drop it and go back to the older game.
Click to expand...

good example is Age of Conan. what is the next expansion ? gee it is 'wee lets go to the east' and look like guild wars factions.

currently quitted all mmo's due to the copying and same old shit being re-hashed or like world of warcraft it becomes a casual joe fest where as all the real work and achievement are removed to keep the player base happy.
 
Necuno said:
like world of warcraft it becomes a casual joe fest where as all the real work and achievement are removed to keep the player base happy.
Click to expand...

I think you just answered your own question there. Please the elite (10%) few, or please the 90% - easy answer. And besides, as a casual wow gamer myself, I'm glad they made some of the content more accessable. I didn't buy wow to be called noob and miss half the content in the game because I dont spend hours apon hours playing. It's the reason wow has been losing player base, and the reason cata will be focusing on starting content.
 
Keldarza said:
I think you just answered your own question there. Please the elite (10%) few, or please the 90% - easy answer. And besides, as a casual wow gamer myself, I'm glad they made some of the content more accessable. I didn't buy wow to be called noob and miss half the content in the game because I dont spend hours apon hours playing. It's the reason wow has been losing player base, and the reason cata will be focusing on starting content.
Click to expand...

i had a question ? :confused: i do miss plain vanilla world of warcraft without the easy-fications. however mortal online should be "a nasty sandbox" experience :) (if everything works and goes to plan)
 
Necuno said:
i do miss plain vanilla world of warcraft without the easy-fications. however mortal online should be "a nasty sandbox" experience :) (if everything works and goes to plan)
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree with the sentiments. MMO's are getting a little too 'casual' for my liking. While I understand why they are, and how it has opened the market up to people; I also feel the mature players in the MMO community are having to suffer with the influx of morons due to such choices.

For me there are very few choices nowadays for any MMO-er to find a truly challenging experience. Some choices are games like EVE, with its brutality in PvP and losing ones ship / character can be rough and an utter rush. Then some games like FFXI Online where you can easily de-level by dying, and grouping is the primary way of leveling.

So hopefully Necuno MO or maybe FFXIV Online may be a challenge we are looking for.

*Waits for the flames, and will not likely defend ones opinion on the topic*
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top