For more than a decade, MMORPGs have been dying. But where do these cries come from, and what fuels them? How have MMORPGs evolved since then?
My crystal ball is broken. Therefore, I cannot say for sure where this journey is heading. However, you don’t need a crystal ball to see that the MMO landscape is changing, yes, it has already been changing.
Looking into the future is difficult. However, an autopsy is easy. And since our beloved MMORPGs are constantly dying, I will take a look at the corpse-strewn path of the past to dare a glimpse into the future.
Retrospective: When did the great “dying” begin?
WoW-Killer and “feature flood”
There are turning points that leave deeper imprints in the swamp of MMO history than others. “WoW Killer” was one such buzzword, amusingly often just attributed to the community or by overly eager letter throwers.
After that came the “unique selling proposition era”, every game had at least reinvented one wheel. And what is better than one wheel? Exactly, many newly invented wheels. Titles followed that tried to offer everything that could please the heart of an MMO player. Housing, leveling weapons, PvP, micromanagement, sandbox, fishing, farming, crafting, and so on…
There was simply always one more feature than the competition. Whether the new feature was sensible or not was often a different matter. The motto was simply: “In our game, you can do everything… except pet food!” Oh, good idea we need a pet system.
Suddenly, existing MMOs with a large user base had a problem; there was competition. Much worse: some of them even had really good ideas.
The Free2Play Madness
Ultimately, an exchange of ideas was noticeable, as the games slowly approached each other. But when products no longer fundamentally differ from each other, how do you win buyers? Right, through the price.
“Oh Dan, am I really getting TWO in-game items to dye my clothes for free?”
“Yes, and that’s not all! If you act quickly, you get this donkey as well!”
But since hardly anyone is persuaded to switch their MMO because the competitor charges 2 euros less in subscription fees, “You pay not 10 euros per month, not 9 euros, not even 8 but only an incredible 7.99. Yes, you heard right,” they resorted to the ultimate marketing idea and simply slapped a Free2Play stamp on the entire package.
“Are you serious, Dan? I can play without ever having to pay? But Dan… Dan, who pays the developers? And the silly announcers? Dan? Dan, why are you crying, Dan? Dan? Two razors for one?”
Watching the success of Free2Play, long-established MMOs quickly approached the new marketing ideas. Today, there is hardly a subscription system that cannot also be acquired through game currency via in-game shops. Even Blizzard has enabled this in WoW.
Looking Ahead: What’s Next for MMOs?
And now? Is this the end? All MMOs are homogenized, and we just have to live with it? No, it’s not that bad.
The MMO landscape is constantly moving. MMORPGs are unfairly laid to rest with regular frequency. This is due to the fact that editors and players are reluctant to step out of their comfort zone. Just like the MMO landscape, its boundaries are also changing.
At the time of a World of Warcraft release, the boundaries of the term MMO were clearly defined. But the more competitors entered the market, the more those boundaries shifted.
Whether it’s The Division, Guardians of Ember, The Crew, or even a GTA5 online mode, many current games have an MMO component. Calling them an MMO is still difficult for me and many others. For hardcore MMO players, these games will never represent a full-fledged MMO. But how much relevance does the “Massively” have nowadays?
Whether there are 50, 500, or 5000 players on a server, I frankly don’t care as long as I’m struggling through dungeons with a familiar group of five friends.
Is Anyone Missing These 4 Massively Elements in MMOs?
What about the other typical MMO features?
- World bosses? Thanks, but lag fests and pointless skill spamming, would I miss that?
- Supply and demand in the auction house? Well, even the intern could probably program this manageable economic cycle simulation.
- Vibrant believable game world? Of course, pictures of merchants standing next to 40 heavily armored knights on horses can be found on many medieval tapestries. And that there are more heroes, mages, and world saviors than farmers can only be credibly explained to me with a lot of potato schnapps.
- General server chat? For me, it’s one of the strongest arguments against large MMO servers. Why should I care about the 0:2 of FC Hintertupfingen from the district league North? Mixed with the question of why there are no flying mounts and the obligatory statement that WoW is way cooler anyway, I can also thanklessly do without this feature in large part. And all of this before someone claims they are a good-looking girl and not a 42-year-old butcher master. Server chats are often so low-level that they knock my socks off.
Of course, large PvP battles and open PvP form an exception that large servers necessarily need. Castle sieges and co. with 3-5 players may not convey a truly epic gaming experience.
However, hardcore MMO players do not have to mourn either. Pure MMOs will continue to exist. Whether in the guise of an AAA title, I doubt.
The dominance of the magical three letters WoW is too overpowering for Western publishers, and the moderately successful WoW killers have been too clear. With a player count of 10 million, they only smile mildly in the Far East. Elaborate MMOs will still see the light of the rising sun; however, how far they will cater to the wishes of the Western audience remains to be seen.
No Fear of the Future
We will probably continue to hear the eternal dirge for the dying MMO. There are just as many reasons for it as there are against it. The narrower you define the term, the truer the impending death may become. Personally, I have hardly any fear of having to give up beloved game elements in the future.
Experiencing a “Witcher 3” in online mode with 5 or 10 friends in the same world is not a horror scenario for me. It simply presents new challenges for developers. Even a lobby MMO like “Skyforge” was able to impress me; I just missed a diversion besides group play and dungeons.
Where do you draw the line between Massively Multiplayer and Multiplayer? Do you really need servers with hundreds of players, or are friend lists and co. enough for you?
This text is by our reader Erzkanzler. More from Erzkanzler on his blog.
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