Slashdot Mirror
WoW Helping or Hurting the Industry?
alstor writes "The New York Times has an interesting story about the success of World of Warcraft, and whether it is hurting or helping the gaming industry; this goes along with an earlier post on an article from CNN. From the Times article: 'WoW is now the 800-pound gorilla in the room. I think it also applies to the single-player games. If some kid is paying $15 a month on top of the initial $50 investment and is devoting so many hours a week to it, are they really going to go out and buy the next Need for Speed or whatever? There is a real fear that this game, with its incredible time investment, will really cut into game-buying across the industry.' What is the Slashdot opinion on World of Warcraft's impact on the gaming industry?"
I don't believe WoW is the 800-pound gorilla yet, because there are still ways to serve the market.
One request that has often been asked but hardly answered is the free-game-with-subscription model.
While almost all pay-$50-then-$15-monthly gamers may have been attracted to WoW, there must be even more gamers who are only willing to invest in a game which allows them to pay-as-they-play. Is any leading publisher willing to take a risk of no initial income and bank on the monthly subscription?
So I think WoW is in a way helping the industry to identify this subscription-based market, but if the rest of the industry is trying to do the same thing, they are likely to be a distanced also-run.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Yes, it probably is. Since I started WoWing I haven't been playing as many other games and definitely not buying any. It doesn't help that there haven't been many games that have been released lately that interest me. Eventually I'll grow tired of WoW and the next new big games that interests me will come along and I'll stop. But until then I won't be spending my money on other games.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
Bogtha Bogtha Bogtha
It isn't like MMOs didn't exist before this.
It also isn't like Blizzard hasn't ever made a game before that was so absorbing that people just stopped playing anything else.
I don't see any examples of World of Warcraft hurting "the market". What I see in this article is examples of poor game developers, being hurt by capitalism. If Need for Speed is bad enough that spending $12 on WoW makes Need for Speed not worth buying, then the problem here is that need for speed wasn't good enough to be worth $12 to that person. The reason why Matrix Online got "downsized from nine virtual "realms" to three" is because Matrix Online sucks. Notice in the article that NCSoft, who actually makes good games and is competent enough to compete in a fair market, doesn't seem at all worried?
There are a number of developments in video games lately that I would describe as bad for the health of the video game market. World of Warcraft is not one.
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
World of Warcraft is simply the most popular MMORPG right now. This same article could have been written about Everquest 1 a few years ago.
EQ arguably sucked even more time than WoW, and other PC games were still sold. There are many gamers who don't like the MMO thing and will continue to buy other games and consoles.
Eventually, someone will make a WoW-killer in the MMORPG arena. It may take a few years, but it'll happen.
"You spoony bard!" -Tellah
WoW appeals more to the noncompetitive gamer as time goes on. I had two level 60s before I quit, and it just wasn't as fun as it was frustrating.
More hardcore gamers crave PVP -- WoW PvP just doesn't cut it (balance issues, group issues, etc). It's obvious that individual skill isn't as important as time sinking, and WoW will never become a competitive game.
The game really does get boring. The game world becomes dull, and more of a drag to cross, rather than an adventure. Spending hours just to do high level instances just isn't fun. I'm just gonna use that gear to beat down other players, but even that part isn't fun.
Innovate or get out of the way.
Thank you! It's not that WoW is monopolizing. They just happen to have made a good game, and the consumer is speaking with their dollar. If a game comes out that can draw attention from WoW, it deserves the money. I'm sorry that EA can't pump out another Madden and make endless cash, but its about damned time that the Free Market and Economic theory returned to the marketplace. There is no anti-competive work at play here, supply and demand. Low supply of quality games, and a high demand for it where WoW fulfills the need.
Microsoft Sucks, F/OSS Rocks. I get mod points now right?
This exact same post appears every time there's a discussion about games. It's not "interesting" any longer, I'm sorry... now it's inane.
Look, there is this phenomenon called "nostalgia." It's the tendency of people to remember the good games and forget the bad ones. You point out games like X-Com, Sam and Max, what do these games have in common? They're all top tier games. The top tier games right now, the ones that'll be remembered in ten years, are just as good, and there's just as many of them!
Look, when you think back to the movie season of 1998, do you think "The Avengers" or do you think "Saving Private Ryan?" The bad movies are forgotten, the good ones aren't. That's nostalgia. The quality of games hasn't changed, I can guarantee it.
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