MMORPG Evolution

1up.com has a piece looking at how Massively Multiplayer Online Games have evolved from the days of UO and Meridian 59. From the article: "As far as the genre has come, though, MMO gaming has still only barely grown out of its infancy. Blizzard crows that 4 million users globally are hooked to World of WarCraft-but that leaves 6-billion-plus people on Earth yet to be reached. Are MMOs doomed to continue fishing from the same pond of players over and over? Major publishers are asking themselves that very question right now. So are we. Developers must do six very real things to make MMO games reach out to even more people: rethink monthly fees, manage in-game economies in new ways, explore new worlds and themes, use new technology to change the way people access games, weigh the balance between structured storytelling and open worlds, and foster a better sense of community among players."

Comments

Re:Absolute rubbish

[EddieBurkett]

Galaxies was, by all accounts, a pretty appaling MMORPG when it was launched, but it was reasonably successful due to the franchise drawing in fans of other SW games and has survived long enough to develop into something worth playing.

Be patient. In six months SOE will scrap the combat system again and then the game will be just as appalling as it used to be, if not moreso...

Re:So little advancement since UO...

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

Because nothing creates the "Star Wars" feeling quite like killing llama-giraffes by the hundreds.

Because nothing creates the "Star Wars" feeling quite like being issued a high tech blaster, then seeing it take dozens of shots to kill a god damned llama-giraffe.

And you haven't lived until you've seen 8 guys standing around a single doggie thingie, 7 shooting it with various laser guns, and one dousing it with a FREEKIN' FLAMETHROWER, for thirty seconds, and the thing doesn't run screaming after the first one second, much less die after the first one second.