If you want to compete with the MMOs, you have to release a game that is more fun than the MMOs. Something that will make people want to play it instead of raiding and PvPing and grinding and such.
In the past you only had to compete with the games that were coming out around the same time as your game. Now you need to compete with MMOs that have come out a year or more previously.
But then, that's not so new either. Every FPS that comes out has to compete against CounterStrike, right?
While Bruce's work is sort of interesting, it is very frustrating when people take it as gospel. Even the numbers that he feels confident enough to give a "B" to, "The numbers may not be exact for the MMOG in question, but are certainly in the ballpark," can sometimes be waaaaaay off.
The best way I can describe the impact that Ultima V had on me and my best friend: When he got married, I took the cloth map from the game, framed it and gave it to him as a wedding present.
No, this is not a good parallel. This is more like Sony's Station Publishing (which I guess is Platform Publishing with a different name) being the publisher and distributor of AC's Throne of Destiny expansion pack.
MS was the full publisher of the original AC, they had design oversight. Station Publishing just put the game on shelves, they had nothing to do with the development process beyond that and marketing.
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If you want to compete with the MMOs, you have to release a game that is more fun than the MMOs. Something that will make people want to play it instead of raiding and PvPing and grinding and such. In the past you only had to compete with the games that were coming out around the same time as your game. Now you need to compete with MMOs that have come out a year or more previously. But then, that's not so new either. Every FPS that comes out has to compete against CounterStrike, right?
Hooray for more guesswork that people will assume is gospel.
...of those million units will be defective? Over the last two weeks, four of my co-workers bought XBOX360s. Three of them needed to be returned.
While Bruce's work is sort of interesting, it is very frustrating when people take it as gospel. Even the numbers that he feels confident enough to give a "B" to, "The numbers may not be exact for the MMOG in question, but are certainly in the ballpark," can sometimes be waaaaaay off.
The best way I can describe the impact that Ultima V had on me and my best friend: When he got married, I took the cloth map from the game, framed it and gave it to him as a wedding present.
No, this is not a good parallel. This is more like Sony's Station Publishing (which I guess is Platform Publishing with a different name) being the publisher and distributor of AC's Throne of Destiny expansion pack. MS was the full publisher of the original AC, they had design oversight. Station Publishing just put the game on shelves, they had nothing to do with the development process beyond that and marketing.