As the size of the industry grows so does the room for niche products.  There is nothing stopping MMO companies from making games that target certain segments.

They most likely won't, not because of the success of WoW, but because of the miserable track record of games that didn't follow the EQ model.  Perhaps there would be more variety in the genre if companies had taken their time to make a quality product that people would subscribe to.  Instead we get terrible releases like Vanguard, Auto Assault, Dark/Light, Seed, Horizons, SWG, Matrix, HG:london, The Sims, etc etc.  Just because 10 million people play WoW doesn't mean they won't play anything else.

There is just as much room now, if not more, for different types of games, but there just isn't much incentive to take that path.  Who is to blame for that?

Originally posted by valter007

FIrst of all, a little something about me. There isnt a single mmorpg out there that can keep my interest for more than a month (tops)

Even that, there are many people that keep on asking for features like FULL LOOT, FREE PVP (No save zones), SAND BOX, no LVLS, no CLASSES, instead SKILLS that you train according to your needs -whatever they are, limitted INSTANCED ACTION, no TELEPORTING everywhere in the map with a number of clicks, no ITEM- BASED game and pvp -meaning that all you left doing in the game is running around raiding looking for that uber sword cause theres nothing else to do.

Hell there are just people asking for just a CHANGE really..

Are game companies so fucking retarded that they dont listen to those people? Cause if i was in to marketing and shit i'd say theres a market  here already warm and ready for a product that will be DIFFERENT.

Even more people whine and bitch on how games totally suck nowdays, how they lack in keeping their interest after the lvl cap. After grinding thousands of quests, killing millions of mobs blah blah blah

Wow have supposedly 10m of costumers, yet its considered mcdonalds by many people including the writer.

Why is it so terrible for a game nowadays to push for innovations ? To try different things. To revolutionize the genre.

Why this awfull stagnancy ? How mediocre things are..

Game companies need to fucking get a grip and start listening to their costumers instead of serving them shit all the time. Its all about BALANCE and CHANGE.

Rant over..

What do you guys feel about it ?

I totally agree with most of your points however you have to consider how much it costs to develop a game - Didn't I read that one gaming company spent 10M USD on a game and then had nothing to show for it?

Its easier to buy the engines from other companies and then tweak them with new graphics than to develop you own from scratch.

I would love to see a game that actually takes account of time zones - why I can always track the baddie or quest giver regardless of if its 6 AM or 6PM ?.

Why can't you have some single shot quests? - i.e. if one person starts it the counter starts clicking down for everyone and the first person to do it is the winner - then you could rob them if you like - that brings a whole new dimension to PVP !!!!

Why are Uber characters allowed to just wander around - In real life if you had worked your way up won't you be the target of assination or some one wanting to take your title as best Fighter/Warlock/ Druid/Jedi etc.

Why can Bosses and other key people be killed and then everyone just sits waiting while they respawn.  Perhaps a player should step into that role - That would open up the PRG side (How many of us actually play the RPG element of mmoRPG's as it doesn't make a blind bit of difference how you react with the world you are in?)

Why do I have to log in to be a part of the game ? - Why aren't "cyberpunk / tech future" games emailing me or texting me with in game info - "Do you want a job?" "I've heard you can make such and such"

It all comes down to the cost of developing vs returns and how playable it would make the game - One mans WoW is anothers SWG !!!

Originally posted by devacore

Originally posted by valter007

What do you guys feel about it ?

So you want them to listen to you... not the 9 mil other players.  Face the facts, your opinion is worth nothing.  On the same note, you should play shadowbane it's pretty hardcore pvp.. just give me your character's names. I'd like to greet you a few times.

Actually, you just got lucky. I am an MMO developer and I am listening to you. I read your comments, I think you have some good ideas and I'm reading the same sort of thing from a lot of other people on this forum. Everyone seems to think that all MMO companies are forced by financial considerations to make games that appeal to the most people. Keep in mind that the type of games that appeal to the most people already exist. Any new company that wants to go into that market has some stiff competition. At this point, it makes more sense to me to develop games that are different and appeal to people who don't like the more popular games.

We don't need to get 9 million players to be successful. Think about it.  17,000 players at $5 a month is over a million dollars a year. We'd be happy with a lot less than that. Oh, I should mention that if you don't need to have the latest graphics, then creating an MMO doesn't have to cost millions. That's just the way the big companies have been doing it. The technology is getting cheaper.

Anyway, I have created a game that is now available for free playtesting. it is tenatively called "Gods of Magic" though we may change the name, especially if someone else is already using it. The idea is that players can appeal to "gods" in the game to give them money, items or magic. They can also appeal to the gods to change the game. Players can, by learning magic, change the game themselves and even create their own areas like in the old text-based MUD games. Players can become "gods" of the game who control how the game works.

The idea is for the game to grow by means of interaction between "gods" who have vast powers, and newer players who will find themselves in a world similar to that of Greek mythology where mortals strive and struggle to achieve their own goals, but are often playthings of fickle bickering gods.

If that idea doesn't sound all that great. I'm open to other suggestions.

If anyone wants to try the Magic of the Gods game, click here:

www.naegame.proboards83.com/index.cgi

or paste this into your browser:

http://www.naegame.proboards83.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1189212425

It will tell you whether the game server is still running Magic of the Gods and will give you a link and instructions to download the software and get started.

At the present time there is not much to this game. It has a few areas you can go to, some items, some different types of characters. PvP is allowed everywhere. There's not a lot to do yet. The point is not what's already there. The point is what do you want to be there?

You can contact me at champion67@gmail.com to tell me game ideas, especially comments about Magic of the Gods.

Oh, the download instructions are on a forum devoted to an entirely different game. The reason for that is that I was previously running a 3D MMORPG version of that game on the same game server, but technical problems and doubts about whether there is a market for it have put that project on hold while we see what we can do with "Magic of the Gods".

Eve is a sandbox mmorpg and it is succsessfull, not the same as Wow though it doesnt have millions of subscribers but it has enough to enable the Company to grow and to keep on improving on the game, I mean Eve is 5 years old now and showing no signs of dieing off, on the contrary there is alot of new stuff I am looking forward to.  So it IS possable to make such a game and be successfull.

Some people like PVE Grindfests and some prefer to butcher each other online different strokes ... you know, dont see the need for a 7 page flame fest haha.