General Discussion

I've been playing MMO's for a couple of years now, and after hearing about LotR's expansion plans, I began to wonder how long a triple A title can last.  I'm unsure if a precedent has already been set, as in, has their been any major MMORPG that has been cancelled?  I know of a couple that this has happened too, but I would not strictly class them as major titles.  If there has been, what was the game, and the reason for cancellation?

If people are still playing UO ten years later, then I reckon WoW could be here for at least 15-20 years.  Maybe not as big and popular as it is now, but in some form.

Just wondered what you guys thought.

Auto Assault died and sims online is closing its doors soon i think.

Not a major one.

Some minor ones were closed such as Earth and Beyond and Auto Assault.

The second most played P2P MMORPG in the world right now has been there for 10 years.

=)

R.I.P. Earth and Beyond

I actually enjoyed that game.  Had its flaws and things it could have done better, but it was still a lot of fun.

I don't think any AAA title has shut it's doors...  Although, Sigil going out of business may be something to consider... Vanguard is still around though. Personally, I think even popular games with low subs can still stay in business because:

1. Technology is cheap

2. MMOs can have different markets. Not popular in the US? Maybe it's huge in Asia or the EU.

Just my 2 cents.

No, no major MMO has had to shut down.

In fact, very few MMOs that have released to retail have had to shut down.

Asheron's Call 2

Every MMO by EA except Ultima Online

Auto Assault

So what do you guys think will be shelf-life of these AAA titles?  Do you think they will still be around in some manner, for another 20 years or so?

If I am correct in saying that WoW now has over 10 million subs, then I think it may be here for 30 years.  Perhaps at such a time, it will be a niche game, with say 50,000 subs, but it is such a behemoth then there will always be a hardcore fan-base that will support it.

Of course, ny that time, technology will have advanced to such an extent that it will look very archiac.  But, the fans will not mind that.  Also, you will have people playing for the nostalgia fashion.  It'll be curious to see how the future will deal with WoW - LotrO- and the like.

Hmm, look out for PotBS, not sure if that is going to be around for too much longer, but who knows, it was made by a small company and perhaps they have small overheads and could keep it going, still turning over a marginal profit.

i loved earth and beyond.  i am a huge sci-fi geek, so to have a sci-fi mmo was a dream.  i was devestated when they shut the doors, but i didn't mind too much because EvE was released and i had a better sci-fi experience with it