Asians seem to prefer Grinders.

Americans seem to prefer Action and Reward now.

What are European's In to? Every MMO it seams like fails in the Euro market (According to the fourms. the worst place to get data :P)

And everyone else feel free to correct my Blatent Disregard for your playstile.

Im intrested in What you and you think your Nationality Like to play.

I think euro's like progression and teamplay tbh.

(I know I do :-))

MMORPG"s haven't really caught on in Europe outside of WoW. In general , the European taste seems to be mostly similar to the American taste. Games that do well in the US usually perform quite well in Europe.

from what I have seen, mostly Europeans seems to prefer Western MMorpgs. So any MMO that does well in America will do well in Europe. What pisses us off is the second rate treatment we get from some company (ie GOA), THAT is the reason why some MMOs do well in US and not-so-well here in EU.

And you know what? from the latest statistics, EU is actually second biggest market in the world for Videogames (it was in general videogames, not MMO in particular) after Asia while the American market is third...

Well I wouldn't want to speak on behalf of my countrymen or the rest of Europe, but I much prefer a more relaxed, non-taxing play style. This is why I enjoy WoW so much. I want something accessible, that I can fit in when I only have a few hours to play. I tend to go for Western-style MMO's simply because I can identify better with the culture, mythology, style and localisation rather than Asian games.

Originally posted by Volkmar

And you know what? from the latest statistics, EU is actually second biggest market in the world for Videogames (it was in general videogames, not MMO in particular) after Asia while the American market is third...

wow really? I didnt know gameing was so popular over there. Although i was always curious if it would ever take off because of all the different languages in europe there are, so developers need to make translations of the game, if i'm wrong please correct me, this is just what i assumed.

There is no Europe.

There are different markets within Europe.

A lot can be seen  in buying behaviour on amazon.de and co.uk etc...

(and of course my biased view )

The Germans are always the first to be interested in new projects and markets, but they are very harsh when it comes to failures. If you want to see how a particular trend is going off or on, amazon.de is the first to watch. Be it board games, computer games etc.

Consoles market in Germany is the least developped. They like MMORPG's more than PS3/XBox. Because they have the most money they jump on everything new and massively, but at the same time a German is very demanding and likes to analyse a game to death. Their review magazines aren't as easy as others and PC magazine articles are a kind of nucleair science to the rest of us mortals.

Edit: I also notice on German servers that they tend to end their sessions sooner in the evening. The german servers are sooner up but their gaming sessions end sooner.

The British have less money to spend. So they tend to be very conservative and jump ship when it is all too expensive. They like football games and .... well football games. They are the Wii people - even more than the US, but more conservative. Brittain is the home of historical miniatures and .... football of course.

France, well France is France. Everything with a French title sells 10 times more than an English title. "La Colère du Roi Lich...". Aweful title, but the French like it that way. The French market is always the last one to follow a trend. They still do play many board wargames, I guess because of Napoleon and other "grandeur". They like history games more than others.

Russia has 13 Wow servers now and they are always on full/locked status for 20 hours a day. I guess they are catching up, coming from 3 servers three months ago. A lot of grow potential there for every gaming branche (not only MMORPG's).

Biased view of course with awful generalisations, but indeed there is not a "common" games market in EU.

 Edit: More and more nice games are developped in Eastern Europe (most succesful was The Witcher), but also a lot of trash. It's a growing development market in Eastern Europe, but I think the economic depression that is going to hit us will be terrible for these developpers.

Also in regards to translations, that is not for the entire Europe. Nordic countries, Benelux to some degree and parts of Eastern Europe seem to prefer games in in English. Germany and France in particluar wants localized versions though, but even if a game is not translated the European market is quite large.

Originally posted by Zorndorf

The British have less money to spend. So they tend to be very conservative and jump ship when it is all too expensive. They like football games and .... well football games. They are the Wii people - even more than the US, but more conservative. Brittain is the home of historical miniatures and .... football of course.

We have less money to spend? Before the financial crisis hit we were one of the more affluent countries in terms of disposable income (which is how we and everyone else in the world got into this situation in the first place). I would agree with you that we have a stronger market for games like FIFA and Football/Championship Manager though as football is a big part of our culture. Other than that I'd say we have the same game tastes as the US, as the cultures are generally quite similar with the advent of globalisation coupled with the fact that English is the primary language.

Originally posted by Zayne3145

Originally posted by Zorndorf

The British have less money to spend. So they tend to be very conservative and jump ship when it is all too expensive. They like football games and .... well football games. They are the Wii people - even more than the US, but more conservative. Brittain is the home of historical miniatures and .... football of course.

We have less money to spend? Before the financial crisis hit we were one of the more affluent countries in terms of disposable income (which is how we and everyone else in the world got into this situation in the first place). I would agree with you that we have a stronger market for games like FIFA and Football/Championship Manager though as football is a big part of our culture. Other than that I'd say we have the same game tastes as the US, as the cultures are generally quite similar with the advent of globalisation coupled with the fact that English is the primary language.

Like I said : I was making terrible generalisations .

But did you know the recent economic recession (not a depression yet but it will come) had a dramatic influence on the Spanish real estate market. I know this from my bank advisor btw.

The complete Spanish real estate industry stopped building because of the massively selling off houses on the Spanish coasts. Reason: massively selling of British owned houses/appartements. All in the last 4 months.

Prices are tumbling with 30% in that region.... and Russians are buying them. Now that I type this, isn't there a little club in London also bought by a Russian ?

Like I said it is all about perception, but the only thing I wanted to point out: there are still huge differences in marketing a product for EU.  Once you have the complete market as a product it is rather easy to hold on (Wow like), but newer products really have to conquer different markets which doens't make it as easy as "conquering" the US.

Originally posted by silmaril

Also in regards to translations, that is not for the entire Europe. Nordic countries, Benelux to some degree and parts of Eastern Europe seem to prefer games in in English. Germany and France in particluar wants localized versions though, but even if a game is not translated the European market is quite large.

Would add that in most mmo's I have played only the likes of Germany/France/Spain/Polish/Czech seem to either be on there own server type's or stick together on English speaking server's,the rest of Europe are quite happy speaking English.

To the OP I would say(speaking for myself)that whatever does well in the US will do well in Europe,WoW does well in both countries(pick up and play)and if Aion(pick up and play)releases well,which I think it will,then again this title will do well in both the US and Europe.

Originally posted by Zorndorf 

 

Like I said : I was making terrible generalisations .

But did you know the recent economic recession (not a depression yet but it will come) had a dramatic influence on the Spanish real estate market. I know this from my bank advisor btw.

The complete Spanish real estate industry stopped building because of the massively selling off houses on the Spanish coasts. Reason: massively selling of British owned houses/appartements. All in the last 4 months.

Prices are tumbling with 30% in that region.... and Russians are buying them. Now that I type this, isn't there a little club in London also bought by a Russian ?

Like I said it is all about perception, but the only thing I wanted to point out: there are still huge differences in marketing a product for EU.  Once you have the complete market as a product it is rather easy to hold on (Wow like), but newer products really have to conquer different markets which doens't make it as easy as "conquering" the US.

Come on mate the recession is world wide not just centered in the EU,Also saying that the Brits have less money to spend because Russians are buying UK houses in Spain?

As for the little club I take it you mean Chelsea,well there are quite a few clubs in the UK owned by oversea's companys/individual's,Its big buisness now,if you want to see real money then look up Manchester city and not a Russian in site :)

Originally posted by tvalentine

Originally posted by Volkmar

And you know what? from the latest statistics, EU is actually second biggest market in the world for Videogames (it was in general videogames, not MMO in particular) after Asia while the American market is third...

 

wow really? I didnt know gameing was so popular over there. Although i was always curious if it would ever take off because of all the different languages in europe there are, so developers need to make translations of the game, if i'm wrong please correct me, this is just what i assumed.

It's actually one of the reasons what makes MMOs fail. Developers see this need to chop up and divide the EU community into little bits and pieces because they desperately want to do some 'localization'. I have friends all over Europe, but it gets increasingly hard to play together with them on the same server.

Does strike me as funny how little American's know about the EU, yet we know a whole lot about thier country ^^

Originally posted by Synika

Does strike me as funny how little American's know about the EU, yet we know a whole lot about thier country ^^

Indeed,while I agree with the comment that we buy the like's of football manager and other football games as it is our favorite pass time the same could be said for the guys in the US,I mean I am sure there alot more copies of say Madden or NBA sold in the US than in europe.

It isnt rocket science here,people will play what they find fun,I dont see any big difference in the mmo market between the US and EU.I dont think I have seen a game that done great in the US but very badly in the EU or vice versa.

im an american, but I have been a night shift person much of my adult life so I've played with euro's a LOT. 

My observation is that most euros prefer a more laid back, thinking kind of game rather then a beat em up action game.   Eve seems very popular with euros.... most of the members of every corp I've ever been in were euros.

I also played SWG (pre-cu) with almost all euros....   so I'd say sandbox is the euro mmo stereotype.

Well since Europe and European players are treated like 2nd class citizens to the US/Asian crowd, is it any wonder MMO's aren't as popular? You guys see the laughable thread where a yank complains that he feels mistreated by MMO companies? LOL

Yes, even Funcom treat European players like 2nd class citizens

...the reason? There is more money to be made in the US/Asian markets. It is a vicious circle.

I can't answer for other English/European players but I despise the cartoony graphics of WoW and most Asian MMO's. The only one I do enjoy is City of Heroes/Villains, not as cartoony as the rest but makes up for it in fun and community.

I enjoyed DAoC where grouping was fun and necessary to a degree. Ultima Online for the freedom. EverQuest for the grouping and scale. No game has grinding, if you feel you are grinding then the game isn't fun so why play?

So, grouping, freedom and scale. Casual games are also a must for me.

Originally posted by Swiftblade13

im an american, but I have been a night shift person much of my adult life so I've played with euro's a LOT. 

My observation is that most euros prefer a more laid back, thinking kind of game rather then a beat em up action game.   Eve seems very popular with euros.... most of the members of every corp I've ever been in were euros.

I also played SWG (pre-cu) with almost all euros....   so I'd say sandbox is the euro mmo stereotype.

 

 

Do agree, and from my own experiance with me being in the EU and playing with mostly others from the EU we all share that adventure/exploring way of playing which is best suited in a more sandbox/open world MMORPG.

But I also feel that EU is more Fantasy oriented compared to the US, I do love sci-fi more, but from most friends or online friends that play games it's often fantasy based.

Personaly I feel the US is more PVP oriented.

These are my personal experiances and viewpoints that do not reflect the voice of all EU people but only my own.

Originally posted by Swiftblade13

im an american, but I have been a night shift person much of my adult life so I've played with euro's a LOT. 

My observation is that most euros prefer a more laid back, thinking kind of game rather then a beat em up action game.   Eve seems very popular with euros.... most of the members of every corp I've ever been in were euros.

I also played SWG (pre-cu) with almost all euros....   so I'd say sandbox is the euro mmo stereotype.

 

 

I agree with him. I also think it's in European culture to be more cooperative to some degree (like banding together in a sandbox game for mutual gains), whereas Americans are slightly more focused on competitive, individualistic gamestyles. Simply my observations - but I certainly do feel that our culture defines how we play MMORPGs to some extent. That said, those differences are probably minimal and generalisations.

Euro servers are always Dead unless it's World of Warcraft where everyone goes "are you swe?" lol. Thats why I hate localized games because it means I can't play on American servers.

Originally posted by Gameloading

MMORPG"s haven't really caught on in Europe outside of WoW. In general , the European taste seems to be mostly similar to the American taste. Games that do well in the US usually perform quite well in Europe.

das is true.

one of my friends is a total FFXI fanboy but I would say western mmo's.

however is wow really a western MMO? its bigger in asia than in the west, its cartoon graphics, its got plenty of grind. I would say its pretty much an asian style mmo.

Originally posted by Synika

Does strike me as funny how little American's know about the EU, yet we know a whole lot about thier country ^^

Remember that only around 20% of Americans have passports.

Don't get me wrong - I have no problem with the US or it's people (going to NYC in Jan, wooo!!), but I do think their perspective of the world outside is sometimes quite stereotyped (i.e all the British live in Castles and the Germans wear Lederhosen). You can blame Hollywood for that, though.

Originally posted by Zorndorf

 

The British have less money to spend. So they tend to be very conservative and jump ship when it is all too expensive. They like football games and .... well football games. They are the Wii people - even more than the US, but more conservative. Brittain is the home of historical miniatures and .... football of course.

woah there. its true that most people in england play consoles but this is not because they have less money, lol. its because gaming is mostly very casual here. most people play xbox 360 or ps3, and you seen parents buying wii's for younger kids and the who family appeal, but i'm pretty certain xbox 360 is most popular console here.

yeah alot of people mad on football, football games. I love to play football but can't stand to watch any sport or play any sports game.

that doesn't mean no people PC game, quite a few people do, but out of them even less will play MMO's. I barely know anyone who plays mmos here, and out of those I do its 90% wow.

I dunno about the rest of the world but playing games especially alot is seen as very geeky, especially by our females!

oh yeah I forget runescape is an mmo. I used to hear the younger kids going on about it all the time a few years back when I was at school, plus me and a couple friends used to play. I reckon runescape might be uk's most popular mmo, or at least come close to wow here.

I like teamplay most.