Originally posted by ArcAngel3

Originally posted by purewitz

I agree with most of your points, but IP MMOs. IP MMOs have been some of the best games in the MMO market. Such as Star Wars Galaxies, Lord of the Rings Online, and The Matrix Online. I'm still hoping for a Transformer G1 or G.I. Joe G1 MMOs. Most IPs from  movies, books, and TV shows with two factions or more, make perfect sense to turn into a MMO.  Who would not like to live in their favorite movie, book, or TV show? I know, I've always have liked the idea.

Just as an fyi, two of the IP MMOs you've mentioned were absolute disasters, and one's closure was recently announced as a result.  The other is having the IP given to a competitor, who will hopefully do a much better job.

IP's tie into that expectation factor I think.  They also seem to be viewed as cash cows by corporate investors, who then seem to push for an early (and broken) release to begin turning a profit as soon as they can.  Greed, impatience and hype make for poor MMO releases imo.

If someone could manage to take the time needed for a good IP release, maybe we'd see this trend shift in a more favourable direction.

Why is LOTRO: SoA a disaster? The recent expansion (Mines of Moria) has been a truly backward step in all sorts of ways, but SoA was a very nice example of using a rich IP to create a very satisfying MMO... and it was reasonably faithful to the IP, with the emphasis on was.

#1 can be done in perfect world.  

Originally posted by Kyleran

Originally posted by Teala

Wishes in order.

1) Sci-fi based MMORPG/FPS sandbox/ with space flight- skill based - no levels.
 

2) Sci-fi based MMORPG/FPS sandbox/ with space flight - skill based - no levels.
 

3) Sci-fi based MMORPG/FPS sandbox/ with space flight - skill based - no levels.
 

4) Sci-fi based MMORPG/FPS sandbox/ with space flight - skill based - no levels.
 

5) Sci-fi based MMORPG/FPS sandbox/ with space flight - skill based - no levels.
 

So,  its obvious you have no interest in Jumpgate Evolution.

My wish would be for developers to create an MMORPG that did not heavily favor those who have far more free time than I do to play these games.  Selfish I know, but I'd still like to find one.

Fortunately, EVE's pretty close in this regard, so I'm not suffering too badly.

 

I think what she may want is what I'd like and thats a game with space and land fighting.  You can land on a planet and do missions as well as space flight ones.  I don't know why its only one or the other, when both is better.

This is what I mean about us expecting so little.  In the US we're behind in a lot of tech because we expect so little.  Asia is coming out with some good MMO's (Mabinogi Heroes, and C9 to name two) and they send us their crap, why?  Because we expect so little of our gaming and tech.  We don't say "we want better" so we keep getting the same cookie cutter MMO's, over and over and over.  They put flight in it...like Aion...and we're WOW, cool!  Like when Apple finally put cut and Paste and video in the iphone, everyone is "cool this is so much better".  Put a few new things in a game and people go nuts...why?  I have no idea why.  I look at it and see it for what it is, laziness, laziness because we don't expect better.

Originally posted by Scot

1. Beta’s and Launch - I liked the idea of a reduced starter subscription, but can see problems when the company announces the subscription is going up. No matter how much more ‘polishing’ has been done.

Again i point to LoTRO. Founders paied 10 bucks and that stays until you break subscription. They never said it was "a break because the game just launched and isnt perfect" but it does fill the role, doesnt it?

Very good article indeed.

I would like to add one wish - not just to MMOs but to gaming in general.  Stop the PRE-orders.  Stop them now !  ATM the gaming industry is allowed to throw out all kinda crap that ppl have bought 4 months in advanced because a PR campaign.  

Lets remind ppl about AOC and Funcom's number one slogan for one of their financial report.  "The message is PREORDER NOW!"  Nothing else mattered.  This was everytthing their entire campaign turned into. Sell as many copies before ppl actually realise how bad it is.  And who cares if we screw over like 1 million ppl ?  "it's only a game"

Recently China banned selling of artificial items.  Why not ban preorders ? Most of them are giving out extra this and extra that because someone payed in advance. 

How about we actually start to see one single gaming company that stands by its product AFTER it is released instead of then coming out and saying... we will fix it in next year or so...

My big wish for MMOs.   Do less but do it well..  then add to it.    There is no need to run a gazillion quests and billion diffrent zones at launch.  If ppl like the concept - AND the game has a good and solid code - the rest can be added to and expanded.  ATM thats not how it is.. atm its more like - "HELL lets throw this all out and we fix some of it when we get money from the nutters that actually bought the PR stuff"! 

NO thx - I hope MMO gamers are becoming abit smarter.  If not then I - and hopefully 1000s more old MMO custimors will be around to remind everyone what "gaming" has turned into.

Awesome list! I appreciate your evaluations and really agree with your thoughts! Hopefully some of the developers out there will stand up and take notice...

#2 is a big one imo,Games like War and Aoc mite have been swallowed better if they had not hyped it so bad. Good games IMO but they did not live up to the H Y P E they created. They would be better of in the long run doing "this is what we got so far, this is what we would like to do/planning, and heres where we are at..not this Game is AWSOME Play IT! and honestly I think Bioware/SW:tor is getting the idea, all the interviews I have seen they wont hype a thing about the game but instead comment on this is what we have and this is what we are doing,and this is what we are planning atm,if its not in game we are not going to hype it, the have even been modest about their combat system saying its not ground breaking. anywho sorry fer ramble, not the place here. yall get my jist :).

For the few of you posting about the older days of MMO's and roleplaying, and wanting a world, maybe take a peek at Metaplace

it's a complicated thing to describe for me, but i think that game has all aspects for MMO's that a roleplayer might like.

www.metaplace.com

::edit, no, it didn't change::

Nice points.

I just want the game to be fun and enjoyable. For me, this means improving combat.

MMOFPS is the way I want to be playing games in the future, and I'm looking into Global Agenda for that reason...

Space flight combat - much like Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (or any of the many other games... I can't remember the name of the older ones) - would be pretty great, although I'd prefer it with both flight and ground combat.

In fact, you know what? I'd like a game that doesn't restrict cooler, perhaps BETTER combat.

Way back when I played World of Warcraft, there was no mounted combat. Why not? Why couldn't we run up to someone and attack them, or at least auto-attack them? Why can't I shoot with a bow while moving? Why why why? Mostly just pvp issues, I suppose, but so many things just don't make sense!

If I were a mage, I'd probably work a little harder on concentrating and meditation to cast spells, rather than having to stand still while conjuring up a fire ball or some other pitiful excuse for a spell.

Finally, I want a visually enhanced feeling of power when I do things with higher damage. That was one of my larger faults with, guess, World of Warcraft. I had a level 1 mage and a level 80 mage both do a fireball at something. Same. Animation. And Models. Yawn.

So yeah, I ranted. Take that, world. *shakes fist*

One thing I wish you had mentioned was the level grind... the senseless, mind-numbing, continous killing for XP's that gets us skills that have no relationship to how we gained them. I would prefer learning skills by using them... and having an experience level in each of the skills. Thus, whether it be crafting or combat, or whatever... you use it, you learn and develop in it. Also, the use of real time to thottle people from gaining abilities too fast (as in EVE Online, but not quite). But in the same light, be able to do certain things (like crafting) while offline. I personally believe that time-sink oriented game designs are a thing of the past, since the number of active subscribers seems to count more now a days anyway.

#4: I wish they would stop making IP MMOs

I think Red 5 Studios is your answer.  Some of the WoW creators left Blizzard to start this company and are currently creating an MMO that no one has a clue about right now, though it sounds like we are close to hearing about their project .

www.red5studios.com/en/

EA is a cannibal, I have no idea where you got the idea that it was vegetarian.

May BioWare take care of Mythic better than a Red-Headed-Step-Child.

Good article, although

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Originally posted by Stradden
The solution is simple: Offer players a severely discounted rate between beta and a launch-ready date six months to a year after beta. While players balk at the idea of paying $15 a month for a pre-launch quality product, they might be more willing to accept a fee of $7 to play it in its current state.

---

Even if it sounds like a good idea, on paper, there would be too many issues.

1) It could lead studios to publish less polished games. With the motto you get what you pay for.

2) It could allow the devs to do major changes to the game.

3) How about transferring characters from gamma or even delta version to release?

All in all the point is to publish fully polished games.

Thing is until you let thousands of players experience the game for months you have no way to know how the game will evolve and so where you will need to focus on.

The 5 Wishes:

Make Me: CoH/V has a great character creator, ChampO and APB promise even better ones. Next.

Stop Making IP MMOs: You'd have a point if Ultima Online and WoW weren't genre touchstones. There have also been 'original' IP MMOs that have flopped and died. I agree that every new movie doesn't need a MMO attached, but given those MMOs tend to die off on their own it isn't a big impact on the industry. IP draws eyeballs - if BioWare was just making a space opera MMO, would it have attracted as much attention as a Star Wars MMO? Nope.

Big MMOs vs Indy MMOs: Arguably, the author is in the best place to correct this issue. Post more reviews / interviews with indy MMO devs. Get people aware of their titles. Get a trial contest going with some of these indy MMOs that aren't translated F2P titles. MMORPG.com could certainly be doing more to educate MMO players between the differences or even what is out there.

Hype: It is what feeds this site. MMORPG.com wants the exclusives / visitor drivers to attract the eyeballs to drive ad revenue. There is even an official "Hype-Level" score given to titles. Seriously, you can't go, "I wish Marketing would stop hyping their title" or "Fans should settle down a bit" then actively enable them to do it without looking a little hypocritcal.

Post-Launch Pre-Full Cost: All I'd see this reduced price doing is encouraging players to play at launch to get the cheapest deal. Launch being arguably the worst time to play a title, these players will pay the cheaper price and then generally justify why they don't want to pay more than that per month. Plus it reduces revenue at the studio when they need it - to start refilling the coffers after a long development -  and generally when the highest number of players are playing.

I honestly hope you don't come across a magic lamp, because that was a waste of 5 wishes.

I wish they would remake Shadowbane and UO's magic.

Great article.

#5:  Yeah, the SvR2009 CAW feature really has me scratching my head when it comes to what the MMORPG developers are offering us.   It's not even close.

#4 IPs tend to be pretty boring overall because it all ends up feeling like backtracking, to say nothing of the whole slew of characters that pretty much just end up getting in your way.

#3 The MMORPG genre has become such a cumbersome beast that true innovation doesn't really exist.  To be perfectly honest, innovation has never really been a strong suit within the industry.

#2 WAR is the definition of overhyped.  Somebody should have stapled that one dude's mouth shut.  That being said, the game was released with an engine that felt archaic.

#1$7 or $15 isn't a big deal really, but I have to wonder, what with the ridiculous sense of entitlement people are developing these days, if actually trying to raise the monthly price post release wouldn't be met with cries of mutiny and betrayal.  I remember when price tag was raised from $9.95 a month to $12.95 a month and finally $14.95 a month and all the cries of anger that seethed from the gaming community forums.

Playing an MMORPG, even only a few days a week, becomes a routine part of their lives, that when it comes time to find something 'new', they also want something 'familiar'.  The players dictate the market, and that's the reason why when KOR (The next Great White Hope) finally releases, it's going to feel oh so... welcoming.

Originally posted by UnSub

The 5 Wishes:

Make Me: CoH/V has a great character creator, ChampO and APB promise even better ones. Next.

Stop Making IP MMOs: You'd have a point if Ultima Online and WoW weren't genre touchstones. There have also been 'original' IP MMOs that have flopped and died. I agree that every new movie doesn't need a MMO attached, but given those MMOs tend to die off on their own it isn't a big impact on the industry. IP draws eyeballs - if BioWare was just making a space opera MMO, would it have attracted as much attention as a Star Wars MMO? Nope.

Big MMOs vs Indy MMOs: Arguably, the author is in the best place to correct this issue. Post more reviews / interviews with indy MMO devs. Get people aware of their titles. Get a trial contest going with some of these indy MMOs that aren't translated F2P titles. MMORPG.com could certainly be doing more to educate MMO players between the differences or even what is out there.

Hype: It is what feeds this site. MMORPG.com wants the exclusives / visitor drivers to attract the eyeballs to drive ad revenue. There is even an official "Hype-Level" score given to titles. Seriously, you can't go, "I wish Marketing would stop hyping their title" or "Fans should settle down a bit" then actively enable them to do it without looking a little hypocritcal.

Post-Launch Pre-Full Cost: All I'd see this reduced price doing is encouraging players to play at launch to get the cheapest deal. Launch being arguably the worst time to play a title, these players will pay the cheaper price and then generally justify why they don't want to pay more than that per month. Plus it reduces revenue at the studio when they need it - to start refilling the coffers after a long development -  and generally when the highest number of players are playing.

I honestly hope you don't come across a magic lamp, because that was a waste of 5 wishes.

1- CoH/CoV's character generator wasn't great... it was adequate.  It didn't even release with capes or dynamic scaling.   At best, that will be the word I end up using to describe CO's character generator.  APB might be decent.  The keyword that you used in your sentence "promised" is quite the display of naivete.  

2- Dude, when the IP is owned by the guys making the game, it's a little bit different.

3- At the very least, marketing needs to get their facts straight with the game developers first.  It feels like all they end up ever doing is passing post it notes in the hallway at lunch.

Originally posted by red_cruiser

1- CoH/CoV's character generator wasn't great... it was adequate.  It didn't even release with capes or dynamic scaling.   At best, that will be the word I end up using to describe CO's character generator.  APB might be decent.  The keyword that you used in your sentence "promised" is quite the display of naivete.  

Odd cause i was in Beta and i can reber getting a cape on my very first lvl 20 character.

Oh wait you mean Capes at level 1, my mistake. I thought you had a brain.

Now what is this fool notion of dynamic scaling so i can proerly embarase you on that too.

Some nice wishes, but I don't really see that a cheap full play beta for 6 months will work too well from a business POV. Sure its a sensible and fair idea from a consumers perspective, but wheres the business sense in allowing people to play your full game ( albeit with imbalances and hiccups and maybe a reset ), and finish all the content for half price. I think in the time it takes to polish these monster games the average mmo fan will have seen all the content you have - when that price hike comes the potential for losing customer base that has Been There Seen It Done That is pretty high. Sure dedicated players often stick around to replay all the content, or pvp / high level content, but the trickle of content is always an ongoing battle in any mmo - with todays dev technology a player can play through content way way faster than a dev / designer can ever create it. By allowing the six month beta play, you effectively sell for half price the lure of all that content. Exactly the opposite that the pressures of content dictate.

As a business plan its like shooting yourself in the foot. In a perfect world its a nice idea, I just dont see it ever being successful as part of a business plan. Long story short, you're giving half your content away for free.

When the day arrives that the technology to create content is faster / less hassle, and MMOs start updating like magazines, comics or even newspapers on a weekly or daily basis, then the six month beta idea has more merit - because theres always something new around the corner. Thats one of *my* wishes, awaiting the technology that someone can create content for an MMO as simply as writing an article for a newspaper - after all they manage to pump up a whole slew of "content" every day, stories, pictures, listings, adverts, all in a well oiled process that spits out a packaged lump of information every day. But thats more of a discussion about IT practices, software design and content integration - I've been in the IT industry myself for decades, and I have seen the changes brought about with ever more RAD technologies. I think its just a matter of time and experience before content starts to go through a similar realisation.

As for MMOs with IP - I dont think they are bad, they suffer from serious over hype and a level of expectation thats just far too high from being based on watching the movies - series - yada, but they do offer a nice way to inject a huge amount of background, lore or fluff whatever you want to call it.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I used to play Asheron's Call, in the days when it was new and shiny and cutting edge. I enjoyed it a lot, but there was always a small ... issue... for me that all the content was just so original. Not that original content is bad, but some days I just really couldnt see what the problem would be with meeting a regular dragon, or a bunch of goblins. Having a completely unique bestiary and lore is cool, but it does take a lot of work to make it seem 3 dimensional and not just something to hit over the head to get XP. The advantage with IP is that its probably been telling stories and building lore for years on years, offering a rich history of things to include in their game. Its a deeper more thorough ( and *gasp* more professional ? ) story telling which is no bad thing. If its done right this should be a huge advantage to any MMO. Therefore I think its a bit extreme to say MMOs based on an IP suck, none of them achieve their potential, dont do it ! I think its better to say that the process that goes on in the background, the relationship, the development needs to be re-addressed. In theory already existing IP offers a lot. In practice, the dynamic for bringing it to life needs to be looked at. Dont throw the baby out with the bath water...

Personally I'd love to see an MMO in a Cowboy Bebop universe.... awesome stuff !

Jon Wood, thank you for posting my feelings with a full pound of credibility.

For years, starting with the Alpha release of Asheron's Call 2, I have been complaining about game launches that were relying on the players to reach a playable and enjoyable state. Last time I checked, the car I purchased had four tires on it, an engine, and seatbelts. Are we expected to hug one another for content,  push a square boulder through the bugs, or sit at red lights until infinity???

Perhaps I have grown to big for these online game retail entertainers (OGRES). Maybe I should began climbing real mountains and quit using my mind to fill in the picture that developers have time and time again ruined with the reality that they are not capable of launching products resembling their product claim.

Beta Testers, another pet peeve, used to be comprised of gamers who assisted the devs in locating and diminishing bugs. The Beta Testers of today are exploiters, at best. Beta Testing has dwindled down to nothing more than a stress test. Our voices are not heard and perhaps, they just can't fix what they can't find and leave it at that.

No game maker has ever given me a cent to go to my RL job. Why should I give them anything for them to go to theirs?

Anyhow, I digress from my feeble attempt to say, 'Thank you Jon Wood.' I am now your fan and hope to see more gut-induced comments in the future. (See you in line for the next wrestling release.)

Ataaka

-because my money is my money until spend it.