The title may seem a bit misleading, but i'll try to keep it short and simple.

If the MMORPG industry were to hit rock bottom due to the failure of game after game, and all the large investors were to pull out of the industry, do you think it would be a good thing, or a bad thing?

I mean, it seems as if even with obscene amounts of money these time pressured business oriented, companies keep pushing out incomplete and uninteresting games.

If the small developers were to take over once more would it be a step in the right direction?

Yes.  Indies don't generally have strict release dates as the larger companies so you don't always have such horribly broken launches.  There are exceptions, mind you.  Once an MMO is successful (WoW) it attracts the buzzards like EA who just want dumbed down "for everyone" WalMart-type games.  This leaves less room for adventure and taking niche audiences into consideration.  Everyone is trying to reach the 10 Mil mark, but they forget that keeping 500k could be just as beneficial so long as they keep them loyal and paying for 6-7 years. 

Interesting question. I doubt that as long as WOW continues to perform well financially investors will stop hearing the syren's call. Also, given the large amounts of money already invested in the industry i would see it as dificult for this to happen in the midterm. As much as i can relate to the idea this could be good, what would really happen is small investors and indie games would be the hardest hit. We would have a scenario in which few if any new games would be coming out, and f2p would very likely take over as the leading bussiness model. The bar for quality would be set lower and competition from games designed as apps for social networking sites would make the situation even more difficult. MMORPGs would come to be seen as a flopped genre meaning there would be little chance of large budgets being devoted to their development and the genre would lag even further behind in technical proficiency as compared to other videogames.

This would change MMOs but not for the best, as elements from sim and fps games would become prevalent since companies going into this ventures would be concerned with tying their games to more succesful precedents. We could very well end up never again seeing games produced with those elements we consider an esential part of the genre.

All we need is 1 single unique indy MMO to hit Mega Sub Status (1.5mil++ subs) and the genre would get a whole lot better. If we were to have just one hit that status, then investors would be more inclined to throw down money for something that's unique and doesn't fit the EQ mold that so many games are based on today.

But, to my knowledge... the biggest indy game ever to come out is EVE, which is a hit @ 300k subs but still far away from Mega Hit status like L2, EQ, and WoW.

I don't believe indie developers will take over anything. The trends I'm taking notice with the mmorpg genere may draw developers back to single player game development (RPG's), strategy based multiplayer online games or console mmos.

I believe that the f2p market has both corrupted and confused the industry but at the same time the subscription based model of p2p games has caused many consumers to look for more affordable options. Gamers will begin looking for these new options and it may force developers to follow the direction that gamers are headed.

Console based mmorpgs sound scary but there is a great potential there. Console gaming has a stable following and there is a great way to target the X-Box live generation and thus create a new demand in a new way. Smaller companies may invest in the idea of selling a "box" version of a genre not commonly seen on consoles, mmorpgs. If they focus their sole efforts on marketing a console game, they can bypass the current PC competitors and thus attract a new trend. Gamers will become more familiar with actually purchasing a game before playing once again and their will be more hope for the long term survival of mmorpgs.

As far as PC gaming goes, more bigger companies will make the push for polished single player titles. As the mmorpg genre begins to lose more support, a new perspective of gaming will emerge. I believe that we will start seeing more single player RPG titles make there way onto the mmorpg scene. Titles that already have a large following will fair better in this competitive market. WoW did very well because they already had a fairly large WC support base. LotR, Age of Conan, Warhammer, SWG are all based upon a franchise success. It is very hard to make a name if your first title is an mmorpg.

I support indie developers and I still have hope in them but it's tough for indie games to compete in this very competitive market. Perhaps the indie market will evolve first and dictate the new trends. It was the indie market that made the mess of f2p games so perhaps they can help fix it. *No offense. I'm a big indie supporter.
 

No.

Yes.

That would be a good thing because MMO's will be made for fun instead of profit.

There hasn't been a fun MMO since 2005.

Originally posted by jkun666

Yes.

That would be a good thing because MMO's will be made for fun instead of profit.

There hasn't been a fun MMO since 2005.

Hate to burst your bubble, but all indies want to make money. None of them want to make a game for fun and not make any money. Indies want to make fun games, and people pay to play fun games.

Why would an indie purposely want to make a game that sucks? That's the only game that doesn't make money.

I'd like to see both indies making games, AND the big boys.

I'm actually looking forward to TOR, and that's not an indie project.

I think once the money grubbing publishers get out of the way of the pasionate developer (assuming the developer either has capital or can get investors/capital (read publishers)) the MMO genre will begin to turn around.

The more MMO's I look at, and listen to people talk about, the more I hear something to the effect of "It's a good game." or "It's a good concept." But it was incomplete/buggy/unbalanced/a WoW clone/uncreative/etc. I think all those problems can be solved with more time (and/or more money for Indie developers). If the publishers weren't pushing for a release, and the developers had time to make the game the way they see it (read "It's done when it's done."), I think it would be a very good thing.

Edit: Added a few more points for Indie titles.

If MMORPGs were to regress, would you consider it a good thing?

No, not really.

If the industry as a whole would go into decline, fewer investors would be willing to risk their money on developing new mmo's.

On the other hand, if a more diverse group of mmo's would be seeing some significant income, then investors would probably be more inclined to invest in something new rather than clones of old successes.