All New MMOs Are “WoW Killers”
May 7, 2012 Articles Recommend|113views
In 2004, Blizzard Entertainment revolutionized the games industry by releasing World of Warcraft, the insanely popular MMO that would quickly become one of the most successful interactive products ever created. At the time, there was certainly a niche market for MMOs, but WoW was the first game that proved a massively multiplayer online game could land mainstream success. The game skyrocketed to victory and became the biggest (paid) MMO in the world.
Nearly eight years later, World of Warcraft is still the top dog, with an estimated 10 million players and a brand new expansion on the way. Thanks to a thriving player community, a mellow learning curve and plenty of casual-friendly content, WoW has managed to hang onto the lead almost entirely unchallenged. World of Warcraft’s success is the benchmark for all future MMO products.
In the world of MMOs, we’ve taken to asking this simple question about new online releases: “Is this aWoW killer?” In other words, “Is this the game that will snatch millions subscribers from WoW’sgauntleted hands?” So far, the answer has been “No,” as no game has managed to topple World of Warcraft from its throne.
However, we’re looking at the question from the wrong angle. No one game is ever going to kill World of Warcraft. Like an enormous raid boss, WoW simply cannot be downed by a single entity.
No, the real WoW killer is time—and every MMO that has come out since WoW’s original date of release.
A Field of Competitors
It’s worth noting that plenty of people (myself included) play more than one MMO. For instance, I’m currently playing WoW, RIFT, EVE Online and TERA, while sneaking in other titles when I can. So the success of one game doesn’t necessarily mean the failure of another. However, it’s impossible to ignore the strong slate of competitors that have hit retail markets since WoW’s launch in 2004.
Here’s a quick list of big-name MMOs that have landed and (mostly) succeeded since then:
- Guild Wars
- Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
- The Lord of the Ring Online
- Warhammer Online
- Aion
- Rift
- Star Wars: The Old Republic
That’s just off the top of my head, and leaves out dozens of other titles that have seen release between 2004 and today. True, no single title has managed to do much damage to WoW; the most popular game on that list is likely SWTOR, which is headed towards an estimated player cap of 1.7 million. But taken as a whole, these games have pulled countless of players out of World of Warcraftand into their open arms—even if only temporarily.
It’s not that people are canceling their WoW subscriptions; in fact, most people aren’t. But each new game that hits the market diversifies the choices we have as gamers and shows us features that other titles may not have. World of Warcraft can’t compete with RIFT’s dynamic world events, or Star Wars: The Old Republic’s epic story arcs. WoW isn’t free-to-play like Aion and Lord of the Rings Online, and it’s not as pretty as newer titles like TERA and the upcoming Guild Wars 2.
The longer WoW exists, the more competition it will have to face. More competition is good, since it keeps Blizzard on its toes and forced innovation into what can often become a stagnant genre, but as gamers split their attention from one game to the next, it’s inevitable that World of Warcraft will eventually fall by the wayside. No king can reign forever.
We’re seeing hints of this trend now—coverage of the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion is lukewarm at best, especially when compared to the glowing reviews and previews of Guild Wars 2. Even the official promotional material for MoP has the faint feeling of triage, as if Blizzard is desperately trying to save a hemorrhaging patient before all hope is lost.
MMOs don’t shut down in the blink of an eye. People still play the original EverQuest(EverQuest, often shortened to EQ, is a 3D fantasy-themed massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that was released on the 16th of March, 1999. Many of the elements from EverQuest have been drawn from text-based MUD (multi-user dungeon) games,which in turn were inspired by traditional role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. In EverQuest, players create a character (also known as an avatar, or colloquially as char or toon) by selecting one of 16 “races” in the game, which range from elves, dwarves and ogres of fantasy, to cat-people (Vah Shir), lizard-people (Iksar), and dragon-people (Drakkin)[4]. At creation, players select each characters adventuring occupation (such as a wizard, ranger, or cleric - called a class–see below for particulars), a patron deity, and starting city. Customization to the character facial appearance is available at creation (hair, hair color, face style, facial hair, facial hair color, eye color, etc).). However, as an MMO ages, players lose interest in the worlds they once loved, and venture off to find new challenges and stories. Much like the flailing MMOs of the modern day, a certain subset of gamers will always play World of Warcraft. But the surging popularity it has seen for almost a decade is sure to fade away, thanks in large part to high quality competition using its innovations as guideposts.
We can stop looking for a WoW killer now—they’re already here.
Tags: Killers, MMOs, world of warcraft
New MMOs in February 2012 Round up!
Mar 8, 2012 Articles Recommend|250views
Guild Wars 2 fans finally see the twilight before the end of the world. Guild Wars 2 started recruiting closed beta testers in February. The 1st round of closed beta testing is expected to happen at any time. In the meantime, upon the request of players, C9 which was in VIP testing in February, released new PvP content and recruited extra testers to allow more players to experience this high-quality action MMORPG. Moreover, TERA’s North American publisher announced pre-order and testing schedule for TERA. Players now have another “not to miss game” added into their game list.
Another two MMORPGs also entered CBT in February, one is adult MMORPG Seven Soul, and the other is fantasy MMORPG L.A.W. And Lucent Heart, a classic anime social unveiled its second expansion pack in February and launched a teaser site to build buzz for it.
It seems February is a month filled with big-budget productions. But I think we should also pay attention to those low-budget MMORPGs. They may shine and surprise us in the near future. Who knows?!
Flyff’s Sequel F2
Featuring unique flying system, classical Korean MMORPG Flyff released a poster for its sequel in the Mid-February. Thus, F2, the sequel to Flyff, make public to all players. On the other hand, the official site was launched immediately to start the first closed beta tester registration. The first closed beta test was scheduled to begin on February 29th.
F2: Floating Fortress (KR) - Debut Trailer
Although F2 has fairy tale style 3D graphics, it is a online game designed for male hardcore players. The content in F2 features various PvP system including battle field PvP, seige war and quest battle.
In F2, you can launch PK at any time, so you have to watch out for attack from other players. The PK system in F2 is similar to Lineage, and if you are killed during PK, you’ll not only lose EXP, but also all the items owned by your character will drop.
Fighters Club
Fighters Club, using of distinctive gameplay mechanics, such as intense martial arts-based combos and outrageous special moves, will attend the 2012 Games Developers Conference to take a further step in oversea market after announcing the upcoming service in South America.
Fighters Club - Teaser Trailer
For more Fighters Club videos
To present the audience with well-made battle scenes, Fighters Club takes advantage of motion capture and camera shake technologies. In the virtual Fighters Club world, players are able to achieve a strong sense of presence by means of such elements as boxing, kendo and martial arts. players can choose from three playable characters, then use their exceptional fighting skills to vanquish adversaries through the unique positional combat system (PCS) to deliver high, low and mid-range blows. Warding off rivals through a myriad of challenging stages, players will have the opportunity to customize characters to be more realistic martial arts masters or more outrageous arcade-style heroes.
Ghost Recon Online
Ghost Recon Online, a new multi-player, third-person, cover-based tactical shooter game, was announced by Ubisoft in last May. Recently, it announced the closed beta test would be kick off on March 5th. Ghost Recon Online brings the Ghost Recon franchise into a multiplayer environment as a free-to-play PC title. The game offers players the ability to choose between three different classes of Ghost, customize their weapons, deploy cutting-edge military technology, and share intel with their team.
Key Features
- Become the Ultimate Ghost: With a persistent character system, you will be able develop and evolve your Ghost as you level up in Ghost Recon Online. Unlock new equipment and skills as you rise through to ranks.
- Classes and Abilities: Pick from 3 Classes of Ghosts - Assault, Specialist or Recon to suit your play-style and battlefield strategies. Deploy Class-specific Abilities to gain the upper hand against your enemies.
- Alone You Fight, Together You Dominate: Dominate your enemies as you complement the strengths of your squad mates with the unique skills and equipment of your Ghost. Intuitive squad systems make playing as a team easy and effective.
- Deep and engaging multiplayer modes: Engage in fierce and visceral 16 player online firefights with your friends and enemies. Test your skills in various games modes and maps. Track your performance via the game’s persistent ladder rankings and player statistics.
- AAA Quality, For Free: Ghost Recon Online delivers a premium quality PC shooter experience and you can download and enjoy the core game content for free. You decide if you want to further enhance the game experience by purchasing game items with either in-game points or real currency.
Reign Of Thunder
Developed by the people who brought you the award-winning MechAssault series, Reign of Thunder is a 3rd Person, Action, multiplayer Mech game focused on creating an accessible yet deep experience that will ensnare new users and keep them playing for years. However, the release date of Reign of Thunder has not been announced but the game’s business model has confirmed to be definitely free-to-play.
SevenCore
gPotato has introduced its newest project, sci-fantasy MMORPG Sevencore, to the Western market with the launch of a teaser page(http://sevencore.gpotato.com/). This new title is planning to come out in 2012. Recently, an introduction trailer was released for western market, which hinted that players took one step closer to the first closed beta test.
SevenCore features in-depth customization of characters and a unique emphasis on mounts. Ride every variety of vehicles or animals into battle on land, sea, or sky, and harness a range of special abilities tailored to the player’s personal style. Characters bring their own diversity into the mix with spells, armor, and weapons unique to each culture and class.
Tactical Intervention
Everyone must be familiar with Counter-Strike. One of the original creators of Counter-Strike presented a new FPS MMO Tactical Intervention and announced its first closed beta test in March 2012. The closed beta sign-up is available on the official site.(http://ti.ogplanet.com/en/intro.og). Partnering with OGPlanet has allowed the game is accessible to all players as a Free-to-Play title.
With more focus placed on team-based tactics and hardcore, fast-paced gameplay, Tactical Intervention goes far deeper than the everyday FPS. Packed with new environments, game modes, weapons, equipment customization options, and more, Tactical Intervention sets a new benchmark in the evolution of the tactical team-based FPS genre.
What is A Good Festival Event in MMORPGs?
Aug 22, 2011 Eudemons Online|333views
For MMO game developers, festivals are great chances to add in new content and promote their games. MMO games release events almost every holiday, but a good holiday event needs more than just interesting quests and nice rewards, since it should represent the culture or the tradition of the festival, as well.
Speaking of the word “culture”, the culture of China is one of the world’s oldest and most complex. The customs and traditions vary greatly between each town, city, and province. Many people are curious about the profound mysteries the culture of China contains, and gaming is the most interesting and easy way to learn!
If you’re interested in Chinese style MMOs, you can pick up Conquer Online, which takes you on a journey through a mystic land of Kungfu and honor. If you prefer fantasy MMOs with great pet systems, Eudemons Online is a great choice. You can adventure in a beautiful Roman fantasy world, while at the same time have a touch of oriental aesthetic.
There are many traditional festivals in China, and most of them are celebrated according to the lunar calendar. You can find Chinese festival events in a lot of MMO games, although some of them may not be presented by Chinese developers. But looking into the details of the events, you might notice that most of them simply offer better drops during hunting, or extra EXP as the rewards of the event. Free items are always not bad, but without well designed quests, an event may seem a little dull and meaningless.
Eudemons Online has just brought up the Chinese Lantern Festival event. This festival is also known as the “Yuan Xiao” Festival, and is celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month of each year. It’s all about lanterns, riddles, the moon-like delicacy ‘Yuan Xiao’, and family reunions. During the event in Eudemons Online, you can have fun with those magical lanterns, solve fun riddles on them, and learn to make the traditional holiday food, Yuan Xiao!
This game is a perfect combination of western and oriental features. With over 100 pets to assist you along your epic adventure and culture exploration! To experience Western and Chinese festivals with fun and meaningful events, Eudemons Online is your must-try MMO game!
Tags: Conquer online, Eudemons Online, MMOs
Soft Power of Chinese Culture in MMOs
Mar 28, 2011 Articles Recommend|155views
Nowadays, video games have become a dominating entertainment medium. The industry alone creates tens of billions dollars for other industries, every year. Like other pop culture staples, people have noticed the influence of games on the movie and music genres. Let’s take a deeper look at the cultural influence of video games.
“Soft Power” has become more and more apparent. Through Hollywood movies, America exports its culture and ideology to every corner of our planet, making the western culture continue to be the mainstream culture of the world. In the 1980s, Japan started to challenge the leadership of the America, both economically and culturally. Animation and video gaming not only brought Japan enormous financial benefits, but also introduced Japan’s exotic culture to the audiences from other nations.
Samurais, Ninjas, Sushi - those once alien words have become familiar to the western population. It is the first time that a non-western culture has generated such a wide cultural influence in these modern times.
After Japan, the Chinese game industry started to emerge. With the growth of their economy and technology, China has already started to influence the world with her “soft power”. Following Japan’s model, China’s game companies began to make their debut in the international market. Although the Chinese game developers are the smaller newcomers of the industry, they have jumped at the chance to make online games. TQ Digital Entertainment earned its reputation with its own MMORPG, Conquer Online. Everyday, hundreds of thousands of players around the world are exploring the mythological world of ancient China, and experiencing the vivid Chinese culture in the game. In the world of CO, players can customize their characters with traditional Chinese costumes, practice various Chinese ancient weapons, battle with demons in Chinese myths and even perform traditional Chinese dancing!
The game also hosts a string of special events, all in the theme of Chinese traditional festivals, from Chinese Valentine’s Day to the Spring Festival. These special quests and elaborate background introductions provide the education of Chinese culture and traditions to non-Chinese players. Western festivals such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Halloween are widely known by Chinese people, and now, Western players can celebrate the exotic Chinese festivals in the virtual world! We can expect there will be more and more Chinese games entering the global market, so does that mean there will also be a rise in the number of Chinese culture groupies?
In conclusion, games have become an influential medium for cultural exchange. As more and more game developers from different parts of the world enter the blooming industry, players have the opportunity to experience different cultures, and at the same time enjoy more terrific games!
Tags: Chinese Culture, MMOs
Guild Wars 2-Structured More Like Other MMOs
Dec 8, 2009 Articles Recommend|851views
I always thought a major pull of Guild Wars was that it wasn’t like other massively multiplayer online games.
It’s not just the GW used a more realistic art style than the dreaded juggernaut, World of Warcraft. Guild Wars was different because it was mostly instanced (which I think might’ve made it easier to break down new content into meaty packs that just added a massive batch of instances in new zones). Personally, I liked the way Guild Wars was because if nothing else, you could at least say it was different than everything else in some fundamental way.
But to hell with what I think. Here’s what Guild Wars 2 Lead Designer Eric Flannum thinks:
We use a lot less instancing than we have in the past. The game is structured much more like other MMOs, with the world consisting almost entirely of fully persistent areas. That being said, we have a number of different ways in which we use instancing. Dungeons, for example, are instanced areas designed for group play. We also use instancing very heavily in the players’ personal quest chain to reflect decisions that the player has made on those quests. For example, Logan Thackeray, captain of the Seraph, has an office located in Divinity’s Reach; his office is instanced because we need to update his status based on choices the player has made.
You can check out the rest of his interview (which includes World Designer/Writer Ree Soesbee and Environment Art Lead Dave Beetlestone) at MMORPG.com. Reading the whole thing definitely put Flannum’s quote in perspective and there’s some interesting tidbits about what else we can expect from the sequel to the MMO that will still always be a special snowflake in my mind.
Guild Wars 2: Exclusive Interview
Tags: Guild Wars 2, interview, MMOs
Life Skills in MMOs
Apr 30, 2009 Articles Recommend|373views
I have grown to love games that have some kind of “life skill” available. I don’t want to think of my character as one-dimensional, but as someone (or something) that does other things besides killing monsters.
For the record, here are some examples of “life skills:”
Cooking: Some games like Free Realms and Mabinogi are making cooking not only enjoyable, but full of benefits as well! I like to see cooking that really makes a difference, and can have interesting side effects. A great example of how cooking should be done is Free Realms, which makes you smash, dice, and slice items by using your mouse. Think Cooking Mama online.
Fishing: Games like Final Fantasy XI, WoW, LotRO, Mabinogi and Vanguard all have fishing. Why has fishing become a staple in “life skill” gaming? Because it really is relaxing, and can be a great low-impact way to play. You can have a chat with your guild, enjoy the sunrise, and basically do what you would do in real life. Vanguard has my vote for this one, with it’s arcade style fishing system and addictive action.
Tailoring: Like many “life skills”, tailoring can range from boring to intriguing. In many games, the clothes can be worn with stats or as appearance-only items. Either way, it’s not just for girls! For me, Mabinogi wins this one for making you take time with the process until you come out with something you would actually want to wear.
;)
Crafting: Everyone has probably crafted at some point in their gaming. Some people are obsessed over it, and some think it’s as boring as watching paint dry. This can be blacksmithing, leather-working, or making fluff items. Overall, crafting is a very vital part of many MMO’s. Look at almost any MMO and there might be at least one good example of crafting.
Mini-games: Mini-games are just what they sound like.. games within the game. Not only are these a great way to pass the time, but a great way to level your character. Puzzle Pirates has this one down. Mini-Games drive the entire game from crafting to ship-to-ship combat. Many of the “star-ship” MMO’s could learn from Puzzle Pirates’ genius.
Gathering: Gathering can go hand-in-hand with many types of crafting, but sometimes you can do it to build a house, for profit, or for fun. Ryzom, with it’s complicated-yet-intriguing digging system, has the best gathering out there.
Housing: Not really a skill, but a system. While I agree with the comment “Everyone wants a house until they have one”, housing has been getting better and better over the years. Vanguard has some of the best, and building the house is a pleasure. I only wish it were more involved, complete with hammering/roofing mini-games. Recently a comment on my blog pointed me to the improvements that Star Wars Galaxies housing has received (like windows that open and let you see the real world outside) but I’ve yet to check them out.
;)
Not only do I enjoy these systems, but I enjoy the effects that some of them have. In Mabinogi, you will actually gain weight as you eat too much food. Different foods will make you gain weight in different areas, and my character is constantly struggling with “fat leg” syndrome. You can cook foods that will help you gain muscle or cook foods that have other benefits.
“Life Skills” are smart, too. They not only give your character depth, but also make you spend more time in the game. The more time you spend in the game and the more your character grows, the more loyal you might become to your game. In such a packed market, loyalty is a very valuable thing for your players to have.
A lack of “life skills” can leave some players wanting more with your game. For example, as beautiful and fun The Chronicles of Spellborn is, there isn’t much (besides some crafting) that makes my character seem that deep. I enjoy the fighting system, but at the end of the day I have no home to go to, no need for food, or no mini-games to wind down with. My character cannot just be about killing mobs, or you just have a side-scrolling arcade game.
“Life-Skills” break up the repetitiveness of your MMO. In an age of players growing bored just with screen-shots of new games, you need something that keeps the player engaged. I can download any new MMO trial within a few hours, so being in the middle of that crafting project might just keep me from switching.
And please, call me crazy, but I look at many of my favorite MMOs as attempts to explore new lives. I want to immerse myself in the world and explore every part of it, not just combat. For example, here are a typical few days in my life:
;)
I get up (log in) around 7 am. I walk the dogs (non-combat pets) and then cook some delicious breakfast (the eggs give me a bonus to dexterity, the orange juice raises my luck.) After checking my email (visiting the mailbox) I am off to work (I am a blacksmith and dog trainer.) I take a lunch (stop in the wilderness and make a campfire, cooking some stew) and then go home after finishing my day (I bring all my new loot back to my house and organize it into different chests.) I walk the dogs again, and cook some supper. I might have a friend over (I form a group) and then we play each other a game on my PC’s (we duel.) Then, we go to the new local bookstore (we go exploring) and meet some new people (new guildies.) Later that weekend I go fishing and visit a thrift store (gathering!)
Many people want to play MMOs to act as something more than they are, but I like to play MMOs to see how I might act if I suddenly found myself within some of the strange worlds MMOs represent. “Life Skills” allow me to act normally within extraordinary circumstances. Those skills keep me grounded, and also help to fight off boredom. As exciting as combat is, I rarely fight dragons in real life. I want my virtual life to be similar, but punctuated with bouts of adventure.
How important are these type of skills to you? Do you consider them too “fluffy” for your tastes?
Tags: MMOs