The Future of Online Gaming
Just thinking out loud... again...
With all the gazillions of new MMO games being released, there's just too much overload for the potential consumer to determine which to play. Most will be "old wolves in sheep clothing" with repackaged game features and titles offer no real value or a discerning difference over the rest.
I think the company that breaks new ground in terms of user-generated content, which is the way that Linden and his posse did with Second Life, will reign supreme in the years to come. By "user-generated content", I mean this to be game elements where the players actually design and operate stuff INSIDE the game. Imagine a fantasy game such as Ragnarok where the top guildmasters can make mini-quests and NPC-based events for his guildmates with a GUI-type interface! Or how about a sci-fi game where field generals can command entire NPC battalions to assist them in a siege/raid or chip-war.
How about trying to design your own guild castle and customizing the traps to protect it from enemies?
These and other possibilities exist in the future of MMOs. Which are only limited by the imagination not just of designers, but of the players themselves.
Developers and publishers can then make money simply by charging a small commission over the money raised by individuals or groups. Personally, the trends indicate that you cannot separate "making real money" from virtual worlds anymore. This opens an entire pandora's box on laws, morals, etc. But I think that's where the real money - the opportunity - that the industry has to adapt to. This is what Linden is doing in Second Life. While many game companies are trying to follow the big boys of gaming, like Blizzard's WoW, it's very difficult to just copy and pray that the players will come.
Perhaps, innovative game features AND better customer service, is the key to providing real service. A sure way to keep players and users happy - and loyal to your game.
A business model that all gaming companies should strive and aspire for.
Peace!
4 comments:
It's not "perhaps" it's definite. People want to play and will often want to play THEIR way. Of course you can't cater to all people even within the same genre since some would like heavy PK-oriented games while others are just happy-go-lucky chatters in an MMO environment, but when you do have these people in the same game, you have to make room for both... which means compromises... but there is only so much you can do to the game.
The main complaint of pRO gamers in particular is the constant bogging down and lagging of the game itself. How can a game have a future when it's unusable? pRO may well be the only official RO server in the world that's as plagued with disconnections and downed servers.
I have friends that have played RO and left because of the poor service they got. Even so, they still held a fascination for the game while it lasted, and one friend of mine left particularly because of the cheating (botting, scamming, hacking, etc.) that was proliferating in the game.
You can have a simple chat world-like game like OzWorld or a full PK ruthless warlike game like Darkfall or Shadowbane, or an open-ended game like RO or Perfect World or RO2 or EVE Online, but if a game is to last long in a world where so many online games and their clones pop up, it should have
* unique features that make it stand out among the rest (RO made a hit because of its anime-like nature and was the first major MMO in the Philippines, RAN was one of the first MMORPGs here in the Philippines that was free-to-play (I don't think O2Jam is anything close to an RPG unless you actually follow the storyline that's written in the site; most people just play for the music and the competitive nature of the game), FlyFF is a cutesy MMO where the ability to fly was the main feature, RF was the first (if not only) major futuristic MMORPG in the Philippines, etc. etc. etc.)
* a learning curve that pulls the average gamer in and keeps them there without having to be a geek as a prerequisite (RO's learning curve is just 10 minutes if you read the NPC text and start on the grinding process afterwards... WoW focuses on easy learning and tries to avoid grinding whenever possible, especially since their focus isn't on making you grind to the high levels but instead giving you LOTS of things to do AT high levels [that's also its unique feature])
* a game that actually works with as little problems and as low a downtime as possible (this is the biggest fault of RO but at least it's still limping along quite well; other MMOGs I've tried had so many broken features I gave up on them, as the game was all but playable)
Thanks for the long and detailed feedback, friend.
Anyways, it's not just a matter of being "first this, first that". I do agree with you that there has to be a definite 'need' or 'want' of the consumer that both developers and publishers aspire for.
In terms of the downtime and constant disconnections, we at LU are making sure that this is kept at a minimum. We strive for 99.9% uptime for all our games. But external factors and local ISPs can sometimes affect the outcome of connectivity. That's why with the current partnership with ePLDT, we are counting on FAST and efficient restoration of service for all our products.
Well I hope that keeps up, because it's not easy playing a game I can't reliably play :)
yup. that's our job...
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