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Hard work, not magic, is key to Blizzard's success
Should the success of World of Warcraft over the years be accepted as an aberration, encased in glass and set high up on a pedestal, untouchable and impossible to duplicate? Not according to an editorial on GameIndustry.biz, which suggests that other companies could find success by following Blizzard's methods instead of just mimicking the product. The article discounts the magic secret formula hypothesis and attributes Blizzard's success to hard work, aggressive utilization of player activity data, and a focus on the casual player instead of hardcore endgame types. The piece noted that Blizzard essentially provides players with a whole new game with each expansion by changing systems dramatically. It further stated, "Blizzard... sees its successful game as a moving target, and uses data to allow it to make bigger gambles and more drastic changes."
Making MMOs massive editorial
Rob Fahey has an editorial piece up on GamesIndustry.biz talking about ways to make MMOs massive. The article states that the question devs should be asking is not "How do we beat World of Warcraft?"; it's "What can we learn from World of Warcraft and how can we co-exist with it?"He defines two ends of the gaming spectrum. The most accessible games are found on services like Facebook, while the least accessible example would be World of Warcraft. This may sound a bit strange since WoW is probably the most accessible of the subscription-based MMOs, but he's using it due to its extreme popularity given the fact that it still has fairly inhibiting install, patching, and strategic components.Rob believes games that fall in the middle of this spectrum are likely to be where we'll see the largest growth potential. He would consider Free Realms to fit this middle-spectrum description. FR has a middle-ground business model, is fairly easily accessible, and marketed at the youth and female demographics. Basically, Rob believes MMOs will become more massive if they can accomplish what FR is currently aiming for and achieving.
The allegedly incontestable momentum of World of Warcraft
We relish informed opinion pieces here at Massively. That's what the professional site gamesindustry.biz is serving up for us, in the form of an editorial by site founder Rob Fahey. He tackles a subject we've looked at ourselves fairly often in the last few weeks: the nature of World of Warcraft's dominion, how long it can last, and whether challenging WoW is even worthwhile.As well as running down the recent challengers to WoW, Rob makes two extremely simple points. Firstly, WoW is successful not just because it's good now, but because millions of players have invested in it over time and built up inertia. It's not just the mass of an MMO, but the velocity that counts. Secondly, given the tremendous inertia, he argues that competing with WoW would be suicide. Games companies would be better advised to seek virgin territory, and 'avoid WoW's market like the plague'. Rob clearly has a high opinion of WoW, which he describes as 'the most polished and perfectly balanced MMOG ever created, regardless of what a small but vocal band of snooty naysayers may argue'.
Mutating the MMO
Over at Eurogamer.net, Rob Fahey has been taking a hard look at some of the conventions of MMOs and considering how recent innovations in non-MMO games development could act as a wake-up call. Using Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as a focus point, Rob points out the parallels between that game and conventional MMOs - a persistent player character, experience gained through tasks and through defeating adversaries, new weapons acquired, new abilities unlocked. Evidently, core gameplay elements characteristic of MMOs can be transplanted into different gaming contexts without making the new entity into a traditional MMO, and also while leaving some of the arguably less desirable elements behind, such as the grind. Rob recognises this evolution as much more important than it has so far been given credit for. Designers and fans have debated how to break the MMO model out of its entrenched conventions: CoD4 has (Rob argues) already done exactly that, while nobody was looking.
Prepare for the battle for the precious top spot
BBC News has an interesting article regarding what might be shaping up to be a battle for online supremacy in 2008.Analysts were expecting online subscription numbers to decline in 2007, but that wasn't the case. With the release of online games like Lord of the Rings Online, Tabula Rasa and Hellgate: London, there are now plenty of choices for gamers. However, analysts thought these games would steal players from the current king of the MMO - World of Warcraft. They didn't, and they're not sure why. Numbers for WoW jumped from eight million at the start of 2007 to 9.3 million by the end of summer. Experts say that the release of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning in 2008 may turn out to be serious contenders because they come with a long history of earlier works, just like WoW.In the article Rob Fahey, columnist for Gameindustry.biz, said all these new launches, along with the continued success of WoW, shows just how strong the MMO industry has become. He also notes that it's maturing as well. He points out that Vanguard, which was riddled with bugs at launch, proves that players are no longer willing to accept buggy games and won't stand to pay monthly fees to basically "test" unfinished products.But Philip Wride, head of Elysium Gaming Consultants, thinks the biggest impact on online gaming in 2008 might be from something outside the industry. For the whole scoop, check out the BBC News article.
