The Daily Grind: Should MMOs live forever?
As we learned in the 1990s, just as Full House had an unholy beginning, so too it had to have an unholy finish. Life begets death, launches beget cancellations, and official MMO forums beget the end of a civilized community. So while we play our MMOs under the illusion that these persistent worlds will, well, persist forever, the truth is that one day the curtain will come down and our characters' journeys will come to a screeching halt.
Generally, MMOs will continue as long as the companies running them find them profitable -- running online games isn't a charity, after all. Sometimes a flagging title will receive new life through a F2P transition, via a makeover, or by being lumped in with a group discount package.
Our question today is a rather broad one: Should MMOs live forever, and if so, how do you propose they keep on running when the subscriber base no longer generates enough income to cover the costs? Are you OK with MMOs bowing out of the market once their numbers dip below a certain point, or should companies do everything they can to keep them afloat, including handing the title off to private server operators?
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
