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  • Funcom's Craig Morrison on SWTOR and MMO industry advances

    by 
    Jef Reahard
    Jef Reahard
    09.26.2011

    Funcom's Craig Morrison is one of the more outspoken MMO devs on the planet, and the Age of Conan game director has weighed in with a lengthy personal blog update that reflects on the state of the industry, the future, and the impending success of Star Wars The Old Republic. Morrison, who goes by the handle Silirrion on Funcom's various forums, touches on the freight train that is SWTOR as well as why MMO veterans have been getting the cold shoulder from development companies in recent years. Vets are "yearning for the next advance in technology at a time when the industry itself is still refining the experience offered by the first generation of games," he says. "The formula for an MMO is still pretty much the same, in terms of structure, as it was a decade ago, and that frustration at a perceived lack of progress is what fuels a deal of the complaints." Is there any hope for the future, though? Morrison seems to think so, but he's not holding his breath on a timeframe. "I also think that those advances the veterans yearn for will come, and the genre will become more dynamic and community focused again, but maybe not in the near future, and almost certainly not with the upcoming generation of games," he writes.