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[Azih]

With the amount of time that MMORPGs suck up it's obvious that sales of games would diminish. After all if you're spending all your time in Everquest then you're not going to be buying as many games as you would otherwise. My question is how *much* of an effect is it having right now and how much of an effect could it have going into the future.

I'm thinking pretty specifically about WoW. EQ had a focus on fantasy and D&D fans so plenty of people are playing EQ that wouldn't be playing games at all. WoW on the other hand appeals directly to dedicated gamers through its Blizzard credentials.

Sure A list hyped games will pull MMOers away from their drug of choice for a few days/weeks. But what about the middle tier of games that aren't quite triple A titles? How much would they be affected if MMOs begin to dominate gamers time? I mean paying 40+ for a new game makes much less sense when you're already spending 15 bucks a month doing something you enjoy.

 

[Razoric]

I don't think MMOs hurt other games that much... completely different audience. And most MMOs seem to lose their mainstream following to another "hot" new MMO... i think they only hurt themselves.

WoW has crossed the boundry but how long before you think people get bored and go back to playing madden, gta, etc? 4 months?

 

[Torpedo]

I used to finish every new game in 2-3 days b4 starting FFXI ,, now I have like 8 games I didn't even start playing them , just bought them to play them whenever I can't go to the bank to put more "gils" in my credit card ...

 

[The End]

MMOs have basically killed the PC RPG. I'd imagine they're a large factor in BioWare moving to console-first development.

 

[Teknopathetic]

"BioWare moving to console-first development."

Dragon Age?

 

[The End]

"BioWare moving to console-first development."

Dragon Age?

Xenon-exclusive.

Where have you been?

 

[Teknopathetic]

:lol

 

[Azih]

Xenon-exclusive.

Where have you been?

No Jade Empire is console only, Dragon Age is PC only, and there's an unnamed console only project for which there are no details.

And Dragon Age is an A list title that would pull gamers back. The next Morrowind would do fine as well. But even those games have to compete with a huge time sink that didn't exist when BGII was dominant. And what the heck about the Divine Divinties and Gothics?

 

[Teknopathetic]

No, there were still MMORPGs in the era of BGII, etc. EQ, UO, etc.

 

[Gattsu25]

No Jade Empire is console only, Dragon Age is PC only, and there's an unnamed console only project for which there are no details.

And Dragon Age is an A list title that would pull gamers back. The next Morrowind would do fine as well. But even those games have to compete with a huge time sink that didn't exist when BGII was dominant. And what the heck about the Sub-Par Diablo clones and Gothics?

I tend to agree that MMOs are killing the PC RPG...but as long as PC devs continue to make fun non-MMOs I'll continue to play. There might be less released but the ones that do get released are the ones I would have bought anyway

 

[Azih]

No, there were still MMORPGs in the era of BGII, etc. EQ, UO, etc

Yeah I was going to add that in an edit. I'm not really counting them because the genre was in its absolute infancy and dial-up laggy connection issues were far more prevalant. Now most gamers have always on broadband (that doesn't tie up phone lines!) and the games have gone from novelties/niche hits to mainstream blockbusters (WoW). Plus when was EQ released, it had a much slower ramp up the state it is in now.

 

[Teknopathetic]

The genre was in its infancy but people still played the games in droves, EQ and UO were hardly minor releases even upon their releases.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

WoW didn't change my buying habits, (with a comfortable job I can afford to buy all the Must Have and Fave Series Sequels I want), but it has cut into my playtime; SMT:N stands at 16 hours after 2 weeks since starting it.

 

[Azih]

The genre was in its infancy but people still played the games in droves, EQ and UO were hardly minor releases even upon their releases.

Quality of connection makes a large difference to play time possible. And that has increased like crazy compared to 2000.

 

[Razoric]

MMORPGs really kill my RPG time... after a couple hours of WoW the last thing I want to do is sit down and play another RPG. I'm only at the second planet on KOTOR 2 and I got it at release. Playing the hell out of RE4 though. :lol :lol

 

[Son of Godzilla]

I bought something like fourty five games this gen up till I got started on WoW last september and have since bought none.

 

[Teknopathetic]

"Quality of connection makes a large difference to play time possible."

It wasn't nearly as bad as you seem to think it is.

 

[borghe]

Dragon Age is basically the unofficial evolution of NWN. It is being done very much to compete directly against MMOs, at least to a degree... With DA (like NWN) it will be possible to create persistent connected worlds on a large scale...

Bioware sees MMOs and competition and frankly has been the ONLY PC developer to address it, and in an ingenious way beyond "Well, let's make out own MMO."

I have great faith in DA and still log plenty of hours into some of the better NWN persistent worlds.

 

[Azih]

"Quality of connection makes a large difference to play time possible."

It wasn't nearly as bad as you seem to think it is.

I'm not saying it was *bad* then (primitive though :lol) as much as I'm saying that it's much much better now.

 

[tahrikmili]

MMORPGs don't kill RPGs as far as I'm concerned. Completely different audience. MMORPGs seem to appeal to diablo-esque powerplay / pvp / munchkinist players more than RPGs do, which, in turn, usually appeal to players who are more into games with compelling storylines, interesting settings and cool characters. This would be actually an interesting study subject.. I'm not basing my thoughts on anything by the way, just speaking out of my ass, and from my experience..

 

[nubbe]

I get sick at MMOs after about a month or two… I can only grind xp and camp shit for so long before I want something fresh.

 

[Eggo]

I haven't had the desire to play other games since picking up WoW. Pirates! is a great sequel that I've been waiting over 10 years for, but the CD is just collecting dust right now. RE4 looks like a must-play but I doubt I'll get around to it (although the WoW servers are down for 16 hrs today due to maintenance, so I might get into it now). Alien Hominid looks like fun, but it's still sitting idle in my NGC for the past few months. I definitely think MMO's can negatively impact sales of other games. It's not a genre thing, it's an addiction thing.

 

[Baron]

I haven't had the desire to play other games since picking up WoW. Pirates! is a great sequel that I've been waiting over 10 years for, but the CD is just collecting dust right now. RE4 looks like a must-play but I doubt I'll get around to it (although the WoW servers are down for 16 hrs today due to maintenance, so I might get into it now). Alien Hominid looks like fun, but it's still sitting idle in my NGC for the past few months. I definitely think MMO's can negatively impact sales of other games. It's not a genre thing, it's an addiction thing.

Yeah, but, see, you still own those games you mentioned. You still bought them, so it hasn't affected their sales. You just aren't playing them. There's a difference. If anything, MMORPGs will simply increase these "backlogs" you people called "gamers" have sitting around. Frankly, I don't get why people buy games they don't intend to play for months, even years.

 

[ChrisReid]

My question is how *much* of an effect is it having right now and how much of an effect could it have going into the future.

Well, Ultima Online, the first main mmo, caused EA to shift gears and eventually ran Origin into the ground (along with Majestic, Sims Online, UO2, UOX, Earth & Beyond, etc). This consequently doomed Wing Commander game production and sent the industry into a spiral. Some day we'll look back on history and compare the introduction of mmo games to the creation of the atomic bomb. Oh woe is us.

 

[borghe]

UO was released a few years before EA bought out origin. IIRC the first (and last?) EA/Origin release was Ultima IX.

 

[Eggo]

Yeah, but, see, you still own those games you mentioned. You still bought them, so it hasn't affected their sales. You just aren't playing them. There's a difference. If anything, MMORPGs will simply increase these "backlogs" you people called "gamers" have sitting around. Frankly, I don't get why people buy games they don't intend to play for months, even years.

Well, no I say it does impact sales. Pirates and Alien Hominid I bought before WoW came out. I don't own RE4 yet, because I doubt I will be playing it. If I was going to play it, I would have done so already. The only reason I am considering buying RE4 now is it's $39 at Frys and I know the WoW server will be down for prolonged maintenance tonight. So I'm debating whether 1 night's play of RE4 is worth the $40 pricetag. I've had no desire to purchase anything else since WoW, except RE4, which I'm on the fence about now.

 

[djtiesto]

Yeah I definitely think they cater to different markets... I love RPGs but can't stand MMORPGs... the closest thing I've ever came to playing one of those was a couple Sunday afternoons playing PSO (the first one) on Dreamcast. My brother likes FFXI but I couldn't even be bothered to play that. The games are too slow paced, and I hate waiting around for people just to go on like missions and stuff.