Comments on: MMOs And The Power Of Capitalism http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/11/22/mmos-and-the-power-of-capitalism/ A blog about MMORPGs like World of Warcraft (WoW) and Everquest 2 (EQ2) Mon, 20 May 2013 08:46:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Gordon http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/11/22/mmos-and-the-power-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-30262 Gordon Sat, 27 Nov 2010 16:26:25 +0000 http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/?p=7871#comment-30262 "It’s not that TOR will be a bad game it’s that the question is simply, is it a great enough game to warrant my money instead of another game?" A very, very good question. I think 10, or even 5, years ago there wasn't the competition so people basically had to play what was available if they wanted the MMO experience. Now there's a lot of competition so it's even harder for MMOs to make their mark. “It’s not that TOR will be a bad game it’s that the question is simply, is it a great enough game to warrant my money instead of another game?”

A very, very good question. I think 10, or even 5, years ago there wasn’t the competition so people basically had to play what was available if they wanted the MMO experience. Now there’s a lot of competition so it’s even harder for MMOs to make their mark.

]]> By: Asmiroth http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/11/22/mmos-and-the-power-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-30179 Asmiroth Thu, 25 Nov 2010 18:43:29 +0000 http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/?p=7871#comment-30179 Capitalism is the power of the market to decide fair value for a given product. What we've had in the past was the opposite, the product telling us what was fair value. When there's only 2-3 games out, it's hard for the consumer to have an impact. When you quite literally have dozens of games to spend your money on, well, it doesn't bode well for the products that are lack luster. Funcom learned this lesson the hard way and have come miles to address it. Cryptic kicked out their mouthpieces (Bill, Craig et al.) and dumped piles of content into what they admitted were beta quality games. Turbine realized that they couldn't compete at the per month racket and opted to let players pay when and what they want to play. The wind be shifting. EA has had the tar beaten out of them on each MMO they have tried to launch. APB, Earth and Beyond, Need for Speed, Sims, Motor City Online, Warhammer (ehh...), Majestic, UO2. Their Free-2-Play games have mostly had success though. It's not that TOR will be a bad game it's that the question is simply, is it a great enough game to warrant my money instead of another game? Capitalism is the power of the market to decide fair value for a given product. What we’ve had in the past was the opposite, the product telling us what was fair value. When there’s only 2-3 games out, it’s hard for the consumer to have an impact. When you quite literally have dozens of games to spend your money on, well, it doesn’t bode well for the products that are lack luster.

Funcom learned this lesson the hard way and have come miles to address it. Cryptic kicked out their mouthpieces (Bill, Craig et al.) and dumped piles of content into what they admitted were beta quality games. Turbine realized that they couldn’t compete at the per month racket and opted to let players pay when and what they want to play. The wind be shifting.

EA has had the tar beaten out of them on each MMO they have tried to launch. APB, Earth and Beyond, Need for Speed, Sims, Motor City Online, Warhammer (ehh…), Majestic, UO2. Their Free-2-Play games have mostly had success though. It’s not that TOR will be a bad game it’s that the question is simply, is it a great enough game to warrant my money instead of another game?

]]> By: Gordon http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/11/22/mmos-and-the-power-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-30124 Gordon Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:54:32 +0000 http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/?p=7871#comment-30124 Thing is, box sales very often means nothing compared to subscribers. Just look at AoC which sold something like a million units then everyone left in droves after the first month. Longevity is what matters and Square Enix know it. Thing is, box sales very often means nothing compared to subscribers. Just look at AoC which sold something like a million units then everyone left in droves after the first month. Longevity is what matters and Square Enix know it.

]]> By: Gordon http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/11/22/mmos-and-the-power-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-30122 Gordon Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:52:45 +0000 http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/?p=7871#comment-30122 Agreed. I can't really why fathom why so many games get release in poor states. Don't the publishers realise that it's more money lost in the long run if the reception is bad? Agreed. I can’t really why fathom why so many games get release in poor states. Don’t the publishers realise that it’s more money lost in the long run if the reception is bad?

]]> By: Gordon http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/11/22/mmos-and-the-power-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-30121 Gordon Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:52:03 +0000 http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/?p=7871#comment-30121 You may be right but I have no doubt BioWare are gunning for subs. They want to rival WoW after all. You may be right but I have no doubt BioWare are gunning for subs. They want to rival WoW after all.

]]> By: Bhagpuss http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/11/22/mmos-and-the-power-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-30065 Bhagpuss Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:56:46 +0000 http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/?p=7871#comment-30065 As a Tester of FFXIV I can assure you there was little BUT complaint on the forums. Hundreds of pages of it on some threads, particularly about the UI. All of it was ignored. FFXIV hasn't tanked because it dared to deviate from the DIKU MUD format; FFXI already established a market for SE's peculiar take on that format and FFXIV doesn't deviate all that far from FFXI. It's tanked because it is an unfinished mess with virtually no content. I also betaed Vanguard and in my opinion VG was orders of magnitude more "finished" by launch than FFXIV, and you know how well that turned out. Also, if 400k box sales (although I heard 660k reported elsewhere) is a "respectable showing", the hit SE has taken to its share price is surprising. If they were to keep those subscribers then maybe it would be acceptable, but I think the rolling free months show just how scared they are to start charging because of the further damage their share price will suffer once the "subs-after-free-month" figures come out. As a Tester of FFXIV I can assure you there was little BUT complaint on the forums. Hundreds of pages of it on some threads, particularly about the UI. All of it was ignored.

FFXIV hasn’t tanked because it dared to deviate from the DIKU MUD format; FFXI already established a market for SE’s peculiar take on that format and FFXIV doesn’t deviate all that far from FFXI. It’s tanked because it is an unfinished mess with virtually no content.

I also betaed Vanguard and in my opinion VG was orders of magnitude more “finished” by launch than FFXIV, and you know how well that turned out.

Also, if 400k box sales (although I heard 660k reported elsewhere) is a “respectable showing”, the hit SE has taken to its share price is surprising. If they were to keep those subscribers then maybe it would be acceptable, but I think the rolling free months show just how scared they are to start charging because of the further damage their share price will suffer once the “subs-after-free-month” figures come out.

]]> By: Brian 'Psychochild' Green http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/11/22/mmos-and-the-power-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-30030 Brian 'Psychochild' Green Mon, 22 Nov 2010 23:12:37 +0000 http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/?p=7871#comment-30030 According to http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/sales/35106/final-fantasy-xiv-online/, FXIV has sold 400k. The site makes it sound like that's only on the PC. But, that's a fair showing. Not quite the millions-and-millions one might hope for to beat WoW and live up to the <i>Final Fantasy</i> name, but it's a respectable showing. I think the big problems are expectations are skewed. It also sounds like FFXIV tried to deviate too much from the DIKU path and people find it lacking. Which is discouraging for those of us tired of that exact formula. Why do games launch with problems? Mostly, it's money-related. But, Squeenix isn't exactly hard up for cash last I heard. Other times the developers might not view the complaints as serious (call it hubris if you want, but you need to have some backbone if you want to make bold games). Or, the testers simply didn't complain about some aspect because they were acclimated to the game over time as it evolved during closed testing; something a newbie would find confusing an old guard finds to be a neat feature. We'll see how it goes. But, the tepid reaction to FFXIV isn't exactly making me sanguine about the future of MMOs. According to http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/sales/35106/final-fantasy-xiv-online/, FXIV has sold 400k. The site makes it sound like that’s only on the PC. But, that’s a fair showing. Not quite the millions-and-millions one might hope for to beat WoW and live up to the Final Fantasy name, but it’s a respectable showing. I think the big problems are expectations are skewed. It also sounds like FFXIV tried to deviate too much from the DIKU path and people find it lacking. Which is discouraging for those of us tired of that exact formula.

Why do games launch with problems? Mostly, it’s money-related. But, Squeenix isn’t exactly hard up for cash last I heard. Other times the developers might not view the complaints as serious (call it hubris if you want, but you need to have some backbone if you want to make bold games). Or, the testers simply didn’t complain about some aspect because they were acclimated to the game over time as it evolved during closed testing; something a newbie would find confusing an old guard finds to be a neat feature.

We’ll see how it goes. But, the tepid reaction to FFXIV isn’t exactly making me sanguine about the future of MMOs.

]]> By: Tesh http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/2010/11/22/mmos-and-the-power-of-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-30027 Tesh Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:55:35 +0000 http://blog.weflyspitfires.com/?p=7871#comment-30027 I maintain that SWTOR shouldn't release as a sub-only game. We'll see how well it works for them. FFXIV has other problems, but subs aren't a good idea in a growing market. I maintain that SWTOR shouldn’t release as a sub-only game. We’ll see how well it works for them. FFXIV has other problems, but subs aren’t a good idea in a growing market.

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