The State of MMORPG’s, a 38 Gamers Perspective

I’m a long time Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game player. I first started playing EverQuest back in the summer of 1999 when it first came out. Twelve years later there has been two dominant players in the industry, Sony Online Entertainment and Blizzard, at least from the perspective of the North American market. Sony Online Entertainment dominated the early years with EverQuest a hardcore MMORPG often referred to as EverCrack for its addictive game play. With 500,000 subscribers it dominated the North American MMO market for years, and I played it for 5 years. I remember fans saying no one would defeat EverQuest as the most popular MMORPG. The reasoning for these kind of comments was the long list of MMORPG’s that had come out and failed to dent EQ, as well as the massive amount of content that continued to grow in EverQuest making it difficult if not impossible for a new MMORPG to compete with it.

In November 2004 Blizzard released World of Warcraft, it addressed one of the main issues people had with EverQuest which was that the game was not “casual friendly.” I think this fact combined with the huge following the IP had with Warcraft contributed to the games popularity and success. World of Warcraft introduced many people to the genre who had never played or even heard of an MMORPG before. World of Warcraft subscription rate soon eclipsed EverQuest climbing to a staggering 12 million subscriptions. Since that time many other studios including SOE have tried to create a MMORPG that would battle Blizzard for the number of subscribers but none have been able to do so. Fans say no one will beat World of Warcraft due to the long list of failed MMORPG’s and the massive content available in World of Warcraft that no new MMORPG can compete with. Sounds familiar right?

World of Warcraft made one fundamental change to the genre and that was to make the game far more casual friendly then anything prior. Playing MMO’s was no longer only for the hardcore gamer with the ability to commit 40+ hours a week. Blizzard also continued to improve the game incorporating new ideas and mechanics. Anyone who has played World of Warcraft since the beginning can tell you the game today is very different then the one released in 2004.

With the news that Sony Online Entertainment has closed 3 studios, laid off over 200 employees and canceled its highly anticipated spy MMORPG The Agency, one has to wonder what is happening to the industry? If established companies like SOE are downsizing how can anyone else compete? Add to this the growing list of new comers with big budgets taking a shot and failing, one has to wonder what is it going to take to break the trend of failed or marginally successful MMORPG’s we have seen in the last 12 years?

I certainly don’t think its what Trion is doing at the moment with Rift. Rift really does not bring anything new to the genre, they have made a MMORPG clone. They delivered a well polished game but I suspect it will suffer the same fate as Warhammer Online in the months ahead. I honestly think that the next break through MMORPG for the genre has to break barriers like World of Warcraft did by allowing casual players to play MMORPG’s instead of just hardcore. Its going to have to offer something that will entice new people who have never played a MMORPG to try the game while still appealing to current players. Perhaps its player generated content or a new way to effect the story line within the world that’s never been done before. All I know is its going to have to be a major shift in how people interact and succeed in the game then current MMORPG’s.