Scott Hartsman's MMORPG Reflections

Creating your own fan base is tricky to do. You might start out really small, and increase your numbers a lot over time, but generally you see these kind of games not get so much as a few steps out the door before they become lost in the sea of games already released. They just don’t get a good foothold on the market by creating their own. IMO, that’s why you see more of them try and steal players from other games.

since there are no more “original” ideas, isn’t anyone developing any kind of product these days attempting to “steal” consumers away from something else?  even if you’re trying to bring non gamers into gaming, you”re still drawing them away from some other activity (like playing sports or reading a book).  some are more obvious (WoW clones) than others (LoL or EVE) at appearing to carve out their own niche in the market, but when you clear away the coffee house smoke, it’s all the same thing-one company trying to exploit/capitalize on a finite percentage of the market.  so, the answer to your question is, YES, game developers are complicit in “game hopping”. 

how do you combat it?  you make a good game, superior to the average drivel, promote it competently and continue to infuse it regularly with good things for people to do.  neglect it, try to go cheap on the player base, and/or make stupid decisions and watch your players flock to a competitor’s game.  it’s really a simple formula.

i’m glad for all of the choices we gamers have these days when it comes to the question of where to spend our gaming buck.  choice = healthy competition and better quality.  developers have to step up if they want to get paid.  they have to use all of that brain power to create something compelling and high quality for fear of losing out to a competitor.  try to make some cheap knock off these days and your game won’t even get off the floor.  look at f2p games, they used to be synonymous with “junk” and are now talked about with the “Triple A” label attached. 

 world of warcraft did fine because it was a fad and because it got such high subscription numbers the popularity kept it sustainable. now that other companies have caught up in the MMO arms race as he calls it, the market has been flooded in a way. these games are aimed at people who want to almost make a hobby/lifestyle of JUST their game. but as they become more common the fads come in and out more rapidly. the market will settle itself out eventually, but it probably wont be as impressive as it used to be.

i personally wish small online party based rpgs would make a comeback instead. i would really like to see a boom of games like neverwinter nights and monster hunter. im really looking forward to soul sacrifice, monster hunter 4, and dark souls 2. I think those types can be made with high quality and polish, can be easily expanded upon, and are much more easily sustainable.