Ryan Barker, the lead designer of EverQuest, is a man who believes in the power of Facebook and social networking. In an interview with The Escapist, Barker is quoted as saying that a Facebook MMO might have the power to eclipse the MMO market much like World of Warcraft has already done some years back.
Barker's reasoning behind declaring a Facebook MMO as a champion is due to the ease of playing with your friends. Facebook has the power to remove many of an MMO's social blocks, such as a lack veteran players, ease of access, a lack of servers, and the ease of playing with your friends, and turn those stoppages into forward momentum for a game and its community.
"Facebook doesn't care how long you've been on Facebook," Barker said. "Things like that show us that there are a lot of people out there that are interested in being involved in an internet community, especially with all the apps on Facebook, in playing casual games. At some point someone's going to do an MMO that really caters to that group, and is going to have a billion subscribers or whatever. There's another ceiling somewhere that we haven't hit yet."
While we're not entirely sure about the billion subscribers, (McDonalds of MMOs, anyone?) we can't say we don't doubt Facebook as a platform. As long as the polish on the game is present, of course.
[Edit: As sourced in the article from The Escapist, this interview was actually done with VideoGamer.com, not The Escapist.]
Reader Comments (30)
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 4:57PM Russell Clarke said
Saints and angels of mercy preserve us from Facebook Friends!
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 5:39PM Mr Angry said
Yeah they did at the end of last year, I just checked. It is claimed it was an experiment at the time.
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 7:07PM (Unverified) said
Here are the problems with this.
1. Facebook's front end sucks. Every young Eastern European programmer strives to make the next great .....survey app.
2. Those apps that do get some attention do not last. The FB crowd is always looking for the next fun distraction. They will not let themselves become absorbed in any app for long.
3. Facebook is doing their darndest to become MySpace.
4. See #1
1. Facebook's front end sucks. Every young Eastern European programmer strives to make the next great .....survey app.
2. Those apps that do get some attention do not last. The FB crowd is always looking for the next fun distraction. They will not let themselves become absorbed in any app for long.
3. Facebook is doing their darndest to become MySpace.
4. See #1
Posted: Jun 20th 2009 9:53PM (Unverified) said
Couldn't agree with you more. I do not consider myself a heavy gamer, and for the life of me cannot wrap my head around the apparent (if fad-like temporary) appeal that facebook apps have with its users.
The surveys and games are impossibly absurd. "What crayon color are you?" "How well do your friends know you?" "User Joe earned 4XP robbing a liquor store in Mafia Wars".
The number one lesson I've taken away from Facebook: do not ever, under any circumstances, pay your employees an hourly wage, if they have access to the internet during work hours! It seems time-wasting at work has become high art.
I hope they make a Facebook app to teach us the Chinese national anthem, as we'll need to know it when our new overlords walk over our lazy butts!
Reply
The surveys and games are impossibly absurd. "What crayon color are you?" "How well do your friends know you?" "User Joe earned 4XP robbing a liquor store in Mafia Wars".
The number one lesson I've taken away from Facebook: do not ever, under any circumstances, pay your employees an hourly wage, if they have access to the internet during work hours! It seems time-wasting at work has become high art.
I hope they make a Facebook app to teach us the Chinese national anthem, as we'll need to know it when our new overlords walk over our lazy butts!
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 8:23PM organiclockwork said
Yes, because the stupid Facebook "MMOs," like Mafia Wars and Elf Wars or whatever have the depth and production values of AAA games like World of Warcraft and Everquest.
What an asinine statement.
What an asinine statement.
Posted: Jun 17th 2009 11:37PM (Unverified) said
"..might have the power to eclipse the MMO market much like World of Warcraft has already done some years back"
So this tard thinks that a Facebook MMO could pull $10 billion a year in revenue? Because that's what it would take to convince me that it had eclipsed the MMO market the way WoW eclipsed the MMO market of 2004.
So this tard thinks that a Facebook MMO could pull $10 billion a year in revenue? Because that's what it would take to convince me that it had eclipsed the MMO market the way WoW eclipsed the MMO market of 2004.
Posted: Jun 18th 2009 12:42AM (Unverified) said
Dunno, the guy works for SOE and if there is a way to sniff out an extra nickle from a game, they are the ones who will be on to it.
Use caution, an ambush never looks like an ambush. :)
Use caution, an ambush never looks like an ambush. :)
Posted: Jun 18th 2009 8:24AM (Unverified) said
What if Blizzard and Facebook hookup to allow for this functionality in WoW. OMG Ryan Barker's mind was just blown. ;)
Posted: Jun 22nd 2009 4:36PM airmikee said
If this idiot knew what he was talking about, he would have been able to prevent WoW from killing Everquest.
A Facebook MMO is going to kill WoW? Hahahahahahahaha. One of the top ten dumbest things ever said this century.
A Facebook MMO is going to kill WoW? Hahahahahahahaha. One of the top ten dumbest things ever said this century.







