breezer

I just cannot believe in 2011, after RECENT history has shown again and again and again and again that having high system requirements is a BAD BAD thing for MMOs that developers make decisions like this.

MASSIVELY multiplayer games need MASSIVELY accessible audiences. I just don't understand why MMO development studios don't pay attention to the market!

@nafeasonto

Because the same thing happens every year. 1 random game posts "GO VOTE ON MASSIVELY" on their homepage and sweeps the poll. Last year it was Runes of Magic. This year it was STO.

The results do not reflect the game's quality. Which is also duh, because everyone knows about STO's lol reputation.

Exesseewaion....

?!

Sai on...?

Exi..ss..yon?

Chiss eee ion?

chicksee yon

Ixion?

Scion?

Isn't an unpronounceable name a customer deterrent? Then again, marketing faux pas's are par for the course in the MMO world...

Looks interesting though (i have nothing constructive to say).

As a former hard core FFXI player. It's surprising, amazing and SOOOO satisfying to see Square Enix swallow its immense, immense immeasurable pride.

Tanaka, this is karma for years of disregarding your loyal customer's input and literally laughing in the faces of interviewers.

Square Enix is no longer the world's master of RPGs, and it's high time they stop acting like they are [some kind of infallible divinity].

No, I'm at work.

Started playing again last summer. After searching high and low (more low than high), I've found that it really does have the best PvP experience around. For my tastes (twitchy, fast paced, strategic). That's pretty amazing considering what an utterly unbalanced train wreck WoW PvP is...

You know, this is the first thing I've ever read about Darkfall that's made me think that, even though I probably won't LOVE it, there are some attractive aspects and I ought to give it a try.

I'm no economist or business expert, but it's always seemed pretty obvious to me that PWI pumping out copy/pasted MMO after reskinned MMO is a terrible idea.

A few of their games are essentially the same thing with very slightly different target audiences. It makes no sense to put up the operation costs to offer essentially the same product.

This comes as no surprise. I mean, what did they THINK would happen? Adding more games creates more players? No, it's just spreads them out at greater cost to PWI.

MMO companies are disasters. They should hire me.

Interesting... f2p doesn't automatically grant you millions of subscriptions. That comes as a genuine surprise to me.

It raises the question, who are these millions of f2pers and what compels them to try a game. Probably not, as Jef inferred, a 6 yo, decidedly generic fantasy fare.

So f2p may not be the blanket payment plan answer afterall...

I'm a huge Sera fan, but this article really got under my skin.


I'm all for the return of the mythical "sandbox" MMO, but I fail to understand, and the article doesn't help me understand, what exactly people want from a "sandbox" MMO.

Or what a "sandbox" MMO really means? Because the reference people use, EVE, is a sandbox only in the sense that the game's interactive features are incredibly limited. The bulk of the games content comes from ship customization and player interaction. Which is fine for some people, but very boring for most. People want something to DO.

Also, the EVE player superiority complex has got to go. Sera mentioned the new tutorial, but I'm guessing she's never had to use it (probably learned EVE before it was implemented). I can't imagine anyone with half a brain not having an intuitive understanding of EVE by the end of the tutorial. It's very thorough, and now that new players get more help than "Right click. Have fun!", it's very clear that EVE is straight forward and simple. Yes, there are very complicated aspects, like ship customization, but just like WoW, you google stuff, find answers. Nothing that the average MMO enthusiast doesn't expect from any MMO.

Sorry. Pet peeve. EVE is boring because it's boring, not because it's astrophysics: the videogame.

Also "sandbox" is a myth, and if someone made a "sandbox" MMO in the way that people think they want, they probably wouldn't play it.

Touche? Nothing if you live in lower manhattan or Brooklyn...