Massively

Ask Massively: No idea what's coming edition

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous

I don't know what's going to happen next in the MMO industry. I have my guesses, sure, but unless I'm fairly certain, I just don't feel right putting them up here. I certainly would not have ever imagined a world where APB: Reloaded was successful, or one where Lineage II goes free-to-play, and until it was announced, I wouldn't dare dream of WildStar. Heck, half the time I'm not sure I understand what's going on at any given moment, much less several months down the line.

This week's Ask Massively received several questions that require me to be more confident about my predictions than I actually am, but it does contain a question about the future of Aion and a question on the past, present, and future of cheating. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, leave it in the comments below or send it along to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity.

Continue reading Ask Massively: No idea what's coming edition

Ask Massively: No idea what's coming edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hyperspace Beacon: Sensing the future

Larry Everett — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Game mechanics, Guilds, Lore, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon, Dungeons

I like making predictions. When it comes to Star Wars: The Old Republic, I've been spot on about several things, but I've missed the boat on some too. "Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side," Yoda warned the young Jedi Knight in Revenge of the Sith. It's a good thing I don't have anything to lose by guessing what I think will happen in the future for this game.

In 2011, we saw TOR launch with astronomical numbers, and all you have to do is look at our front page to realize how much people have been talking about this game. Hopefully, the future of the game is just as bright. Thankfully, developers at BioWare have been very talkative about what's coming in the future.

Let's combine what players have said with the plans developers have spoken about to predict the future of the game. After the break, I'll mix the news with my Force powers to see in the the future... the future... the future... echo... echo...

Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Sensing the future

Hyperspace Beacon: Sensing the future originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Want to make an inaccurate prediction?

Eliot Lefebvre — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Humor, Miscellaneous

Today is the first day of 2012, and that means there's a whole new year awaiting us, a year during which no doubt a lot of things will happen in the MMO space. But while we've already made our staff predictions, we're sure that our readers have their own... both the kind that seem likely and the sort that seem like they'll never happen, the sort of crazy pie-in-the-sky stuff that you usually file in the back of your head and forget about.

Well, not today. Today, we want you to dust off those theories about the next year that have a 1% chance of happening at best. If you're wrong, hey, odds are low. But if you're right about your guess that World of Warcraft will go free-to-play or that Guild Wars 2 will announce a subscription fee of $30 per month, you said it here first, right? So go nuts with your crazy predictions in the comments!

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: Want to make an inaccurate prediction? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Mog Log: The 2012 forecast

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Expansions, MMO industry, Previews, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log

As we enter the twilight of 2011, I can say with absolute certainty that my predictions for Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV were wrong, which is fine, since when I made them last year I seem to recall saying to myself that I was predicting more on the basis of "should happen" than "will likely happen." I was overly optimistic about several things, overly pessimistic about a couple of others, and going in a completely different direction from the design team on the rest -- which is fine by me, actually.

That having been said, whether proving that I'm not afraid of failure or that I don't know when to quit, I'm coming back for another round of predictions for this coming year. But there's one major variable in the equation that's horrible to try and account for, and that's Final Fantasy XI. I can easily see the game going one of two ways, and while I think one's a bit more likely, there seem to be more divergent futures for it than for Final Fantasy XIV.

Continue reading The Mog Log: The 2012 forecast

The Mog Log: The 2012 forecast originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's MMO predictions for 2012

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous

2010 will be the year to change it all! No wait, I mean 2011 will be the year to change it all! Darnit. OK, 2012, help us! You're our only hope.

While picking stocks or guessing baseball playoff scores is probably more lucrative, in our little corner of the world, we enjoy nothing more than predicting the rocky future for our favorite hobby.

But between studio closures, surprise indie hits, and million-dollar investments, nothing is certain in entertainment trends, which is why we have so much fun throwing out educated guesses. Which game will topple World of Warcraft? Which studio will be shunned and ridiculed for a stupid decision?

So this year, a few members of the Massively team got together to make their predictions for 2012. Follow along below for more on what each writer thinks 2012 will bring to the MMO space.

Massively's MMO predictions for 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Soapbox: Tunnel vision

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous

Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column.

As everyone knows, social gaming is doomed to failure. Mindless, repetitive drivel like FarmVille is just an enormous waste of time and clicking with no actual gameplay aspects involved, and there's no real depth to keep someone hooked. It's not even remotely close to an MMO, and obviously pretty much everyone will get bored with it and stop giving Zynga money in a couple of months.

The only thing that stands in the way of that clearly correct opinion is the piles of money it continues to make.

Of course, the above is what several gamers have been stating ever since the first seemingly innocent Facebook game came around. I'm restating it here not because I'm talking about social games but because it's a symptom of a larger problem. As gamers, we love to predict which MMOs will work and which ones won't, but we're also suffering from a terrible sense of tunnel vision that makes us really awful at that.

Continue reading The Soapbox: Tunnel vision

The Soapbox: Tunnel vision originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Analyst downgrades Blizzard stock in anticipation of SWTOR launch

Jef Reahard — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Zomg, the sky is falling in Azeroth! OK, not really, but World of Warcraft is heading for troubled waters if you believe an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets. According to a report at Gamespot, Atul Bagga downgraded Activision-Blizzard's stock from "buy" to "neutral" due to the results of a recent online survey that pointed to restlessness among a certain subset of WoW players.

Whether the perceived wanderlust has to do with the game's age (it turns seven this month) or the deafening hype bandwagon that is gathering steam due to next month's Star Wars: The Old Republic debut, the numbers indicated a possible loss of between 900,000 and 1.6 million WoW players following TOR's launch.

Analyst downgrades Blizzard stock in anticipation of SWTOR launch originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Single-player games will be dead in three years, says industry analyst

Jef Reahard — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, News items, Consoles, Miscellaneous

So game development studios desperately want to move the entirety of our hobby online in order to mimic the recurring revenue model of MMORPGs. That's not exactly news, but it is news when an industry analyst makes an eyebrow-raising claim regarding the immediate future of the genre. To that effect, Eurogamer recently attended a "closed-door, Sony-organized panel discussion on the future of video games," which featured an analyst predicting the end of single-player titles by 2014.

Mark Cerny, a "veteran video game consultant," used the 2009 single-player RPG Demon's Souls as an example, saying that its mixture of traditional offline gameplay and social connectivity to other gamers experiencing the same title is the wave of the future.

"The funny thing here is, we don't even know what to call this. Is it single-player or is it multiplayer? We don't even have the words. It's kind of Orwellian. If you don't have any word for freedom you can't have a revolution," Cerny said. What exactly is that revolution, and will it be good for gamers? Check back in 2014 to find out.

Single-player games will be dead in three years, says industry analyst originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard's Titan a 'casual' MMO

Jef Reahard — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Rumors

In case you were worried about a lack of new and accessible MMOs coming down the pike over the next couple of years, the king of casual is riding to the rescue. At least, that's what an analyst at Sterne Agee hinted at on Gamasutra recently.

Arvind Bhatia is quoted on the game industry website as saying that Blizzard's product pipeline includes "expansion packs for StarCraft and World of Warcraft, a new Diablo game, [and] a new casual MMO." That casual MMO is of course Titan, the secretive WoW followup that has reportedly gobbled up Blizzard's most experienced designers.

While no one outside of Blizzard has any inkling as to Titan's setting, mechanics, or target audience, Bhatia's prediction makes a certain amount of sense given the realities of the MMO marketplace and the costs inherent in developing and marketing AAA titles. Head to Gamasutra for the full report.

Blizzard's Titan a 'casual' MMO originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Predictions for DUST 514

Brendan Drain — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, Endgame, Opinion, Free-to-play, EVE Evolved, DUST 514

When CCP first announced development on its upcoming free-to-play PlayStation 3 MMOFPS DUST 514, speculation ran wild as we thought of exactly how the game could be integrated with EVE Online. The plan to link the two games through EVE's sovereignty system seemed almost too ambitious, but the gaming world waited for more information with a quiet optimism. Most of us cautiously imagined the most basic of interactions between the two games, almost afraid to get our hopes up or express optimism for the project; after all, this is something that has never been done before.

I think most EVE players imagined a vague web-based communication between EVE pilots and DUST mercenaries and little or no control over the outcome of a fight. We justly worried that our system sovereignty would be decided by the outcome of random matchmaking-style FPS battles or that DUST would only affect worthless planet-based industrial networks. At this year's E3, even our most optimistic expectations were completely blown away. DUST will be fully integrated into the EVE servers, with DUST players able to join EVE corporations and EVE players able to supply ground troops with equipment. We'll deliver decisive air strikes in realtime from ships in orbit, and DUST players will even be able to fire back.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I re-examine the link between EVE Online and DUST 514 in light of the new information from E3 to make some predictions about what the battle for a planet might be like.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Predictions for DUST 514

EVE Evolved: Predictions for DUST 514 originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The MMO Report: Predictions of E3

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, Previews, News items, The MMO Report, Miscellaneous

This week's MMO Report is coming to viewers live from E3! Well, in theory, anyway. See, at the moment, our host Casey Schreiner is nowhere near the studio, being at E3 himself, which means that this week's installment is not about what's going on at E3. Rather, it's what Casey predicted would be going on today at E3. So you can amuse yourself where the predictions were entirely wrong and see if any of the wild guesses turned out right after all.

Needless to say, predictions regarding Star Wars: The Old Republic run rampant, as does speculation about Guild Wars 2, TERA, and The Secret World. Of course, you've no doubt been following our E3 coverage here religiously, so when you click on past the break you can see for yourself what was on the money and what went completely off the rails, along with a completely true prediction about the next big hit in the MMO world.

Continue reading The MMO Report: Predictions of E3

The MMO Report: Predictions of E3 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hyperspace Beacon: Always in motion is the future

Larry Everett — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, New titles, Endgame, Opinion, Rumors, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon

Boot your navi-computer, angle your deflector shields, and prepare for the jump to lightspeed. This year will be the greatest year in the history of MMO gaming. I don't mean because Star Wars Galaxies is shutting down, because it's not, and that would be a sad year. I mean that the most anticipated game in the history of MMOs will be released this year. Star Wars: The Old Republic will make its way to our doors and our hearts this spring. (I cross my fingers, hoping for no delay, but I know it's probably inevitable.)

As the release nears, we will certainly see a plethora of updates and secret reveals. We had our share of SWTOR news last year, and as with every game, the hype-machine presses on with a fevered fervor towards its zenith. There is so much we know about this game already, yet at the same time, we know very little. We are really like a Miraluka on a Vong ship. (You get 500 fanboy points if you understand that reference.) We keep bumping into walls, but we don't really see the whole picture. Honestly, I question whether I want to know the whole picture before the game is released.

Let's tap into our Force foresight a bit today to see whether we can muster a few visions. Maybe we'll see a city in the clouds; maybe we'll see our friends being tortured. Maybe we'll find out we are really Revan! What will be revealed in 2011? Follow me after the break to find out!

Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Always in motion is the future

Hyperspace Beacon: Always in motion is the future originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GamersFirst's predictions for the video games industry in 2011

Jef Reahard — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: 9Dragons, News items, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, All Points Bulletin

While end-of-the-year predictions are quite commonplace amongst game industry bloggers and journalists, it's a bit rarer to see prognostications coming from game-makers and executives. GamersFirst bucks that trend with a press release outlining its forecast for online gaming in 2011. Unsurprisingly, the free-to-play publisher sees its preferred business model "taking over the video game market," as well as a massive shift to mobile gaming and digital distribution.

Closer to home, GamersFirst senior vice president Rahul Sandil says that 2011 will be a banner year for the company that recently acquired 9Dragons and APB. "We are poised to make noteworthy contributions to the future of F2P online games. We look forward to expanding client-based and web browser F2P MMOs throughout Turkey, Europe, South and North America," he says.

Check out the full list of GamersFirst industry predictions after the break.

Continue reading GamersFirst's predictions for the video games industry in 2011

GamersFirst's predictions for the video games industry in 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What will MMOs be like 10 years from now?

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Brain Trust, assemble! I've called you all here today to put on your prognosticating caps and cast your vision into the future -- the future of 10 years from now, that is. Consider this: It is the year 2020, and I am 44 years old, practically ready for the video games old folks home. Also consider: MMOs are still around, and we're all still playing them fervently. So we need you, the Massively Brain Trust, to tell us what these MMOs will be like.

Will they be mind-controlled, like that goofy 1991 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which everyone's addicted to a lame addictive frisbee game? Will these MMOs be huge, revolutionary leaps forward, or will they merely be a series of small, progressive steps to better graphics, better immersion, and larger exclamation points above NPCs' heads? Will we be playing the MMOs of today in 2020, much like how gamers still enjoy EverQuest and Ultima Online?

What do you think MMOs will be like 10 years from now? We'll record the responses for posterity, and then in 2020 we'll pull them out to see who was right and who was completely ridiculous.

The Daily Grind: What will MMOs be like 10 years from now? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Free for All: Three games to keep an eye on

Beau Hindman — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, Free for All

There is so much to be excited about in the MMORPG world that I am always perplexed when someone claims lack of innovation in the market. I tend to think that this comes from an inability to play more than one game, or to support more than one idea in gaming, rather than from the actual state of the market. The fact is that there is so much happening in the world of gaming, and specifically free-to-play gaming, a player should feel almost overwhelmed.

I wanted to point out three games now in development (or very close to release) that I believe will do very well. Think of this as a list of predictions -- in fact I am going to have some fun with it and predict just how well these games will do. I have always enjoyed testing my gut. Concerning these three games, my gut is very, very excited. So, let's get right to the list.

Continue reading Free for All: Three games to keep an eye on

Free for All: Three games to keep an eye on originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Will Blizzard show their next MMO at BlizzCon 2010?

Kyle Horner — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, News items, Opinion

WoW.com's Zach Yonzon takes a speculative look at BlizzCon 2010 and all the possibilities that lie ahead. The article predicts that Blizzard will officially announce their sophomore MMO effort this year, which seems likely given StarCraft II's impending release and Diablo III being a known quantity. To top it off, the developer probably wouldn't mind stifling some of the substantial buzz building up around Star Wars: The Old Republic.

We'd love to see the cyberpunk MMO described in the article, but who wouldn't want a sci-fi MMO that's like Diablo's dark fantasy to Warcraft's light-heartedness? Nobody (well, except for Blizzard) really knows what the future holds, although for now you can read about it and share your thoughts if that helps out -- at least, it helps us feel slightly less helpless when pondering our MMO gaming future.

Will Blizzard show their next MMO at BlizzCon 2010? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's predictions for 2010

Shawn Schuster — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Massively Meta

With 2009 wrapping up today and 2010 lurking creepily around the corner, we're eager to release our predictions on what the next year may bring to the MMO scene. Even though we try to keep our news relatively neutral, it's the editorials and opinion pieces that garner the most reaction from the readers. Positive or negative, we appreciate that. So for this last day of 2009, we honor it by giving our own opinions (both positive and negative) about how 2010 looks to us.

Follow along after the jump for a few paragraphs from Kyle Horner, Eliot Lefebvre, Seraphina Brennan and me. In addition to our ramblings, we'd love to hear from you as well. So drop us a comment to let us know what you predict for 2010.

Continue reading Massively's predictions for 2010

Massively's predictions for 2010 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Contest lets EVE Online players get their name in print in E-ON magazine

James Egan — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Contests

While Massively's own EVE Online contest is off to a great start this week, we also want to point out something of interest happening on our friend CrazyKinux's site. Have you ever wanted to see your name in print in E-ON, the official EVE Online magazine? Well now is your chance. CrazyKinux is running a contest where EVE players can make their predictions about how the game will change in 2010 or what will happen in New Eden in the next year. If your prediction lands in the top 10 entries, your submission will make it into print in E-ON magazine in January -- plus you'll also receive a free contributor copy of that issue.

The contest is called "The Oracle of EVE" and will run through November 30th. It'll be judged by CrazyKinux and E-ON editor Richie Shoemaker (aka Zapatero). Check out the announcement post over at CrazyKinux's Musing which explains in greater detail how you can take part. Obviously they're looking for submissions that are well-written and entertaining, but also concise. Entering is quite simple -- just write your 2010 prediction on your own blog and link to it in the comments below "The Oracle of EVE" announcement post. Good luck to any Massively readers that decide to take a shot at this.

Contest lets EVE Online players get their name in print in E-ON magazine originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Looking towards 2009

Elizabeth Harper — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: New titles, Opinion, The Daily Grind

This year's joyous non-denominational festive season (to borrow a phrase from our own Tateru) has come to a close -- and there's probably more than one unfortunate reader out there who has trudged into the office today. (To those readers, we offer our greatest sympathies. At least the greatest sympathies we're capable of offering while grinding the rest of the way to level 80.) But as 2008 winds down towards the new year, we have a question to pose you, whether you find yourself at home, at work, or anywhere in between: with this year mostly behind us, what are you looking forward to in the future? We have an array of exciting games on the horizon: SWTOR, DCUO, and STO just to name a few of the easily acronymized options. Are you looking forward to any juicy new releases in the next year or is your new year's wish something that's not on our radar?

The Daily Grind: Looking towards 2009 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scoring the Massively E3 bingo card

Michael Zenke — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, Humor

If you missed it, prior to heading in the direction of E3 we joined Joystiq and the other network sites in pulling together a predictive Bingo card for the big event. We jotted down a number of things that we thought for sure would make an appearance, and laid out a number of news tidbits that we were almost sure wouldn't get covered at the event. As it turns out, we did okay despite some major upsets.

We'll own up - this was a pretty different event from a lot of others. Concepts and games we were sure would get talked up didn't get mentioned, while some out-of-left field announcements hit during the week. Read on below the cut to see how we faired from A to ... well, F.

Continue reading Scoring the Massively E3 bingo card

Scoring the Massively E3 bingo card originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's E3 Week Prediction Bingo

Michael Zenke — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Opinion, Humor


AoC is Huge!	Firefly MMO News	No BioWare MMO News	MMOs the Future of PC Gaming	Red 5 Announces Their Game
Consoles are the Future of MMOs	"We're not after WoW Numbers"	Animal Crossing: the MMO	Free Realms Info	Microtransactions - Future of MMOs
Guild Wars 2 Info	Cryptic's Star Trek Online	Free Space	The Agency Info	Secret World Info
DirectX 10 Compatible!	Social Tools the Future of MMOs	Champions Online Info	APB Info	DCUO Info
Free to Play the Future of MMOs	Valve MMO Announced	38's Copernicus Unveiled	Carbine's Game Announced	Turbine's Next Project

Every year it's customary to roll out predictions on what will and won't show up at the current year's E3 event. With Massively heading in the direction of the LA Convention Center already, we thought it might be fun to offer up some likely (and highly unlikely) predictions of what might get talked about next week. In reality, this is sort of a "future of the MMO industry list" as everything on here is more-or-less a current or upcoming trend. The only question is whether any given item will get discussed next week.

Each of those nice images is a link, which will take you into our E3 Predictions Gallery. Don't know who Carbine or Red 5 are? Not sure about Copernicus? If you don't understand one of our bingo squares, be sure to dig down and find out what all the fuss is about. We'll be bringing you all the MMO dirt you can stand next week, so hopefully this will tide you over until then. Enjoy!

Gallery: Massively's E3 2008 Bingo

Massively's E3 Week Prediction Bingo originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study says 90% of virtual worlds don't last 18 months

Samuel Axon — Sat, 17 May 2008 07:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, News items, Virtual worlds

A study released by Gartner, a large research firm based in Connecticut, claims that 90% of all "business forays into virtual worlds" fail within 18 months.

According to the study, most businesses focus too much on expensive and unnecessary technology such as powerful physics engines, and don't pay enough attention to the demands and interests of users actual or potential. This is not surprising to us; savvy MMO developers will talk your ear off about how multi-million dollar graphics are at best a red herring and at worst a harbinger of doom.

On the other hand, the study also said that by 2012, 70% of all organizations will be using virtual worlds, and that those endeavors will more successful because businesses will have learned exactly what to expect and will plan development accordingly.

[Via Worlds in Motion]

Study says 90% of virtual worlds don't last 18 months originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 17 May 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Multiverse co-founder describes new virtual world order

Samuel Axon — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, News items, Virtual worlds

Multiverse's Corey Bridges spoke at the SXSW conference about the effects digital distribution and the democratization of advanced development tools will have on the industries of gaming, social networks, and virtual worlds.

Gamasutra put together a great summary of the talk. The thesis: just as they are stripping the entrenched establishments of the music and film industries of much of their oligarchical power, new technologies will transform online gaming and virtual worlds. According to Bridges, virtual worlds are just getting started. "WoW is not a fad," he said, "it's a harbinger." Furthermore, the virtual worlds will be in the hands of indies, not the major conglomerates, and they'll be synergized with social networks.

Bridges also touched on the notion of a more splintered industry made up of smaller projects catering to lots of niche tastes, as opposed to the huge Hollywood-budget productions we see today. A while back someone said that it would take at least a $1 billion super project to take on World of Warcraft. But maybe, as it was with the Roman Empire, the wolves at Blizzard's gate will be countless smaller tribes made up of the so-called unwashed hordes.

Multiverse co-founder describes new virtual world order originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ten Ton drops the Hammer on 2008

Eli Shayotovich — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Forums, MMO industry, Opinion

Almost all gaming sites this time of year weigh in with their predictions for what the new year will bring, but I particularly like what TenTonHammer has seen in their crystal ball. Plus, I just like saying "Ten Ton drops the Hammer." It's fun. Try it.

A few of their eight predictions hit close to home with me. In particular, their first prophecy regarding Jumpgate Evolution. I was a huge fan of NetDevil's now defunct MMO, Auto Assault. Not because their shop is only an hour north of me here in Colorado, or that I seemingly enjoy virtually everything NCsoft puts out, but because it was as close to a Mad Max movie as there was. I'm a post apocalyptic junkie. Sadly... it went the way of the Cuban Missile Crisis and died enigmatically. So I can't wait to see how they update their cult sci-fi game, and... well, see how it jumps out of the gate! Oy.

Next up, they forecast that Cryptic Studios will at long last release some information about Marvel Universe Online. If I was a gambler I might bet against this, but stranger things have happened. As an obsessed City of Heroes player (and confirmed alt-aholic), my love of the game grew from my passion for comic books. In particular, Marvel comic books. I want to see what the creators of my favorite spandex covered game can do with yet another spandex covered game that's different from the first one, and how are they going to get me to play that one just as much as this one. Confused? So is Britney, but she's doing fine. Sort of.

Anyway, be sure to check out Hammer's other prognostications and let us know what you think 2008 holds for this oh so massive industry!

Ten Ton drops the Hammer on 2008 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our 2008 Tabula Rasa wish list: it's sci-fi-tastic!

Chris Chester — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Classes, Game mechanics, Guilds, PvP, Endgame, Opinion, Tabula Rasa, Races

The past year was a big one for Tabula Rasa and all who call it a virtual home. While most players only had a scant two months to enjoy the worlds that Richard Garriott and company created, the news came thick, and the time was exceedingly well spent. And Massively has been there from the beginning. From the end of beta event to the 24 hours of Tabula Rasa contests, from our visit to the NCsoft office to Richard Garriott's lecture at George Washington University, we've been all over Tabula Rasa like white on rice, and we plan to keep it that way.

Having said that, we have a few things we're looking forward to from the Destination Games crew for the year 2008, from the more mundane to the potentially fantastic. As much as we enjoy blasting the Bane in the game's current state, if we had our way, this wish list would be on the public test realm tomorrow.

Continue reading Our 2008 Tabula Rasa wish list: it's sci-fi-tastic!

Our 2008 Tabula Rasa wish list: it's sci-fi-tastic! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What will happen to Second Life in 2008?

Eloise Pasteur — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, Second Life

I generally speaking suck at predictions, but there are some for Second Life that it will be interesting to see what comes through. I'm going to divide them into the technical, the social, competition and the external "big users" categories, basically because that is how they occurred to me.

This is obviously going to be quite long, so read on under the fold.

Continue reading What will happen to Second Life in 2008?

What will happen to Second Life in 2008? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Predicting the MMO landscape in 2008

Mike Schramm — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Puzzle, Sci-fi, Age of Conan, Dark Age of Camelot, Events, real-world, Expansions, Launches, PvP, Warhammer Online, The Agency, News items, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Marvel Heroes

It's that time of year again-- before 2008 starts, everyone and their brother is going to throw out some predictions about what will happen with MMOs this year. So here's a Massively roundup, and a little meta-analysis of what might happen in this Year of the Potato.

Let's start with our own Zenke-- he says Wrath won't make it out in 2008, The Agency and Warhammer will hit big, and Dark Age of Camelot and Vanguard are on their way out. He's also got Tabula Rasa sticking it out for the year, and claims that a major MMO (Age of Conan?) will be delayed past 2008.
Ancient Gaming Noob is next: he also says Wrath is shipping late, but goes against popular notions to say that Star Trek Online will be released to cheers from fans on all sides. He also says the biggest story of the year will be Age of Conan's "titties," and that will throw a scare into the "adult" MMO market. He also says, tongue firmly planted in cheek, that Bioware is not actually making an MMO, and the announcement of that will "only spur greater excitement and speculation as to what kind of MMO BioWare is making." Funny.
Keen of Keen and Graev expects Warhammer to go gangbusters, but also says Funcom will have trouble with the nudity in AoC, causing them to patch it out. He has Wrath "bombing," but at least he thinks it'll make it out.

Lots more predictions for 2008 (including our own) after the jump.

Continue reading Predicting the MMO landscape in 2008

Predicting the MMO landscape in 2008 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Professor Ondrejka

Tateru Nino — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Second Life, Academic, Virtual worlds

Linden Lab's departed CTO and co-founder will be spending the (USA) Spring as a visiting professor at USC Annenberg, according to New World Notes, and Ondrejka's new personal blog Collapsing Geography.

According to Ondrejka, "I'm now consulting, writing, and speaking about the economic and technological impact of virtual worlds; the interrelation between innovation and learning; and, the requirements of product development across geographically dispersed teams," at least until he figures out what he's going to do next.

Continue reading Professor Ondrejka

Professor Ondrejka originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The future for virtual worlds

Eloise Pasteur — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds

In late October there was a meeting in London called the Virtual Worlds Forum. Although a lot of what they talked about was, perhaps inevitably, Second Life they also had discussions about coming trends, events, and worlds.

I'm not sure I want to imagine the forum, but one person's top 20 things for 2008, can be found in Tech Digest. For those of you who don't like reading about Second Life - the good news is that Second Life won't be the only virtual world we're talking about - the bad news is that there will more for us to talk about in a range of worlds!

The top three predictions, in case you don't want to see the whole list are:

There will be loads of new worlds launched next year;
Teen worlds are huge and will continue to be so;
Big brand names still need to learn how to handle virtual worlds.

The whole article is well worth a read though.

The future for virtual worlds originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard was only expecting 1 million WoW subscribers

Samuel Axon — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items

Former Blizzard producer Bill Roper described the early days of World of Warcraft's development to CVG, saying, "we were hoping we'd be able to sell a million copies of the game." He pointed out that at the time, EverQuest was the gold standard for MMOs, and it only had 500,000 subscribers. "It would have been impossible to predict that World of Warcraft would take off as a cultural phenomenon as it did," he said.

He's right; people knew World of Warcraft would be a comparatively big deal, but how could they have predicted 9.3 million players? Throughout the history of persistent world online games, we've been surprised again and again at just how large the market for them can be. There are studios out there who think they can take it even further -- BioWare, for instance. Or maybe the industry will fragment into niche games now. The point is, you can't always predict this stuff. That's what makes it so exciting.

In case you were wondering what Roper is up to now, his company Flagship Studios recently released Hellgate: London -- more of a niche title than a mainstream record-buster. Flagship is also working on Mythos, a Diablo-esque-dungeon-crawler.

Blizzard was only expecting 1 million WoW subscribers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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