Is the fantasy genre all played out? I mean, you cruise through any compilation of MMO's, and almost all the RPG's are fantasy based. The big monster in the corner is WoW, and it's closest competitor? LOTRO, another fantasy based MMORPG!
But why has that been? Honestly, it's more financially reliable to produce something with a known fan base- World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons they all have existing fans that have been waiting decades to play in a virtual world.
However, sci/fi? Sure there's a lot of available material out there, but is it going to bring as big of a return as fantasy? There's going to be some source material out there- Asminov, Heinlein . and the other grand masters of the space lanes. But so little of their material is game worthy, in all honesty. What other draws are there? Well, there's two you could name right off and we all know how Star Wars ended up. And how long has "coming soon" been at StarTrekonline.com?
A while.
I think that unlike fantasy, the sci/fi genre cannot look to the past for material. I believe that it will take ground breaking new material to spawn a long lasting, deeply developed mmo world. Maybe a game like Mass Driver or Starcraft could spawn a new one. Well, not Starcraft as Blizzard said no way back in 07. But some game that creates a broad appeal that can allow for deep development.
Maybe our salvation lies in miniature game world. Sure, Games Workshop is putting out a fantasy based MMORPG built around their miniature game system, but they have announced a Warhammer 40k game. Now, that I'd play. The original Space Marines- Space Wolves!!- would be a lot of fun. I could hose a pack of Tyranid players down with a heavy bolter, no problems!
However, I think that the future of the MMORPG world lies in space, not in the fey haunted woods of the past. The industry needs to produce original material rather than depend on existing fan base to keep their games afloat. IF you build a solid game that encourages deep story telling with dynamic content the players will come. and they wills stay.
But why has that been? Honestly, it's more financially reliable to produce something with a known fan base- World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons they all have existing fans that have been waiting decades to play in a virtual world.
However, sci/fi? Sure there's a lot of available material out there, but is it going to bring as big of a return as fantasy? There's going to be some source material out there- Asminov, Heinlein . and the other grand masters of the space lanes. But so little of their material is game worthy, in all honesty. What other draws are there? Well, there's two you could name right off and we all know how Star Wars ended up. And how long has "coming soon" been at StarTrekonline.com?
A while.
I think that unlike fantasy, the sci/fi genre cannot look to the past for material. I believe that it will take ground breaking new material to spawn a long lasting, deeply developed mmo world. Maybe a game like Mass Driver or Starcraft could spawn a new one. Well, not Starcraft as Blizzard said no way back in 07. But some game that creates a broad appeal that can allow for deep development.
Maybe our salvation lies in miniature game world. Sure, Games Workshop is putting out a fantasy based MMORPG built around their miniature game system, but they have announced a Warhammer 40k game. Now, that I'd play. The original Space Marines- Space Wolves!!- would be a lot of fun. I could hose a pack of Tyranid players down with a heavy bolter, no problems!
However, I think that the future of the MMORPG world lies in space, not in the fey haunted woods of the past. The industry needs to produce original material rather than depend on existing fan base to keep their games afloat. IF you build a solid game that encourages deep story telling with dynamic content the players will come. and they wills stay.
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