The Aegis Technology Research Set is a very good set for your starship but I replaced it with the Assimilated Technology Borg Set after learning that it is better than the Aegis Technology Research…
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Not many players wear green colored uniforms in Star Trek Online that is why I decided to change the color of my character’s uniform to green together with his bridge officers. Now you can call them…
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I was just reading Keens thoughts on why he won’t be lasting more than two months in SWTOR.
He’s repeated a few things as to why I didn’t end up buying the game myself. I had two big problems of course, limited time and budget, that made me critically evaluate whether I’d play or not. A couple of years ago earning around 100K a year it would have been a no-brainer. Dropping over a hundred on a game (the initial purchase and a couple of months of subscription) wasn’t a matter of wallet.
But overall, I knew that if I got SWTOR it wasn’t going to be a long term proposition for me. Buying a single player RPG is one thing, you don’t have to play it every day to get your moneys worth. A sub based MMO on the other hand kind of demands time spent. And unfortunately SWTOR is very single player oriented. Don’t get me wrong, Bioware have come up with some interesting mechanics to allow players to cooperate and not spoil their own character plans. (Selection and assignment of dark/light side points while in groups is a case in point.) But SWTOR never felt that much massively multiplayer to me.
But that isn’t where I want to go with this post. I digressed.
At the end of his post, Keen asks
Can this really count as a MMORPG if it only lasts a month?
That’s a really interesting question.
I think the obvious answer, at least to me, is yes. MMORPG stands, as we all know, for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. We don’t call them Massively Multiplayer Online Long Term Role Playing Games. Players don’t sign up for two year plans that prevent them from changing ‘providers.’ How long it takes a player to complete the game is irrelevant. As long as he or she enjoys it.
If the game allows dozens or hundreds of players in an online world to be in the game at the same time, and that there is an element of persistence, then the MMO acronym is deserved. RPG on the other hand, well, we do over use that term a bit these days, but the premise still holds. Having lots of players on at the same time in your online RPG makes it a MMORPG.
I think the more interesting question is can a MMORPG be profitable if it only lasts a month?
The usual way things work is that a when a game is released it sells well for a while, and then as new games enter the market, sales of the older ones drop away. Developers and publishers often continue to support these games, fixing bugs and patches and providing forum support for a while, but there is often no new content unless the game is designed for DLC. (I’m not counting sequels.) The most profitable period for the game is right after release. If the publisher gets the development costs and marketing mix right they can make a lot of money.
Can a MMORPG do the same?
Can a MMORPG Be Profitable With Short Term Players?
Thanks to our Fleet’s Logistic Officer, I was able to outfit my starship with an Aegis set. Three high-end crafted items makes up the Aegis set. These items will greatly improve your starships…
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Gambling is banned in Second Life since 2007 but there are still items related to gambling in Second Life like this Party Poker item that is listed in the official Marketplace of Second Life.
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Items listed in the Marketplace of Second Life have item descriptions for a reason. Failing to read these item descriptions can result to frustration, disappointments, stress and even anger. So,…
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The cost of medicines are increasing everyday but, with the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens, the benefits you will get as member will allow you to save a lot of money.
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The latest patch of Star Trek Online caused a bug that removed the Auto Fire feature of the game. Without the Auto Fire feature, space combat became more difficult. Fortunately, there is a…
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The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated — Samuel Clemens.
So yesterday EA reported that 1.7 million active accounts have been created for Star Wars The Old Republic. They also said that they needed 500K to break even, 1M for a mediocre profit, and it scales into awesomeness after that. The statement was also made that they no longer have to wait for the worst case scenarios.
Still, despite the launch success of SWTOR, there are still heaps of comments about the impending doom of SWTOR.
Hopefully this new info will put those comments to rest. Of course, those commentors that actively wish for the demise of the themepark model will probably continue to make predictions of the death of SWTOR based on wishful thinking, and not the facts. Those are likely to continue for years, flying in the face of the evidence. After all, World of Warcraft has been dying for how many years now?
Still, this doesn’t mean that SWTOR is out of the woods.
Bioware/EA is attempting something new here with the heavy focus on story. I for one hope they succeed, simply because it provides another arrow in the quiver of MMORPG designers if they do. That’s not to say I particularly like the linearity of the SWTOR experience, I’d far more like to see more freedom than an on-rails experience like that gives. But if SWTOR fails, at such a development cost, that means that story in MMORPGs will be either ignored, or actively repudiated in future AAA MMOs. After all the bean counters these days want a sure thing.
If Bioware is at least somewhat successful, then developers may feel it worth to experiment with story in future games.
The big concern with SWTOR, now, is that players do not renew. The character stories are very linear and once complete, what then? Bioware has put a lot of effort into implementing systems that get players to create alts, simply to keep playing, but I wonder if that is going to backfire. Again I hope not, I’d like to see the game become a great success and draw a new generation of players into the genre.
Downloaded, installed and play RIFT but my fun only lasted for a few minutes because my computer’s CPU and GPU temperature suddenly increased. I had to stop playing to reduce any risk of damage.
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