At the end of 2011 I made a set of predictions about MMOs and the MMO industry. This is a pretty common thing to do, but I also feel I should own my predictions and actually check how accurate they were Continue reading
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Eight is Enough: Video Game Payment Models
So let’s look at the payment models available for video games, at least at a high level. Continue reading
Reading the MMO Tea Leaves for 2012
In previous years I’ve spent a lot of time reviewing and writing up a year’s worth of Massively.com / other MMO sites news articles. Although this is very useful from an information point of view (particularly the “oh, I’d forgotten about that” articles) it takes a very long time. So, this year I’m still doing … Continue reading
The Very, Very Late 2010 MMO Recap: Here Comes the New Stuff, Same As the Old Stuff
(All you have is my word that I haven’t made any substantive revisions to this document since January 30, 2011. Trust me. I’m a blogger. For a point-by-point recap of 2010, see either the January to June or the July to December articles.) 2010 was an interesting year for the MMO industry in that it … Continue reading
The Very, Very Late 2010 MMO Recap (Part 2)
Part 1 is here, including a note about why April is the best time to review what happened about 16 months ago. July: Star Trek Online Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich leaves both the title and Cryptic Studios. Capcom’s Xbox Japan- and Xbox 360-only MMO Monster Hunter Frontier Online tops the sales charts in Japan. Activision … Continue reading
Five Reasons Why SWOR Is A High Risk MMO: #4 The Story Pillar’s Strength May Not Pass The Building Code
In selling Star Wars: The Old Republic to the masses, BioWare has been hammering on about the fourth pillar they are adding to MMOs: story. They see that most MMOs have exploration, combat and progression, but they are adding story to that mix which is going to make them stand out. Fully voiced story, at … Continue reading
How Many Players Does Aion Have in Q1 2010?
I’m going to look at how City of Heroes / City of Villains faired in Q1 2010 in a little while, but news that Aion is going to be closing some servers in North America and Europe means this is a bit more pressing. NCsoft’s Q1 2010 financials are out and paint an interesting picture. … Continue reading
Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, Even If It Is Second Life
One frequent request in MMO circles is to not railroad the player into linear tasks, but to let them have greater freedom. “I’m tired of the level grind and an environment where nothing changes – let me shape the very face of the world!” is asked for at various times. In the file marked “Never … Continue reading
We Do It To Ourselves, We Do – Why MMOs Are as They Are
Psychochild made an interesting post recently – why haven’t MMOs lived up to their early potential? Why hasn’t the early potential of games like Ultima Online or Meridian 59 with all their freedom and player-driven worlds been built on? Why have more controlled experiences like Everquest 2 or World of Warcraft dominated the genre? Some … Continue reading
Why NCsoft Doesn’t Sell Off Its Failures
Adam Martin picked up on my previous entry and expanded it in a fantastic way based on his time there – basically, NCsoft Korea has too much money to bother with small projects, so only big projects are worth considering. I am a complete outsider here – not worked for NCsoft Korea or any other … Continue reading
World Class Villains 