Blizzard Cancels Ambitious Titan MMO After Seven Years
- Thread starter Fanghawk
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So that's it then, the age of the subscription MMO is pretty much over.
EVE, FFXI and FFXIV are making it work, but on a small scale.
Elder Scrolls: Online can't bust a million subcribers.
The Old Republic was a total and humiliating failure.
World of Warcraft continues to be huge, but is literally half the size it used to be.
Even so this is a bit of surprise, if they were prepared to just bin it then Titan must have been a hell of a long way from anything functional even after seven years.
EVE, FFXI and FFXIV are making it work, but on a small scale.
Elder Scrolls: Online can't bust a million subcribers.
The Old Republic was a total and humiliating failure.
World of Warcraft continues to be huge, but is literally half the size it used to be.
Even so this is a bit of surprise, if they were prepared to just bin it then Titan must have been a hell of a long way from anything functional even after seven years.
I love that. "Hey guys, we don't need to be creative or anything and make a new IP, we can still flog our old IPs in new game genres!" Thus went Blizzard the way of Nintendo.
WoW is still pulling 8-10x the numbers of its competitors, but I'd agree that we're never going to see anyone (including Blizz)find that kind of success in the subscription-based MMO world again. WoW grabbed ahold of a moment in time and it's frankly a credit to the quality of the game that it's still hovering around 8 million subscribers. I'm currently out of the game, but I'll probably re-sub next month to power through the last of the MoP content (I'm a lore wonk) then play till I've seen the first raids, it's the lather/xpac/repeat I've been doing since WOTLK.
Fanboyism aside, I'm sure Titan had at least one if not more playable builds over the course of 7 years but the quality wasn't where they wanted it. They scrapped Ghost and Lord of the Clans pretty darn late in their production cycles (In lord of the Clans' case late enough that I have a promotional t-shirt they gave to employees at the game store I worked at back 15 or so years ago).
While their games aren't to everyone's taste, Blizzard still releases functional and stable products that are shined till they glisten, and I respect your opinion if you might happen to think some of the games are shiny, easy to use turds. I'm glad Blizz is sticking to their "it ships when it's done, and if we don't like it enough to put our name on it you'll never see it" guns.
Fanboyism aside, I'm sure Titan had at least one if not more playable builds over the course of 7 years but the quality wasn't where they wanted it. They scrapped Ghost and Lord of the Clans pretty darn late in their production cycles (In lord of the Clans' case late enough that I have a promotional t-shirt they gave to employees at the game store I worked at back 15 or so years ago).
While their games aren't to everyone's taste, Blizzard still releases functional and stable products that are shined till they glisten, and I respect your opinion if you might happen to think some of the games are shiny, easy to use turds. I'm glad Blizz is sticking to their "it ships when it's done, and if we don't like it enough to put our name on it you'll never see it" guns.
7 years....dam its raelly been that long. Oh well maybe they bring out that StarCraft Ghost game ? no ? lol or maybe do somthing with Swignin Ape studios guys behind metal arms ? no ? You will always be known for WoW. face it.
I think it's funny that Blizzard can say out loud that they created World of Warcraft when the majority of the major players involved in the creation of that game are long gone. It's even worse that they continue to hang their hats on it.
Does Blizzard have nothing new to stand on?
Does Blizzard have nothing new to stand on?
Unfortunately it's our loss, People are being fed the idea of Free to play but that's a bad road for all gamers, in the past developers knew that if they wanted our money they had to produce and support quality games or we went else where. Then the F2P con started in casual gaming from companies like Popcap and King, and it's spread it's cancer to mainstream games and people lap it up where they can put out half finished untested and substandard games and people accept it because it's free right who cares? while they use all their time to produce more crap to sell to players.fix-the-spade said:
These companies actually make a lot more money from the F2P model while spending a lot less money and time on their product, even the games which tried a Sub model like ToR and ESO were a con because they were never intended to stay that way, it was an easy way of making quick bucks before the F2P option was launched. The Old Republic hurt me the most, whatever people say it was a brilliant game and engaging game and I was convinced that it would be a WoW killer and I would be playing it in 5 years time. What became apparent though is that EA never intended to expand on what was a brilliant and polished product, instead all we got was the cartel market and a cash grab and when the subscriber's wised up and stopped paying the F2P model dropped into place and all that game gets now is cash shop updates and it still makes EA a lot of money.
There will never be a WoW-killer, in my opinion. I think all game developers, including Blizzard, need to just give up on the idea of ever topping WoW. WoW's success was a perfect storm of game design, market desires, and fortuitous timing. However, the market has evolved considerably since the peak days of WoW's success. Much of the market is probably suffering MMO-burnout from the massive glut of self-proclaimed "WoW-killer" games that constantly failed to fit the bill. Further, as the market has aged, the time and effort demands of an MMO with such epic scope as WoW has become difficult to support. Even the hardcore segment of the gaming community seems to be moderated compared to its earlier days, considering the quick decline of Wildstar, an MMO which very explicitly targeted the hardcore contingent.
To use an analogy, at the height of WoW and the parade of self-proclaimed "WoW-killers", gamers feasted on a smorgasbord of epic games, all requiring massive, dedicated effort. It was not unheard to have some people playing 2, 3, or even 4 or more such games at once. The level of "hardcore" from some of the players in these games was just insane (I was once a guild-leader and had someone apply to my guild who had quit his job so he could spend 50 hours/week playing WoW). However, after years of feasting, reality, in its typical ponderous and inevitable fashion, began to impose itself and make known to us that our capacity for the feast is not infinite. In the aftermath of all that epic feasting came the most epic case of indigestion ever known. Gamers become a kind of "violently ill" from just basic overeating. Consequently, gamers have become revolted at the idea of having to engage in such a massive gluttony ever again.
In my opinion, game developers need to find ways of allowing games to be played at a more moderated pace rather than require the maniacal, sub-basement dweller game-addict type mentality. Instead of these epic feasts as before, the games have to be more moderate. The portions need to be more bite-sized and more easily digested. Not so much to the point of being like baby-food; the meal still needs to be nice and meaty. It just has to not require one have the digestive track of Hercules to have any hope of coping with the meal.
This also means, in my opinion, that game developers need to give up on the idea of their particular game being that one and only game that everyone is playing. Instead, any given game probably should focused toward appealing to a particular cadre of fans or a particular collection of tastes and interests. In my opinion, trying to design a game to appeal to everyone will just ensure that it appeals to no one at all. Even WoW, at its peak, didn't appeal to everyone, just a very large contingent. Knowing your audience, in my opinion, is extremely important. It's easy to become highly ambitious and seek to conquer the Universe; however, that ambition needs to be reigned in and tempered with a more moderated approach that fits within one's given time, resources, and capabilities.
To use an analogy, at the height of WoW and the parade of self-proclaimed "WoW-killers", gamers feasted on a smorgasbord of epic games, all requiring massive, dedicated effort. It was not unheard to have some people playing 2, 3, or even 4 or more such games at once. The level of "hardcore" from some of the players in these games was just insane (I was once a guild-leader and had someone apply to my guild who had quit his job so he could spend 50 hours/week playing WoW). However, after years of feasting, reality, in its typical ponderous and inevitable fashion, began to impose itself and make known to us that our capacity for the feast is not infinite. In the aftermath of all that epic feasting came the most epic case of indigestion ever known. Gamers become a kind of "violently ill" from just basic overeating. Consequently, gamers have become revolted at the idea of having to engage in such a massive gluttony ever again.
In my opinion, game developers need to find ways of allowing games to be played at a more moderated pace rather than require the maniacal, sub-basement dweller game-addict type mentality. Instead of these epic feasts as before, the games have to be more moderate. The portions need to be more bite-sized and more easily digested. Not so much to the point of being like baby-food; the meal still needs to be nice and meaty. It just has to not require one have the digestive track of Hercules to have any hope of coping with the meal.
This also means, in my opinion, that game developers need to give up on the idea of their particular game being that one and only game that everyone is playing. Instead, any given game probably should focused toward appealing to a particular cadre of fans or a particular collection of tastes and interests. In my opinion, trying to design a game to appeal to everyone will just ensure that it appeals to no one at all. Even WoW, at its peak, didn't appeal to everyone, just a very large contingent. Knowing your audience, in my opinion, is extremely important. It's easy to become highly ambitious and seek to conquer the Universe; however, that ambition needs to be reigned in and tempered with a more moderated approach that fits within one's given time, resources, and capabilities.
Better to have made the most successful MMO of all time and call it there than to fail trying to do it again.
I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed myself given that I was hoping we'd see another major MMO like WoW that could stoke my fire in a massive way for a few years. Pretty much every MMO out there for years has had potential, but few have come close to living up to it. I suppose the genera is dying like everything does eventually, but I figured it was going to get one last big success story when someone finally decided to put the time and effort into doing it right again since it seems most MMOs continually make the same mistakes again and again.
That said, I do sort of doubt Blizzard's claims as to why they scrapped the project, I think it's probably more a matter of them being handed marching orders from their leash holders that looked at what happened with a lot of other MMOs and decided not to risk the money. I honestly cannot see why a design team would be unhappy with creating a huge world, in favor of say churning out more digital card packs.
That said, I do sort of doubt Blizzard's claims as to why they scrapped the project, I think it's probably more a matter of them being handed marching orders from their leash holders that looked at what happened with a lot of other MMOs and decided not to risk the money. I honestly cannot see why a design team would be unhappy with creating a huge world, in favor of say churning out more digital card packs.
Im just afraid that activision will cull blizzard once WoW has finaly bleed out of subscribers (wich admittetly might take a couple more years to happen) and that the "small projects" will not be paying for blizzs extensive staff and rather... extravagant behavior (its done when its done) and force it to become another dime a dozen spiritual dead brand name that churns out 0815 AAA titles.
smart decision by blizzard. The mmo market is shrinking. Even if they managed to strike lightning twice, the fledgling genre just doesn't justify all the financial risk.
Better for blizz to continue to develop their all ready entrenched wow mmo, while diversifying their gaming portfolio with things like hearthstone
Better for blizz to continue to develop their all ready entrenched wow mmo, while diversifying their gaming portfolio with things like hearthstone
We may have known nothing about the game but can't say I'm not disappointed. Blizzard games are almost always high quality and so much fun to play. I still love WoW but I was welcoming a change of scenery while still keeping rock solid gameplay. Oh well, here's to the next project whatever that may be.
Umm, had anyone but Blizzard ever actually seen Titan? Let alone referred to it as ambitious? Because a developer calling something ambitious doesn't make it so.
Though I guess you could argue that trying to follow up the success of WoW is certainly ambitious.
No great loss though. The world doesn't need yet another shitty MMO.
Though I guess you could argue that trying to follow up the success of WoW is certainly ambitious.
No great loss though. The world doesn't need yet another shitty MMO.
I think both sub and F2P are bad models for gamers as a whole, games as service as a whole is terrible for consumers as publishers use it to break products into ever smaller chunks and demand continuous payment to keep the trickle effect going.KaZuYa said:
Whether it's subscription or F2P the effect (and the implicit threat of killing the game if you don't collectively pay enough) is the same.
While it's sad to hear it won't release, I can't help but give three cheers to them having the nuts to take a step back, conclude the whole thing is shite, and pull the plug on god knows how many millions they've sunk into it.Aeshi said:
We've enough mind-numbingly mediocre games the developer obviously didn't care about to go around.
Coming from anyone but Blizzard I'd indeed take it with a sack of salt, but love em or hate them, they are ambitious, if not always innovative.Vivi22 said:
Maybe they realised that they themselves were the only ones capable of creating the fabled "WoW killer", and they didn't want to kill their own game just yet.
But in any case I'm kind of glad because Hearthstone is pretty damn enjoyable (and free), and Heroes of the Storm looks pretty good too, and has received some big praise, so smaller games is maybe where they can really shine in today's market.
But in any case I'm kind of glad because Hearthstone is pretty damn enjoyable (and free), and Heroes of the Storm looks pretty good too, and has received some big praise, so smaller games is maybe where they can really shine in today's market.
