Blizzard's Next-Gen MMO An "Enormous Investment"

[Devil's Due]

I personally won't probably play the new MMO if they continue how poorly designed balancing they have in WoW and the constant money grabbing from a expensive game to buy plus expansive expansions plus 15 freaking dollars a month. The only way I'd ever drop my cash on another MMO would be a StarCraft MMO, which is ironic because they absolutely refuse to do one. So looks like I won't be having a MMO for a long time.

And please oh please lets move on past the medieval fantasy setting in pretty much 99% of all MMOs.

 

[Therumancer]

Does blizzard lead innovation in genres? Like what?

World of Warcraft? That game put MMOs on the map. The accessibility of the game astounds me still compared to just about every other MMO out there. You may wish to argue what exactly his definition of innovation is, but there is no denying what they've done for the video game industry as a whole.

RTS's are where they still reign supreme too.

Well, actually MMOs were probably put on the map in a literal sense by things like "Kesmai", "Shadow Of Ysebrius", the original "Neverwinter Nights" (online with the gold box engine), "Dark Sun Online: Crimson Sands", and "Meridian 59" which proved that they could be profitable and gain an audience. The first real success story was arguably "Ultima Online" which is paticularly important not only because of the number of players it drew in through the fandom of the single player "Ultima" games which it also killed, but because it did something that many companies are not willing to do and ran point through the resulting legal fiascos. UO found itself being taken to court several times fairly early on by it's users, something that was covered on sites like "Crossroads" and discussed in the forums. Things like liability for lag and the loss of online possessions, a game without a clear end goal, and a number of other issues. Arguably it was the battles that were waged by Origin and it's willingness to spend the money in it's very deep pockets at the time (remember Richard Garriot is the guy who has been able to charter personal space flights) that got a lot of later MMORPGs off the ground. Arguably had Sony been faster with Everquest, I think they might have done a lot of the same things. Everquest being the game that put MMOs into the truely "monsterously profitable" catagory as it outdid UO in just about every conceivable way. "World Of Warcraft" did indeed trump this after waging a bit of a battle to begin with against "Everquest 2" but at that point the genere had been well established.

Truthfully if I had to take a stab at the real pioneer of the MMO as we have it today I'd probably say it was Sierra's "Shadow Of Ysebrius" and their lesser known "The Realm". I say this because established guilds were coming in from "Ysebrius" even early on with UO. Indeed I think that was one of the things that caused the now legendary chaos and player unfriendly enviroment of early UO, the guys who conceived UO sort of figured it would be a learning process and that everyone would be starting from a similar baseline of skill and knowleged, unfortunatly there were highly organized groups of players who were able to rapidly develop tactics based on experience from other games, who set about basically raping the economy and acheiving the sort of dominance on some servers (like Atlantic) that truely was not expected. Some groups like "The Mercs" (which were famous in their day) pretty much held the entire community in a grip of terror, that guild in paticular had a multi-game prescence having come from things like "Dark Sun Online".


At any rate I will give Blizzard credit for taking an established genere and managing to hit the sweet spot with things like an easy to use engine that was also versatile to allow a lot of things to be done. The "style" of play they developed became standardized through the genere. Right now I think World Of Warcraft is the best MMORPG out there and won't be challenged until we see things like "Old Republic" because all hype aside nobody else was investing the time and money to develop on a level to compete with WoW (understand, they are up against WoW now, not what it was when it first launched). That said I can't consider them true pioneers in the genere, though they did develop a elements of the game that have become wildly influential. They didn't start it in any way, shape, or form, but they helped shape what was there and have left a mark that will probably be felt in the genere for the rest of it's existance (whether that be decades, centuries, or millenia).

Blizzard seems very good at taking what is already there, and then being able to modify it in amazing ways. I know far less about RTS games, but I believe they existed in some form before they got involved... looking back at things like "Modem Wars" if nothing else.

 

[TylerC]

Does blizzard lead innovation in genres? Like what?

World of Warcraft? That game put MMOs on the map. The accessibility of the game astounds me still compared to just about every other MMO out there. You may wish to argue what exactly his definition of innovation is, but there is no denying what they've done for the video game industry as a whole.

RTS's are where they still reign supreme too.

I agree that they've made fantastic games, but i'd never consider them innovative. I wouldn't consider being successful innovative.

It's not just their success, they made mmorpgs accessible to both the "hardcore" and "casual" players. Yeah, their were many mmos before WoW, but none were this successful in what they did, at least in my opinion.

I also agree with Mr.Pandah in the fact that they still reign supreme in the RTS category. The original StarCraft didn't deviate too much from the original RTS formula, but it did of course refine it. Blizzard were also able to add a great story and incorporate it well into the game which I don't believe was really happening at the time. And of course there's a reason it sold over 9 million copies.

Then again, they seem to be doing even less innovation as of late. I mean, you'd think in over 10 years of development they'd add some never before seen things in the genre but they straight up said this.

I'd like to try and find better sources of info, but it's impossible to find stuff on the original StarCraft, when everything comes up as StarCraft II.

Let's hope Diablo 3 will bring something new to the table. I'm sure people will not be happy for more re-hash games.

 

[Dexiro]

So Activision are making Blizzard abandom WoW in favour of a new MMO?

I seriously doubt they could work on 2 competing MMO's at once.

 

[Rayansaki]

Hopefully Bungie can survive Activision and not go the IW route. They managed to survive Microsoft and didn't go the way Rare went, so there's hope.

As for Blizzard, whatever they make will make back the money.

Just hope Kotick understands that as well and doesn't go sticking his hands in the project and start cutting "unnecessary funds" from it.

 

[Pinstar]

It's official, folks. The makers of WoW are going to try to kill WoW. I am reminded of the phrase " I brought you in to this world and I can take you out ". Could WoW have peaked and is now beginning its downward spiral? A new MMO from Blizzard could be sign of the WoWocalypse.

Blizzard will make WoW Free to play once they launch their new IP MMO. This will be in a move to keep all their current subscribers and 'roll' them over to the new game without making Wow a ghost town.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

By definition, if one takes a market that was considerably smaller and makes it much, much larger, you've clearly innovated on the old design.

Where do you live, why don't they have advertising, and how much do town homes go for? Blizzard definitely innovated several aspects of the MMO with WoW, but these innovations correlate with the game's success. That's all.

This mysterious new MMO is, what, five years out? WoW should be in legitimate decline by that time, with competitors siphoning off those subscription dollars in droves. News of a forthcoming WoW "replacement" will help stave off those defections. People will simply play WoW until the next "WoW" is ready. Blizzard is doing what any smart company does when they've got a stranglehold on a particular market: doing everything they can to insure that they maintain that stranglehold.

All of that said, they don't make this game without serious competition, either real (Star Wars) or perceived (because it's unwise to take any chances).

I have to give them a ton of credit, at least initially, for going with an original IP. Can't wait to see what they're cooking. That bit of news is almost enough to counter the sick feeling I get in my stomach whenever Kotick opens his fat fucking mouth.

 

[Worgen]

it would be hilarious to me if their next mmo failed because of wow

 

[benbenthegamerman]

This may in response to The Old Republic's encroaching threat to WOW's player-base, real or imagined as the case may be..

Not so. The next-gen Blizzard MMO has been in the cards since at least before the launch of Wrath of the Lich King.

 

[Tomster595]

I think if they announced a Starcraft MMO right now it would be a great success. This close to the release of SC2 everyone is loving Starcraft and very into it, so at this time people would be really interested and hyped for an MMO

 

[NickCaligo42]

Age-old companies with ludicrous reputations who don't need the money get to innovate, new people with new ideas and new perspectives are left out in the cold. Great, Mr. Kotick, great. You're just a swell icon for change, innovation, and growth in our industry. Let's inflate the most inflated companies more and fuck everyone else.

Fucking asshole.

Don't get me wrong, Blizzard's great. I'm actually DAMN impressed with Starcraft 2 so far and how much they've built on the RTS formula; they're nothing if not a really progressive company. That's not my issue here.

My issue is that there are quite literally hundreds of thousands of out-of-work game designers and up-and-comers out there--and I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm one of them--and Activision's pouring money on Bungie and Blizzard. I'm not saying that us newbies necessarily deserve the money more than they do or even that we can be trusted with it; I think if I tried to run a studio right now I'd cock it up royally. I'm just saying that with Activision's ridiculous piles of money they can afford to diversify a lot more than they are. Take a page out of Sony's book, try a few interesting and risky new projects, try something refreshing, try something new, see where it goes, and then see if you can give it a little tweak to make it profitable. Activision has nothing if not the ability to do exactly that! Get a few more companies, build, expand!

This isn't building or expanding the game industry, this is inflating the game industry. This isn't progress, this is cancerous growth.

 

[mindlesspuppet]

Does blizzard lead innovation in genres? Like what?

Diablo, Starcraft, WoW
3 games that changed the industry.
It's a pretty well-known fact.

Starcraft and the WC RTSs were/are terribly unoriginal in just about every possible way.

Diablo, that's all Blizzard.

WoW, again, nothing new here. There were plenty of MMOs similar to WoW before and around its release, WoW simply had the Blizzard name attached to it which attracts attention. If the exact same game were released by any other company, its servers would have been shut down a long time ago.

 

[Credge]

I see nothing wrong with Activision, a company who hinders game development, getting involved with Blizzard, a company who makes excellent games.

 

[Credge]

Get a few more companies, build, expand!

And then what? Are you proposing that they create their own competition so their own products can compete against each other?

You're right. You would go belly up with your own company =\.

P.S. Most of Blizzards devs aren't vets.

 

[Jared]

A new MMO from them? so they want to move away from WoW? I wonder how that will go down? should be intresting to see more details about it

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

On reflection, perhaps this demonstrates that not all innovation is necessarily original. Or good for that matter.

That right there would be the million-dollar revelation. "Innovation" is one of many buzz words that industry reps love to through out there because they know that it sounds like something better than it is. Technically speaking, nearly every developer is "innovative" by the definition of it, but companies like Blizzard know how to innovate.

Was Warcraft technically just a clone of Command and Conquer? Was WoW just a clone of Everquest? Yes, and yes. But, Blizzard was able to innovate both ideas into something far more appealing to most customers. The result is that Blizzard's games have soared, while C&C and Everquest remain fairly niche.

 

[Aeshi]

WoW didn't innovate or invent the sick cycle of grinding for profit; it simply perfected it.

By definition, perfecting something is innovation, because to perfect a system you presumably have to change it.

Hmm. By that logic, I could take the game "Tetris" and change it so that instead of dropping blocks into place, the player forces oddly shaped turds out of their arse into a jar, and it would still be called "innovation".

Every single concept presented in WoW was taken from somewhere else. Make no mistake, it's an effective money maker, but I can scarcely think of anything that made it "innovative" or "original".

On reflection, perhaps this demonstrates that not all innovation is necessarily original. Or good for that matter.

The Car was an innovative idea,but I doubt the inventor of the car was also the inventor of the wheel,gears,headlights,engine (etc. etc.) each aspect/part of it was taken from somewhere else.

 

[TOGSolid]

So what, they're going to compete with themselves?

I was thinking about this, but Blizzard isn't retarded. They may be going for something vastly different from WoW. Something that's a lot deeper and appeals to the guys like me for whom WoW is pure Kryptonite due to how grindy and repetitive it is.

 

[rsvp42]

it would be hilarious to me if their next mmo failed because of wow

Haha, no kidding. An MMO so powerful, not even its creators could stop it.

Does blizzard lead innovation in genres? Like what?

Diablo, Starcraft, WoW
3 games that changed the industry.
It's a pretty well-known fact.

Starcraft and the WC RTSs were/are terribly unoriginal in just about every possible way.

Diablo, that's all Blizzard.

WoW, again, nothing new here. There were plenty of MMOs similar to WoW before and around its release, WoW simply had the Blizzard name attached to it which attracts attention. If the exact same game were released by any other company, its servers would have been shut down a long time ago.

Starcraft and Warcraft may not have been wildly divergent from existing RTSs, but they managed to find success in a noticeable and unique way. If nothing else, they paved the way for what Blizzard is today.

I think everyone can agree that Blizzard is really good at using concepts and ideas that are already floating around the industry and turning them into really polished and really popular games. The games may not be terribly different in concept but they're still unique in story and style and deserve at least a modicum of respect.

And no, WoW hasn't been skating by for 6 years on Blizzard's name alone. It gained its current fan base on its own merits, and early on, on the merits of the Warcraft IP. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand why a person could dislike WoW as a game, but it's still objectively a good game, evidenced clearly by its commercial and popular success. I agree that another company's servers might have been shut down long ago, but that sounds like a compliment to Blizzard to be honest.