Sony: Facebook MMOG Will Dwarf WoW

[R.O.]

That's cool with me. I think a billion subscriber MMOG would work if it could break the social barriers that currently exist but if anything, I think Myspace would work better than Facebook because Facebook is closed off to specific networks. But whatever, the skies the limit to what someone can possibly do.

 

[Hawgh]

So a game is going to come out which'll be more popular than any current game?
Yikes, what a revolutionary and stunning idea.

 

[wordsmith]

I don't care if YoutTwitFace made an MMO. Nothing will ever be able to drive a stake into the cold heart of the king off MMOs, World of Warcraft.

Youtube + Twitter + Facebook = YouTwitFace(If you can tell me who I stole that from I'll buy you something)

Conan O'brien?

You want the teddy bear or the slip'n'slide?

Just leave a comment on my YouTwitFace page

 

[scotth266]

I hate Facebook, and never use it. I don't like most MMOs. That's a double whammy...

 

[boholikeu]

Wow, 2 pages in and the majority of the posters here still think he's talking about an MMO for Facebook.

There's potential for a pretty interesting discussion here if people would actually read the freakin' article.

 

[Ghostkai]

2 things :

Ryan Barker is not Sony. Don't make the entire company sound like they share his opinion.

Guild Wars is not an MMO.

On topic:

It's clear Ryan Barker is a sad panda ^_^

 

[Deef]

I'm sorry but you people seem to be missing the point.
Facebook is a massive social network that millions if not billions of people use.
Now imagine if this group of people was exposed to an MMO that caters specifically to them.
A large portion of them will probably sign up.
BAM! More players than WoW.


They don't need to be hardcore gamers to play the game.

 

[Spectre39]

If we forget WoW existed for a second, I still wouldn't be interested in an MMO that's as rabidly popular as Facebook, and has a billion subscribers. I don't know about you, but I kinda like the crowd of gamers I play MMO's with and if all the ilk of social networking sites plagued my game with all the rabid fervor of Twilight I would feel uncomfortable around such outsiders to the genre.

And besides, the way he's talking about keep the game from intimidating new players by veterans? Please. The only way to do that is to remove tangible achievement from the game. If there were no gear, skills, or levels to work towards you've got a watered down console game that you pay a subscription for.

The only way I would lower my standards to play such a game is if the subscription was $5/month or lower. But even then, it would be a side-dish to the MMO's I already play. Not a substitute.

 

[New Troll]

The reason anyone off the street can join a social networking site like Facebook or MySpace and enjoy it with thier friends and not worry about being classified as a 'noob' is because sites don't have a levelling system.

So they need to make an MMO that doesn't cater to levelling, but something else instead. Maybe sort of like what The Escapist does with post counts and badges. Still awards a person for being on the site (playing the game) for awhile but doesn't actualy hinder someone new from joining.

Instead of levels, use ranks, where even the lowest rank can do anything and everything in the game, but the higher one's rank, the more gear or special items they can recieve. Or something like that.

 

[boholikeu]

And besides, the way he's talking about keep the game from intimidating new players by veterans? Please. The only way to do that is to remove tangible achievement from the game. If there were no gear, skills, or levels to work towards you've got a watered down console game that you pay a subscription for.

There are other ways to give players goals without giving them more power/skills/levels... Community oriented goals are one possibility. Check out the MMO "Love" if you want to see how it will work.

This of course won't appeal to people that like to level up only so they can "pwn noobs", but that's part of the reason this type of MMO has so much potential. You would no longer have a small number of basement dwellers ruling over the rest of your game's population.

 

[thiosk]

A facebook implementation of a wow style game would only lead to more game-related killings.

Because those level 60 (sorry, its been a while since I was a wowstronaut) griefers who slaughtered you again, and again, and again in booty bay or that forest level will now have a face, and a name, that you can search and figure out approximatly which city you live in.

Lord knows that I, i mean they, griefed enough people to put their lives in mortal danger.

 

[Emblem64]

So you're saying that a browser MMO or some application on Facebook will take out WoW? That's absolutely absurd. People aren't going to just drop a game that they've literally poured years of their lives and thousands of dollars into.

 

[Mackinator]

Hahaha Facebook MMO that made my day!

Was good for an evening titter yeah.

Really. It wont come from Facebook, it will be a game that is somehow more addictive than WoW.

 

[Jumplion]

So you're saying that a browser MMO or some application on Facebook will take out WoW? That's absolutely absurd. People aren't going to just drop a game that they've literally poured years of their lives and thousands of dollars into.

Who says they're the ones playing the game?

 

[Emblem64]

So you're saying that a browser MMO or some application on Facebook will take out WoW? That's absolutely absurd. People aren't going to just drop a game that they've literally poured years of their lives and thousands of dollars into.

Who says they're the ones playing the game?

I believe the whole point was to "kill" WoW. Which would mean snatching current players away.

 

[MrBrightside919]

What's facebook?

 

[Jumplion]

So you're saying that a browser MMO or some application on Facebook will take out WoW? That's absolutely absurd. People aren't going to just drop a game that they've literally poured years of their lives and thousands of dollars into.

Who says they're the ones playing the game?

I believe the whole point was to "kill" WoW. Which would mean snatching current players away.

The main way I see people wanting to "kill" WoW is to generally get more players than WoW. Not every WoW player is suddenly just going to drop the game because another one came out, just like how Everquest, Warhammer Online, Guild Wars, ect.... didn't steal all the fans.

The way I see it, Facebook and other social networking sites would be used to "recruit" new players and spread the word. Could you imagine the amount of players an MMO would get if they were advertised and associated with Facebook? If just 5% of those facebook people joined that MMO, it's already surpassed WoW in terms of players.

 

[brewbeard]

'course you have to look at it another way, too. In that you'd be releasing an MMO that requires facebook to play. Limiting your audience to people who use or are willing to use facebook. Which is now your very own personal gate troll.

 

[swytchblayd]

By the Nine! That is really retarded.

*tags Night Angel trilogy reference*
Sorry, can't resist. I love that book series x3

~snippety snip~

I was thinking along these lines as well. People are so confident in what they love that they don't think it will ever end. One day, it will come to an end, and then there will be cake. And something else that people love/hate with abandon.

Spoiler: But seriously, people...

Personally, if one wants to brag about how many subscribers one has out of any and all MMO's in existence, Nexon claimed some months ago that their milk-cow MapleStory surpassed 50 million accounts, though at least 2/3rds of them are very-very likely doubles of one person's account. Still, 17.5 million players isn't a bad number. Not saying anything about the quality of the gameplay, the ease of difficulty, or anything like that, but that's just some numbers to chew on. And Nexon is the exact opposite of Blizzard; they adore the newbies/new characters. Shit comes out for the kiddies with almost every other patch anymore - so much so that at times one has to wonder if they've forgotten those in the upper echelon >.<