Sony: Facebook MMOG Will Dwarf WoW

[Ragaski]

A Facebook MMO could do well, but the only thing that will "kill" WoW is blizzard stopping support in favour of a new project.

 

[Uncompetative]

Wait. The next generation of MMO is already here...

 

[Jumplion]

Wait. The next generation of MMO is already here...

Is it bad that I want to play that now?

[small]please don't kill me![/small]

Though I couldn't help but chuckle a bit when Hello Kitty said "Massively[/] Multiplayer Online!"

 

[Uncompetative]

Wait. The next generation of MMO is already here...

Is it bad that I want to play that now?

[small]please don't kill me![/small]

Though I couldn't help but chuckle a bit when Hello Kitty said "Massively[/] Multiplayer Online!"

There is a single-player PS2 game:


Not that I've played it myself. Looks far too violent.

 

[Deadman Walkin]

Sure there are popular games on facebook but an MMORPG? Look at some of the games on there. Mafia Wars is just a simple browser game where all the action is in the background that you don't see. You get to see pictures of guns, property and other mafia things but never anything that would take an effort to get good at.

Restaurant city is a game that you just have to feed your workers and as they work you collect money and level up. Leveling up just means you can get a bigger restaurant or another employee so you can collect money faster.

Honestly most people would not want to play it. Pretty much all of my friends on Facebook don't even play any of the game apps that are on there, they just take the random quizzes and talk to people. The chance that these people would put any effort into a Facebook MMO is ridiculous. WoW would crush it and facebook still wouldn't have the uniqueness to rival it, it would just be a WOW clone.

 

[Jumplion]

Sure there are popular games on facebook but an MMORPG? Look at some of the games on there. Mafia Wars is just a simple browser game where all the action is in the background that you don't see. You get to see pictures of guns, property and other mafia things but never anything that would take an effort to get good at.

Restaurant city is a game that you just have to feed your workers and as they work you collect money and level up. Leveling up just means you can get a bigger restaurant or another employee so you can collect money faster.

Honestly most people would not want to play it. Pretty much all of my friends on Facebook don't even play any of the game apps that are on there, they just take the random quizzes and talk to people. The chance that these people would put any effort into a Facebook MMO is ridiculous. WoW would crush it and facebook still wouldn't have the uniqueness to rival it, it would just be a WOW clone.

But that's the entire point, doesn't Mafia Wars have, like, 20 million people playing it or something? I don't want to repeat myself, so just look over this thread and check out some of the more "insightful" comments on this.

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.

 

[Eri]

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.

Yeah, Except no. Until they all pay 15$ a month, more subscribers will not have -killed- wow.

 

[Nemorov]

Most of the people that read this completely missed the point of the article. It's not saying that a Facebook MMO would kill WoW; it's saying that an MMO based on the same principles as Facebook (IE a newbie has the same abilities as a veteran) would kill WoW.

Makes sense. MMOs based on character progression (IE basically every MMO out today) really only appeal to gamers, whereas something that's more socially-oriented could appeal to everybody (just like Facebook). The MMO "Love" is actually going to be a lot like this, but since it's an indie game I dunno if enough word will get out for it to appeal to the masses.

I don't get it then... if there's no character advancement, then what is the point of playing? Farting around as an elf with your friends? I dunno... sounds iffy.

 

[Jumplion]

Most of the people that read this completely missed the point of the article. It's not saying that a Facebook MMO would kill WoW; it's saying that an MMO based on the same principles as Facebook (IE a newbie has the same abilities as a veteran) would kill WoW.

Makes sense. MMOs based on character progression (IE basically every MMO out today) really only appeal to gamers, whereas something that's more socially-oriented could appeal to everybody (just like Facebook). The MMO "Love" is actually going to be a lot like this, but since it's an indie game I dunno if enough word will get out for it to appeal to the masses.

I don't get it then... if there's no character advancement, then what is the point of playing? Farting around as an elf with your friends? I dunno... sounds iffy.

For one, it doesn't have to be a "normal" MMO (To further prove a point, look up the "Love" MMO thing that's being developed, you can hardly say that has "character development" in it), for two it'd probably be a "casual" MMO thing, and three it doesn't have to be on FAcebook specifically, it could just be affiliated or something. If only 10% of Facebook users joined up on this mythical MMO thing, it's surpassed WoW's number of userbase probably twice.

 

[boholikeu]

Most of the people that read this completely missed the point of the article. It's not saying that a Facebook MMO would kill WoW; it's saying that an MMO based on the same principles as Facebook (IE a newbie has the same abilities as a veteran) would kill WoW.

Makes sense. MMOs based on character progression (IE basically every MMO out today) really only appeal to gamers, whereas something that's more socially-oriented could appeal to everybody (just like Facebook). The MMO "Love" is actually going to be a lot like this, but since it's an indie game I dunno if enough word will get out for it to appeal to the masses.

I don't get it then... if there's no character advancement, then what is the point of playing? Farting around as an elf with your friends? I dunno... sounds iffy.

There are tons of single player games that aren't based on character advancement. I don't see why the same can't be true for MMOs.

 

[Fr331anc3r]

They have an MMO out there for people that don't want to level, or have measurable goals, or actually play a game, or achieve anything in the game, or have any character advancement...... it's called Second Life, and I don't see that passing WoW by leaps and bounds. This guy is obviously jealous that Warcraft has beaten his little brainchild.

@Boholikeu, Yes, there are single player games out there that aren't based on character advancement: Platformers (usually, Super Mario anyone?), FPS (usually), RTS (Sorta), Simulations (Some), but if you play anything that falls under the RPG title (this even includes to a lesser extent games like the Sims) there is some sort of character progression, you character becomes better, stronger, more adept at the tasks they are to perform. People shorten MMORPG, to MMO, but there has yet to be a game that is Massively Multiplayer that isn't an RPG, so yeah, MMOPlatformers here we come.

 

[oppp7]

Have any of the "*insert game*-killers" ever succeeded?

 

[SilentScope001]

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.

Yeah, Except no. Until they all pay 15$ a month, more subscribers will not have -killed- wow.

But the hardcore DO pay money to gain in-game advantages. And since microtranscations are easy to pay, one dollar here, another dollar there, it could all add up...to big profits. And isn't that what MMORPGs are all about?

 

[slowpoke999]

I have the perfect idea for an mmo that no mmo has done before.Make it fun.

 

[Carnagath]

Judging from my girlfriend, who never had any interest in playing an actual game, but pours an insane amount of time in Facebook clickathons like Mafia Wars and Farmville, I think that Everquest person might be on to something. There is a massive untouched market out there, super casuals that only got acquainted with "gaming" in its most simplistic form only a year or two ago, and they are finding it fascinating, but picking up an actual console controller or going through the process of installing and setting up a game on the PC is something that they either consider lame or cannot be arsed to do. An MMO built over Facebook that is one bookmark click away might be just the right thing for them. Sure, it might seem too silly to actual gamers who have seen what real gaming can do, and I doubt anyone will switch from WoW to that, but I still wouldn't be surprised if something like that got upwards of 100m subscribers.

 

[kokirisoldier]

I didn't really bother to read the 2nd or 3rd page. (sorry if I missed something Vital)

But it sounds like many of the posts in this thread are fearful of some sort of revolution. With screams of "nothing will defeat my precious WoW" Or "Facebook! Ha those sites aren't for gamers!". Some of these posts are seriously creeping me out. Is the thought of such a simple game out doing the tyrant so hard to comprehend? Anything is possible in the video game industry. I'd like to see an MMO contender keep its head above water without having to drop servers, or offer free months ect just to get people away from WoW.

That has got to be one of the worst places to market an MMO. From what I've seen, not many gamers even use Facebook, and I'm sure the people who use Facebook wouldn't be interested in the slightest.

 

[gRiM_rEaPeRsco]

But thats an invalid comparrison since facebook is free and wow costs £9 a month

 

[GloatingSwine]

So, Second Life then?

 

[FiveSpeedf150]

I dislike the "wow can never die...evvvvvvvvvvver" comments.
The downfall to wow is the lack of content for new players. Lich King gave very little if anything for players that haven't already been playing for months or more. The thing that will stop wow is when Wow eventually ostracizes new players by only creating things for core players.
Obviously there is an inherent contradiction with a more social based game. In order for it to be a pick up and play, "everyone is equal in skills" kind of game that Isn't based around grinding into oblivion is that that means your basing it more around people with some skill in the game, or lots of luck. The problem is people who play casually usually aren't the savvy gamer able to compete in such a way.
Really I see wow as dieing in a similar way as most of the Sony MMOs, it will be faced with a worthy challenger, they'll spar for a while, and eventually one will make a misstep and the new king will be crowned.

WoW already has a war going on between the "casuals" and the "hardcores" beneath the surface and I'm not sure if it's going to get better. WoW will die on its own, perhaps not for a while yet but I do believe that content-wise it may quickly be running out of original ideas. I stopped playing recently myself, just wasn't that into it anymore. The game that beats it will be whichever one is best at the time WoW finally rolls over and dies. Any game that tries to beat WoW at being WoW.... won't.

Plus, we shouldn't forget the words of Mr. Yahtzee on the wisdom of catering to "Casual Gamers"...

 

[Chipperz]

All it'd take is a better interface on Mafia Wars... That sadist time-vampire that is called Zynga could probably make a more popular MMORPG than World of Warcraft if he REALLY put his mind to it.