EA's Gibeau discusses WoW killing in a kinder gentler way.

Citing his multiple level 70 World of Warcraft characters as background, Frank Gibeau brings out some interesting thoughts and numbers during his discussion with Gamespot. Obviously EA is getting ready to ship Warhammer Online, but Frank doles out some information before discussing how WoW has become the killer app:

"There's always that ultimate killer app that comes out and creates a mass-market opportunity, and WOW is that for the MMO category. And what they've done is create millions and millions of players who are now comfortable with the way MMOs play, they're comfortable with the models, and they're looking for more."

In other news, Frank discusses the other two MMOs that EA already has (Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot) and that DAoC still has over 100,000 subscribers and is quite profitable. That surprises me to some degree, but I say good on them. While Frank didn't divulge any new information on the KOTOR MMO, he did say that he is:

"... no longer greenlighting games that are single-player only, even console products. They have to have deep online modes because that's where our fans are spending a lot of time and, frankly, that's where a lot of the value in the IPs we create can really take hold."

This is extremely telling in that the game developers are finally getting the fact that players want to play with each other in addition to against each other. To take hold, a game has to offer that ongoing relationship with the players. Speaking of growing arms and relationships, for those of you salivating waiting for Spore, Frank discusses how they plan on handling the issues of "Sporn":

"Ah, sporn. Well, we have filters and parental controls, so if people are of age, they can see it if they want to see it. On our servers, we've got very vigorous controls and are going to keep it out. But you can create whatever you want and upload it to YouTube. That's the beauty of Spore, in a way--it goes where your creativity takes you, and isn't limited to a game design. Basically, publishing Spore is like selling crayons. What you draw with them, I can't help."

Check out the rest of the interview at Gamespot.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

Comments