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Playing Cards

The Future of MMOs and the Growing Popularity of Online Card Games

By Cody "Micajah" Bye

As a typical nerd, I indulge in all the different flavors and flairs of geekdom. I have boxes of comic books stashed away, own as many video game systems as I can afford, roll dice on a weekly basis, and have a serious addiction to collectible card games. Seriously, it's an addiction. Every time I see them splayed on store shelves, I want to buy a pack. It’s been a challenging task to resist the temptation to pick up new card games every week, but I’ve been dutifully resisting that urge.

For those unfamiliar with standard collectible card games, it requires a fairly heft sum of cash to become a viable contender for any tournament that you may be entering in.

Magic the Gathering: Online was the first TCG to break into the internet format.

Whether you’re buying individual cards or try the “open a box” method, you’re still spending several hundred dollars to create a deck that is a viable option in any sort of competitive play.

And boy, did I want to be competitive. I’d get a thrill every time I opened a fresh pack of cards. New card smell is something you don’t ever forget, if you’re an addict. It was a plight to me and my pocketbook. The only answer was MMOs.

I’ve been able to overcome the temptation by playing MMOs, devoting my time and energy to leveling a character rather than competing in tournaments. And it’s a fair trade. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars a month on cards, I spend $15 on a favorite MMO and call it quits. Instead of going to my gaming shop, I play online with friends and (if I wasn’t sent to many of the fan events by TTH) I could use that extra cash to fly out and see my virtual friends at a fun-filled event.

The Pirates Constructible Strategy Game was a success even before it went online.

The Rise of Online Card Games

During the latter half of the 90s and early parts of this decade, this was certainly an easy way to avoid the temptation of card games. By logging on to Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot, or any of the other MMOs that were running during that time, card game players could effectively eliminate the temptation to swirl away hundreds of dollars. However, things are slowly beginning to change.

With the release of Magic the Gathering: Online in 2002, the card gaming world began encroaching in the online space again, this time with a passion. Now, card players could spend hundreds of dollars with a click – no cash register or card swiping needed. It was instant gratification. Now if someone needed a card, all they had to do was look on the numerous trading sites and get the card that they needed.

Need more cards to build your deck with? Just buy 20 packs and have at it! Without the need to search for a gaming store or card shop, card players wee sucked in again – this time with the suction force of a F16 fighter jet.

Former card gamers now don’t have any reason not to play these games. They love the cards, can request true paper version of the cards from the online game, and have access to online tournaments on a near daily basis.

SOE put together the online portion of the Stargate TCG.

The MMO Dilemma

So what does this have to do with MMOs?

Depending on where you look, that answer can vary. Most online game companies don’t have anything to do with trading cards. Even when they do – like the World of Warcraft trading card game that has made such a splash on the gaming scene – they don’t directly impact the online universe at all. In WoW’s case, it has probably helped their popularity.

However, there are companies with vested interests in online games – both MMO and collectible cards – that are attempting to pursue both markets. Sony Online Entertainment is the big name in this venue, and they’ve been actively pursuing the card game market, trying to gain a foothold to MtGO’s dominance. By picking up the online version of the Pirates Constructible Strategy Game, developing the Stargate card game, and continuing their Star Chamber card series, Sony Online Entertainment is primed to make a move on the marketplace.

The real dilemma comes if Sony Online succeeds with their online card games. Realistically, online card games typically take less effort to produce then a full-scale AAA MMO, especially if the card set already has a real-life counterpart like Magic or the Pirate game. While other online companies are spending millions of dollars developing new MMOs, SOE is building much smaller-scale worlds and has the potential to reap a much larger net profit.

Does this mean that MMOs will fall to the rising popularity of online trading card games? Probably not, but I don’t doubt that these collectible card games will continue to develop into a viable medium that could – one day – begin to encroach into the realm of MMOs.

Perhaps, when these trading card games get popular enough, there might be some crossover tie-ins with a trading card game and an MMO in the future. It isn’t beyond the realm of possibilities, and it’d lend a distinct challenge to the first MMO that employs it.

We’ll just have to wait and see.

Have your own opinion on trading card games and MMOs? Let me know by emailing me!