by Garrett Fuller, Industry Relations

Every year at GDC the Future of MMOs panel draws a huge crowd of developers. The experts in the genre give a great talk about the industry and where online game play is going. This year some of the usuals where not able to make it, we hope all is well Mark, still the panel went on nonetheless. Jon Wood hosted a panel containing Jack Emmert from Cryptic Studios, Matt Miller from City of Heroes, Min Kim from Nexon, Ray Muzyka from Bioware, and the lightening rod of everyone’s bolts Rob Pardo of Blizzard. Needless to say this was one group who has seen in all in online game design.

The panel started with a question about using original IPs vs. outside IPs. IP stands for intellectual property. Basically the latest string of MMOs has been following a trend of already established IPs. Lord of the Rings Online, Age of Conan, and Warhammer Online are examples of very popular IPs that have games on or coming to the market. In answer to the IP question Jack Emmert was quick to point out that publishers and investors want established IPs to work with because there is a guaranteed audience for that property. Matt Miller pointed out that the original IP market worked for a smaller market. Ray Muzyka from Bioware added a very good answer that with an original IP you need to work harder on marketing your game. Working with an established IP you already have an audience to deal with. The end result of the question was that it really comes down to risk vs. reward. The smaller MMO market will likely see more original games while the large market will likely see more of the bigger IPs coming into play. [img_assist|nid=27173|title=|desc=Chronicles of Spellborn is an independent MMO|link=popup|align=right|width=100|height=87]

The panel was next asked if the MMO market would be moving over to consoles. Jack Emmert was quick to say that the future will hold one box that does everything. Games, TV, music, it will all be a one stop box that will handle everything. Cryptic is designing Champions Online for the PC and Console market. Ray from Bioware mentioned that the PC remains the most beneficial systems for online games. Rob Pardo from Blizzard weighed in that for the types of games Blizzard makes the PC remains the best platform. Though console sales are high, Rob said that everyone owns a computer and that is where Blizzard is targeting their market.

The most heated debate on the panel came from the topic of micro-transaction vs. subscription models when it comes to paying for online games. Jack Emmert kicked off the debate by saying, “Micro-transactions are the biggest bunch of nonsense I have ever heard!” The crowd laughed, however Jack continued to say that this type of design is not the future. Though it is very popular in Asia the U.S. market still demands subscription models. Rob Pardo explained that micro-transactions are “not the magic bullet,” although it may appeal to investors, it certainly is not the answer for all online games. Min Kim who represents Maple Story and Mabinogi explained that micro-transaction have worked well for the success of Nexon. He compared the system to the changes in the recent music industry. That people are no longer buying full CDs but are downloading songs online. While most people will play a game for free, they are willing to buy individual items that might enhance their game play. Rob Pardo continued to explained that while Blizzard continues to support the subscription model, they do charge players for server transfers. The benefit is that it allows players to keep their communities together. The end result of the question really came down to the fact that the payment plan really comes down to the type of game you are making. However it certainly was the one topic that got the panelists talking.

The next topic that was covered is the growing costs to make an MMO. It seems that now with WoW being the success that it has become, other game companies have a huge mountain to climb as far as building a game that will compete at that level. Rob spoke from the WoW side saying that it is still possible to do a big budget MMO. Ray from Bioware said that it really is about content and appealing to the different types of players. The achievers, combatants, explorers are all player types which hope to find something in MMO games. Matt Miller pointed out that you will see big budget games but you will also see independent games and smaller projects. Hopefully we will see these smaller games take risks and break the molds that the big budget games play safe. It is in this duality that we hope MMOs will continue to drive games forward for our players.

[img_assist|nid=27210|desc=EvE Online is an example of a sci-fi game that has seen great success.|link=popup|align=left|width=100|height=60] One of the last questions that the panel answered dealt with creating a science fiction online game. The market for fantasy games has been very successful, where as sci-fi has seen limited success. The panel had very different views on space games. However overall the group agreed that futuristic games are definitely possible, Rob explained that “All it takes is the right product” to make an MMO work.

After the sci-fi question, the panel had to answer some questions from the floor. Sadly, none of them really had an edge to them and forced answers that we have all heard before. Overall the panel seemed to agree that MMOs are no where near from going away. Some people say the genre is struggling right now, seeing the amount of game companies and publishers who are looking to get into the online market; it is safe to say we’ll be playing these games for a long time to come. Our thanks to the panel for keeping our hopes up that MMOs will continue to succeed. Everyone was hoping that Bioware would say something about the game they were making, well nothing yet. We can keep hoping for what Bioware will offer, and that they will announce within the next few months.


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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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