David Allen, formally of Quest Online, while developing Alganon, was asked the following question:
If you were to build a new MMOG today, what would you do differently?
David Allen: Much has changed over the past five years since we began the Alganon development at Quest Online, especially as it relates to MMOGs. F2P/Microtransaction has gained a good chunk of market dominance and the fantasy market is flooded with product; so much product it’s very difficult to get visibility without some serious marketing dollars. If I were to redo a startup company today with a focus on building an online game, I would first look at evolving the traditional MMOG model. Standard MMOGs are old news now. The market is established and saturated. In order to really get visibility you need to do something extraordinary or different enough where the players interests are captured. Long gone are the days of gamers getting excited at new games coming out because they’re “something new to play”. Now it takes something unique or a sequel to something they already know and love. This social dynamic is very different from how things were just a few years ago. Gamers are so saturated with content and tied into never-ending communications from social networking and messaging systems, it’s overwhelming.
When it comes to MMOGs, I think gamers are looking for “worlds” they can be a part of and commit to for a long period of time. Games are becoming so large-scale and refined as they grow with expansions and overall content, one really has to raise the bar to show the players “come into my world and you won’t be sorry years from now!”. Players now want to ensure their time spent in a MMOG is time they not only enjoy, but can reap the rewards from for years to come.
When it comes to Fantasy MMOGs I do believe there is an open window for a next-gen MMOG which ties the Social networking platform into the game itself, allowing for much better socialization and sharing of content experience with friends and others within the game world. I also believe gamers want to be rewarded not just for playing the game, but also for being a part of the world, even when they’re not playing. I do think gamers love fantasy and that will not change; magic and dragons and far away fantastic places that aren’t dominated by technology, but rather by imagination. That is the allure of fantasy over sci-fi, and it won’t change anytime soon.
So to elaborate, I would create a new “type” of online game. Not necessarily a MMOG, but a hybrid that gave the same sense of community, depth, and content while focusing on gameplay experience. For example, the average MMOG supports 2,000 – 3,000 players online a “world server” at any given time. How many of those players do you encounter in your play session? If you’re soloing and not in “town” perhaps 5 or 10? On a very busy day of travel and raiding over a period of hours while visiting the busiest hubs, a player may see 200 to 300 different players total. So why does the server need to support 3,000 people? It doesn’t. What it comes down to is economy. People want to "feel" that they are a part of a huge living breathing world, but they don’t necessarily want to “see” it. So this makes the focus point the community tools and auction houses. This tells us we’re not alone yet it leaves us alone if we want to enjoy the environment or gameplay either by ourselves or with a group of friends.
I believe the MMOG model can evolve to encapsulate the above. There’s also the opposite of what I mentioned. A true MMOG where the average gaming session does include hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of players on a battlefield, or in some connected fashion. That’s a whole different ball of wax though.
Making an online game is a serious commitment. I’ve shared a number of ideas here, but I don’t have “the perfect game” in mind as I write this. I would need to give it some serious consideration given the amount of funds and time involved. But the good part is the nature of the industry would require me to do things a bit differently; perhaps set a new standard or create a new online gaming experience that’s just one step to the side from the norm, yet provides the fun factor gamers enjoy in today’s great MMOGs.
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