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Hi someone!
I'm not sure the premise of your question is valid. What do you define as a "Traditional MMO" and what are your terms of success? World of Warcraft has a stable subscriber base in the millions, and is localized in several growing markets. NCSoft has multiple products with millions of subscribers, focused on the South Korean market. Old Republic launched with around 1.7 million subscribers. Even if they lose nearly half of their player base and settle in at a million subscribers, that's a robust product with a very solid revenue stream. Meanwhile, the free-to-play model has proven to be extremely popular.
The direction the industry seems to be heading is toward more diversity. More action/RPG hybrids (check out the videos for Wildstar or Firefall), more free-to-play or indie MMOs, more games that blur the line (is Diablo III an MMO? It has a shared marketplace, and friends can play together... What is MineCraft? I certainly PLAY it like an MMO, even if the servers are run by my friends instead of a company that I pay a subscription to...) All really interesting! I'm a big fan of Age of Empires Online, myself.
So, as for what I'm doing in 5 to 10 years - I will almost certainly be making games in the online space, using whatever payment model consumers are comfortable with. And I may not still be working on it, but it's clear that World of Warcraft will continue to be a very strong product for years to come. People who first played it in 2004 are starting to play it with their kids - how cool is that? I think the main reason we're not seeing so many "Traditional MMOs" is the cost associated with making them - few studios want to take the risk. But big shared worlds will always be around - the demand is only growing. -
I'll take that as a compliment! :) But GameSpy had a really solid team for a long time, I was just one part of it. I think, looking back on it, we should've gone in a totally different direction after the merger with IGN. Gaming editorial in general is an extremely difficult business. We should've been more aggressive trying to change the game!
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The toughest part is scheduling for creativity. I don't know if there's an easy fix. My solution would be to structure designer time, with periods of "slush" that they can use to experiment with new mechanics or features. The good ones get into the game, and there should be no penalty for experiments that don't make it in the game. Valve is very good at this, from what I understand.
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The funding model. Ad revenue doesn't work, it forces sites to emphasize pageviews, which doesn't always translate to the best or deepest content.
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I'm reading "The Grand Design," by Steven Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow. A very good stab at trying to explain the craziness of modern physics in layman's terms. It's a great read, but I don't know if it's giving me a deep understanding of the universe or not.
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Dave 'Fargo' Kosak
California
Dave 'Fargo' Kosak’s Bio
Game Designer for Blizzard Entertainment, specifically World of Warcraft. One of the original founders of GameSpy. Writer. Lover. Fighter.
