When playing a game like World of Warcraft it’s natural to accept that we’ll be given a path to follow from 1-80 and that we’ll be given a story and purpose that leads us along. Playing WoW also means that you accept that the general goal of the game is to complete the content, and in order to do so you must participate in a rigidly structured ladder comprised of dungeons and raids which make up the rungs.  Honestly, whether you like it or not, this is all fine. It becomes a problem when the metagame kicks in and you’re no longer going anywhere but in circles.
In Lord of the Rings there is a well known and beloved story at work which drives the player forward. Eventually there comes a time though when the player has completed the story which is available and the metagame kicks in. Turbine keeps the story coming bit by bit in order to extend the life of the game, but eventually the story will be told. Until this point, the meta game dominates as players quickly burst through the new story and reach the metagame where they tread water until the next chapter.
Darkfall, being more sandbox and less linear, is not immune to this problem either. One reaches the point (fairly quickly if they macro) where their character plateaus. They participate in city sieges, see the geopolitical conflict unfold, and eventually visit the majority of the map. The situations where something ‘new’ is introduced wane and the player is then left with a metagame which can at times be more dull than the raiding treadmill.
No game is immune to this problem. Even the best games have a shelf life. Although I loved EverQuest, there wasn’t much reason for me to continue playing after a few years. Dark Age of Camelot was fantastic, and aside from the design changes I would have continued to play but not for much longer. The games reach a point where players lose interest because nothing new is introduced. The games fade out and wither away. They all have an expiration date where continuing to play them is more of a grand attempt at holding onto something that was, rather than something that is or will be.
Since we all know this is inevitable, should MMO’s be designed with an ending aimed at preventing games from reaching that point of stale metagame? What if Dark Age of Camelot had been planned ahead of time to last for three years where we knew the game would end? On one hand I think I would feel that same feeling I have when playing a closed beta character where I think “why bother playing when I know it’s going to be deleted?”. On the other hand, I think that there could be a certain benefit. What if developers designed the game and content to stop after a reasonable amount of time but left the game up and running for anyone who wanted to continue, and then had a sequel ready to go?
We all know that part of our leaving a game, even a beloved one, is because of the ‘new and shiny’ effect. I remember that it was a lot easier to leave DAOC knowing that SWG was available. What if this was taken advantage of and a part two came out? If Dark Age of Camelot was designed to last for 3 years but then had a DAoC2 ready to come out right away then I would have played it without a doubt. Sometimes that’s all that players want – their same game but with a fresh start.
The best MMO’s could then be designed as trilogies or even a hexalogy. There are times when I wish I could just stick with one property like EverQuest and be done with it. There are also times when I wish that I could get in on a game but feel like it is impossible to join so late. Knowing that the next in the series is coming and that it will be a fresh start could be a way to introduce a lot of players. There wouldn’t be the “oh if only we could go back to those mechanics in that game” anymore if iterations of “that game” were still being made.
It’s an idyllic solution, but I think there is some merit and validity to how this approaches solving the issue of shelf life and MMO expiration dates. Thoughts?
(Thanks to Beleg for inspiring the idea.)
That’s actually a very cool idea. MMOs have a natural life span anyways, so one could argue they have an expiration date already, it’s just unwritten. Sony sort of did this with EverQuest and EQ2. I like the idea but I think it would be very hard to do when you start breaking down the logistics.
Agreed. The idea falls apart when logistics of designing an entirely new game come come into play. It would take enormous studios to work on the next game in order to maintain the quality.
It also assumes the game becomes a cult classic with a population justifying the continued expansion. EQ, DAOC, AC, WoW, and only a handful of other games that have been released would have even qualified.
Additionally, it would require more than shovelware quality. I’m talking about creating an entirely new game with quality matching the original.
Pretty much why I think it’s an idyllic solution but still one of the better ones.
I think its a pretty solid idea.
But I would rather have the “ending” unannounced to the players. The devs create the game to last a few years, but don’t tell the players theres a ending set in stone, and then finish the game off with an epic ending, leading into the next installment.
But with this model comes some other problems.
Some semi-new players would look at the game and say “well, no point in joining a year late, I’ll wait for part 2” And then they get distracted by something else.
The second are the players who spend a lot of time on their mains (pretty much everyone)- Cool, I’ve got a badass max level PVP machine, who I am good at playing – It would be really hard for someone to just start over in version 2 of the game.
Excellent idea. One thing that popps in to my mind though is that couldn’t this be done with the games we have right now without making a totally new game. It just takes some big balls to execute such a move.
Change the gameworld dramatically – apocalypse style. I don’t mean you should completely revamp the game (mechanics etc. that might have been tweaked for years and years) but take the storyline somewhere else – kill the players and make them start all new chars – sons and daughters of their previous chars. Make new classes, races in one big swoop. Wipe the landscape – make new continents etc!
The effect of such changes in a game like wow might be very refreshing and most people would start from the scratch quite happily knowing that it’s the same for everyone else. Even in sandbox games like EVE it propably would work. At start the game would propably shift into full anarchy mode for a while but after the starsystems would have new kings and queens things would go back to normal.
@Mcface: Good idea. Not giving them a clear date allows the studio to continue to expand the game if they feel it still has time before reaching the expiration date. This way players aren’t faced with knowing when the end is coming.
@Philinor: Indeed this could, and should, happen with many titles today. In a way this is what Cataclysm is doing with WoW. DAOC2 can still happen. Another Asheron’s Call can still happen. I think even another UO could be released. The good ideas are still good ideas.
I think this is a great idea, but probably doesn’t fit well with the people fitting the bill on these games.
WoW’s expansions sort of serve this purpose, though to a lesser extent. When a new WoW expansion comes out and invalidates everyone’s gear and such, it sort of forces a bit of a “fresh start” on the people who are already max geared and max leveled from the previous expansion’s offerings.
When Cataclysm rolls around, it will more or less move people on from WotLK into new gear, raids and levels. This of course doesn’t help the people who may want to play but are far too intimidated to jump in now…
I get what you’re saying but at the same time I don’t understand why every game needs to have a constant flow of history evolving or whatever to keep people playing.
I mean, look at the FPS multiplayer genre, look particularly at Counterstrike 1.6, the game that refused to die. It’s all metagame as far as I can tell from your description. People play it over and over just for the fun of beating your opponents without any real form of reward. What’s wrong with that ? And why are MMO’s not supposed to be like that ?
To be honest, it’s exactly what I am looking for in MMO’s, a game where I quickly reach a point where my characters progresses little to none in terms of power (gear, talents etc) and the only thing left is to hone my playerskill over and over and over again so that I can consistently come out as the winner when I play.
@Proximo: Well, metagame is when a game transcends a prescribed ruleset. In a way Counterstrike did exactly what I’m suggesting here. It was reinvented or essentially remade and functioned the same way. Tougher to relate the idea to a FPS game.
It’s not so much that MMO’s are “not supposed to be like that”, but rather a look at what happens when they become like that. They’re played one way up until they change over to a new way of playing and eventually (not right away mind you) reach their expiration date. Or they simply become stale and uninteresting because nothing changes.
Using yourself as an example, even in a game where you reach the end and have fun, don’t you eventually reach a point where you’re like “okay, I’ve had enough. Time to move on.”?
Well ofc that happens, we’re just human afterall and at some point our brains go “wait a minute, this was fun the first 4000 times now its getting kinda dull”, well u know. But usually it’s been new shiny stuff that has diverted my attention rather than me putting a game down because I’ve had enough.
I think part of the problem lays in that PvE content become repetitive grind a lot faster than PvP content does. I mean the first time you get a bosskill it’s a achievement, the 2nd time its fun, the 5th-10th time its becoming just farming to get whatever the boss drops.
This is the reason why I like PvP better, it just gives me opponents that I don’t know exactly how they will respond to my actions, there’s no bossmods telling me there’s 15 sec until the opponent goes BOOM and I need to move. I need to be alert and react to what my opponents are doing all the time and thats the key element that makes it less grindy than PvE content I guess.
Killing other players ONLY for the glory of being the last man standing is what keeps me playing a game for a long time, and imho it’s also the “gamemode” that will have the longest staying power without changing and evolving. MW2 is built clever that way, you have character progression with levels and unlocks, you have 10 prestige levels if you wanna go hardcore (basically reaching max level 10 times ><), but in the end it's all about logging on and measuring your playerskill against others, and even at level 1 you are competitive if you are a proper player. I wish there where MMO's like that (that didn't suck :p)
WAR was looking to be my MMO to play prior to launch, all this talk about endless RvR and very little gear dependency and add to that the visual upgrades from trophies got me hooked (I like games where I can grind for vanity/visual upgrades that doesn't improve stats), too bad it turned out to be a shit game. 🙁
Sry for incoherent posts, I'm writing in between doing other stuff 😛
In an ideal world this would be a fantastic idea!
To take WoW for as an example. With a three year cycle we would now be looking at the end of WoW II and eagerly awaiting WoW III. Could there be anything sweeter for a WoW fan?
Probably no, but unfortunately the world doesn’t work that way. Every new game would be like the previous one when it was new, littered with bugs and lacking in content. Essentially the previous title would remain superior for quite awhile. But more importantly, making a new game is a gigantic investment. Expansions are far more cost efficient.
I believe Tabula Rasa was built to have a story arc and a definite ending… Could be wrong though.
This is an interesting idea. I had the same idea quite a while back. The way I see it there are a few factors that make it rather difficult to predict when to end your MMO, but can be used to roughly figure a time frame.
1. Hardware. New graphics cards, new processors, etc. They control how your MMO is rated against single player games. This evolution can cause you issues if your engine/graphics start to look dated.
2. AI. As the new companies come up with new technology in this field your static levels and zones can not be modified quickly enough to take advantage of it.
3. Bandwidth. As bandwidth increases then more content can be provided to the player.
4. Popularity. The MMO genre has become more popular over time and there are now many experts (like this site and its contributors) that can affect how long it takes for people to consume content. Guides, databases, how-to’s, maps, etc.
5. Dead areas vs new blood. The areas for starting and leveling to max level become unused, but you still need a place for new people to start. As time goes on and more content is added through updates the amount of dead areas create strain on the servers that host it and increase database size. However, new blood is needed and places are needed for them to start.
6. Grind, moneysinks, timewasters. Every game in recent memory has these mechanics. Gameplay has been reduced to gathering gear for stats and all this gear comes from endless grinds and crafting moneysink pits. When the populace gets sick of the treadmill they tend to get angry and move on.
Those are some of the major things I could come up with to consider (I am sure there are more) that factor in how to end your MMO. MMOs, as they are currently made, do need an expiration date.
That being said, I have ideas how to completely change how MMO’s are done, and possibly avoid the expiration date. Perhaps I would post them if anyone would be even remotely interested ;).
At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, lol. What Blizzard is doing with World of Warcraft kind of helps me fit into the logic that is being posted here. I am always wishing for a WoW, a SWG Redux or SWG2, or something along those terms for Planetside as well. At the same time all I want is an improved version of the game in terms of graphics, mechanics, and physics improvements (AKA some things an Expansion can accomplish). Back to WoW, Cataclysm is one of the first MMO’s that I know of that seems to be taking the step of completely bombing what once was (L1-60 Areas) and giving new players and old a fresh feeling In a long time running MMO.
I honestly think what everyone is saying is a great idea, we need something shiny and new and very companies can achieve that. Blizzard is taking what I think is the first step and instead of jumping to WoW2, they are slowly accommodating people with our mindsets which I think is the right way.
Not everyone likes changes, but if it’s done slowly and in baby steps, even the hardcore retro people might not even notice it happening 🙂
If they stop treating them as separate games it would work better. Many developers already have the backbone in place with one account accessing multiple games.
Let’s use DAoC as an example. You start up DAoC on launch day, you play through content, get rolled a few times, take a keep or two. 2 years later the devs stop altering the world once it’s stable. No more content. they start development on DAoC 2.
Let’s say it take 3 years with a dedicated team not worried about DAoC to finish DAoC 2. A skeleton dev team is kept on with DAoC to start with compatibility updates. DAoC gets it’s graphics engine updated with DAoC 2’s. A few story lines to mesh the two together are put into place to play out before release.
DAoC 2 comes out and players log in to find DAoC 2 servers in their server list along with DAoC. Now players can log into one or the other.
Characters can be transferred from DAoC to DAoC 2, since classes and abilities will be different, the ytransfer comes in the way of bonuses applied to the new character. Significant permanent bonuses, not a stupid pet. Like a permanent intel bonus for casters or something. Something worthwhile to give newcomers the motivation to play through the first game. (It is, after all, pretty now)
Anyways my 2c
Let’s do NOT use DAoC as an example, please.
I like the idea Fyzzle, if this style was ever implemented it would definetly have to have some way of continuing on my character from the original.
“Even the best games have a shelf life”
Well thats just not true. Not if they are built around competitive gameplay. Only story driven games eventually die, because they are like movies or in most mmo’s case like soap opera.
I think we have only just seen the beginning of what this genre has to offer with regards to competive play. For example I think the e-sport element of WoW “the arena” will outlive “WoW the mmo” by far, and we havent even scratched the surface of the potential for competitive pve.
The problem is all the grinds, the power imbalances caused by endless gear and the artificial time sinks holding the genre back.
It’s a really interesting idea. I guess developers wouldn’t want to see the game end because they can, theoretically, keep it running as long as there is interest and profit from that.
I don’t think we need to shut down a game though. What’s wrong with EQ still living on? If people are still enjoying it and it’s making money then isn’t that a really good thing?
I would however like to see more over-arching storylines in MMOs and a real feeling of progression. It’s something that appeals to me about LotRO although it does make me wonder what will happen once they’ve used up all of the content.
Dispair, I actually disagree with you. From what I have read about e-sports WoW is already on the outs. Yes Blizzard still supports it but based on the changes from one patch to the next in what is more powerful alot of e-sport sponsors have stopped sponsoring teams. They focus mainly on FPS games such as Counter Strike or MW2. There are some e-sport sponsors still backing WoW Arena but not what it was 2 years ago.
Every game does have a shelf life for the 99% of the people playing video games. StarCraft is one of the most popular games of all time and while a sizable amount of people play it the majority of those who did no longer do.
Asking for a MMO to have an ending isn’t the same as asking for the servers to be shut down. Some of the most fun I have had in single player RPGs is playing on after you beat the game, when allowed. I know I have postponed beating other RPGs just because I wanted to play around. Letting people exist in a MMO after the main storyline is completed is perfectly exceptable and would still show a profit.
If Blizzard had come out on the launch of WoW and said we plan on making this a 5 Chapter MMO. Vanilla being chapter 1 then each paid expansion being another chapter. We, as in Blizzard, intend to close up the over all story line of this WoW universe in 5 chapters, 1 game and 4 expansions. We, Blizzard, then plans to focus on a WoW2 that continues on at a latter timeline, ie EQ2.
I am following the IEM wow arena tournament (world finals next month – yay) and its definitely not dying – all the teams are sponsored, new sponsors even coming in. H2K picked up their team in the european qualifiers, sk gaming have more teams than I have ever seen, and a new sponsor dignitas picked up europes best rmp. Could be US is just falling behind EU and Asia (hehe :p), but its better than ever imo. However Cataclysm may do some damage to the e-sports scene with its rated battleground nonsense, but I think Blizzard will continue to support and develop it, when they realise its where the longevity of the game lies.
About games in general starcraft still lives, and will continue to. Even though starcraft2 looks good it will not replace starcraft in korea any time soon. CS source didnt replace CS 1.6, and CS 1.6 will likely not die any time soon. Quake is still being played competitively, the list goes on.
All we have to do is look at chess and realise that good competive gameplay = timeless.
Like A Tale In The Desert?
For those that don’t know, it’s a sandbox game with no combat; crafting and political intrigue are the gameplay mechanics…not for everyone, to be sure, but…currently, they’re coming up on the end of “ATITD IV”. Each “launch” of the game is called a “telling,” with a pre-determined date that it will end, and the game will start over. (btw, they have an interesting experiment going on right now…they’re testing to see if 1100 subscribers is Dunbar’s Number for the game, based on previous user stats. Interesting read over at their site.)
True, all MMO’s have a lifespan, but I don’t think we’ll see any non-indie developers run with the concept of a finite game; part of the VC pitch to get funding involves the uncertainty of just how long the game will continue to generate revenue, with WoW still the one that’s pointed to most often.
Don’t get me wrong…I think you’re correct. I just can’t see a developer running with this idea, even though it is a good one.
Of course, WoW has offered plenty of opportunities to start on a fresh server as they’ve added new realms over the years; I wonder what the response would be if they opened a new server with no transfers of existing characters allowed?
That way, folks could start from level 1 in the same exact game that exists now. (I realize you meant a second game with improvements, but it would still be interesting to see the response.)
Competitive pve at its finist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KSDndoZeg4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7PXj3rJ1MY&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc22H8Jekxs
Too bad we dont see anything like this in mmo’s 🙁
I quite like this idea.
However the money involved in cranking out another title in 3 years would be quite substantial. Even if they reuse parts of the previous game. No reason someone can’t pull it off though.
In fact this is sort of what Asheron’s Call 2 was meant to be. Except instead of iterating on what was/still is a great system, they just revolutionized every single game system. The existing fans were not impressed.
If this idea were to work, the part 2 and 3 titles would have to have a strong enough resemblance in look and feel to the previous game(s).
To the premise of this topic, I say no. I think the underlying basis of an MMO is that it doesn’t have an end, nor should it. Both WOW and Eve online have proved/stalled the idea that they have a ‘shelf life’, the healthy growth of their player base is proof of that. The idea of a good MMO is it just keeps adding and adding to it’s world. Content expansions, graphic updates, improved gameplay mechanics, etc. Eve Online has years and years of potential expansion to look forward to, planetary access, human avatar play, ground combat, it could just keep going.
From a commercial perspective, you don’t make a sequel to a successful MMO, because you’re just going to cannibalize your own player base. It’s failed MMOs that try to make sequels because the player base have fled for other games, this idea is demonstrated by Everquest and DaoC, they both lost their playerbase and tried to reboot from scratch (ie: Everquest2 and Warhammer).
MMOs are about investing time building up your Characters/Avatars. No one is going to invest time developing their characters/avatars if they know in advance, that they will only exist for 2 years, then they will just stop and you will have to start new characters from scratch with their MMO sequel. This is one of the problems with new MMOs taking off, it’s hard to invest the time when you can’t see it lasting, take Allods for example, I had certainly planned to level up a toon in this game, until the recent announcements. Now there is no point in grinding up a toon, just to shelve him when the game changes and cash shop will cripple your characters playability. Better to level up another WowCrack toon, where I know he has a future.
I certainly think MMOs should have an evolving story line overall in which the player can participate (or not). This story line should allow players to make significant contributions that can swing the arc of the story and modify the conclusion. But I don’t see the need for throwing everything out entirely. Certainly they could evolve and add content that could affect an outcome in a new way.
For example, DAoC to me should have have the ability for sides to conquer the entirety (perhaps minus PvE only areas) of the game world. First side that does that and the world is reset. People could be allowed to move their characters off to a separate “retirement” server in which they can do as they like with no consequences.
Doesn’t Tales in the Desert have something of a limited life?
I think 2.0’s are a great idea. What if Cataclysm goes live, and all characters have been killed/deleted. Would it be different with everyone experiencing the new zones together? Would it make WoW better, or would people ragequit knowing they had to start completely over?
@Brian Inman: WoW Expansions essentially are a fresh start. The only thing that remains is the levels and gold (which also isnt too necessary as the gold inflation from TBC and WOTLK shows). The things that took the longest, the gear, are reset with each new expansion.
I don’t think of you really understand how huge it was to go from EQ to EQ2. That was a TRUE fresh start with a familiar game. Expansions are nothing like that.
I recently tried EQ2 again after almost 5 years and i must say
i would encourage anyone to try it again.
The new player experience, even the new ‘Golden Path’ they just added, streamlines content to help new players so they dont get overwhelmed by all the content offered in this game.
I dont know exactly ‘when’ we should retire an MMO, but for me as long as they keep working on the new player experience while providing new top level content, its still a current MMO worth playing.
Now, do i play my paladin in Allods or do i switch over to EQ2 and start a fresh pally from Timorous Deep.
I fear Allods wont have much of a lifespan
Higgs
Its a great idea for players, bad idea for a money stand point. No company is going to want to say let kill off a product that making money.
I think though that if major story lines where to start and end (like a tv series might work better). A lot of MMo’s do a pretty good job of starting a story, when an expansion comes out, but do a pretty bad job at ending the story, though out the life of the expansion
I think as long as a mmo can reinvent itself and keep the content coming there’s no reason to stop it. Blizzard has actually done this the best in my opinion. Many mmo’s fall into the pitfall of;
1. Games endgame content fades and new content isn’t introduced fast enough, thus people quit.
2. It’s an mmo, they take awhile to reach endgame.
3. If 1. and 2. are both in play you’re mmo dies.
Solution is exactly what Blizzard did. They keep up with content for one but most importantly have gradually made it easier for people to reach endgame content faster. Thus negating the quit and never come back factor and instead entice past players to play again. Over the years Blizzard has become better and better at this. If this simple method can be followed and done correctly the only thing hindering you are bad decisions on content and how big your IP is.
The best way for companies to keep us wrapped up in their game is to have a that end you want to get to, but ends up being very difficult to get to. Using WoW as an example, there was always that ‘biggest’ dungeon that everyone wanted to get to, while in reality only a few people ever did.
With plenty to keep you occupied while chasing it, dangling that carrot in front of the player keeps them in-game. If everyone could get to the Lich King fight without putting in the time and effort it takes to get there, it wouldn’t be as epic a fight.
I think the main problem with MMOs is that they DO have expected life spans and so don’t get as much love as they should. “Well we only expect it to last a few years so don’t worry about trying to implement that idea”.
actually i think we are a bit delusional.
the game manufacturers would be excited to be able to say: we’re going to release MMO v1 in 2010, then in 2013 we’re going to shut down the servers of MMO v1, all the content is going to be deleted, but you can now start playing our next-gen MMO v2! Then in 2016 we’re going to shut down the servers for MMO v2 and delete all your stuff, but fret not! MMO v3 will be available.
If this was in fact implemented as such, i would care to wager that most forum warriors would have a shitfit not too unlike the Epic Allods Cash Shop Tear Flood of 2010.
GAHHHHHHH
I’m not talking about shutting servers down. You can “end” a MMO without shutting it down.
Let’s take Star Wars:TOR as an example. That game is suppose to be focused around story. Eventually story is going to run out and BioWare is going to have to add the end game filler that every MMO does to keep players.
If BioWare came out and said that SW:TOR is going to be a 5 Chapter MMO then we are going to stop releasing paid content. That would enable BioWare to really focus on an epic story with a begining middle and end without worrying about having to create never ending content.
Now after the 5 chapters are released BioWare could leave the servers in tact. They could add “mini” chapters in the way of content patches but by having a defined over all story arch they could focus on a great EPIC tale. New players could still play through the 5 chapters of the MMO and old players could move on to a new game.
Yes no one is saying this is an easy or plasuable idea. All I’m asking is that people think about a MMO ending as more than just shutting the servers down.
I think thats actually an excellent idea. Do one great story that lasts a couple of expansions then stop releasing more content and let the diehards focus on the pvp, which then can be much more balanced since there is no more gear to constantly upset things. Isnt ArenaNet doing something like that with Guild Wars?
Yes, yes and yes. I’ve only been nursing the idea of a game with resets (something ends and restarts, be it your character, or the whole game itself) for 10+ years now. And every time I find one brave enough to take the leap, I’m all over it drooling with glee.
To play the devil’s advocate though, I have learned some things through experiencing complete game resets with A Tale in the Desert and partial reset (remort in MUDspeak) with Kingdom of Loathing and even permadeath reset from the brilliant rogue-like family games.
As long as the game remains fundamentally the same, at some point, a player will grok the patterns and either reach a deep understanding of it or get tired/frustrated by the repetitions, and shortly become bored. And bing, there’s your game’s lifespan right there. Because finite game is finite, alas.
The good news with resets is that it makes it lots easier to come back after a break. In the case of complete game resets, it levels out the playing field so that everyone feels they have a chance to compete again fairly and start cooperating (groups that can actually be found!) on the same page at the same levels again.
And resets that produce some kind of variety and change and novelty make it harder to get bored of the game because something is now different.
Even FPSes like Team Fortress 2, L4D, et. al. have map level resets. And the same is true, the change of starting conditions, players moving in and out of game, creates new things to respond to and keeps you playing despite the repetition. But ultimately, you’ll get bored of the game and stop. For a while. Then maybe you might get tempted to fiddle with it again. For a while. Until the next new shiny.
But yes, MMOs don’t do this often enough. Eve Online has shown that a captivating strategy is to create this huge overlapping web of player-driven events and narratives. Stories are cool. Imagine if there was an over-arcing story that starts and ends, and then begins again with new players who get to shine in the spotlight.
I’m quite sold on finite game Tellings with A Tale in the Desert myself, the tricksy thing is not liking some of the other game mechanisms in it. 🙂
Moar MMOs embracing this so there’s more choice to choose from, thanks!
Stories that have *ends* tend to be more interesting. A neverending story can have fun parts, but “treading water” isn’t usually much fun for long. I’ve written about episodic MMOs lately, which implies an ending to each “chapter”, though my notion was to leave old chapters up for perusal (not unlike rereading a book), but having their stories end, and the main storyline go on in a new chapter. Psychochild, Wiqd and I have written about generational mechanics before, too, which could be useful in a game series that has an end.
Of course, I tend to believe that such storytelling works best with a Guild Wars business model as opposed to a subscription model, since the game mechanics of a perpetual treadmill don’t lend themselves well to endings.
That’s all somewhat tangential, though. If you’re talking about ending a game and forever turning off the servers, well, I’d not actually be interested. It’s just like a long rental that everyone has to slot into their schedule. I’d be interested to see what the game does, but I’d not want to play. I don’t like paying money for games that I can only play for a specific period of time; that’s one of the problems I have with draconian DRM and activation servers.
I’m not sure, but hasnt this, in a way, been done by Guild Wars. A new box every other year and PvP in the endgame…
Think about it, with the junk out within the last two-to three years- What the heck would we play? Aion… LOL. No thanks, I think I’ll stick to my older games.
Endings are for Console and RPG games- not MMO.