grimjim wrote:Massive doesn't have to mean enormous, it just means a lot of players acting within the same world, so long as that's more people than go on RTS or FPS servers you're probably safe calling it an MMORPG. ...
"Massive" is a term introduced in 1987 when most "massive" virtual relaity known was a MUD
I doubt that the people who introduced this term ever imaginned more than 10000 players at once present in a game, let alone they would have never imagined the technical capabilities to support them in a graphic game.
But the discussion about a more or less "massive" player base came from the different concepts of successful game.
Viewed from the SWG experience, Nevrax - even wanting that - cannot push SoR towards a mass game unless they risk losing on one side the existent player base and never have the technical, economical force of any of the huge corporations that throw themselves into the mass/enormous/massively massive games business adventure, on the other.
It's not a real choice here, there is no alternative but push towards the market differentiation they started time ago, maybe before the market could have even been really differentiated (which explains after all both WoW's success and the mediocre business success of SoR).
The only real alternatives reside in selecting the means by which to continue. NPE, even if it may suggest a world pretty different from what the mainland really is, has the huge role of a constants AD attracting people from all areas of the market. Of course some of them, lots of them will leave, but those people who are actually searching for _their_ kind of MMO (lots of people who will cry on these forums for their lost pre CU SWG are from this cathegory) will recognize their game in this mainland.
Nevrax have the time on their side, because statistically as we speak more and more potetial players are "born", they reach the age and financial position to be able to enjoy Ryzom. The more they resist on the market, the bigger player base chance they get.
Why are now all the entertainment corporations dreaming of getting all the players of all ages, sexes, education and purses in the same game? Because they treat MMOs like a single, simple product. Would suffice if any of them makes the effort to go next door to any Sociology department of most Universities and take some of their papers starting with 1993 or so on MUDs to see how complex such communities can be to understand that they are selling Skoda and Lamborghini as one single product. That they are treating Dom Perignon and Lemonade as the same coke selling it indistinctively to the whole world.
Yes indeed WoW made people drive and drink, but this doesn't mean they will for eternity all drink and drive the same stuff. Market studies should be made, see who wants the game for free, who is prepared to pay 2-10-15-30 whatever currency you want to compute. What are the social groups who will enjoy this and that.
There is next a second confusion. This time not specific to MMOs but to computer science in general, a rather inherited confusion: the dream of the shareholders to become each a part of the business miracle of Microsoft, Photoshop, Corel, Skype, Google, name it! But the IT business needs sooner or later to become a normal business, with normal increase and normal profit.
The Ring is already a toy for the slice of the market Nevrax chose at release. Journalists have praised a lot this tool, but who are the journalists? Aren't they by chance, most of them, part of the market share SoR is addressing to? The RIng is also a tool to gracefully invite this market share to support the virtual world they are loving.
Up to now Nevrax was leading a pretty coherent policy during the last 9 months, the time I've been here playing. Slow - but I love people who develop slowly (way more reliable) - but constant. Now I only dream that more of the solutions Jyudas suggested here, or even unforseen ones brought by the Ring will be implemented at a slow pace leaving the player base to get accustomed to each and less of the Spires kind( a nightmare communitywise imo) will end by proving that knowing your market is as important as being a well adapted squirrel compared to a dieing dinosaur.
I am your man ..we can quarrel a bit further IG