NationStates Jolt Archive

So I posted a little topic about this seemingly excellent new MMORTS I found called Beyond Protocol earlier, but I was thinking about it a little more and I wanted to stir up a little debate on these forums about the idea in general.

We all know about the successes of various MMORPG game like World of Warcraft in their attempts to lure in large amounts of players to participate in a "leveling fest" that ends up with lots of people enjoying themselves in end game content that usually ends up with raids against some unspeakable evil. Nonetheless despite the widespread success of the MMORPG genre, very few companies have tried to create anything besides this traditional RPG-type MMO. Which led me to wonder why that is and why more companies haven't attempted to go out into what appears to be a ripe territory for recruitment and attracting a brand new audience. So my question to everybody here is, do you think MMORTS has a chance of being a big hit amongst the general population or do you think it's doomed to failure and that only the MMORPG has any chance of succeeding? Fire at will!

Isn't Starcraft a MMORTS? Assuming that stands for what I think it stands for, that is. The game doesn't go on indefinitely, but it fits the definition.

To answer your question Thumbless Starcraft does not fit the MMORTS description. In order for a game to be an MMORTS it must have a persistant universe that lasts even when you're not logged into the game and also all the players have to be on the same server in the same game, so just like World of Warcraft where you have tons of people in the same world at the same time this would be the same way. That's what that Beyond Protocol game is like... it's an RTS where everybody's in the same GIGANTIC galaxy and the game is persistent.

It all boils down to what type of non-MMO games sell the best. The best selling game genres are, by far, Action, Sports, and FPS. Sports and FPS already dominate online play as well, although Sports would be impractical as an MMO and FPS and action especially would take so much bandwith and processessing power that we simply aren't there yet techologically.

The RPG genre naturally fits in to the MMO category. RPG games offline have "parties" of characters that run around, fight hordes, have a story, and whatnot. Instead of you controlling all the characters in the party, you control one, your buddy controls another, someone from japan controls the third, and whatnot. The RPG genre was born for MMO capabilities.

The RTS genre, therefore, faces two hardships. It isn't popular. Sorry if it's your favorite genre and all your friends play it, but in the big scheme of things, its a niche genre and doesn't sell all that well. Making an MMO would be too high-risk for a company. Second, it doesn't "naturally fit" into an MMO world. It's not the same to command an army as it is to command a single character. Also it wouldn't make sense. How many armies can there be in one world?

Now, a RTS with online capabilites and an online community is far more likely, and a far better idea. I'd stick with that.

In response to what you just said Steel I actually had a similar viewpoint to your own, but ironically the RTS genre is very popular so long as you exclude the American market. American gamers are definitely interested in RTS in their own way but the real marketing potential for that genre lies with the Europeans and the Asian markets. So there is a marketable segment for such types of games, and the way that Beyond Protocol works the overall universe is so large that it can be viable to have as many people as you need to have in a given universe and the game expands according to how many people enter into it. Your points are well taken about the popularity of the genre when addressing an American audience as well though... it just becomes a battle to make people realize the potential of games like this I think... It's all about how well you can advertise and keep people interested...

In response to what you just said Steel I actually had a similar viewpoint to your own, but ironically the RTS genre is very popular so long as you exclude the American market. American gamers are definitely interested in RTS in their own way but the real marketing potential for that genre lies with the Europeans and the Asian markets. So there is a marketable segment for such types of games, and the way that Beyond Protocol works the overall universe is so large that it can be viable to have as many people as you need to have in a given universe and the game expands according to how many people enter into it. Your points are well taken about the popularity of the genre when addressing an American audience as well though... it just becomes a battle to make people realize the potential of games like this I think... It's all about how well you can advertise and keep people interested...

Games STILL come down to money. MMORPG's get subscriptions from the HUGE American market, the European market, and the Japanese market. These are the three main areas as far as gaming companies are concerned. To make a game that will only gain profit from the European and Japanese markets would be to either lose money, or make a lower-cost and therefore lower-quality game to avoid financial ruin.

MMORTS is a niche market but it exists. Just not glutted like the MMORPG market is currently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_real-time_strategy#Released_MMORTS_titles

Games STILL come down to money. MMORPG's get subscriptions from the HUGE American market, the European market, and the Japanese market. These are the three main areas as far as gaming companies are concerned. To make a game that will only gain profit from the European and Japanese markets would be to either lose money, or make a lower-cost and therefore lower-quality game to avoid financial ruin.

Regardless of the money associated with it, some companies, the one making Beyond Protocol in particular, think that there is great untapped potential within this market. The problem before is that nobody with substantial marketing dollars wanted to try it because the big studios just don't like to innovate that much when they can keep on churning out titles that are very similar to the previous ones they've made and continue making lots of money.

The guys making Beyond Protocol have the potential to go somewhere I think because, while they are taking a risk by doing what they are doing, their is also the probability of great rewards associated with taking such risks, and they have pretty reasonable financial backing to support their endeavors from some pretty big names in the financial market. Nonetheless your point is taken in that most companies would not take the chance on something new because they don't see the potential for it... but I think since this game is a very player-driven one and the developers actually spend time LISTENING to their players and incorporating their ideas (heck they even have an in-game mechanic that mimics the World Assembly called the Galactic Senate that lets the players propose legislation that everybody votes on and if it passes gets incorporated into the game) and because of this with the increased financial backing that they have I feel that there is a great potential to break out of the traditional mold of gaming and create something entirely new that is profitable

(heck they even have an in-game mechanic that mimics the World Assembly called the Galactic Senate that lets the players propose legislation that everybody votes on and if it passes gets incorporated into the game)

If you thought the politicking behind earmarks and such are brutal, just imagine what it'll be like if a bunch of people decide to pool together to form a "No Tank/Zerg/Weenie Rush" lobby?

If you thought the politicking behind earmarks and such are brutal, just imagine what it'll be like if a bunch of people decide to pool together to form a "No Tank/Zerg/Weenie Rush" lobby?

LOL at that one Gauthier... yeah I for one can tell you that the politics of the real world definitely get mixed in with this game when people truly get involved with their ideas for what they think is best... and this is one of the myriads of reasons why wars are fought... ;-)
It gets intense to say the least which is one of the reasons why this game caught my eye originally when I was looking at it... I was like... political system in game?... hmm nothing like backing up your viewpoints with a couple hundred warships!