That…exactly that.
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I think the problem with an MMO and RPG in one is a good RPG shouldn’t be completely on rails, but an MMO almost has to be. If some quest dialogue meant you couldn’t get a good piece of gear at end-game or in a dungeon? Less people would be able to progress in end-game and would leave. Or if your choice of class or spec meant you couldn’t get a mount or pet drop? People wouldn’t pay monthly for that.
The point of an RPG is typically the story. A good RPG should maintain a decent level of difficulty throughout and shouldn’t get easier or harder. So what I want from an RPG is a good story, a story that may change slightly for my character based on their actions, and a consistent difficulty.
This “consistent difficulty” is also something you wouldn’t see in an MMO. It might be easier to kill random mobs in the world at higher iLVL, but because these are all subscription based there is no incentive to make it easier for someone to finish the end-game content (M+ and raids) since they may unsub after completion.
ESO is good at this with their events. I honestly only resub when I know an event is going on, but that is quite often. But I know there were will a lot of people running around and I can do a public dungeon, world boss, or other world event and there will be plenty of people doing the same thing who will just stop to help.
As for FFXIV? I subbed and played for about 3 months after the release of 8.2. I enjoyed the monk class, the idea that you had to think about positioning etc, but after the first MSQ I felt I was spending most or all of my time in a dungeon queue. I don’t even like that in WoW, but in FFXIV I didn’t feel it was a choice. But that is likely why there are so many players just hanging out in a city - stay near the crystal to quickly port? Because if I remember correctly you have to run into the instance in FFXIV.
Nah, people mostly hang out in the city b/c they don’t need to run to the instance. Also, each expansion ends up with basically a hub to purchase the gear from w/ tokens, very rarely will a drop actually come from the instance itself, most of the time you’re upgrading w/ crafted pieces or token gear from said hub.
MMORPGs are really bad investments IMO.
There really IS a market for them, but without any meaningful competition it has all definitely stagnated.
I really have high hopes for the next gen of MMORPGs, especially Ashes of Creation.
As someone with a big interest in the LoL universe just as much as Warcrafts, I’m looking forward to Riot’s MMO project and hoping it can break in to the market strong to innovate and give WoW and FFXIV a run for there money.
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You need a new MMO to enter the top rungs of the genre, or else WoW and FF14 will continue to play safe and be stagnant without innovation nor competition.
OSRS didnt do it. ESO didnt do it. Ashes of Creation must likely wont do it.
Hopefully Riot Games can with their already popular universe. If not, expect more stagnation and no innovation.
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Truth this post is
I actually miss those days. Seems weird that something like EQ could be thought of as a huge blockbuster and highly profitable with 5% or 10% of the sub base of WoW today (and no micro transactions) but today that’s a loser game no company would invest in.
I could go for smaller niche games as opposed to one size fits all mega game that tries to be everything to everyone and ends up being nothing to no one.
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Yeah, this also has some accuracy to it. FF14 is safe, it has its niche that isn’t going away soon and it can anticipate a boost in active subscribers whenever other games have content droughts. WoW is safe, and adding Classic to the mix ensures it can at least count on some subscriber retention during drought periods, even if there are some drop offs. EQ has been safe for ages, because its niche is largely not going anywhere unless there is suddenly an EQ2-styled upheaval of gameplay (EQ2 ironically reduced its own safety net by introducing overly complex dungeon mechanics for the type of gameplay EQ2 generally is).
There needs to be a good competitor that has a niche that threatens FF14 and WoW’s niches a little bit.
As long as EQ continues to do steady “fresh” TLP servers with slightly different rule sets, they will be fine. I have gone back for a few and people flood to the new servers every single time.
WoW could do this easily - and Holly should know the impact it would have.
You poor sod. Do you not remember TBC and LK? Anything after that started moving away from MMO and RPG.
Oh, definitely. I’ve played on Agnarr and Aradune a good bit myself, plus dabbled in Ragefire when it was newer. Classic till PoP is always great as long as you have the time and know what your goals are. My raid guild on Aradune made me depressed when I came back from a forced break because pretty much everyone from when the guild started up was gone. Especially missed a couple of our Clerics who would make fun of my fishing pole being in my mainhand pretty much every raid xD
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I’ve left WoW for about 3-4 weeks now and I feel great. However, I’ve had a ton of real life responsibilities, such as moving and teaching in person students again at schools. There’s no new content, why should it be my responsibility now?
Valhalla is great too 
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I have not played enough of FF to say, but the fact that the most innovation that WoW is seeing is releasing the 17 year old version of the game and TBC (of which I am admittedly glad they are), shows how much they are truly trying.
They know they have their fangs in these folks that cannot think of leaving a game they have played for so long. They will pay over and over no matter what and that is the biggest problem with WoW.
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There has been a buzz about * Ashes Of Creation, thou it may be a year or 2 before it’s available.
Another MMO is coming. Riot has an MMO in development that’s expected to compete with Wow.
ESO has some really poor combat (very floaty, few abilities have impact, rotations and animation canceling are all cancerous) and the class abilities lack synergy but damn does that game do questing and housing better than everyone. And now importantly, they actually hit their content release targets like clockwork.
Try out GW2 for a game without a gear grind, fantastic combat and probably the coolest world design for maps, it really adds a whole extra when you sneak exploration and platforming into an MMO with amazing combat. Probably the best Pvp since DAoC or Warhammer.
I would be really surprised if Blizzard never does a console version of Wow to get some of that money that FF and ESO are scooping up by basically being the only MMORPGs in their genre on console.
I play WOW and FF14 and at the end of the day, when you get to max level, it is really just a daily routine to come on, do daily dungeons, raids, and do older content for transmogs. FF14 does have a bit of more stuff to do for fun on the side than WoW does which is why I think WoW needs to add a bit more. I would love to see WoW do another Brawlers Guild event, those were fun.
Do we need a new MMO? I would say Blizzard should really look into making another MMO. SC2 is kind of dead with nothing being made for it in the future, Heroes of the Storm is dead in the water though they are slowly bringing new heroes, Hearthstone is the same as always bringing a new expansion every 6 months. Diablo is seeing a new game in the future. Overwatch is the same, but in the end, it could be really the same game, just designed differently based on what we have seen so far.
I really think Blizzard needs a new IP for a MMO, but have this feeling Activision is kind of stopping them from doing anything “new”.
Damn man, you really took me back with that Greater Faydark reference…wow.
I can’t recall how many times my newb druid died, falling off of Kelethin.
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It’s really all the dumb, little things that make an MMO enjoyable. Like accidentally falling into a moat and having to figure out the right camera angle to climb out, or fishing up a coffer full of gold coins and a mount and trying to figure out how the flip that got down there.
I think that’s the big thing that people have failed to realize. Overworld experiences and dungeon experiences alike aren’t what they used to be anymore. And it’s not necessarily our fault as players, though I’d argue some raiders may be at fault for their own experiences 
It’s the game design, it just doesn’t allow us to go out there with our friends and find something fun to do anymore, it guides us and tries to pigeonhole us into instanced grinds.
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This is kind of why Blizzard doesn’t just put in flying on day 1 in the expansion. They want people to explore the world they created by foot and find things on their own and then later they put in the whole flying thing so people can explore that way. Another reason why they put in those secret stuff to get mounts and such. Let people explore and find those little things that have secrets that unlock things like mounts or pets.
Some people come in on day 1 like. OMG Blizzard! Give us flying already! Those people don’t care really care to explore. They just want a easy way to get around the world without having to worry about mobs hitting them and falling of their mobs and etc. As annoying as that is, sometimes exploring by ground can be enjoyable.
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