Goodness an MMO is ambitious. A cooperative game in a constantly evolving, ever advancing world? One where you essentially have to write a new game every three or four years just to keep it fresh?
That’s a lot to maintain.
I don’t think there’s ever going to be a “WoW killer”. There’s different things for different folks - but people rerally love the world that’s been built here. The friends and communities they’ve met along the way…or they’re just riding off that primal need to finish a task…in a world where there are endless tasks.
But at what point do we close the book? When do we allow this game to fade and splinter off into pieces for everyone else to take and mold?
Gracious at what point do these devs get a break?? Gods this game is going to be a legal adult this november!! Like…it’s old enough to drive!
I dunno. I’ve just been thinking a lot about how things don’t seem to be designed with the finite in mind, especially when it comes to media. There’s no closed book anymore - there’s just a constant annoying little hook saying “But wait, there’s more!”
I’d like to finish something please. Have a last marvel movie, leave a disney film to just…be a disney film. Perhaps let the heroes of Azeroth perform one final service before letting the world rest in peace.
WoW won’t last forever. Nothing lasts forever. But Ultima Online (as was posted above), EverQuest, EQ2, and Dark Age of Camelot are still all up and running. Tiny compared to their peaks, sure. But people still play all of them.
So while I can see WoW slowing down a lot, as long as those other games are online I can’t imagine WoW shutting down completely.
Blizz will close the book when we stop paying them, and as long as there’s enough Kaurmines alive (people who will play forever) the book shall remain open!
Only dedicated players is keeping this game alive. Other mmos are already giving WoW competition for awhile now. The thing is many consumers are just waiting for something new to jump on which is why WoW is still relevant and the other top 4 to this day.
Look at these two games. Look at their launch dates. Look at their current populations. Then notice the dates on patches and community updates for each game. There is no “book closing” just an ever shrinking population with smaller feature set.
EverQuest II population 19,393
“EverQuest II is a 3D fantasy…(MMORPG) originally developed and published by Sony Online Entertainment…released in November 2004. It is the sequel to the original EverQuest, released five years earlier”
“EverQuest II Patch Notes [04/13/21] All EverQuest II Servers will be brought offline on Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 7:00 AM PT (14:00 Estimated downtime is expected to last up to 2 hours. Mon Apr 12 2021”
EverQuest population 36,904
“EverQuest is a 3D fantasy-themed…(MMORPG) originally developed by Verant Interactive and 989 Studios for Windows PCs. It was released by Sony Online Entertainment in March 1999 in North America”
"Get to know your Dev: Episode 4 Let’s make some skeletons move and and dance with some dragons, it’s time to chat with… Fri Apr 09 2021"
