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Upcoming MMOs targeting non-gamers

Wolfwood | June 07, 2007 | News | PC 
The call to attract a "non-traditional" market in the gaming industry is stronger than ever, and breaking into the "mainstream" is a measure of success for games. Wired takes a look at what upcoming online games are doing to lure a larger demographic of potential gamers into their worlds. The article rightly points out World of Warcraft as proof that MMOs can attract a mainstream audience.
From the simple MUDs of a decade ago to the addictive EverQuest, massively multiplayer online gaming has long held sway over serious gamers. But it was the runaway success of World of Warcraft, released in 2004, that pushed MMOs into the mainstream, attracting not thousands but millions of players to its servers. Now gaming companies are jostling to position their virtual worlds as the next big play space online.

Some are busily copying the Warcraft formula for their own offerings, hoping that their particular spin on the well-established mechanics will amount to a second dose of lightning in a bottle. But a small group of more interesting ventures is aiming to attract a broader audience, hoping to lure players who shun games like Warcraft because of the time commitment and challenging learning curve. If the audience is to increase, their thinking goes, games must be easier to learn, faster-paced and more immediately rewarding.

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  • 0 thumbs!
    Enhance | June 07, 2007
    Fury and Tabula Rasa look and sound very entertaining. The problem I see with Fury is that all though quick gladiator style bouts are fun at first they can soon get repetitive and boring. With games like Warcraft they are constantly adding new quests that help keep the player entertained.

    As for Tabula Rasa I am impressed. From just the two screenshots shown it looks like it will have a good graphical interface. It should be able to keep the user entertained over a longer period of time but doesn't face the downsides of having to stay on for countless hours to finish a task.

    Whirled on the other hand is...
  • 0 thumbs!
    Dragon | June 07, 2007
    The thing with this is, that if it's targeting people that aren't exactly fond of games, then how well would it do?
  • 0 thumbs!
    Vito Raliffe | June 08, 2007
    I don't know. The Wii has been kind of successful...
  • 0 thumbs!
    EmoMyFat | June 08, 2007
    Wii was successful, but that really only targeted gamers, i dont know how they're going to do this.....

    There are some people that will just never get into MMOs
  • 0 thumbs!
    Enhance | June 08, 2007
    The title for this is a bit mis-leading. The games aren't there to try and get people that absolutely don't play games. They are trying to interest people who shun games like WoW and Everquest due to the time commitments and their learning curves.

    These games are being made to attract the casual gamer who doesn't want to make a full time commitment. They will be designed so that you can pick it up, and play for a short period of time and actually accomplish something. With WoW you might be forced to keep playing for hours to finish a task and thats what this method is trying to get away from.
  • 0 thumbs!
    bbb7002004 | June 08, 2007
    They are also targeting the set of people that get on virtual life games, which are very popular currently.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Jesse1234567 | June 11, 2007
    I don't really find MMORPG games that are only based on combat very fun. I like them much better when they have multiple skills to offer along with combat .

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