12-03-2004, 12:14 AM
nobbie,Dec 2 2004, 09:57 AM Wrote:All hype about WOW aside, I do believe that the current noise is justified, because WOW is special and a milestone for the future of PC gaming. Blizzard establishes with WOW the "pay-per-play" concept for the first time among a very broad audience, ranging from casual to hardcore gamers, even kids (for which the parents will pay the fees), and they will certainly do everything possible to satisfy their customers, so that this multiplayer concept can be expanded on future titles as well. The until today cost-free "Battle.net" platform will most likely be the last free multiplayer-platform of such a scale.
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Until Guild Wars is released, anyway!
The extent to which the MMO/subscription trend can carry is uncertain, in my opinion. There is headroom in the market right now, because more and more people are getting broadband internet (or at least flat rates on telephone use). But, how many subscriptions are people going to carry at once? How many internet connections will each family get to support kids whose games can only be played online? There are not going to be dozens of successful subscription titles every year. The companies with the "hot" MMOs will make a fortune (as they already do), but I think other companies will go bust trying to enter a very competitive market and getting locked into a losing commitment.
As for battle.net though, I think it is pretty much dead in terms of new titles or improved capabilities. It's not for lack of demand, but Blizzard isn't going to provide a revolutionary free service that will threaten their own subscription base.