Interesting question posed by Bree over at Massively on whether MMO gamers might be “aging” out of the genre. She cites recent comments by Capcom that its player base is in their late 30s and 40s. And that’s talking about a non-MMO like Resident Evil and a popular video game named Clash of Clans.
I happen think it’s a real issue. It’s something I’ve been thinking about recently, trying to understand why there are so many unsatisfied MMO gamers who claim, for whatever reason, they are unhappy with current offerings. In examining it, I’m not so sure this phenomenon is unique to video games. It’s just that only now have we really been in the cycle long enough for players to really begin “aging” out of them! Let’s take a look at the music industry as an example…
Back in the 1980’s, hair metal ruled. When 1990 hit, grunge came along, and all of those 80′s bands found themselves suddenly unappealing to younger music listeners… something about that new sound grabbed these fans instead. Tears of metal were shed around the world.
In an effort to stay relevant to the music buying public, the hair bands tried to adapt. This attempt at change resulted in an alienation of long-time fans, but also failed to attract young new fans. So they faded into obscurity.
Fast-forward to 2000, many of these hair bands began to reunite and write new music more true to their original style. Suddenly, they saw a resurgence from their original fans buying their records and going to their shows. Sure, it wasn’t enough to reclaim their spot at the top of the album charts, but enough to satisfy a specific audience and make great living while doing so.
I think this is exactly the same thing we’re seeing with video games, particularly MMOs. And it’s a bit of a concern, because it feels like we’re still going through that awkward phase where hair bands are trying to appeal to the grunge kiddies.
For example, unless you are living under a rock, you know MOBAs are all the rage. The action-driven combat style with more emphasis on “skill” as well as simplified, minimal ability sets has attracted a new generation of PC gamers, by the tens of millions. What started on Warcraft III as an innocent mod is now arguably the largest competitive video game genre on the planet, with League of Legends, DOTA 2 and now Blizzard’s own Heroes of the Storm vying for eyeballs.
So it’s not really a surprise that MMOs like Guild Wars 2, WildStar and EverQuest Next are trying to bring some of those combat elements to this genre. They want to attract those newer, younger players. But at what cost to the core game? More action-based combat and fewer skills is better, right? That’s not to say this is a bad thing, but it is a change. If you’ve ever heard Warrant try their hand at grunge, you’d understand the risk.
Even the venerable World of Warcraft is taking steps in this direction, such as offering free level 90 characters with the Warlords of Draenor expansion and talk of relieving “button bloat” by eliminating some abilities.
I feel like the current crop of unsatisfied MMO gamers is the way they are largely because the core of what they loved so much about the genre is slowly being changed and taken away from them. As games try to adapt to a new incoming audience, it seems to be making the genre less defined, with fewer unique choices. This is what seems to be pushing the core audience further into this seemingly perpetual state of disgruntled-ness.
So are gamers aging out of MMOs? Yes. But I believe there is still success to be found by catering to those aging audiences just like Clash of Clans's strategies.
The question is, can we realistically expect games with the budget, size and scale as we’ve become accustomed to vie for a much smaller core player base? Of course not. Smaller, more vertically-focused games such as Camelot Unchained and perhaps even the soon-to-be-announced Pantheon from Brad McQuaid might just be the models of the future for aging (or any) gamers.
Hopefully this trend means we’ll see more development laser-focused on creating games for the specific players that love them, instead of trying to get players who hate them to play them anyway.
Source: http://cocland.com/miscellaneous/clash-of-clans-update-history
I happen think it’s a real issue. It’s something I’ve been thinking about recently, trying to understand why there are so many unsatisfied MMO gamers who claim, for whatever reason, they are unhappy with current offerings. In examining it, I’m not so sure this phenomenon is unique to video games. It’s just that only now have we really been in the cycle long enough for players to really begin “aging” out of them! Let’s take a look at the music industry as an example…
Back in the 1980’s, hair metal ruled. When 1990 hit, grunge came along, and all of those 80′s bands found themselves suddenly unappealing to younger music listeners… something about that new sound grabbed these fans instead. Tears of metal were shed around the world.
In an effort to stay relevant to the music buying public, the hair bands tried to adapt. This attempt at change resulted in an alienation of long-time fans, but also failed to attract young new fans. So they faded into obscurity.
Fast-forward to 2000, many of these hair bands began to reunite and write new music more true to their original style. Suddenly, they saw a resurgence from their original fans buying their records and going to their shows. Sure, it wasn’t enough to reclaim their spot at the top of the album charts, but enough to satisfy a specific audience and make great living while doing so.
I think this is exactly the same thing we’re seeing with video games, particularly MMOs. And it’s a bit of a concern, because it feels like we’re still going through that awkward phase where hair bands are trying to appeal to the grunge kiddies.
For example, unless you are living under a rock, you know MOBAs are all the rage. The action-driven combat style with more emphasis on “skill” as well as simplified, minimal ability sets has attracted a new generation of PC gamers, by the tens of millions. What started on Warcraft III as an innocent mod is now arguably the largest competitive video game genre on the planet, with League of Legends, DOTA 2 and now Blizzard’s own Heroes of the Storm vying for eyeballs.
So it’s not really a surprise that MMOs like Guild Wars 2, WildStar and EverQuest Next are trying to bring some of those combat elements to this genre. They want to attract those newer, younger players. But at what cost to the core game? More action-based combat and fewer skills is better, right? That’s not to say this is a bad thing, but it is a change. If you’ve ever heard Warrant try their hand at grunge, you’d understand the risk.
Even the venerable World of Warcraft is taking steps in this direction, such as offering free level 90 characters with the Warlords of Draenor expansion and talk of relieving “button bloat” by eliminating some abilities.
I feel like the current crop of unsatisfied MMO gamers is the way they are largely because the core of what they loved so much about the genre is slowly being changed and taken away from them. As games try to adapt to a new incoming audience, it seems to be making the genre less defined, with fewer unique choices. This is what seems to be pushing the core audience further into this seemingly perpetual state of disgruntled-ness.
So are gamers aging out of MMOs? Yes. But I believe there is still success to be found by catering to those aging audiences just like Clash of Clans's strategies.
The question is, can we realistically expect games with the budget, size and scale as we’ve become accustomed to vie for a much smaller core player base? Of course not. Smaller, more vertically-focused games such as Camelot Unchained and perhaps even the soon-to-be-announced Pantheon from Brad McQuaid might just be the models of the future for aging (or any) gamers.
Hopefully this trend means we’ll see more development laser-focused on creating games for the specific players that love them, instead of trying to get players who hate them to play them anyway.
Source: http://cocland.com/miscellaneous/clash-of-clans-update-history