Well-known games industry writer, Tom Chick (full disclosure: a friend of mine, though I haven’t seen him in a few years) has published an article at Fidgit.com entitled, “Five reasons MMOs are broken“. (source: massively)
Back when I used to attend Tom Chick’s “Shoot Club” game gatherings (around 2004), we would occasionally discuss our WORLD OF WARCRAFT Beta and early launch experiences. We were both big WoW fans and were enjoying ourselves greatly. It seems in the intervening years though, Chick has soured on the game and the entire MMO genre. The new article at Fidgit lists subscription fees, static worlds and the inability to play with your friends without restrictions as deal-breakers.
Scott “Lum the Mad” Jennings has penned a humorous response to the article - and offers up some opinions of his own. Let the discussions begin in earnest!…or, continue…as they have and will..evermore.
“It takes no small amount of audacity to look at the most commercially successful genre of videogaming and call it “broken”. But that’s exactly what I’m doing. Assuming the first priority of game design is to create a good game, massively multiplayer online role-playing games like World of Warcraft have failed spectacularly, opting for commercial success instead of creative integrity, entertainment value, or compelling game design. If I were a shareholder, I’d be elated. Instead, as a guy who plays videogames, I’m continually disappointed.”